Injury Report: Green out 3-5 weeks, Hronek up

[19 for president]

Happy to see Hronek up but fully expect us to start losing games more regularly again. Green is still a force offensively. Hope the rest of the D can stay healthy so that Cholo and Hronek can continue to gain confidence without being thrown to the wolves like at the start of the season. Forwards I'm doing with just sticking and saying go, but D learn bad habits easily and have a steady vet presence even if they aren't great (Daley, E, Kronner, DD) is still good for them. You hope that every time they make a mistake it doesn't end up in the back of the net. My prediction though is that our PP begins to improve now that Cholo and Hronek will run it. I actually don't love Green as the QB.

 

[Henkka]

Which was better in their 6 game stint in the NHL? Which has been better in the AHL?

A) Hronek
B) Hronek

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Because of his sick 'stache and greasy flow.

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Granted I started watching the Wings when Yzerman looked like this, so it may have made an impression about what great hockey players look like.
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Yzerman's unibrow is everything

 

[JoesuffP]

This will be a good challenge for Cholo and Hronek

 

[SCD]

He failed to trade him at the deadline partially because of injury. Then probably shouldn't have resigned him. And now he hurt again for the second time this year. That's not a disaster?

How is it a disaster when he has played well?

If he was resigned and went out on LTIR due to his neck injury issues, then that would have been a disaster.

 

[SCD]

Hronek plays with an edge.

and he is talented.

Hronek has a future on this team, Sulak's is in GR.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

How is it a disaster when he has played well?

If he was resigned and went out on LTIR due to his neck injury issues, then that would have been a disaster.

Disaster meaning he is injury prone not his skills.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

and he is talented.

Hronek has a future on this team, Sulak's is in GR.

Sulak could still have a future with Detroit.

 

[Ezekial]

and he is talented.

Hronek has a future on this team, Sulak's is in GR.

Sulak has bottom pair or AHL potential, Hronek has top 4 potential. Hronner is the easy choice for the callup right now, give him a reward for his good play, a chance to prove himself again at the NHL level, and give him some confidence if/when he goes back down. Sulak has simply been worse over this whole process.

 

[JoesuffP]

I feel like the Wings want to turn Sulak into a shutdown defender. His size and skating could make him a better version of Ericsson

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

I am guessing Kronner will play with Hronek

You're correct Sir.

 

[SCD]

I feel like the Wings want to turn Sulak into a shutdown defender. His size and skating could make him a better version of Ericsson

Unfortunately, that is not his strongest quality. He wants to play too much like a forward.

 

[Winger98]

Unfortunately, that is not his strongest quality. He wants to play too much like a forward.

And being how old he is I question how much of that can be changed at this point and if it will actually make his game better or just less effective. I've never really warmed to Sulak, but they got to be careful not to totally kill his strengths to try to make him something he's not.

 

[Henkka]

I'd give a higher probability for Malte Setkov being our 3rd pair shut-down guy than Sulak.

 

[JoesuffP]

I think you can teach anybody defense if they are willing. He’s never going to be an impact NHLer playing like he did in Europe but with his god given talent he could be a dynamic shut down defender. He got a lot of time on the PK in preseason but I haven’t watched any GR games to see his useage. I mean if they wanted him to be an offensive dman why would they even bother having him kill penalties?

They do it in the NFL all the time. Draft a player with the intention of changing their position to something that will give them a better chance of keeping a job in the league

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I think you can teach anybody defense if they are willing. He’s never going to be an impact NHLer playing like he did in Europe but with his god given talent he could be a dynamic shut down defender. He got a lot of time on the PK in preseason but I haven’t watched any GR games to see his useage. I mean if they wanted him to be an offensive dman why would they even bother having him kill penalties?

They do it in the NFL all the time. Draft a player with the intention of changing their position to something that will give them a better chance of keeping a job in the league

Counterpoint: Ryan Sproul
Counterpoint: Brendan Smith
Counterpoint: Keith Yandle

 

[GrGriffins]

Unfortunately, that is not his strongest quality. He wants to play too much like a forward.

Saturday night's game in GR, Sulak was forced to play forward in the 3rd period with Puempel got thrown out for sleugh-footing, and injuries during the game to Zadina & Elson, not counting Smith and Camper did not dress due to injuries. He looked more comfortable as a forward then he does playing defense from what I witnessed.

He has having a more difficult time adjusting to NA size rinks as his game mainly is about his skating from one end of the ice to the other. You have more room in Europe to do what he does as it is here in NA. Teams are starting to pick up that when he gets the puck in his own end, he is just going to skate end to end and teams just clog up the neutral zone and pick his pocket before he gets to other blue line. Not a pretty site to see right now.

 

[JoesuffP]

Counterpoint: Ryan Sproul
Counterpoint: Brendan Smith
Counterpoint: Keith Yandle

Smith was the only player actually expected to be a shut down defensemen and did a pretty decent job for stretches. Yandle was able to produce at the NHL level so nobody needed him to convert. Chances are Sulak will not be able to score in the NHL but who knows. Just the way they’re handling Sulak, putting him on the PK seems like a project to me

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Saturday night's game in GR, Sulak was forced to play forward in the 3rd period with Puempel got thrown out for sleugh-footing, and injuries during the game to Zadina & Elson, not counting Smith and Camper did not dress due to injuries. He looked more comfortable as a forward then he does playing defense from what I witnessed.

He has having a more difficult time adjusting to NA size rinks as his game mainly is about his skating from one end of the ice to the other. You have more room in Europe to do what he does as it is here in NA. Teams are starting to pick up that when he gets the puck in his own end, he is just going to skate end to end and teams just clog up the neutral zone and pick his pocket before he gets to other blue line. Not a pretty site to see right now.

I always appreciate your feedback GrGrif
1. Do you think he could & should be converted to play F?
2. Would this give him a better chance to make the Wings?
3. Do you think he'd go for it, or jet back to Europe?

 

[Ezekial]

Smith was the only player actually expected to be a shut down defensemen and did a pretty decent job for stretches. Yandle was able to produce at the NHL level so nobody needed him to convert. Chances are Sulak will not be able to score in the NHL but who knows. Just the way they’re handling Sulak, putting him on the PK seems like a project to me

Brendan Smith had 119 NHL games played when he was Libor Sulak's age. Kid is almost 25.



Edit:I guess he was closer to like 60 NHL games played when he was actually Libor Sulak's age to the day then he finished that year with the extra games, but now I'm just being too exact for the point I was trying to make.

 

[GrGriffins]

He got a lot of time on the PK in preseason but I haven’t watched any GR games to see his useage. I mean if they wanted him to be an offensive dman why would they even bother having him kill penalties?

Because the Wings do not want Hronek to be Mike Green Jr (offensive d-man). You need someone in Detroit to play defense and especially if you already have Mike Green (who plays little defense and is mainly your offensive d-man) as one of the Wings d-man. Hronek struggled at first in GR when placed on the PK unit (never played that part before) when he was sent down to us (the entire PK units did not do well either). It took about 10 games for Hronek to finally get comfortable and his confidence was improving to where he was starting to produce offensively in his stay here in GR.

 

[GrGriffins]

I always appreciate your feedback GrGrif
1. Do you think he could & should be converted to play F?
2. Would this give him a better chance to make the Wings?
3. Do you think he'd go for it, or jet back to Europe?

1. I was forced to watch Ericsson convert from a forward to a d-man in GR during his time here. I think Sulak would be much better in NA being a forward than a d-man. He does not defend well, especially lately on the PK. Only question I have is can he produce as a forward.

2. Right now he has a better chance making the Wings as a D-men than a forward with all the issues you have in Detroit in the d-man situation.

3. Hard to say. If he does not make it back to the Wings later this season, I see him going back to Europe.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Smith was the only player actually expected to be a shut down defensemen and did a pretty decent job for stretches. Yandle was able to produce at the NHL level so nobody needed him to convert. Chances are Sulak will not be able to score in the NHL but who knows. Just the way they’re handling Sulak, putting him on the PK seems like a project to me

You said “you can teach anyone to play defense”.

Maybe it wasn’t right to include Smith in that... but the other two wouldn’t know defense if it bit them in the ass. You can teach someone to be merely below average at defense (a la Mike Green) but if a guy can’t play defense as a defenseman when he comes up to the NHL, it is incredibly hard to add that skill set in the big leagues

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

I think Hronek will still wind up better than Cholowski when all is said and done, and I’ve been very happy and impressed with both of them so far.

I think Sulak could still have a future as an NHLer as well.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

You said “you can teach anyone to play defense”.

Maybe it wasn’t right to include Smith in that... but the other two wouldn’t know defense if it bit them in the ass. You can teach someone to be merely below average at defense (a la Mike Green) but if a guy can’t play defense as a defenseman when he comes up to the NHL, it is incredibly hard to add that skill set in the big leagues

Agreed.

Sure hanging around the net and clearing pucks is one thing, but being able to correctly gap up an NHL player at speed while skating backwards into your own zone is an entirely different matter.

It's why forwards get regularly taken advantage of when they end up trying it.