Jeff Blashill - Half Season Impression

[SpookyTsuki]

I would be interested in seeing how many minutes he has played with each partner. He has had several I can remember including Green, Kindl, and E. I would also be interested in seeing a game by game track of his +/-. Who was he partnered with when he acquired minuses and were they primarily earlier in the season? He hasn't had a + or a - in his last 5 games. +/- can be a pretty sketchy stat to be "on pace" for especially given the experimental nature of defense pairings so far this year. Jonathon "Pylon" is a plus player thus far as well. Seems odd if were on the ice with Kronner the vast majority of the time.

Most of big es + come on Danny ds line

Kronwall can't score so he only gets a minus. But idk what he usually does. Shutdown or
Not?

 

[Actual Thought*]

Most of big es + come on Danny ds line

Kronwall can't score so he only gets a minus. But idk what he usually does. Shutdown or
Not?

I'm not sure what you mean with this???

 

[SpookyTsuki]

I'm not sure what you mean with this???

Idk what lines he plays with. He plays with a garbage defender usually. Does he play with glendenning as a shutdown man. Or does he play with dats and Larkin or someone who can score? That's telling to his plus minus

 

[Actual Thought*]

Idk what lines he plays with. He plays with a garbage defender usually. Does he play with glendenning as a shutdown man. Or does he play with dats and Larkin or someone who can score? That's telling to his plus minus

Gotcha. I agree which is why I think +/- is such a sketchy measuring stick. For the first 20 games they were bumping into each other. D pairings have been constantly juggled. I am not convinced Kronwall's numbers are due to him being washed up. Apparently Blashill isn't either because he runs him out there more than anyone else on the team besides Mrazek.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Putting at a percentage is very simplistic thinking.

Let's just say if you have a very talented roster and poor coaching you will have no success. This has played out countless times.

A less talented roster with great coaching has a greater chance of success.

Countless times President's trophy teams get trucked in the 1st rd by a "hot" albeit less talented team. In most cases it is because they play an effective system and execute perfectly.

Look at the miracle on ice. Was the US team more talented than the Russian team? Not by any stretch of the imagination. They were very well coached. They had a great system and they bought in.

The 95 Devils? More talented than the record setting 62 win Wings? Nope. Not even close. They played the perfect trap system and executed. Bowman had no answer and they rolled the Wings in 4.

These are just a couple of high profile examples but there are many.

That is why it is ridiculous to say something like "we are one defenceman from a cup". Too many variables for that sort of statement to be remotely close to reality.

Sure you need players who are capable of executing but this is a parity league. Every team has those players.

every cup winner since 06 canes has had elite dman and elite center. save maybe for the '09 pens. they had two elite centers.

presidents trophy winners postlockout have fallen on elite goaltending by the other team if they have lost in the first round. or team totally melted down (09 sharks).

I agree Pav looks slower much of the time though he seems to pick it up in spurts such as late in the 3rd last night. I would expect him to get much worse as the season wears on after an off season of being unhealthy. I disagree that Zetterberg and Kronwall look substantially slower than last year. If anything I would say Z looks better than last year. Defensively he has been fantastic.

As for the system making things slower it absolutely can. Players who are not confident in a system often think too much, hesitate to make plays, and make more mental mistakes. This can be as a result of the system being new, the system being bad, or the system being practiced poorly.

laughable. he's been bad defensively. i think there's only couple of #1Cs in the league who are worse defensively than him. his smarts are still there but legs are not. gets caught way too many times. wings would control the play better if he were fantastic defensively (like they do with datsyuk).

 

[Electric Eric]

Countless times President's trophy teams get trucked in the 1st rd by a "hot" albeit less talented team. In most cases it is because they play an effective system and execute perfectly.

Look at the miracle on ice. Was the US team more talented than the Russian team? Not by any stretch of the imagination. They were very well coached. They had a great system and they bought in.

.

And by countless you mean 5 times in the past 21 years right?

I still want to know what you would have Holland do different last offseason?

http://www.puckreport.com/2010/04/nhl-playoff-first-round-upsets.html

 

[Ezekial]

Z hasn't been THAT bad but he certainly is below his level of play from last year.

His production has been pretty reliant on being on Larkin's line apparently. He can get a point here and there, but he isn't driving a line.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Z hasn't been THAT bad but he certainly is below his level of play from last year.

His production has been pretty reliant on being on Larkin's line apparently. He can get a point here and there, but he isn't driving a line.

i don't think he should play C anymore, outside short and important stretches.

hopefully larkin is ready for that role next season.

 

[edmundbenz]

Wings is the only team now never been shutout in the regular season. The Wild was blanked last night.

 

[chances14]

zetterberg looked better than last year for about the first month or so of the season. After that though, he's looked really really slow. He simply can't handle the grind of an 82 game season anymore, which happens when you get up there in age.

he's gotta be close to one of the slowest players in the league at this point. Yea his play has never been dictated by his speed, but it's becoming so bad now that he's becoming a liability defensively

 

[Actual Thought*]

zetterberg looked better than last year for about the first month or so of the season. After that though, he's looked really really slow. He simply can't handle the grind of an 82 game season anymore, which happens when you get up there in age.

he's gotta be close to one of the slowest players in the league at this point. Yea his play has never been dictated by his speed, but it's becoming so bad now that he's becoming a liability defensively

Yet somehow he is a plus player and has 30 points. For some reason the new greatest coach in the world runs him out there on the 1st line every night. How do you reconcile that? I mean if he is the sloth you describe and Blashill is a great coach why is he seemingly incapable of recognizing what is so obvious to you?

 

[HockeyinHD]

I would happily change my mind if I saw the team playing to a level they should IMO be capable of for a sustained period of time.

Unless you're wrong about what level they should be playing at because you've (intentionally or not) inflated your analysis of the teams talent.

As of right now Detroit has the 7th most points in the whole NHL, and the 3rd most in the East.

Are you trying to say that Detroit has the >7th best roster in the NHL, talent wise? Meaning, there are teams ahead of them in the standings who have inferior rosters to Detroit while no teams behind them have better ones?

If you're not really making any kind of talent analysis and your whole schtick here is 'Detroit should be better so Blashill sucks', I mean... ok I suppose. Maybe someone's put together a 'nuh-uh, yuh-huh' Vine on a loop we could all watch instead.

Sight unseen, someone says to you before the season starts "Detroit's going to have the 3rd best record in the East"... you say "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!"?

Not for nothing, but were there a bunch of people picking Detroit to be much better than 3rd in their division before the season started?

New coach, bunch of new players, Howard fails, Datsyuk's hurt, bunch of other injuries... and the team is 7th overall 3rd in the East? That'll do, pig.

 

[ap3x]

Stupid questions. Blashill is just so damn lucky.

 

[Frk It]

Are you trying to say that Detroit has the >7th best roster in the NHL, talent wise? Meaning, there are teams ahead of them in the standings who have inferior rosters to Detroit while no teams behind them have better ones?

I'd like to see someone try and argue this.

 

[hyduK]

I'd like to see someone try and argue this.

Actual Thought doesn't care where we are in the pts standing, he cares about goal differential...or whatever stat makes Blash looks the worst at a given point in time.

tbh i think before the season i was one of the only people on the board thinking we would be second in the division. granted, i didn't think we'd be second to Florida. I also would have thought that a few Metro teams would be ahead point wise.

 

[Actual Thought*]

Unless you're wrong about what level they should be playing at because you've (intentionally or not) inflated your analysis of the teams talent.

As of right now Detroit has the 7th most points in the whole NHL, and the 3rd most in the East.

Are you trying to say that Detroit has the >7th best roster in the NHL, talent wise? Meaning, there are teams ahead of them in the standings who have inferior rosters to Detroit while no teams behind them have better ones?

If you're not really making any kind of talent analysis and your whole schtick here is 'Detroit should be better so Blashill sucks', I mean... ok I suppose. Maybe someone's put together a 'nuh-uh, yuh-huh' Vine on a loop we could all watch instead.

Sight unseen, someone says to you before the season starts "Detroit's going to have the 3rd best record in the East"... you say "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!"?

Not for nothing, but were there a bunch of people picking Detroit to be much better than 3rd in their division before the season started?

New coach, bunch of new players, Howard fails, Datsyuk's hurt, bunch of other injuries... and the team is 7th overall 3rd in the East? That'll do, pig.

While I think their talent level is somewhere in the upper half of a parity league there are alarming trends in their play that indicate that their record isn't sustainable. I fully expect them to fall back to earth in the second half. Remember when the Habs were way ahead of everyone?

 

[Actual Thought*]

Actual Thought doesn't care where we are in the pts standing, he cares about goal differential...or whatever stat makes Blash looks the worst at a given point in time.

tbh i think before the season i was one of the only people on the board thinking we would be second in the division. granted, i didn't think we'd be second to Florida. I also would have thought that a few Metro teams would be ahead point wise.

We will see how it plays out. Every other playoff team has a + GD. Most who are on the outside have a -. Every playoff team last year was on the + side.

 

[HockeyinHD]

While I think their talent level is somewhere in the upper half of a parity league there are alarming trends in their play that indicate that their record isn't sustainable.

Hang on a second. Doesn't what you just said mean you think Detroit has actually overachieved thusfar?

You think their talent is somewhere in the top 15 of the league, and you think that what they've done so far by being 7th in the league may not be sustainable.

Seems like you've gone rather the long way around to compliment Blashill on his managing.

I fully expect them to fall back to earth in the second half. Remember when the Habs were way ahead of everyone?

... and then their all-world goalie got hurt and the team bombed?

It looks like you're trying to set yourself up so that, in the not-exactly-unlikely event that a major injury befalls the team and they dip, you can say "See? I KNEW IT!"

I think Detroit's a decent team right now with a strong goaltender. Certainly a playoff team and perhaps a home ice in round 1 playoff team. If they lose a major piece, they're toast. They don't have much of a margin anywhere on the ice, really, and won't until if/when they get a more consistent offense.

There aren't really any 'trends' (in the way the word actually means) that indicate Detroit's play is slumping. They've just been a narrow-outcome team all year because they don't have a killer PP to paper over a tepid 5v5 number.

Grabbing a hatchet and haring off after Blashill is a bit of an overreaction to good news.

 

[Actual Thought*]

Hang on a second. Doesn't what you just said mean you think Detroit has actually overachieved thusfar?

You think their talent is somewhere in the top 15 of the league, and you think that what they've done so far by being 7th in the league may not be sustainable.

Seems like you've gone rather the long way around to compliment Blashill on his managing.



... and then their all-world goalie got hurt and the team bombed?

It looks like you're trying to set yourself up so that, in the not-exactly-unlikely event that a major injury befalls the team and they dip, you can say "See? I KNEW IT!"

I think Detroit's a decent team right now with a strong goaltender. Certainly a playoff team and perhaps a home ice in round 1 playoff team. If they lose a major piece, they're toast. They don't have much of a margin anywhere on the ice, really, and won't until if/when they get a more consistent offense.

There aren't really any 'trends' (in the way the word actually means) that indicate Detroit's play is slumping. They've just been a narrow-outcome team all year because they don't have a killer PP to paper over a tepid 5v5 number.

Grabbing a hatchet and haring off after Blashill is a bit of an overreaction to good news.

Exactly. Detroit has been artificially elevated by goaltending. They are now a perimeter team with no transition game.

 

[odin1981]

Exactly. Detroit has been artificially elevated by goaltending. They are now a perimeter team with no transition game.

When ever since Lids retired has the DRW ever been a good transition team?

 

[ArGarBarGar]

When ever since Lids retired has the DRW ever been a good transition team?

They were even a perimeter team in 2012 when Lidstrom was still on the roster.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Exactly. Detroit has been artificially elevated by goaltending. They are now a perimeter team with no transition game.

The Wings have been a perimeter team with a pitiful transition game for several years.

How is that Blashill's fault?

Hint - It's not.

 

[Ezekial]

Hang on a second. Doesn't what you just said mean you think Detroit has actually overachieved thusfar?

Well, they've over-achieved despite Blashill, not because of him DUH

 

[TheOtherOne]

While I think their talent level is somewhere in the upper half of a parity league there are alarming trends in their play that indicate that their record isn't sustainable. I fully expect them to fall back to earth in the second half. Remember when the Habs were way ahead of everyone?

Lol... so your argument has nothing to do with what has already happened. You're arguing that "we will be bad in the future and I blame Blashill for that."

 

[HockeyinHD]

Exactly. Detroit has been artificially elevated by goaltending.

Their team sv% is tied for 9th in the NHL with 2 other teams. So, at the bottom of the top 11.

What you're saying is that a team getting the 9th, 10th or 11th best aggregate sv% is being buoyed, by that, to... 7th in the NHL?

Isn't the whole point of a buoy is that it's above the thing it's supporting?

Detroit is getting great goaltending from Mrazek, but barely mediocre goaltending from Howard. In total, pretty good... but not the best, in the top 5, or even more than barely top 10.

They are now a perimeter team with no transition game.

Yeah... they've sort of been this way since 12, man. The sum total of Detroit's transition game is Helm breaks.