Post-Game Talk: Jimmy Howard proves the giving season is still upon us

[Run the Jewels]

Don't you know any time Howard lets up a goal it's a softy?

Pulled from two straight games. 7 goals allowed on 20 shots. $5.3 million per year. If that's what you find impressive then you are in for a treat.

 

[Run the Jewels]

How did your lines work out there Blashill?

Game by game, I am disliking this coach more and more. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to be able to see that these lines are bad. Yet every time I check, we have Datsyuk with Helm and Richards.

I will not watch another game until the lines are changed, I've been calling for this for 2 weeks now, yet every single game, Datsyuk-Helm-Richards.

It seems rather evident to me that blashill was a product of his environment in GR. Those teams were good based on the players, not because of this guy. These lines were stale 2 weeks ago, now it's jure purely comical when I check the lines after the morning skate, and every time......Datsyuk-Helm-Richards.

Figure it out.

Goodnight. Rant over.

Like I've said before, I will gladly give him through next year to see what he is capable of as an NHL coach. If we fail spectacularly and end up drafting a franchise d-man then it will be worth it as it finally forced Holland to address the total lack of elite talent on this roster. Mrazek has a good shot at getting there; Larkin may as well. Nothing is a lock, that's for sure.

So if we must Crash with Blash well then...bring it on.

 

[TheRatPoisoner]

Fire Ken Holland for being scared to make a trade lol

To play devils advocate:

Last 2 times the Wings went to the SCFs it was against Pittsburgh. Look ant the Pens vs Detroit situation now: the Wings mow have the the cupboard stocked full of prospects, while Pittsburgh's doesn't even have a single player in the WJs, are worse than Detroit currently in terms of the standings, and have traded off every asset in hopes of what amounted to nothing. KH hasn't done that bad if you look at it that way.

I guess if you want to go for one criticism, it's that he made this team average instead of a contender. Likely true, but it could be worse.

 

[Dotter]

Didn't realize this was the deciding game whether the team makes the playoffs or not. I must have missed something

 

[WingedWheel1987]

To play devils advocate:

Last 2 times the Wings went to the SCFs it was against Pittsburgh. Look ant the Pens vs Detroit situation now: the Wings mow have the the cupboard stocked full of prospects, while Pittsburgh's doesn't even have a single player in the WJs, are worse than Detroit currently in terms of the standings, and have traded off every asset in hopes of what amounted to nothing. KH hasn't done that bad if you look at it that way.

I guess if you want to go for one criticism, it's that he made this team average instead of a contender. Likely true, but it could be worse.

Some might say being average is far worse than being bad.

 

[TheRatPoisoner]

Some might say being average is far worse than being bad.

And that could well be true. Too late now though. For the time being, I'm all aboard the "let's see how this experiment pans out" train.

 

[redwingsphan]

Post-game audio: Coach Blashill, Zetterberg, Howard & Smith.

To listen click here.

Thanks for this. I think they nailed it. Couple bad plays early, but a pretty even game. 4 goals on 14 shots will bury a team. The jets hit the corners a couple of times, and jimmy needs to save at least one of those. Move on and play better. There are a **** ton of games to play.

 

[Flowah]

3 games 4 nights. Glendenning has the flew "bad" according to Ken Daniels. That probably means the entire team is sick. Missing 2 top 4 defenseman and our best PK guy.

They get a pass on this road trip.

They better be sick. They've been late to every 50/50 puck the past 2 games.

 

[evolutionbaby]

Was at this game. Wings looked sluggish right from the get go. Jets had some flurries but really didnt do that much. Wings coughed up the puck a lot and were weak on the stick quite a bit. Jets made it difficult for the Wings to get a good look.

-Kindl played a TON!
-I thought Tatar played with a lot of heart. Jurco was also trying to get something going but it just isnt working for him right now.
-Barely noticed Larkin
-Hank and Z just arent the players they once were and while they still do more good than bad, that hurt the team A LOT more than they used to. Very slow and it shows

 

[SpookyTsuki]

How did your lines work out there Blashill?

Game by game, I am disliking this coach more and more. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to be able to see that these lines are bad. Yet every time I check, we have Datsyuk with Helm and Richards.

I will not watch another game until the lines are changed, I've been calling for this for 2 weeks now, yet every single game, Datsyuk-Helm-Richards.

It seems rather evident to me that blashill was a product of his environment in GR. Those teams were good based on the players, not because of this guy. These lines were stale 2 weeks ago, now it's jure purely comical when I check the lines after the morning skate, and every time......Datsyuk-Helm-Richards.

Figure it out.

Goodnight. Rant over.

That's how most coaches are. He isn't bowman and never will be bowman turning lashoff into lidstrom

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Howie will end the season with a .800 something save% lol

 

[Red Stanley]

Pulled from two straight games. 7 goals allowed on 20 shots. $5.3 million per year. If that's what you find impressive then you are in for a treat.

Please provide the link to anyone saying this stretch has been impressive and excuse me while I don't hold my breath while you do.
Yeah, when the entire team plays like crap, goals will go in. It's easy to blame it all on the goalies.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Please provide the link to anyone saying this stretch has been impressive and excuse me while I don't hold my breath while you do.
Yeah, when the entire team plays like crap, goals will go in. It's easy to blame it all on the goalies.

It doesn't matter if the team is bad you still have to stop shots. Ryan Miller Dom hasek. And more but I'll research that later if U want

 

[Red Stanley]

It doesn't matter if the team is bad you still have to stop shots. Ryan Miller Dom hasek. And more but I'll research that later if U want

Yeah, it matters very much if the team is bad. This game could've easily been an even bigger blow-out, if not for some big saves in that disastrous first period. Anyone can get lit up when their team plays like crap and allows a ton of quality scoring chances. I don't know why I have to keep pointing out this simple fact, when it should be common hockey sense.

 

[Zetterbergs Beard]

I benched Mrazek on my fantasy team the last two games Howard played and he put up great stats (edit: about .959 sv% and 0.83 GAA over 72 minutes). I guess now it's actually a good play to start Mrazek, expecting Howard to get blown up and pulled? Look on the bright side.

 

[The Zermanator]

Was at this game. Wings looked sluggish right from the get go. Jets had some flurries but really didnt do that much. Wings coughed up the puck a lot and were weak on the stick quite a bit. Jets made it difficult for the Wings to get a good look.

-Kindl played a TON!
-I thought Tatar played with a lot of heart. Jurco was also trying to get something going but it just isnt working for him right now.
-Barely noticed Larkin
-Hank and Z just arent the players they once were and while they still do more good than bad, that hurt the team A LOT more than they used to. Very slow and it shows

Was at the game too, agree with a lot of this. Kindl is very noticeable on the ice in the worst way possible. Either annoyed with him for flubbing some play, or worried he's going to gift a scoring chance to the other team. And as others have mentioned, he avoids contact like the plague.

Larkin was mostly invisible tonight, and he's appeared more rookie-like lately compared to his first 25 or so games. Not really worried about him, though. I think he's probably getting covered more, he just needs to adapt to playing with more attention on him.

Datsyuk is still a great player, but he's being saddled with too much for his age. He shouldn't be burdened with carrying lines anymore.

Oh well, going to both Griffins games against the Moose next week. Hopefully Mantha and Co. give a better show. Although that's setting the bar pretty low after tonight.

 

[Henkka]

Superb discussion after a loss. Absolute intelligence in here.

Losing Ericsson and Quincey at same time really hurts this team a lot. And these guys won't get nothing but hate when they play.

 

[odin1981]

Superb discussion after a loss. Absolute intelligence in here.

Losing Ericsson and Quincey at same time really hurts this team a lot. And these guys won't get nothing but hate when they play.

Sadly true. But it was a 3rd in 4 so a L was to be expected. Miller being out hurts too the pk has took a noticable dip with him and big rig out. Wish the goalies would have switched starting the past two games but oh well what are you gonna do?

Pulks being out hurts as well because it forces Helm to play with Dats unfortunately. At least then with pulks and richards on his line he gets a adequate shooter on his line then. But the helm-richards duo is a bit too much for pavs to overcome. Also unluckily we have both Tats and Nyquist cold atm so our third line which should be feasting on third pairing d-men isn't.

Sadly though I think there have been enough games to study about Larkin from a opposition standpoint. Cause the first line really depends on him to straw that drink. I also worry he might have caught the cold/flu bug as well possibly. It could just be him being a little rusty from the days off hopefully. Cause Z can't really create by himself any longer and abby while being a good net front player sucks balls at creating offense on his own as well.

 

[ap3x]

Thanks for this. I think they nailed it. Couple bad plays early, but a pretty even game. 4 goals on 14 shots will bury a team. The jets hit the corners a couple of times, and jimmy needs to save at least one of those. Move on and play better. There are a **** ton of games to play.

If you start the game off early with 6 minutes on PP and concede the first GA during the first big penalty, while being absolutely atrocious offensively, you don't really deserve to win. Yeah, they were better in the 2nd until Howie gave up that third goal. But it isn't much of an excuse anyways. When you're coming from that Minnie-game, being dominant like that throughout the next and outshoot the opponent, u gotta take advantage of that.

Most of our guys can't even score if their life depends on it. With as many PP opportunities you've to be much better. Just waiting for the same top 9 vs. the Pens all over again.
How about finally breaking them up instead of always wasting the first two periods and chasing a lead before doing so?

Pulks being out hurts as well because it forces Helm to play with Dats unfortunately. [...]

That's the excuse for going with that BS line every time? Come on.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Yeah, it matters very much if the team is bad. This game could've easily been an even bigger blow-out, if not for some big saves in that disastrous first period. Anyone can get lit up when their team plays like crap and allows a ton of quality scoring chances. I don't know why I have to keep pointing out this simple fact, when it should be common hockey sense.

You can keep pointing out this team is bad that still doesn't mean Howard can play like a junior goalie. Goalies can carry teams. Teams can carry goalies. Howard is in neither

 

[Pavels Dog]

Some might say being average is far worse than being bad.

Some might say that's an opinion held mostly by people who have never been fans of a truly bad team.

 

[8snake]

I'm trying to figure out the thought process for some of you who are upset with the lines. You guys are upset Helm is with Datstyk. Who would you put on his wing to replace Helm? Tatar? Ok. Then who plays with Sheahan? Put Hank and Pav back together? That Euro Twin magic is dead...neither Pav or Hank skate well enough to be effective together. Hank is 35, Pav is 37...they both aren't the players they used to be. It's over. Frankly, Hank needs Larkin and Pav needs Helm...and if it's not Helm it has to be someone with speed who can do some grunt work. We don't have the depth at forward to have two dominant scoring lines, hell even ONE for that matter. We have one dynamic player who's just a kid (Larkin), an aging star who can still show flashes (Pav) a couple good players, a few decent ones and the rest is mediocre. I've been very critical of Blashill, and IMO the team is playing better than they did earlier this season. However, this roster top to bottom isn't as good as some of you believe it is...and there are players on this roster who aren't as good as some of you think they are.

 

[Bench]

Some might say that's an opinion held mostly by people who have never been fans of a truly bad team.

If they are from Michigan and followed the Lions, they know the pain. They'll also know years of great draft picks don't guarantee much.

The Wings don't need to tank, but they do need to cut ties from players they don't feel have a future with the team. On that same token, take some chances with trades. Swapping out a guy like Kindl isn't going to solve much, but it at least makes a commitment to change and progress.

It's been discussed to death that people don't want Holland to go all Holmgren on us, but it would be nice if he proactively addressed the defense before the trade deadline with a veteran rental. The right move is hard to come by, I sympathize, but it's been years.

As for this game, the core younger players continue to be unable to do the heavy lifting alone. The big plays from Datsyuk and Zetterberg still come, with less regularity than previous years, and in that gap it's up to the new core to cement their place. And they do that... sometimes. Here and there. Enough to keep the team competitive in the standings but not enough to put them any higher. I maintain that this roster is still greatly in need of scoring help in the top 6. Another guy who can reliably be counted on to put the puck in the damn net.

 

[ap3x]

Recent Injuries considered, I'd go with:

13-71-14
21-40-17
8-15-26
83-41-43

or

8-40-14
13-71-17
21-15-26
83-41-43

 

[Bench]

However, this roster top to bottom isn't as good as some of you believe it is...and there are players on this roster who aren't as good as some of you think they are.

It's basically shuffling the same deck and hoping for a better draw. I'm with you, I don't think swapping out this or that player will suddenly create sustained offense and scoring. Particularly when most of the key players we've seen together for several seasons. We kind of know how most of the cogs fit together.

But lines are the easiest thing to change so they get brought up first. Easy to criticize when they don't work. Easy to call out when the coach changes them too quickly... or not quickly enough. There's merit, at times, but ultimately I think the issues are the cards we're playing with.