Our Team Identity

[The Zermanator]

I'm actually coming around on Blashill and wouldn't mind him getting a 2 or so yr extension. He's grinded away with a bad roster for years and done about as good as anyone could have been expected to. I think he's earned a shot to see what he can do with an improving roster with some skill and speed on it.

Exception would be if someone like Quenneville was a real possibility, then you have to jump on that.

 

[Oddbob]

Does Blashill get any credit here? Is he molding the players into what they are becoming?

NO! His decision making is just plain weird most of the time. Why are any of Glendening, Kronwall, Dekeyser seeing ice time in OT, or when we need a goal late in the game. They should be stapled to the bench in those times.

 

[Oddbob]

What? Shanny was the catalyst for the change. 62 wins and can't make a Cup final to back to back champions. And frankly, you would have been insane to NOT rely on skill with the roster the late 90s Wings had. That being said... it wasn't relying too much on skill that would kill the Wings. It was running into a hot goalie and age. The Wings had a bunch of slow skaters. They had a couple burners like Fedorov... but so many of those really good players they had were cerebral guys or guys who had about a million miles of tread taken off their tires.

I mean, hell, the "best team ever" in 2001-2002 would have lost to Vancouver if not for Dan Cloutier blowing an easy center ice shot from Lidstrom and Yzerman playing out of his mind on one leg.

The Wings right now have fast skaters who are hard working and resilient. That's it. They're not overly skilled (most of their goals are of the grind and pray variety). They have guys who are physically big, but they're not overly physical. They can hold up against strong teams in regular season play, but if they were to play Boston in a best of seven, they'd get mauled.

We have our currently developing team identity because it is what unskilled teams do to hang on against teams with more talent than them. And really, all of the positive that you're seeing right now? It's because Jimmy Howard is playing fantastic hockey right now. Boston? That was a win cause Howard stood on his head. 2 goals on 40 shots. Building your team identity on what they are doing right now is putting the foundation of your team on sand. The goalie play slips up at all, they're sunk. One of their play drivers (AA or Larkin) goes down with any kind of injury, they're sunk. Mike Green goes down with an injury, they're sunk.

There is no gaurentee that we lose without that goal, we easily could have turned it around without that goal going in. Not saying it didn't help, but it was not a forgone conclusion or anything.

 

[JoesuffP]

I think Blashill has gotten better each year and management had a long term plan for him all along. Heading into the season The Wings were expected to be a bottom 5 team. Now there .500 and the young players are carrying them. Have to be happy with that. It’s all about taking steps forward and not stalling. Might not seem like a lot but the team trajectory is positive

 

[Lil Bert]

I don't like Blash's decision making at all. He's always prioritized vets in situations where kids could learn. While we're already bad let Cholo be introduced to the PK a little bit. He's not very good defensively so lets condition him a bit in a season where we aren't supposed to make the playoffs anyways. But no, Daley's out there for the entire two minutes?? He did the same stuff with Larkin a couple years ago by keeping him off of the power play. People learn from high pressure situations, Hronek's been introduced to the PK in GR and found his game being much less one dimensional like a Green prototype. Imean who actually agrees with Abby over Bert or Moose on the top line?

 

[KJoe88]

I think Lil Bert broke the thread...

 

[The Zermanator]

I don't like Blash's decision making at all. He's always prioritized vets in situations where kids could learn. While we're already bad let Cholo be introduced to the PK a little bit. He's not very good defensively so lets condition him a bit in a season where we aren't supposed to make the playoffs anyways. But no, Daley's out there for the entire two minutes?? He did the same stuff with Larkin a couple years ago by keeping him off of the power play. People learn from high pressure situations, Hronek's been introduced to the PK in GR and found his game being much less one dimensional like a Green prototype. Imean who actually agrees with Abby over Bert or Moose on the top line?

Yeah he's really ruined Larkin...

 

[TatarTangle]

I don't like Blash's decision making at all. He's always prioritized vets in situations where kids could learn. While we're already bad let Cholo be introduced to the PK a little bit. He's not very good defensively so lets condition him a bit in a season where we aren't supposed to make the playoffs anyways. But no, Daley's out there for the entire two minutes?? He did the same stuff with Larkin a couple years ago by keeping him off of the power play. People learn from high pressure situations, Hronek's been introduced to the PK in GR and found his game being much less one dimensional like a Green prototype. Imean who actually agrees with Abby over Bert or Moose on the top line?

Moose is too shy for the first line right now. When he gains 25 pounds and adds some grit in the corners by all means throw him on the first line. But he loses majority of puck battles in the corner. Quite frankly, he gets pushed around. Right now Moose is more like a calf. And you know what's not good for the first line? Turnovers.

Bertuzzi could play on the first line but his game is more suited for second or third because most of your first liners aren't gonna be coaxed into taking a penalty. Someone like McDavid or Crobsy would straight up laugh in Bertuzzi's face and say "who the f*** are you bud?"

At the end of the day Blashill's job is still to try and win hockey games. Should he put "kids" in more high pressure situations? Probably. Do I understand his line of thinking in most of his decisions? Yep, trying to win hockey games.

 

[Nut Upstrom]

As I said last October I think that they are trying to build a team with a combination of size, skill and character - a team that will be hard to play against and hopefully skilled enough to compete night in and night out. Add some elite talent to a team with that identity and you have a recipe for success. I'm not sure if we are there yet, but we are trending the right way.

 

[raymond23]

I'm actually coming around on Blashill and wouldn't mind him getting a 2 or so yr extension. He's grinded away with a bad roster for years and done about as good as anyone could have been expected to. I think he's earned a shot to see what he can do with an improving roster with some skill and speed on it.

Exception would be if someone like Quenneville was a real possibility, then you have to jump on that.

I agree.

My two concerns are that he constantly falls into the same bad habits the second things get difficult and his track record of developing defenseman since he joined the organization is, quite simply, horrible.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I agree.

My two concerns are that he constantly falls into the same bad habits the second things get difficult and his track record of developing defenseman since he joined the organization is, quite simply, horrible.

I mean, who have they had that was a legit good defenseman? You shouldn't be giving a guy chicken **** and then lambasting him for not being able to make chicken salad out of it. Or make a filet mignon and all you get is ****ing ground round. Now if Cholo and Hronek fall flat on their faces, I'll be with you on this. But frankly, Smith, DeKeyser, Ericsson, Jensen, Ouellet, Sproul? NONE of those guys has top pairing potential that was ruined. They're just mediocre to bad hockey players.

 

[masta8]

If there is an issue I have with Blash this year is probably his decision making after regulation and Tuesday was a prime example. No way AA/Larkin should not being shooting in the shootout over a guy like Vanek. I'm pretty sure he is 0/3 or 0/4 now and that trend looks like it will only continue considering he does the same move everytime (same with Nielsen too). Also, wasn't a fan of the 4 guys he put out in the 1 minute powerplay we had in OT against Tampa. Didn't see the point of having 2 D out of there when we could have used that logic late in the 3rd when we were holding a 1 goal lead! Plus Vanek should not have been out there over AA/Nyqvist or even a hot Nielsen that night imo.

 

[JoesuffP]

Yeah I think they want to be Winnipeg. They actually play like the Jets a bit too. Fast, North and South game and they don’t try to get too cute just throwing pucks at night. If this team was better at finishing chances they’d be legit. There’s a much better chance at becoming a contender that way than hoping to draft all-world skill

 

[Ezekial]

Hardest working team in the league.

 

[Henkka]

Hardest working team in the league.

Detroit Red Wings' Jeff Blashill: 'We are going to fight like hell'

Some guys joked for this article at the summer...

Still joking?

 

[KJoe88]

Hardest working team in the league.

Indeed

 

[JoesuffP]

I like how the contract situation is working out as well. With the Wings best player @ 6.1M for 5 years nobody is going to get paid more than that unless they are truly special

 

[Henkka]

I like how the contract situation is working out as well. With the Wings best player @ 6.1M for 5 years nobody is going to get paid more than that unless they are truly special

Yeah, I think soonest somebody could beat Larkin on salary could be 2019 1st round draftee after his ELC in 2022. Or Veleno, at same summer.

Maybe some outside prime UFA could get more, but nobody internal guy.

 

[Snuggs]

Yeah, I think soonest somebody could beat Larkin on salary could be 2019 1st round draftee after his ELC in 2022. Or Veleno, at same summer.

Maybe some outside prime UFA could get more, but nobody internal guy.

Yeah I agree with both points. Money looks good going forward, just need to bring in a major talent next to Larkin somehow. Going to be tough because every team is basically trying the samething, but with a Hughes selection an some free money in 2020/2021 Wings can get real good real quick I think.

* Idk what to think about the coach. I don't think Blashill is doing a bad job this year, really, he's got his guys prepared about every single night. Still don't love his lines or what he does with younger players like our defensemen but like I said maybe he's not interested in developing young talent long-term and for him, this is possibly an audition for a new team, or resigning, Idk. It was just odd imo the coaching staff didnt' want to bring up some young fella for an extended amount of time(1 month or so).

 

[newfy]

Despite our record, I’ve enjoyed watching this season more than any other post their last playoff run in 2013.

After years of being a Eurocentric finnese team, our forwards are suddenly very big, fast, and chippy. What they lack in talent of past itterations, they make up in entertainment value and heart.

We got something good building here boys, just a few more pieces away

A lot of people have been saying that getting grittier would help the team and a lot of people thought skill skill skill. Looks like the wings are winning a lot of the battles and working hard/playing gritty and its working. The entertainment value is much higher than its been as well. Once they get a little more talent in the line up like Hronek, Zadina, Veleno and a couple more draft picks theyre going to be awesome to watch. It is very similar to the jets situation, just need a bit more talent.

I agree.

My two concerns are that he constantly falls into the same bad habits the second things get difficult and his track record of developing defenseman since he joined the organization is, quite simply, horrible.

Everyones track record for developing dmen has been pretty bad the last 20 years in Detroit. I would say Cholowski and Hronek are looking like theyll be the best home grown D since Kronwall. Both of which are developed under Blashill.

I dont love Blashill by any stretch but I do think some are too hard on him. Hes been given absolute trash to work with for players

 

[raymond23]

Everyones track record for developing dmen has been pretty bad the last 20 years in Detroit. I would say Cholowski and Hronek are looking like theyll be the best home grown D since Kronwall. Both of which are developed under Blashill.

I dont love Blashill by any stretch but I do think some are too hard on him. Hes been given absolute trash to work with for players

Blashill hasn't developed Cholo and Hronek outside of camps and a couple months. And I dont give him a pass just because the rest of the organization has sucked as well.

Hoping I'm wrong, but what he has shown so far is not promising.

 

[newfy]

Blashill hasn't developed Cholo and Hronek outside of camps and a couple months. And I dont give him a pass just because the rest of the organization has sucked as well.

Hoping I'm wrong, but what he has shown so far is not promising.

Ok so who did he have to develop that he failed on? Are we going to count 7th round picks like Marchenko but not count actual high picks that hes been around?

 

[raymond23]

Ok so who did he have to develop that he failed on? Are we going to count 7th round picks like Marchenko but not count actual high picks that hes been around?

Ryan Sproul (CHL Defenseman of the Year). Xavier Ouellet (Two time first team all QMJHL).

Both came to GR and went absolutely nowhere. Now maybe that's not his fault, but it's the reality. Also a guy like DeKeyser who has regressed immensely since Blashill's first season.

Give him credit for Jensen though, who has turned out to be a good bottom pairing guy.

I'm not trying to attack the guy either... just looking at past results that leave me pretty wary.

 

[Flowah]

I don't like Blash's decision making at all. He's always prioritized vets in situations where kids could learn.

Overreliance on vets (and grinders) is the critique against basically every top tier coach. We complained about that with Babcock. Leafs fans bitched about Hyman for a long time. He's their Abdelkader. Let's not forget Abby in the top6 began under Babs. Same arguments against Quennville. Same arguments against Hitchcock.

This is what they do.

 

[newfy]

Ryan Sproul (CHL Defenseman of the Year). Xavier Ouellet (Two time first team all QMJHL).

Both came to GR and went absolutely nowhere. Now maybe that's not his fault, but it's the reality. Also a guy like DeKeyser who has regressed immensely since Blashill's first season.

Give him credit for Jensen though, who has turned out to be a good bottom pairing guy.

I'm not trying to attack the guy either... just looking at past results that leave me pretty wary.

And I see those 2 as late-ish second round picks. What are the odds either of those even have an NHL career? Dekeyser was developed by Blashill at WMU from an undrafted player to an NHLer but he was still an undrafted free agent that has become a legit NHLer. I dont think Dekeyser has necessarily regressed either, hes just been playing in a role higher than what hes suited for.

Not a lot of coaches can turn second round picks and undrafted free agents into NHLers (although Dekeyser is one). His only first round pick looks really good and his high second Hronek looks pretty good as well. I dont think the wings have drafted enough D to honestly evaluate his ability to develop D.