Poll: Who/What do you blame for missing the playoffs?

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Our second pairing's inability to take any of the load off of Seider's shoulder is/was the bigger issue.

I mentioned it in the GDT but losing Walman in the homestretch really hurt the team. He was playing over 19 minutes a night. He was playing hurt during the losing streak and didn't play a game in the final two weeks of the season.

 

[FMichael]

Atrocious defense.

Awful forechecking.

Google Translate: Needs new coaching staff.

 

[Man Purse]

The guy who was 1st in D scoring shouldn't be in our top 6 either.

well... Petry is lowest in accumulated cap hit among the six "veteran" D at 2.32M

got to save somewhere to afford Mo and Lucas

 

[One Horse Town]

The Wings had exactly zero "no-shows" in their last three games vs. Washington, what turned out to be their three most important games of the season. You need to adjust your definition of a "no-show" if it includes outshooting a team 43-23. Wings also made a habit this year of showing up in the third period, leading the league with 11 comeback wins. They showed up late in the season in Florida, getting three points in two games most people thought they had no chance in. They showed up late in the season vs. Buffalo, shutting down the Thompson line in an otherwise blah but "must-win" game.

This was an inconsistent, mediocre team that had a number of piss-poor efforts, especially when Larkin was out. Every team in the league had no-show games over the course of the season. Focusing on a few as the cause of missing the playoffs is just cherry-picking to suit a narrative.

Yet 100% accurate.

 

[norrisnick]

well... Petry is lowest in accumulated cap hit among the six "veteran D at 2.32M

got to save somewhere to afford Mo and Lucas

That's what ELCs are for.

 

[Man Purse]

That's what ELCs are for.

well... ELC's are indeed an important cost savings.. and of coarse good ones like Ed (the prodigal son) are valuable assets

maybe there is a reason to pair him with a 13 year vet with 937 games

 

[heyfolks]

0-7, the Priority curse...... 1 point was all they needed. That's on the players.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Atrocious defense.

Awful forechecking.

More than awful forechecking I would highlight their inability to handle an opponent's aggressive forecheck.

Some of that is simply a lack of talent but part of it is the team's inability to adapt their zone exits to the forecheck and exploit it with counterattacks.

 

[norrisnick]

well... ELC's are indeed an important cost savings.. and of coarse good ones like Ed (the prodigal son) are valuable assets

maybe there is a reason to pair him with a 13 year vet with 937 games

Maybe, but not the reason you're probably thinking of. It'd be nice if the 13 year vet wasn't the one being carried by the rookie. Maybe acquire a less seasoned veteran that can share the load.

 

[Squirrel in the Hole]

1. Not beating Washington when they had the chance
2. Not coming out for blood in any game down the stretch except for the Buffalo game

We needed two Hail Mary's to beat the worse team in our conference in the biggest games of the year.

 

[sepster]

I'm going to take this opportunity to air this grievance of mine, but if the NHL got rid of the loser point system, Detroit and Washington would be in while the Islanders would be out.

Detroit had 41 regulation wins.
Washington had 40 regulation wins.
Islanders had 38 regulations wins.

But, because the Islanders lost 16 games in OT, they're in and Detroit is out.

As has been said, Detroit was in the driver's seat and they crashed the car, but I hate the loser point system with a passion. I've hated it since the moment the NHL introduced the Shootout. Once they determined a game will have a winner and a loser, the loser point system should have gone out the window. My bitch here, is more about the system in general than Detroit's particular situation this season.

 

[Squirrel in the Hole]

Love him or hate him, that was a helluva gamble. He had a chance, and he went for it. You really have to admire a coach that's not afraid to do that, we haven't had one of those in Detroit since Scotty Bowman. And, it was a matter of timing. I fully believe he doesn't pull the goalie if he knows the Wings have the loser point.

 

[wingerdinger]

I'm going to take this opportunity to air this grievance of mine, but if the NHL got rid of the loser point system, Detroit and Washington would be in while the Islanders would be out.

Detroit had 41 regulation wins.
Washington had 40 regulation wins.
Islanders had 38 regulations wins.

But, because the Islanders lost 16 games in OT, they're in and Detroit is out.

As has been said, Detroit was in the driver's seat and they crashed the car, but I hate the loser point system with a passion. I've hated it since the moment the NHL introduced the Shootout. Once they determined a game will have a winner and a loser, the loser point system should have gone out the window. My bitch here, is more about the system in general than Detroit's particular situation this season.

I think a better system thou it wouldnt help detroit in this scenerio would be create a soccer system 3 points for a regulation win two points for overtime/shootout win and one point for losing in ot/st

 

[Man Purse]

Maybe, but not the reason you're probably thinking of. It'd be nice if the 13 year vet wasn't the one being carried by the rookie. Maybe acquire a less seasoned veteran that can share the load.

 

[dalem177]

I went with goaltending. It's not fair or reasonable to blame one single leg of the chair, but Husso was bad then out, Reimer was bad then shelved, and so you had to rely on Lyon and it wore him out. All the other stuff was a factor to be sure, but with average goaltending throughout I think they're in.

IMO.

Still, a great run and I was very entertained by it. I expect even this exact same roster with a new goalie will do well next year.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I'm going to take this opportunity to air this grievance of mine, but if the NHL got rid of the loser point system, Detroit and Washington would be in while the Islanders would be out.

Detroit had 41 regulation wins.
Washington had 40 regulation wins.
Islanders had 38 regulations wins.

But, because the Islanders lost 16 games in OT, they're in and Detroit is out.

As has been said, Detroit was in the driver's seat and they crashed the car, but I hate the loser point system with a passion. I've hated it since the moment the NHL introduced the Shootout. Once they determined a game will have a winner and a loser, the loser point system should have gone out the window. My bitch here, is more about the system in general than Detroit's particular situation this season.

Honestly when you put it that way, it's a pretty good defense of why ROW should be the tiebreaker and not RW.

I had originally said regulation wins was ok because it values 5 on 5 hockey. But that's largely influenced by my hate for the loser point. But the league is already allowing playoff slots to be decided by hockey that isn't 5 on 5. A win is a win.

It sure looks odd when you check the standings and two teams with fewer wins make the playoffs over the Wings.

 

[raymond23]

It all comes down to Larkin’s two extended absences…

Yzerman for not supplying proper center depth (he really missed this at the deadline)

Lalonde for not finding creative solutions during that time

Copp/Veleno for being useless

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

View attachment 853772

This was one of the games Detroit pissed away. 2 points here and they make the postseason.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Even McCarty said we need more high end scoring. One of these prospects needs to be a hidden superstar. Like a Dats or a Z.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Even McCarty said we need more high end scoring. One of these prospects needs to be a hidden superstar. Like a Dats or a Z.

That would be great but focusing on scoring seems to really be missing the forest for the trees. Top 10 team in scoring. Defense and goaltending were much bigger problems. That said a two-way monster C like Z/Dats would improve all areas.

 

[DanielMarois]

As for the injuries excuses , the Caps were without two of their top 4 D in Sandin/Jensen for the last few remaining games and the Isles were without their top D in Dobson for the last few games.

 

[Pavels Dog]

This was one of the games Detroit pissed away. 2 points here and they make the postseason.

I’m real tired of this talk already. Most 3rd period comebacks in the league. So much cherrypicking losses without realizing this team pulled out a ton of crazy wins to even get this close.

 

[mjd1001]

For me its not too many veterans on the blue line. I think one of the most underrated things in being good is having vets on the blueline. Look at many of the top teams, look at vegas winning the cup last year...having guys back there with experience is vastly underrated.

12 losses in 15 games (most of the month of March)....and 9 losses in 11 games in December is what did them in. If you are a really good team, you MIGHT be able to go through one stretch like that, but 2 of them in the same season is too much to overcome. Now was there one person or one thing responsible for just having 2 bad runs? I'm not sure..

 

[mjd1001]

As for the injuries excuses , the Caps were without two of their top 4 D in Sandin/Jensen for the last few remaining games and the Isles were without their top D in Dobson for the last few games.

I don't like the injury excuse either. I think if you look at forum around the league, EVERY fanbase over-uses the injury excuse, or the 'refs are against us' excuse.

As you said, the Caps and Isles had injury issues. Yeah, Buffalo and NJ are/were 7 or more points back, but both of them had their key forwards ravaged by injuries for much of the year, especially New Jersey. When you lose Jack Hughes for 20 games or more, and also Timo Meier, Hischier, and your best D-man for almost the entire year (Dougie Hamilton), its easy for them to say they could have won a handful of more games...then you would have to be fighting them too.

I keep going back to those 2 stretches in December and March. They played like an entirely different team in them, it wasn't just a losing streak, it was way more than that and I still can't figure out why.

 

[StreetHawk]

Even McCarty said we need more high end scoring. One of these prospects needs to be a hidden superstar. Like a Dats or a Z.

But, that's not realistic. Can hope for that, but don't expect it.

Honestly, how good Detroit can be in the next couple of years probably depends on how well the Wings developed/drafted with those extra 2nds and 3rds in 2019 and 2020. They will be 22 and 23 this year.