Robbie Russo getting called up!

[lhsgolf19]

Chuck Pleiness‏ @wingsfrontman

The Wings will recall defenseman Robbie Russo from Grand Rapids to fill hole left by the injured Ryan Sproul.

Do work young fella... Show the future is now!

Click to read more...

 

[Chris 84]

good. gives him a chance to show what he can do. wouldnt have been pleased if lashoff had got the nod.

 

[Frk It]

Been a fan of his since we scooped him up from the Islanders, show us what you got bud.

Just a cool +54 in GR the last 2 years, haha

 

[Wood Stick]

Been a fan of us since we scooped him up from the Islanders, show us what you got bud.

Just a cool +54 in GR the last 2 years, haha

I still have no idea why the Islanders walked away from him. They lack puck movers.

I think he needs completely sheltered minutes. He's hit the next level in Grand Rapids this season, but he's still not day-to-day NHL ready. He deserves this call-up however. Ideally he gets some PP time. Good for him. We need to get a look now. He only has one year left in Grand Rapids. Generally we go through troubles in year one, breakout in year two with some games in the NHL, and then our guys come up in year 3 and are either too good to return, or we see the same old struggles.

Any word on James De Haas? When does his season end? Guessing Nathan Paetsch gets let go and Brian Lashoff captains Grand Rapids next season.

 

[Frk It]

I still have no idea why the Islanders walked away from him. They lack puck movers.

I think he needs completely sheltered minutes. He's hit the next level in Grand Rapids this season, but he's still not day-to-day NHL ready. He deserves this call-up however. Ideally he gets some PP time. Good for him. We need to get a look now. He only has one year left in Grand Rapids. Generally we go through troubles in year one, breakout in year two with some games in the NHL, and then our guys come up in year 3 and are either too good to return, or we see the same old struggles.

Any word on James De Haas? When does his season end? Guessing Nathan Paetsch gets let go and Brian Lashoff captains Grand Rapids next season.

Most of the defenseman already on Detroit need sheltered minutes, so he should fit right in

 

[Run the Jewels]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing how he does.

 

[Wood Stick]

Most of the defenseman already on Detroit need sheltered minutes, so he should fit right in

That's definitely fair.. but I'd use him more so in certain match-ups and on the PP. Similar to Ryan Sproul's role obviously. Nothing less, nothing more. Xavier Ouellet is looking good but continues to get burnt by skating. If he were a better skater we'd be so much better.

 

[Obe2kenobe]

Good, looking forward to see how he does. Hopefully he shines and fills one of the holes in our defense.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

I'm excited to see what he can do. Hope he gets a couple of games.

 

[Wood Stick]

I'm excited to see what he can do. Hope he gets a couple of games.

Sounds like a sprain in Ryan Sproul's knee. He should definitely get a few.

 

[cjm502]

Good for Russo, he has earned it.

That's definitely fair.. but I'd use him more so in certain match-ups and on the PP. Similar to Ryan Sproul's role obviously. Nothing less, nothing more. Xavier Ouellet is looking good but continues to get burnt by skating. If he were a better skater we'd be so much better.

I feel like XOs skating is not really that bad, he just gets caught flat footed very often.

 

[Leronziia]

De Haas will be playing quarter finals best of 3 this weekend.

 

[Retire91]

Best of luck Kiddo

 

[Wingsfan 4 life]

I'm guessing this was going to happen, whether Sproul got injured or not. Wings weren't going with just 6 Dmen the rest of the year.

 

[Winger98]

I feel like XOs skating is not really that bad, he just gets caught flat footed very often.

the guy is slow in a big way. The fact he doesn't get burned all game long is a testament to how smart he is and how well he reads the game. If he had Jensen's wheels he'd be able to eat 20+ minutes a night with ease.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Hopefully he produces

 

[Mount Suribachi]

I still have no idea why the Islanders walked away from him. They lack puck movers.

.

Because they had no roster spots and better players ahead of him. Islanders fans were quite philosophical about losing him, knowing he was still a pretty good player.

 

[Reddwit]

the guy is slow in a big way. The fact he doesn't get burned all game long is a testament to how smart he is and how well he reads the game. If he had Jensen's wheels he'd be able to eat 20+ minutes a night with ease.

He's not slow "in a big way." He's below average but not substantially so. And he's spent 30% of his games this season playing 20+ minutes a night as a rookie while looking very solid.

 

[Winger98]

He's not slow "in a big way." He's below average but not substantially so. And he's spent 30% of his games this season playing 20+ minutes a night as a rookie while looking very solid.

So, 70% of his games he's played under 20 minutes? And the guy is slow in a big way. Not slow to you or me but NHL slow? Yes, he's very slow.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

the guy is slow in a big way. The fact he doesn't get burned all game long is a testament to how smart he is and how well he reads the game. If he had Jensen's wheels he'd be able to eat 20+ minutes a night with ease.

If Ouellet had Jensen's skating our search for one of the two top pairing D-man would be over in my opinion. He has the best hockey IQ to come up in our system in a while. I think he will be a good second pairing guy, again I believe Ouellet is the better stay at home guy in the DeKeyser contest which is unfortunate since neither guy barring Ouellet skating finally improving (incredibly unlikely at this point) is a top pairing guy. The smarter and better player in three zones for me is Ouellet.

Hey McDavid is going to do that to a lot of guys. Actually honestly I had a bigger issue with Sproul not reading the play and getting in high gear to meet McDavid at the pass as he cuts across. Ouellet did the best he could in pushing him wide for as long as he did, Sproul's lazy reach wasn't great. They both played that poorly. Ouellet is the guy right next to him being beat so I get the blame, but you hope your D-partner reads what is transpiring better and makes a harder attempt on the play then what Sproul did trying to come across.

Russo will have a chance to show what he has. I question his skating somewhat at the NHL level so I am curious to see it. I think he is a good player, I am just not sure his weaponry transfers up a level, hopefully for us it does.

 

[Winger98]

If Ouellet had Jensen's skating our search for one of the two top pairing D-man would be over in my opinion. He has the best hockey IQ to come up in our system in a while. I think he will be a good second pairing guy, again I believe Ouellet is the better stay at home guy in the DeKeyser contest which is unfortunate since neither guy barring Ouellet skating finally improving (incredibly unlikely at this point) is a top pairing guy. The smarter and better player in three zones for me is Ouellet.

Hey McDavid is going to do that to a lot of guys. Actually honestly I had a bigger issue with Sproul not reading the play and getting in high gear to meet McDavid at the pass as he cuts across. Ouellet did the best he could in pushing him wide for as long as he did, Sproul's lazy reach wasn't great. They both played that poorly. Ouellet is the guy right next to him being beat so I get the blame, but you hope your D-partner reads what is transpiring better and makes a harder attempt on the play then what Sproul did trying to come across.

Russo will have a chance to show what he has. I question his skating somewhat at the NHL level so I am curious to see it. I think he is a good player, I am just not sure his weaponry transfers up a level, hopefully for us it does.

I've been very impressed with Ouellet's play this year. For how slow of a skater he is, to still be that effective, able to pinch, to close a gap and put the body in the neutral zone, etc. There has to be somewhere he could go over the summer to have someone take apart his skating a bit and try to rebuild it into something a bit better. I can't believe you're just screwed with whatever skating stride you happen to stumble upon. I don't think it even has to be a big improvement, just a bit of one.

I actually didn't get to see the McDavid goal, but it sounds like Sproul being Sproul. Love his physical tools, but it seems too often the gerbil is home but refusing to get on its wheel and run. He just doesn't think quickly enough out there.

I don't get to see many Griffins games, though I'm trying to change that. Russo doesn't stand out to me a lot. Hicketts does, but it might be because I keep expecting a wizard and a cat to show up and chase him back into his mushroom house at some point. I'm really looking past these guys towards Cholo, Hronek, and Saarijarvi (sp?).

 

[Mijatovic]

I actually didn't get to see the McDavid goal, but it sounds like Sproul being Sproul.

Had absolutely ZERO to do with Sproul. Sproul was in position skating backwards on the left side with Oulette on the right. Oulette didnt even remotely slow McDavid down as McDavid went outside Oulette then cut in. When Sproul realised that Oulette had done absolutely **** all, he spun around and trying to get back and cover McDavid.

If Sproul had moved early, all he would have done is left a completely open net rush by the other Oiler forwards.

 

[HIFE]

I've been very impressed with Ouellet's play this year. For how slow of a skater he is, to still be that effective, able to pinch, to close a gap and put the body in the neutral zone, etc. There has to be somewhere he could go over the summer to have someone take apart his skating a bit and try to rebuild it into something a bit better. I can't believe you're just screwed with whatever skating stride you happen to stumble upon. I don't think it even has to be a big improvement, just a bit of one...

I really agree with your evaluation of Ouellet. His skating is some of the worst in the NHL and much credit is deserved for his high IQ to make up for it. I see he's taking longer strides and using his arms to swing more than his first games this season but there's something physically wrong. I've speculated he has some impingement/disability in his hips and am positive it could be improved with specialists focusing on just flexibility and mobility. Physically therapy can do wonders transforming physical hang-ups.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Had absolutely ZERO to do with Sproul. Sproul was in position skating backwards on the left side with Oulette on the right. Oulette didnt even remotely slow McDavid down as McDavid went outside Oulette then cut in. When Sproul realised that Oulette had done absolutely **** all, he spun around and trying to get back and cover McDavid.

If Sproul had moved early, all he would have done is left a completely open net rush by the other Oiler forwards.

He realized that pretty slowly for an NHL D-man with a scouting report. McDavid is special though, even had Sproul made the correct read and been much stronger in his attempt than a one handed stick waive, the best player in the league likely still finishes that.

I just would like to see Sproul make those plays and he never really does. It is always the half a beat for him to realize what is happening, granted it used to be a full beat so he is improving there.

 

[Mijatovic]

So if Sproul goes early (before Oulette loses it), he leaves the slot completely devoid of defence which is a like a free pass to goal?

I dont know why anyone would blame Sproul for letting his other D man do the job he is supposed to do while he covers the middle of the ice appropriately.