Special Teams

garry1221

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Mar 13, 2003
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Walled Lake, Mi
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It's obviously brutal but it will take more than a half dozen games to get anyone into hot water. Heck we are using guys like Cleary and Ericsson on our second PP unit. We've seen some good stuff as far as puck movement down low and it's nice having a guy like Brunner who will shoot the puck.

I think having Pavs and Z on separate PP units could help. Giving Smith consistent PP time should help. Getting White back should help. I'd like to see something like:

Fil-Pavs-Brunner
Kronwall-Eaves (right shot)

Bert-Z-Mule
Smith-Lashoff (has a good shot)

Once we get healthy White can slot onto the top PP unit in place of Eaves.

Giving it some thought, I have to say, I like this concept a lot. Thinking it out with the combo's you used, essentially could give the PP a different look with each unit. I say this because there's no net front presence on the first unit. That said, I doubt it happens, but this kind of thinking is what needs to happen if things don't start rolling.
 

Henkka

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
31,077
12,076
Tampere, Finland
Power-play is now 20% at home and 0% on the road.
Penalty-kill is now 93% at home and 55% on the road.

Crazy difference. There's nothing wrong at home, but we are just horrible on the road. Still, there's a team called Colorado Avalanche that is worse than us on the road. 0% PP and 53% PK.
 

14ari13

Registered User
Oct 19, 2006
14,028
1,164
Norway
Power-play is now 20% at home and 0% on the road.
Penalty-kill is now 93% at home and 55% on the road.

Crazy difference. There's nothing wrong at home, but we are just horrible on the road. Still, there's a team called Colorado Avalanche that is worse than us on the road. 0% PP and 53% PK.

I think we will have to wait 10 games into the season. But if I remember right our special units have struggled for a long time.
Bowman used to say special units have to be top 5.
 

TS Quint

I can see!
Sep 8, 2012
7,792
5,064
We don't have the personnel that you need on either units for them to be good.

For the PP... We have no one with a big shot on the point. We have a team full of playmakers that don't shoot. We have Franzen pretending to be Holmstrom, when he's really a big wimp. Then we have a powerplay unit with Dan Cleary and Justin Abdelkader on it. I mean c'mon are you kidding me? Those guys are absolutely no offensive threat at all.

Then on the PK. We have 5 offensive D. Our 1 defensive D has no mean streak and doesn't clear the crease even though he is huge. We don't have enough forwards/defensemen who are willing to block shots and get in shooting lanes.

How the current team is constructed I don't see how you could expect our special teams to be top 5 or 10 in PP or PK anymore.

When does Franzen ever shoot from the point? If he's shooting its a wrist shot from the slot which he can still contribute off the cycle while playing infront of the net.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpOzy68pwvo 20sec


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpOzy68pwvo

Both goals because Franzen is good infront of the net. We have 22 other players on this roster anyone of them can shoot. Not many can play infront of the net like Franzen.
 

Run the Jewels

Make Detroit Great Again
Jun 22, 2006
13,817
1,750
In the Garage
Power-play is now 20% at home and 0% on the road.
Penalty-kill is now 93% at home and 55% on the road.

Crazy difference. There's nothing wrong at home, but we are just horrible on the road. Still, there's a team called Colorado Avalanche that is worse than us on the road. 0% PP and 53% PK.

The Avs will do anything to keep the rivalry going. :sarcasm:
 

lilidk

Registered User
Mar 4, 2008
9,588
3,424
Edmonton #1 pp in the nhl, they use 2 pp units about 1 minute each. Red wings overplay same top players , we don't have competition between 2 units like Oilers do. I like to see
something like:
1 Franzen Zett Brunner
Kronwall White
2 Fillp Dats Bert
Ericcson Eaves
 

PullHard

Jul 18, 2007
28,377
2,452
Edmonton #1 pp in the nhl, they use 2 pp units about 1 minute each. Red wings overplay same top players , we don't have competition between 2 units like Oilers do. I like to see
something like:
1 Franzen Zett Brunner
Kronwall White
2 Fillp Dats Bert
Ericcson Eaves

Doubt Ericsson would ever get PP time over Quincey or Colaiacovo, but I like the idea of keeping two fairly balanced units going for a full, fresh 2 mins.
 

tfong

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Sep 29, 2008
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Doubt Ericsson would ever get PP time over Quincey or Colaiacovo, but I like the idea of keeping two fairly balanced units going for a full, fresh 2 mins.

I'd rather stack one PP line and just have the other one grind it out. When has a balanced PP ever been better than a stacked one?
 

PullHard

Jul 18, 2007
28,377
2,452
I'd rather stack one PP line and just have the other one grind it out. When has a balanced PP ever been better than a stacked one?

There were times during the last game when guys were out for a long time. I think I remember Brunner being on for over a minute, probably close to the full 2 mins. I'd have to watch again. I'd rather be able to switch it up and have a couple guys flying off the bench and crashing the net. We've seen how stagnant having Z, Dats and Kronwall pass it back and forth is. Would rather have Helm flying around the slot than watch those 3 work one side of the ice for 1:30 before a D breaks them up.
 

TheOtherOne

Registered User
Jan 2, 2010
8,265
5,257
According to my calculations, through the first 7 games, we've been on special teams (PP or PK) for 24.3% of the time.

Is that stupid? That seems stupid.
 

TheOtherOne

Registered User
Jan 2, 2010
8,265
5,257
I'm really thinking that our "special" teams is maybe the key reason we're doing so badly.

Our 5v5 for/against is 1.30. Chicago managed to finish 9 games without a single regulation loss having just slightly less at 1.27. So ES is not a big issue for us at all. Could be better, could be worse.

Over 9 games, we have spent 23% of the time on the "power" play or killing one. Almost a minute of every 4. I'm sorry but that seems incredibly stupid to me. I enjoy 5v5 hockey. I want more 5v5 hockey. But more importantly, the Red Wings have to figure out how to not be complete failures at anything other than 5v5 hockey. Of all the things you can nitpick about this team, that is the thing that is killing us the most.
 

Sadekuuro

Registered User
Aug 23, 2005
6,763
1,170
Cascadia
Oh, they've been "special" alright. Short-bus special.

I also agree with TheOtherOne, way too many chintzy penalties being called league-wide. These phony crackdowns are the pits (it would be a different story if they'd stick to their guns, but we all know they won't).
 

ProPAIN

I am the DANGER!
Nov 3, 2009
13,989
5
Paris
We lead the league now in SH goals allowed. Our special units suck big time.

I say it's personnel more than anything. Our 1st PP unit is still ok and have their moments. Our 2nd PP unit is downright awful. On top of that we put guys like Abdelkader and Cleary who can't play fluid tape-to-tape hockey and have no business being there. I'd give guys like Eaves and Tootoo a shot even. But don't break up the 1st PP unit, since that's the only thing we have going for us right now.

For the PK, it's just a lack of focus really. D and Z are doing their job, but they aren't clearing the zone with conviction. Forget the PK, they're taking too many silly penalties that kill momentum.
 

TheOtherOne

Registered User
Jan 2, 2010
8,265
5,257
DRW second in total PP time at 107:27 (Montreal just passed us for the lead).

There are two explanations for that. 1) Refs are giving us more time just so the league can make fun of us more when we fail more, or 2) Teams are being coached to play dirty against us because we can't take advantage of our PPs anyway.
 

joe89

#5
Apr 30, 2009
20,313
174
I'm still preaching we play our top guns for as close to the full PP length as possible. When bodies start to get healthy you can try two units again. Currently it's too much of a waste.
 

JPE123

Registered User
Jan 23, 2013
3,153
10
Oh, they've been "special" alright. Short-bus special.

I also agree with TheOtherOne, way too many chintzy penalties being called league-wide. These phony crackdowns are the pits (it would be a different story if they'd stick to their guns, but we all know they won't).

The interference calls are completely out of control
 

Brick Top

LANA!!!!!
Mar 2, 2012
1,847
0
Grand Rapids
Might be time to split D and Z to center the 2 units, move Brunner off the point and down low where his shot is effective, and get Nyquist on a unit. Hey, can't be worse than the present operation, right?
 

Winger98

Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
22,753
4,569
Cleveland
Might be time to split D and Z to center the 2 units, move Brunner off the point and down low where his shot is effective, and get Nyquist on a unit. Hey, can't be worse than the present operation, right?

Yeah, not a fan of Brunner on the point. He's right handed, I get why they want him there, but he's too weak along the boards and his shot is better from lower down.
 

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