The Airing of Grievances

[Bench]

AS IS TRADITION, WE SHALL AIR OUR GRIEVANCES THIS HOLIDAY OFF-SEASON!

In this thread, you're free to rant, complain, whine, and make jokes. This is the place to post when you want to blow off that steam or make a quip that doesn't quite fit into the topic of another thread.

For example!

I'm pretty annoyed if Kenny was going to go bargain bin hunting, why he didn't at least take a chance on Sam Gagner. Can you believe he's only going to be 27-years-old? He's already got 9 NHL seasons under his belt. But instead we get the likes of Ott and Miller as our depth veterans. Older, less productive, valued for their Toews-like intangibles. Too bad I value tangible scoring a little more with this current Wings roster which struggles to find the net.

So who else has a good rant?

Click to read more...

 

[Frk It]

Stop with the ****ing hoarding. Leave a spot or two that is actually available for kids to compete for every year. Unless you don't actually believe in the kids. Because your words say that you do, and then your actions say you don't.

Athanasiou deserves a spot on this team, and that should have been factored into the off-season plans.

Also, trade for a ****ing defenseman.

 

[HockeyinHD]

In under 2 days this thread will be indistinguishable from any other thread on the board which deals with any organizational decision.

 

[Bench]

In under 2 days this thread will be indistinguishable from any other thread on the board which deals with any organizational decision.

Good! That's the point. We're going to try to funnel the off-topic general complaints to here so other threads can remain more focused.

Holland has his hands in every part of the organization, so sometimes the lines are blurred, but overall I think we can all agree we don't want every thread spinning into the same handful of critiques. So here we are!

 

[Bench]

Stop with the ****ing hoarding. Leave a spot or two that is actually available for kids to compete for every year. Unless you don't actually believe in the kids. Because your words say that you do, and then your actions say you don't.

Athanasiou deserves a spot on this team, and that should have been factored into the off-season plans.

Also, trade for a ****ing defenseman.

I wasn't really on the AA hype train at first, but man, some of his plays were electric. The kind of speed and skill you rarely see in a call-up. Normally you just want a kid to look like he belongs and make smart plays, but AA came up and threw out several highlight plays.

And yet there seems to be zero room for a kid like that. If he can't do it, what hope is there for anyone else?

 

[J15]

**** you Holland. We essentially trade away Chychrun to move Datsyuk's cap-hit, blow that cap-hit on overpaid secondary pieces and less than two months later we're still in cap hell with no shot at contention but no clear path to a rebuild in the near future.

If Chychrun turns into a star, this off season haunts us for decades to come. This franchise desperately needed a player like Chychrun. The stars had to align perfectly for him to fall to us and they did, and we pass on it.

 

[Bench]

**** you Holland. We essentially trade away Chychrun to move Datsyuk's cap-hit, blow that cap-hit on overpaid secondary pieces and less than two months later we're still in cap hell with no shot at contention but no clear path to a rebuild in the near future.

If Chychrun turns into a star, this off season haunts us for decades to come. This franchise desperately needed a player like Chychrun. The stars had to align perfectly for him to fall to us and they did, and we pass on it.

This is one of those moves that is going to be defined so much by how Chychrun and Cholowski turn out. Oh, and don't forget Fabbro. Nashville jumped on him, despite their depth at the blueline.

I'm holding out hope the Wings made the right move passing both those guys, but it was hard not to feel a little defeated after the Stamkos daydreaming was over.

 

[Flowah]

I wasn't really on the AA hype train at first, but man, some of his plays were electric. The kind of speed and skill you rarely see in a call-up. Normally you just want a kid to look like he belongs and make smart plays, but AA came up and threw out several highlight plays.

And yet there seems to be zero room for a kid like that. If he can't do it, what hope is there for anyone else?

I think the team puts too much on draft position or something.

Larkin was great but he didn't show me something so far beyond AA during pre-season or even during the season that was like "Oh, for sure that's why he made it on the team to start and AA didn't."

Certainly Blash didn't indicate anything like that during interviews. We all assumed he thought AA wasn't defensive enough. Blash denied that.

So I'm left utterly confused as to how they make these decisions.

 

[HockeyinHD]

Good! That's the point. We're going to try to funnel the off-topic general complaints to here so other threads can remain more focused.

So a general thread *****ing about Holland to offset all the... other threads wherein Holland is also *****ed about, just about specific things, which always fall back to the same general *****es covered here?

 

[Frk It]

I think the team puts too much on draft position or something.

Larkin was great but he didn't show me something so far beyond AA during pre-season or even during the season that was like "Oh, for sure that's why he made it on the team to start and AA didn't."

Certainly Blash didn't indicate anything like that during interviews. We all assumed he thought AA wasn't defensive enough. Blash denied that.

So I'm left utterly confused as to how they make these decisions.

Devil's advocate here -- If true, explain Mrazek?

 

[jkutswings]

If wingers are allegedly in ample supply, and defensemen are allegedly in short supply, and the track record is to be able to continue to successfully draft wingers, and to continue to have difficulty in drafting defensemen...

Why on earth is it such a crime to ship out 2-3 wingers for a defenseman? Who cares if it's overpaying, if you have great odds on resupplying the outgoing commodity in relatively short order?

If I was dying for a great steak, and had more hamburgers than I knew what to do with, I'm ok with somebody asking for 3-4 hamburgers in exchange for one steak.

Mmm...steak.
Mmm...hamburgers.

 

[Bench]

So a general thread *****ing about Holland to offset all the... other threads wherein Holland is also *****ed about, just about specific things, which always fall back to the same general *****es covered here?

Not just Holland, but he's currently at less than 20% approval around here, so he's a prime rant target.

Like I said, the hope is that people, including myself, can vent in an area that's more lenient and then our topic threads remain more constructive. If you don't want to see the rants, skip the thread. An elegant solution for elegant people. The only venting not allowed is surrounding other members, because that's...

 

[Bench]

Devil's advocate here -- If true, explain Mrazek?

Mrazek hasn't really been gifted anything. He still hasn't had a full season as the locked in starter. Howard started the playoffs this year, ya know?

I'd be surprised if Mrazek got 60 starts this season, too.

 

[Frk It]

Mrazek hasn't really been gifted anything. He still hasn't had a full season as the locked in starter. Howard started the playoffs this year, ya know?

I'd be surprised if Mrazek got 60 starts this season, too.

For some reason was thinking Mrazek was younger than 24. Thought he was like 22.

Still made the Wings at a pretty accelerated pace for a 5th round pick.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

In under 2 days this thread will be indistinguishable from any other thread on the board which deals with any organizational decision.

Well when the organization makes the same awful decisions every year, it shouldn't surprise anyone.

 

[Winger98]

For some reason was thinking Mrazek was younger than 24. Thought he was like 22.

Still made the Wings at a pretty accelerated pace for a 5th round pick.

I think he can at least partially thank Gustavsson's total inability to stay healthy. MRazek ended up in Detroit ahead of time by default, and I get the feeling Holland just said to hell with it, and scrapped the whole "he needs to learn in GR" thing because of it.

 

[Bench]

I think he can at least partially thank Gustavsson's total inability to stay healthy. MRazek ended up in Detroit ahead of time by default, and I get the feeling Holland just said to hell with it, and scrapped the whole "he needs to learn in GR" thing because of it.

Also true, but we haven't quite seen the team put all their faith in him yet. Howard is still around. Howard still had a chance last season to split starts. Howard was called upon to start the most important games of the year.

I want a year where Mrazek is the go-to guy the entire season before we officially call it the Mrazek era. But man, that's going to be hard with Howard hanging around. He's going to get starts everytime things look dicey.

 

[Frk It]

Also true, but we haven't quite seen the team put all their faith in him yet. Howard is still around. Howard still had a chance last season to split starts. Howard was called upon to start the most important games of the year.

I want a year where Mrazek is the go-to guy the entire season before we officially call it the Mrazek era. But man, that's going to be hard with Howard hanging around. He's going to get starts everytime things look dicey.

Good point.

 

[Retire91]

**** you Holland. We essentially trade away Chychrun to move Datsyuk's cap-hit, blow that cap-hit on overpaid secondary pieces and less than two months later we're still in cap hell with no shot at contention but no clear path to a rebuild in the near future.

If Chychrun turns into a star, this off season haunts us for decades to come. This franchise desperately needed a player like Chychrun. The stars had to align perfectly for him to fall to us and they did, and we pass on it.

So much this. I was litterally angry when I read this headline and I usually don't get too emotional over the wings but this offseason I actually got sincerely angry lol.

There is still a chance the trade works out but then to spend the cap hit on secondary easily replaceable pieces was just This team is so screwed for 5-10 years by Holland's contracts and trades.

 

[Bench]

Good point.

It bothers me! Just give Mrazek the reins already to see if the kid can sink or swim the entire season. Howard is a lame duck backup goalie. It's over. So get your future goalie, now under a bridge contract, out there and see if he can stand on his head. If he does, you pay the man and feel good. If you doesn't, maybe you get him at a total discount because you didn't shelter him behind Jimmy "I'm still here" Howard.

End rant.

 

[Winger98]

I hate how we find the most boring way possible to play boring hockey. I get that we don't have the skill to play up-tempo possession hockey, but instead of at least going for some more size and physicality, we play an NHL equivalent of the prevent defense where we're just soft soft soft all over the place, while trying desperately to keep the puck out of the goal.

We're going to be a mediocre bubble team, that's fine for now, but do something that at least makes the games watchable on a consistent basis.

 

[Yzerman1919*]

The arena really, REALLY angers me. The sketches looked unreal, and now we get a white roof with a pizza guy with a big nose. And the name? Little Caesar's arena. Our mega million dollar arena and "luxury" downtown now is glorified by a pizza guy who sells $5 pizza. It's a $500+ million dollar oxymoron.

And Ken Holland. What a loser. Pass on what should have been our next most coveted defenseman to clear cap space. Then strikes out on Stamkos, and re-signs Darren Helm for almost $4 mil a year. And then on top of it does NOTHING for the defense. Unless you count overpaying/overterming Dekeyser.

I am fine with Ott. I am fine with Vanek. Low risk, low money deals. Neilson I am even fine with, he's a great player and with the contracts that get handed out now, so be it.

So all in all, Holland wasted cap space by overpaying home grown players with FA prices, passed on a coveted prospect, and did not trade to upgrade the D, all while blocking out more kids like AA and Mantha. Get out. This season feels like a re-run of last season already.

 

[Frk It]

It bothers me! Just give Mrazek the reins already to see if the kid can sink or swim the entire season. Howard is a lame duck backup goalie. It's over. So get your future goalie, now under a bridge contract, out there and see if he can stand on his head. If he does, you pay the man and feel good. If you doesn't, maybe you get him at a total discount because you didn't shelter him behind Jimmy "I'm still here" Howard.

End rant.

Holland is all about hedging his bets.

Two summers ago in the spring it was "I have 3 NHL defenseman in Grand Rapids". Then he left zero room for any to make the team. Even after Babcock publicly said Ouellet should be on the team.

He is entirely averse to risk in just about every way.

 

[Bench]

This team is so screwed for 5-10 years by Holland's contracts and trades.

I think 4 years is the magic screwed number.

Deals expiring at the end of the 2019 (year 3) season:
Nyquist (presumably keep)
Kronwall
Howard

Deals expiring at the end of the 2020 (year 4) season:
Franzen
Ericsson

End of 2021:
Zetterberg
Helm
Glendening

Removing Kronwall, Howard, Franzen, and Ericsson in 2019 and 2020 really opens up the roster. But it just depends what those spots are filled with, ya know?

 

[Yzerman1919*]

I hate how we find the most boring way possible to play boring hockey. I get that we don't have the skill to play up-tempo possession hockey, but instead of at least going for some more size and physicality, we play an NHL equivalent of the prevent defense where we're just soft soft soft all over the place, while trying desperately to keep the puck out of the goal.

We're going to be a mediocre bubble team, that's fine for now, but do something that at least makes the games watchable on a consistent basis.

Good point, I forgot to add that in. The team NEVER seems fired up. They seemed fired up for two playoff games against TB. Yay.

A bunch of softies who never seem to get a bit angry about getting beat. I hate it. No passion. So not only are they mediocre, they're boring too.

Thats why I don't get why people are mad about Steve Ott. He's getting paid almost nothing, he PKs, and is great on face-offs. He will hit, stir the pot, stick up for teammates. At least with him, Smith, Abby, Luke in the lineup, we have SOME sort of snarl to be entertained a bit or have someone rally the boys.

Remember when AA went out to start a fight?! Really?! The rookie 5-10 games in is the only one who wants to get at it getting beat by the Blue Jackets?!