Where did this Athanasiou go?

Redder Winger

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May 4, 2017
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Lays a huge hit on Peter Holland.

Game in, game out, Athanasiou appears to be less and less energized.
I don't know if that's AA's fault, Blashill's fault, both their fault or what... but whatever it is, we don't see any passion in his game lately.
 

dragonballgtz

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Jul 30, 2014
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Both of their fault. At times this season it looked like his hands were made of stone. Just unable to control the puck while trying to get going, granted it doesn't help when your teammates are passing the puck into your skates. He is playing more games as a center this season right? Maybe that is messing with him while trying to be responsible defensive wise. Honestly, who knows? At this point I rather try to trade him for a a pick or two since his role in Detroit's future plans doesn't seem so clear.
 

TatarTangle

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Sep 28, 2011
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Much like many of the prospects Red Wings fans hype, he isn't as good as they want him or think him to be. People just see him skate fast and automatically think elite. Don't see him ever being more than a 40-50 point player, which isn't a bad thing considering he was taken 110th.
 
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The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
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Playing on a bad team for a coach you clearly don't respect can do that to you. Not excusing his behavior, just think the reason why is pretty f'ing obvious.

But when it is not the first time that excuse has to have been used we might have a problem. I know it worked out for him in junior getting moved to Barrie but he had similar issues in the OHL.. At some point when you keep blaming everyone else chances are you're at least a major part of the problem yourself.

There is a enough smoke here guys/gals. I will be curious to see where it goes from here. I still think they attempt to move him this summer. If he does want out he is damaging his own options because at this point his return might not be worth it.
 

Hatter of the Beach

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Jun 26, 2017
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But when it is not the first time that excuse has to have been used we might have a problem. I know it worked out for him in junior getting moved to Barrie but he had similar issues in the OHL.. At some point when you keep blaming everyone else chances are you're at least a major part of the problem yourself.

There is a enough smoke here guys. I will be curious to see where it goes from here. I still think they attempt to move him this summer.

I never said it wasn't anyone's fault but Athanasiou's. Simply explaining why.
 

Flowah

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Nov 30, 2009
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Playing on a bad team for a coach you clearly don't respect can do that to you. Not excusing his behavior, just think the reason why is pretty f'ing obvious.
He's due for a contract.

Doesn't he want to get paid? Why isn't that enough motivation for a young, talented player. Or if he has any hopes of being traded off the team, it's easier to get traded if other teams actually want you.
 
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Redder Winger

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This team was so much more fun to watch when they played AA and Mantha together or AA and Larkin together and they rode them like horses.

Yeah, they made mistakes.
Yeah, they got burned. But they skated their asses off. And they dominated more than they were dominated.

It's a shame.

I watch Athanasiou these days and he skates the way I feel when I watch the Red Wings - like it's an exercise in futility.
But the thing is, that's his own career. That's his own salary. He's just setting himself up for another weak contract and he's wasting his own days in the top league in the world.

I wish he'd just go back to what he does. Skate.
f*** blashill and his "process" bullshit.

Play your game kid.
If that minor-league coach wants to rip you in the press, who cares? He's back coaching college hockey in a year anyway.
 
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Redder Winger

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He's due for a contract.

Doesn't he want to get paid? Why isn't that enough motivation for a young, talented player. Or if he has any hopes of being traded off the team, it's easier to get traded if other teams actually want you.

I think he's playing like someone who doesn't know what his job is.
 
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kliq

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Dec 17, 2017
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This is why I hate the lottery system in the NHL. In a perfect world, we fire Blashill and bring someone on board asap to better guide these kids. BUT, the last thing I think any of us want is another coach coming in here, playing the kids more, getting more out of them, and in the process rising us in the standings to say 7th last. I really hate this system.
 

TatarTangle

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I think he's playing like someone who doesn't know what his job is.
His job, according to managment, is to play a more complete game and give consistent effort.

You can't change a zebra's stripes and AA will always be a liability so it's too much to ask for on this team. If you can shelter him with elite talent on an elite team it wouldn't be as much of a deal. He'd still be a liability in their own end but it wouldn't be the end of the world with a competant defense.
 

NickH8

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Jul 3, 2015
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I still see potential in him, he could hit 50 points in his career, but I can't make excuses for his inconsistency. We've always known he'd be bad defensively, that's just the player he is, so you put him with defensively responsible line mates and let him become more responsible in time, that part of the process is going on right now. But what you do expect out of him is an energetic forecheck and offensive consistency.

This year he's brought very little of that.

I'm not on the "trade him" bandwagon yet, but his contract should be short term and his salary less than $3mil. He hasn't earned his big contract yet, so make him earn it.
 

Redder Winger

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This is why I hate the lottery system in the NHL. In a perfect world, we fire Blashill and bring someone on board asap to better guide these kids. BUT, the last thing I think any of us want is another coach coming in here, playing the kids more, getting more out of them, and in the process rising us in the standings to say 7th last. I really hate this system.

Next year.
We need Rasmussen to pan out as at least a top 6er.
We need one of Hronek or Cholo to be a top 4 guy.
We need to hit at least one homerun and one double in this draft.

And then we get a new coach for next season.
We probably still finish 20-24th or so for another 2 years (and get a couple more top 9-12 picks or so for our pain.)

I don't think we need to be in the basement for 5 years.

We might not be a cup contender, but I think we can be a youngish, up and coming team in the next 2-3 years.

But we need a coach willing to commit to the youth. Not running Zetterberg out there for the 3rd most 5 on 5 minutes in the NHL.
 

Redder Winger

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Redder... Are you Athanasiou himself? ;)

Hah. No, I don't have a unibrow.
Just a fan who hates watching us piss away another asset.

I think AA's comments about Blashill getting into the media really screwed AA over.

I've watched Mantha be lazy and make unbelievably costly errors all year long, yet he's playing 2 extra minutes a night.
 

Redder Winger

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You can't change a zebra's stripes and AA will always be a liability .

Yeesh.
Talk like this....
I sometimes wonder if people just started watching hockey a year ago.

I can list dozens of NHL forwards who started off as one-dimensional guys and who turned themselves into two-way guys.
 

Flowah

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Nov 30, 2009
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I never said he was a logical person either. Did you never pout in your early 20s?
I've never had millions of dollars on the line. Nonetheless, plenty of 20 year olds do their job even when getting paid pennies on the dollar compared to AA.

I think he's playing like someone who doesn't know what his job is.
Put the puck in the net. Prevent the puck from being put into your net. Even if he's unclear about his role on the team, it shouldn't have to be spelled out to a professional NHL player that he needs to give a more consistent work ethic.
 
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BinCookin

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Feb 15, 2012
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I think AA has all the talent in the world. I hope he can turn things around for himself.

I mean there are 4 examples on our team alone for "see we pay people extra for defensive work". If he noticed that, he and the coach might begin to agree. He becomes better, everyone likes him more, he makes more money... its win win win.
 

TatarTangle

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Sep 28, 2011
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Yeesh.
Talk like this....
I sometimes wonder if people just started watching hockey a year ago.

I can list dozens of NHL forwards who started off as one-dimensional guys and who turned themselves into two-way guys.
Yep, just last year. I still don't understand what offsides is :laugh:

And I'm sure all those guys had a much better work ethic and more high-end talent than AA. It just seems most everyone realizes that AA is dreadful in his own end, which is fine. He is not that type of player, and odds are he never will be. He's a transistion forward you spring, it's just that the Red Wings don't have one GD defenseman capable of doing that.

So I get why he'd be upset. He sucks at defense, he probably realizes that, in addition he has the coaching staff hounding him on it. And he likes to score but he doesn't have anyone that can get him a pass through the neutral zone. The high dump worked for maybe a handful of games earlier in the season, which is when he went on a tear. Once teams caught on and took that away though, well, we know what happened.
 

Redder Winger

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Yep, just last year. I still don't understand what offsides is :laugh:

And I'm sure all those guys had a much better work ethic and more high-end talent than AA. It just seems most everyone realizes that AA is dreadful in his own end, which is fine. He is not that type of player, and odds are he never will be. He's a transistion forward you spring, it's just that the Red Wings don't have one GD defenseman capable of doing that.

So I get why he'd be upset. He sucks at defense, he probably realizes that, in addition he has the coaching staff hounding him on it. And he likes to score but he doesn't have anyone that can get him a pass through the neutral zone. The high dump worked for maybe a handful of games earlier in the season, which is when he went on a tear. Once teams caught on and took that away though, well, we know what happened.

Because like most young wingers, he sucks at recognizing defensive situations.
I've seen him skate back and nullify scoring chances umpteen times this year.
He gets in trouble, like most NHL forwards who aren't defensive specialists, when teams start passing around the perimeter and getting the Wings running around.

And yeah, sometimes he doesn't do enough to get the puck out. And he doesn't do enough to tie guys up.
He also seems to let his point guy get away from him a little bit. Last night, for example, he drifted away from his point guy a little bit. The point guy starts sneaking in and gets the pass coming to him for a one-timer, and AA recognized it just in time to deflect the pass away. But he never should have gotten loose.


Tomas Tatar was a guy who was not trusted in his own zone. He wound up being a competent and responsible backchecker.

Frankly, I expect a guy like AA to improve defensively with time and experience. That's what young wingers do in the NHL. They get better after a couple hundred games.

But if AA isn't providing offense? Well, he's not going to get another couple hundred games without it.
 

Redder Winger

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May 4, 2017
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Put the puck in the net. Prevent the puck from being put into your net. Even if he's unclear about his role on the team, it shouldn't have to be spelled out to a professional NHL player that he needs to give a more consistent work ethic.

Clever.
You should be an NHL coach.
 

TatarTangle

Registered User
Sep 28, 2011
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Detroit
Because like most young wingers, he sucks at recognizing defensive situations.
I've seen him skate back and nullify scoring chances umpteen times this year.
He gets in trouble, like most NHL forwards who aren't defensive specialists, when teams start passing around the perimeter and getting the Wings running around.

And yeah, sometimes he doesn't do enough to get the puck out. And he doesn't do enough to tie guys up.
He also seems to let his point guy get away from him a little bit. Last night, for example, he drifted away from his point guy a little bit. The point guy starts sneaking in and gets the pass coming to him for a one-timer, and AA recognized it just in time to deflect the pass away. But he never should have gotten loose.


Tomas Tatar was a guy who was not trusted in his own zone. He wound up being a competent and responsible backchecker.

Frankly, I expect a guy like AA to improve defensively with time and experience. That's what young wingers do in the NHL. They get better after a couple hundred games.

But if AA isn't providing offense? Well, he's not going to get another couple hundred games without it.
Can't find anything I disagree with other than Tatar being a competant and responsible backchecker. If we use that loosely, I'll agree. He's at least greatly improved. I do think that's a fair comparable for AA and if he got to that he'd be leaned on a ton more.

Just sucks that at a couple hundred games a lot of the "kids" on the Wings puts them in the 25 age range which in the general scale of a forwards "prime"years is the tail end of it. I think a player's true prime is relative though.
 

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