Lil Sebastian Cossa
Opinions are share are my own personal opinions.
- Jul 6, 2012
- 11,436
- 7,446
I'm reminded of 2012-13... the year after Lidstrom and Stuart left. Babcock had no choice but to use the kids like Nyquist and defensemen he hated, like Kindl and Smith.
And it was the last time the team looked good in the playoffs - even if Babcock tried his best to **** it up with Abby on line one.
I'm not saying Larkin/Mantha/Athanasiou/Bertuzzi/Hronek lead this team to game 7 of round two.
But I'm saying if you trust in these kids, there's a pretty good chance they lift you up.
The NHL is a young man's game these days.
Last year Mantha played 17:50 and AA played 16:58. Bertuzzi played 16:31.
I'd like to see all three guys over 18 next year.
Glendening needs to get out of the top 6.
Abdelkader out of the top nine.
Low-event hockey needs to be replaced with high-octane hockey.
?
12-13. Look at the leading scorers on the roster.
34 Datsyuk
32 Zetterberg
33 Franzen
32 Kronwall
That was not at all a team lead by young players. **** Gustav Nyquist had 6 points in 22 games.
Four of the top 5 playoff scorers?
Zetterberg, Franzen, Cleary, and Datsyuk
Brian Lashoff had more IT than Kindl in that playoffs.
If you wanted to use 13-14 as your example... that probably would make more sense as that was the season where Z and Datsyuk were gone and the Nyquist Explosion happened. It was also when Boston basically dropped their pants and duked right on the Wings chest. in the playoffs.
I mean, the underlying premise isn't completely wrong, as high-octane hockey could very well be the best choice for Detroit, but is it really any better if you're losing 6-5 than 2-1? I mean, The early 90s Wings were ALL high-octane hockey. And they didn't win a damn thing. Once they played more defensively than offensively they became a bona-fide force in the league. Hell, even with largely the same players. They should lighten the grip on the reins, but having a completely free-flowing, run and gun offense would be stupid. Larkin could score 125 points but if the result is his line giving up 25 more goals than he scores, it's not any damn good, is it?
And frankly, the Wings are NOW starting to get some guys who could play high octane hockey. They had Larkin, AA, Helm, etc. But the vast majority of their guys were kinda too slow for low-event hockey. So you were going to ask them to go double time?