SBNation.com User Blog: styks

We're coming into the homestretch -- Updated 4/26

styks — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:35:53 -0000

**I'm going to keep this updated...italics for correct picks, and ~~strikethrough for incorrect~~**

So let's look at the rest of the schedule for Detroit, Columbus, Dallas, Phoenix, and Minnesota:

Detroit (23-16-8,54p,21ROW)

@ Calgary - ~~should be a win~~

@ Vancouver - assume a loss, but might steal it

vs Phoenix - should be a win

~~vs Los Angeles - going to say OTL~~ WIN!!! WIN!!!! WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

vs Nashville - should be a win

@ Dallas - should be a win, we'll say in OT

Detroit will finish 24-16-8. 56 points. 22 ROW.

Columbus (23-17-7,53p,18ROW)

@ Colorado - overtime win

~~@ Anaheim - loss~~

@ Los Angeles - loss

~~@ San Jose - overtime loss~~

@ Dallas - win

vs Nashville - win

~~Columbus will finish 22-18-8. 52 points. 17 ROW.~~

Eliminated -- Dallas (22-21-4,48p,20ROW)

@ Chicago - loss

~~vs Vancouver - loss~~

@ St Louis - loss

@ Los Angeles - OTL

@ San Jose - OT win

vs Columbus - loss

vs Detroit - OTL

Dallas will finish 22-21-5. 49 points. 20 ROW

Eliminated -- Phoenix (20-18-8,48p,16ROW)

vs San Jose - ~~OTL~~

@ ~~St Louis - loss~~ OTL

~~@ Chicago - loss~~

@ Detroit - loss

vs San Jose - OT win

vs Colorado - win

@ Anaheim - loss

Phoenix will finish 20-23-8. 48 points. 17 ROW.

Minnesota (25-18-3,53p,21ROW)

@ Calgary - Win

@ Edmonton - OT win

@ San Jose - Loss

~~vs Calgary - Win~~

~~vs Los Angeles - OTL~~

vs Edmonton - OTL

@ Colorado - OT Win

~~Minnesota will finish 26-17-5. 57 points. 22 ROW.~~

I think of anyone, Dallas will steal an extra win somewhere, but they have the toughest schedule remaining. I like Detroit's chances of making the playoffs.

**I'm going to keep this updated...italics for correct picks, and ~~strikethrough for incorrect~~**

So let's look at the rest of the schedule for Detroit, Columbus, Dallas, Phoenix, and Minnesota:

Detroit (23-16-8,54p,21ROW)

@ Calgary - ~~should be a win~~

@ Vancouver - assume a loss, but might steal it

vs Phoenix - should be a win

~~vs Los Angeles - going to say OTL~~ WIN!!! WIN!!!! WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

vs Nashville - should be a win

@ Dallas - should be a win, we'll say in OT

Detroit will finish 24-16-8. 56 points. 22 ROW.

Columbus (23-17-7,53p,18ROW)

@ Colorado - overtime win

~~@ Anaheim - loss~~

@ Los Angeles - loss

~~@ San Jose - overtime loss~~

@ Dallas - win

vs Nashville - win

~~Columbus will finish 22-18-8. 52 points. 17 ROW.~~

Eliminated -- Dallas (22-21-4,48p,20ROW)

@ Chicago - loss

~~vs Vancouver - loss~~

@ St Louis - loss

@ Los Angeles - OTL

@ San Jose - OT win

vs Columbus - loss

vs Detroit - OTL

Dallas will finish 22-21-5. 49 points. 20 ROW

Eliminated -- Phoenix (20-18-8,48p,16ROW)

vs San Jose - ~~OTL~~

@ ~~St Louis - loss~~ OTL

~~@ Chicago - loss~~

@ Detroit - loss

vs San Jose - OT win

vs Colorado - win

@ Anaheim - loss

Phoenix will finish 20-23-8. 48 points. 17 ROW.

Minnesota (25-18-3,53p,21ROW)

@ Calgary - Win

@ Edmonton - OT win

@ San Jose - Loss

~~vs Calgary - Win~~

~~vs Los Angeles - OTL~~

vs Edmonton - OTL

@ Colorado - OT Win

~~Minnesota will finish 26-17-5. 57 points. 22 ROW.~~

I think of anyone, Dallas will steal an extra win somewhere, but they have the toughest schedule remaining. I like Detroit's chances of making the playoffs.

Let's play a math game: Winning 1 Cup in 6 years vs Being a low seed playoff team

styks — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:58:12 -0000

I saw a couple years ago a comprehensive analysis done that showed mathematically why a team would be better off being competitive year in and year out, even if they didn't win it all, rather than sucking for a number of years only to excel for one and win it all.

So I created my own scenario: Here!

My results were not surprising to me, but they might be to some of you. Here are my results:

Good every year for 6 years blew winning 1 championship out of the water. Over the course of 6 season, the good team grossed $71M than the tanking team. They also had over 750k more fans in attendance. The good team almost tripled the tanking team in merch sales and almost double in concession sales.

**This is just a model. In the initial design of it, I didn't know for certain that my hypothesis would be proven correct. I did not "fudge" the numbers to make it happen. I can't say for certain that this model could accurately represent a professional sports teams, nor does it take into account any expenses, it is just gross income on 3 major aspects of a franchise based on fan spending. Another category of income is sponsorship which would be steady for a good team but in flux with a tanking team.

So I created my own scenario: Here!

My results were not surprising to me, but they might be to some of you. Here are my results:

Sheahan Called up

styks — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 21:55:56 -0000

Sheahan Called up

Riley Sheahan might get his chance to prove he's ready for the NHL level next season. Might mean Zetterberg is out again...

Believe in the Core -- The Future of the Forwards

styks — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:48:41 -0000

I wrote a piece last week of what our defensive core would look like next year and the year after with (and without) the Danny Dekeyser signing. He was signed so, if Kindl is kept this offseason, we're in good shape to have consistency on the blue line. A valuable asset that should help for years to come. But I didn't address the forwards (or the money). I'll address both in this.

To start, the free agents:

UFAs

Valterri Filppula

Danny Cleary

Drew Miller

Damien Brunner

Francis Pare (GR)

RFAs

Gustav Nyquist

Joakim Andersson

Jan Mursak (GR)

Nyquist and Andersson are locks to be resigned.

Mursak will likely be retained even though he isn't waiver exempt anymore. Pare is a Mursak clone. RH shot, but small at 5'10, 190. He piles on the points in GR, but hasn't been able to make it up to the Wings. Unless there's a depth issue, I don't see them keeping both Mursak and Pare and neither are a lock to make the club.

Cleary will be given a pat on the back and good job, well done but no contract. He'll get an appreciation day if he doesn't sign with anyone else.

Miller is a probably more simple than some might think. He's been a valuable PK'r for 2 years now. This season he's had a chance to play on the top line for a couple games. He's shown some amount of top 6 skill, but is really better suited to play bottom 6 where he can be more dominant. Here's the problem with Miller: He made $825k and $850k the last two season. He's due a raise. A substantial raise. In the $1-2M/year range. But as a LH shot PK expert with little upside and almost 30 years old, the Red Wings have more than enough depth to fill that role. Eaves, Emmerton, Helm, Abdelkader, and Andersson are all younger than he is and fully capable of providing similar scoring numbers and killing penalties.

Brunner is another simple solution. Sign him unless someone offers him an ungodly amount. Anything $3M and below. He's young still and shows enough ability to be able to play at this level. Yes, he's had a drop off, but this is his first season in the league and didn't have a training camp. He needs to learn to pace himself and a new shot, but his skill is there. No reason to let it walk if the price remains reasonable.

Which bring us to Filppula. In my current plan, he walks. He's a 2nd line LW and a 3rd line C with a strong defensive prowess and capable playmaking. But he still lacks the killer instinct. He can't finish another team off, he can't put the team on his back, he can't be "the guy." He made $3.5M the last 3 years. That's a fair value for him, especially since the cap is coming down. Rumor has that he's asking for $5M, but that could just to be for leverage in negotiations, not what he's actually expecting to get paid. If he was willing to take less than $4.5M, I'd strongly consider bringing him back. If he was willing to take $4M, I would probably sign him in a heartbeat.

So that's the Red Wings free agent forwards.

As for additions of UFAs in the offseason, if Filppula takes more money elsewhere and my other theories are applied, that would leave us with the following:

LW - C - RW

Nyquist - Zetterberg - ????

Franzen - Dastyuk - Brunner

Tatar - Andersson - Helm

Abdelkader - Emmerton - Tootoo

Eaves - Bertuzzi (IR)

You'll notice I'm missing someone. I do believe Samuelsson will be bought out. With this latest injury, I don't think Holland and Babcock are happy with him. I don't think Bertuzzi will be bought out but I do think he'll continue to struggle with his back (he has for the last 3 years) and will spend time on the IR making his money and then retiring.

So that leaves an empty spot on the top line next to Zetterberg. An empty RW spot. And I don't think Brunner is the right guy for the job. But there's an UFA who made $5.5M this year ($4M cap hit). He's 27 with a RH shot and at 6'2, 215 will provide plenty of size to help protect Zetterberg and Nyquist. His name....Nathan Horton. He's not a huge PP guy but Tatar could take his role on the PP. His concussion problem seems to be behind him. He's only missed 1 game this year. Going into this year, he's averaged 47.5 points per season.

I'd love to see Holland pursue Horton this off season. I'm hoping that he could be signed on a 5 year deal that would have a cap hit around $5.2M per year. And yes, that means I'd pay him more than I'd pay Filppula.

FORWARDS
Gustav Nyquist ($1.100m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) /Nathan Horton ($5.200m)

Johan Franzen ($3.955m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Damien Brunner ($2.250m)

Tomas Tatar ($0.840m) / Joakim Andersson ($1.500m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m)

Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m)

Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m)

DEFENSEMEN
Brendan Smith ($1.900m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m)
Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Brian Lashoff ($0.725m)
Jakub Kindl ($1.200m) / Kyle Quincey ($3.775m)
Danny DeKeyser ($1.350m) / Carlo Colaiacovo ($2.500m)
GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard ($3.500m)
Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m)
OTHER
Buyout: Mikael Samuelsson ($0.000m)

SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,711,212; BONUSES: $1,010,000
CAP SPACE (24-man roster): $3,598,788

As for the future, after next season Datsyuk, Bertuzzi, and Eaves are UFA and Emmerton is a RFA (along with a couple of GR forwards). So by signing everyone I said for next season, Datsyuk is the only big re-signing the following season. Emmerton is likely to get a new contract as an RFA unless one of the young studs is ready. Eaves and Bertuzzi are allowed to walk.

The core is there. 5 years from now with the core still intact, all the praise Shero is getting right now will be heaped on the Red Wings FO once again for them having been contenders repeatedly and rebuilding on the fly with only 1 "down" season in which they still have an opportunity to make the playoffs. Even if Horton isn't signed, there are options out there. Yes, it could be Samuelsson. It's not my favorite idea. I don't think right now it's Babcock's favorite idea. But who knows what a real offseason can do for some of these guys. Regardless if you like my roster suggestions, I'll leave you with a final thought:

I believe in the core and I think you should too.

To start, the free agents:

UFAs

Valterri Filppula

Danny Cleary

Drew Miller

Damien Brunner

Francis Pare (GR)

RFAs

Gustav Nyquist

Joakim Andersson

Jan Mursak (GR)

Nyquist and Andersson are locks to be resigned.

Cleary will be given a pat on the back and good job, well done but no contract. He'll get an appreciation day if he doesn't sign with anyone else.

So that's the Red Wings free agent forwards.

As for additions of UFAs in the offseason, if Filppula takes more money elsewhere and my other theories are applied, that would leave us with the following:

LW - C - RW

Nyquist - Zetterberg - ????

Franzen - Dastyuk - Brunner

Tatar - Andersson - Helm

Abdelkader - Emmerton - Tootoo

Eaves - Bertuzzi (IR)

FORWARDS
Gustav Nyquist ($1.100m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) /Nathan Horton ($5.200m)

Johan Franzen ($3.955m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Damien Brunner ($2.250m)

Tomas Tatar ($0.840m) / Joakim Andersson ($1.500m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m)

Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m)

Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m)

SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,711,212; BONUSES: $1,010,000
CAP SPACE (24-man roster): $3,598,788

I believe in the core and I think you should too.

The Defense of the Future!!!

styks — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:45:06 -0000

I've been wanting to write this piece for a while, but I haven't thought it all out, until now with all the Dan DeKeyser talk.

The Red Wings currently have 9 defensemen signed through the end of the season. Five of them are signed past this season. Only 2, Lashoff and Kronwall, are signed past next season. At the end of this season the following will be free agents (type notated):

White - UFA

Huskins - UFA

Smith - RFA

Kindl - RFA

Smith is a virtual lock to be re-signed. Kindl is much more likely to be re-signed with his play as of late, or so we might think. White and Huskins are almost certainly gone. None of the prospects in GR will be ready next fall. This includes Nicastro, Almqvist, Billins (who doesn't have an NHL contract), Sproul, or Ouellet. While they all show promise, it is clear they're all still lacking necessary tools to make the leap.

So for the '13-'14, we have 6 defensemen locked. Kronwall, Ericsson, Colaiacovo, Lashoff, Quincey, and Smith. Which brings us to Kindl. He's proven that he can be an excellent offensive defensemen and he's finally starting to use his frame more. When he first came up, he was skinny, but he's put on some weight and muscle and isn't thrown around nearly as often by the power forwards in the league. He's keeping his head up and getting more shots on goal rather than high and wide like he used to. Is he going to be a Norris candidate in the future? Highly doubtful, regardless of their love for the offensive numbers. But he's showing that he could easily be a 3/4 pairing defenseman that gets 8-13 goals and 28-35 assists if he were to get 20+ ATOI. But that's in the future and only plausible, not certain.

But while Kindl is starting to prove his value, Dan Dekeyser now steps into the picture. At 23, Dekeyser is already more seasoned than Kindl was at 23. He doesn't project yet to have the offensive upside that Kindl has, but he's already more stout and ready to play with the Wings. He's not smooth yet and has to adjust to a new type and speed of game. But at 23, Kindl played 3 games (0 points) with the Wings. Dekeyser could very well play 10 or 15 if he signed today. Dekeyser could cost Kindl a spot with the Red Wings going forward. Let's take a look at it:

13-14

1 Kronwall - Ericsson

2 Smith - Quincey

3 Lashoff/Dekeyser/Kindl - Colaiacovo

S Lashoff/Dekeyser/Kindl

So if Dekeyser is signed, one of the 3 of Lashoff, Dekeyser, or Kindl sits in the Leino Lounge and one of Dekeyser or Lashoff goes to GR. Dekeyser is likely to sign where he's promised to play and it's not beneficial to Kindl to re-sign if he's going to sit. So that leaves Lashoff in GR (right after signing an extension) and Dekeyser on the bench. Two roles neither are going to be too happy about it. But there's hope.

First off, re-signing Kindl is important (regardless of what happens to Dekeyser_, maybe not for '13-'14 but definitely for '14-'15. So in '13-'14, having Lashoff annoyed by playing in GR is a calculated move. He's still young enough it won't kill him, plus he doesn't lose any money being there. Also, Colaiacovo will be on year 2 of a 2 year deal. His contract is movable and since he hasn't proven to be able to remain healthy, seeing him as a scratch consistently with Dekeyser shouldn't affect either of them too much. A low round (5-7) pick would be fine for him at the deadline.

But now on to '14-'15. After the '13-'14 season, Quincey, Ericsson, and Colaiacovo (if he lasts) will all be UFAs. In GR, Nicastro, Fournier, and Almqvist will be RFAs. It shouldn't be hard to keep all 3 of the Griffins; bringing us back to the long term depth at defense that the Red Wings have. The 2014 UFA defensemen list is loaded (just to name a few, not ranking specific value): Letang, Bouwmeester, Pitkanen, Komisarek, Hjalmarsson, Greene, and Niskanen. But I would say that Ericsson will be the top target for the Red Wings to re-sign him again. Here's how I see our '14-'15 blue line:

If Dekeyser is signed

1 Kronwall - Ericsson

2 Smith - Dekeyser

3 Kindl - Lashoff

S Sproul, Ouellet, or Nicastro

If Dekeyser is not signed

1 Kronwall - Ericsson

2 Smith - Lashoff

3 Kindl - Sproul/Ouellet/Nicastro

S Sproul, Ouellet, or Nicastro

To wrap this all up, I don't believe Dekeyser is a mandatory sign for talent reasons, but his signing would absolutely help depth next year. Our defensive depth starting in '14-'15 is huge. One or two of those boys is bound to be traded for a veteran forward next year or the year after. Either way, Kindl is also a necessary re-sign and I'm glad he's an RFA rather than a UFA. As for contract value or length, I think Kindl should get a 3yr/$3.5-$4M (total, not per year) deal. Ericsson should get 4 or 5 yrs for $4.5M or $5M per year (AAV). While Quincey is another who has proven his worth more and more this season, I think he'll be the odd man out. He has a good all around game but doesn't do anything great. I think he'll get pushed out by Smith's skill and Lashoff's price. His FA year comes in a year after a number of extensions and in a year when there's a more important re-sign (Ericsson). If he re-signed on the cheap or if Ericsson took a hometown discount, then we'll have a very big log jam at the blue line, especially if Dekeyser is signed.

I've been wanting to write this piece for a while, but I haven't thought it all out, until now with all the Dan DeKeyser talk.

White - UFA

Huskins - UFA

Smith - RFA

Kindl - RFA

13-14

1 Kronwall - Ericsson

2 Smith - Quincey

3 Lashoff/Dekeyser/Kindl - Colaiacovo

S Lashoff/Dekeyser/Kindl

If Dekeyser is signed

1 Kronwall - Ericsson

2 Smith - Dekeyser

3 Kindl - Lashoff

S Sproul, Ouellet, or Nicastro

If Dekeyser is not signed

1 Kronwall - Ericsson

2 Smith - Lashoff

3 Kindl - Sproul/Ouellet/Nicastro

S Sproul, Ouellet, or Nicastro

Trades for Ian White

styks — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:58:41 -0000

With Colaiacovo coming back this coming weekend (assumed), I think it's time we cut Ian White loose. He wants to play, he deserves to play somewhere if not here.

So how about Florida?

Red Wings get:

Drew Shore or Peter Mueller

Mueller is a guy that may not excel as a Red Wing but has loads of talent. I think he's a little thin skinned and can be a whiner at times. But that was when he and Turris were together in Phoenix. I haven't heard a peep from him in Florida. He's a big guy (6'2 204) with good hands and can ride a scoring streak. Playing RW with a RH shot, he would do well on Datsyuk's line. He is an RFA after this year and only 24.

Shore is a young centerman but at 6'3 he needs to add to the 190 frame. He's also a RH shot which would play well with Datsyuk. He's on his EL contract until 15-16. He is currently 22.

Both have put up ok points but nothing substantial. Maybe a change of scenery would benefit them. I personally like the idea of Shore more than Mueller because of his age and size.

With Colaiacovo coming back this coming weekend (assumed), I think it's time we cut Ian White loose. He wants to play, he deserves to play somewhere if not here.

So how about Florida?

Red Wings get:

Drew Shore or Peter Mueller

Shore is a young centerman but at 6'3 he needs to add to the 190 frame. He's also a RH shot which would play well with Datsyuk. He's on his EL contract until 15-16. He is currently 22.

Both have put up ok points but nothing substantial. Maybe a change of scenery would benefit them. I personally like the idea of Shore more than Mueller because of his age and size.

Griffin's Tryouts

styks — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 21:52:10 -0000

Twice in the past 12 months the Red Wings have lost a key player to injury, and it took that injury to see how valuable they are to the lineup. Last year, Ericsson. This year, Franzen/Bertuzzi. I'm wondering if the same could be said of Cleary. If he missed substantial time, would we miss him just the same? Don't jump to you're vitriol hatred and say "No!" just because he's not showing up on the stat-sheet. Does he do enough other things on the ice to be a more valuable contributor to the lineup than Tatar, Nyquist, or anyone else.

With that being said, I have felt this year might go this way. No, I didn't have a premonition about the injuries, just the constant struggle. I didn't expect Kronwall to over night become an elite defensive leader and anchor the blue line. But I did expect his offensive numbers to be better.

With Franzen and Bertuzzi out, for who knows how long exactly (though rumor has it that Franzen will return soon)...I'd really like to see some of the bigger guys from Grand Rapids to come play a couple games here and there.

Callahan - 6' 200lbs (RH shot)

Sheahan - 6'2 212lbs

Parkes - 6'2 202lbs (RH shot)

Aubry - 6'4 208lbs

For example (now that Mursak is gone):

Filppula - Zetterberg - Brunner (RH)

Tatar - Datsyuk - Parkes (RH)

Abby - Andersson - Eaves (RH)

Miller - Emmerton - Tootoo (RH)

Callahan - 6' 200lbs (RH shot)

Sheahan - 6'2 212lbs

Parkes - 6'2 202lbs (RH shot)

Aubry - 6'4 208lbs

For example (now that Mursak is gone):

Filppula - Zetterberg - Brunner (RH)

Tatar - Datsyuk - Parkes (RH)

Abby - Andersson - Eaves (RH)

Miller - Emmerton - Tootoo (RH)

Does Pierre LeBrun even watch these games???

styks — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:10:58 -0000

Does Pierre LeBrun even watch these games???

who in their right mind would place Niklas Kronwall as a Norris Trophy Candidate at this point of the season? jeez....

#1 Defenseman

styks — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:04:30 -0000

As most on WIIM know, I am a big supporter of Jonathan Ericsson. Last year, he took major strides towards being recognized as the lock-down defender we all hoped for. This season he's continued last year's steps and is finally receiving broad spectrum recognition for being more valuable than some generic free agent. He isn't out of the woods yet, though. While on the ice, he can be a physical presence, has a long reach, and stand his ground by the net. He seems to me to be a bit injury prone. Despite his aptitude for freak injuries, it's quite clear, the Red Wings are a much better team with him on the ice than with him off. I would argue he is the #1 defenseman on this team.

So what about Kronwall? He wears the A, he's the veteran leader, he was considered a Captain Candidate. Yes, Kronwall is....a good defenseman. And I'm not saying Ericsson is the second coming of TPH. But at this current instance in time, Kronwall's game is leaving a lot to be desired. And that desire isn't even remotely comparing Kronwall's game to Nick Lidstrom's. I have no doubt that Kronwall is suffering from some extreme pressure, put on himself, of trying to fill the shoes of Lidstrom, Stuart, and Rafalski. The Wings went from a HOF led defense corp to a relatively-young veteran led defense corp with a number of young defensemen. Lidstrom was leading other veterans. Kronwall is leading young, unproven players. On top of that, his group has been decimated by injury. That's a lot of pressure on him. I can see that. But at the same time, his play on the ice, has not been crisp. Passes haven't been solid, shot selection is random at best (though it looked somewhat better at times last night), and his defense has been shaky. He's been beat more than just a couple of times by stretch passes, he's not knocking guys off the crease, he often caught chasing guys into the corner where another defenseman is (though that's in part to Ericsson being out and not having a consistent partner) and overall, it's just been very underwhelming play from him. We all want him to hit somebody with a Kron-WALL, but I fear those days are behind him. As the leader of the defense, he can't risk the match penalty or a suspension. Even if the hit is clean.

Don't get me wrong, Kronwall is the most important player on the blue line, but he's not the best defenseman on the team right now. Even down the road, I don't think he will ever be the best defender if Ericsson continues to make his stride. Kronwall has always been a good defender not a great one. But his offensive side really needs to get back to where it was 2 or 4 years ago.

When will the ship blow up?

styks — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 03:39:58 -0000

I've been thinking about this for a while. Ok, so maybe just the 6 days I spent on a mini-vacation with my wife and (now) 2 kids.

When will the Red Wings management finally decided to bite the bullet and throw the 'kids' in the fire? Tatar is reportedly upset with being in GR again. Nyquist, by most accounts, is ready. Not to mention Jurco, Pulkenin, Sheahan, etc. But what do we have instead? Ian White, Todd Bertuzzi, Dan Cleary, Mikael Samuelsson, etc.

The Red Wings aren't 'just any other team' in the league. There's a reason they're going for 22 straight seasons in the playoffs, they operate very differently from all the other teams. Everyone knows they operate differently.

Are the Wings really a Cup contender or just a Dark Horse? To me, I see them more as a dark horse. I don't see them as being a viable contender when they're asking Bertuzzi, Samuelsson, White, Cleary, and to a lesser extent, Ericsson and Colaiacovo to play roles more important than they would on a true contender. Ericsson should be a 4th defenseman, Colaicovo and White shouldn't be on the team together. Bert and Sammy should be done and Cleary should be a healthy scratch.

But management wants to 'see more' from the prospects in the AHL. We have 2 more years of Bert and Sammy. TWO MORE YEARS before their roster spots are occupied by legitimate future stars. When Hank and Pasha were up and coming, they played on lower lines with the likes of Shanny, Stevie, Lucky Luc, and Brett Hull powering the top lines. They had veterans like Drapes and McCarty to show them how to work hard for everything. But we don't have the star studded team anymore. We have 2 super star forwards and 1 all star defenseman. I know, there's a cap now that there wasn't before. But without the super stars of the past and the wiley veterans, it seems to me that it would be better to get these young kids as much time WITH the super stars as they possibly can. Nyquist already proved he can cut it.

I almost get a feeling like management is trying to hold on to loyal skaters so they can dump a whole load of players at once and blow the ship up. I don't feel like they need to do that.

I like the Datsyuk-Zetterberg line with Brunner. But Filppula proved last year that he's so much better on the wing than as a C. Jarnkrok and Sheahan aren't ready to be a C on the big club, but Andersson paired with Filppula and Franzen would bring him along quickly. Helm could bump up to line 2 for stretches to take some pressure off, but also adding a depth, veteran C who didn't play everyday would have been a better choice than Sammy. On line 3, I don't mind Bert and Cleary with Helm, but I'd rather kept just Cleary and Helm and added Nyquist or Tatar to that line. Tootoo isn't a bad signing, they need the fighter but not a 5'6 guy who tries to take on 6'5 guys and looks funny doing it (yes, I'm exaggerating). Abby isn't a bad LW or C, and pairing him with Miller and Eaves makes an interesting line. They can get more production from their 4th line than some teams could get from their 2nd. But that removes Tootoo.

I'm a dreamer. I know it, and if you've read any of my posts, you know I mix and match and mess with stuff. It's what I do. But I'd rather see more young guys getting playing time with Dats, Hank, and Kronner, even if it means we're the 8 seed in the West. It can't be that bad. The 8th seed just won the Stanley Cup!

I've been thinking about this for a while. Ok, so maybe just the 6 days I spent on a mini-vacation with my wife and (now) 2 kids.

I almost get a feeling like management is trying to hold on to loyal skaters so they can dump a whole load of players at once and blow the ship up. I don't feel like they need to do that.

What if...

styks — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 04:09:13 -0000

We signed Weber to a $12M / 1yr contract and we won the Cup....and then he left?

We lose 4 draft picks. But we won the cup. Worth it?

We signed Weber to a $12M / 1yr contract and we won the Cup....and then he left?

We lose 4 draft picks. But we won the cup. Worth it?

He leaves. Goes back to Nashville or some other un-HockeyTown. But we are the Stanley Cup Champions...again!

Nashville has our 4 first rd picks. (I'm trying to fill up the last 45 words....) But we have Lord Stanley's Cup. A new banner! We have bragging rights.

Vote! Leave a comment. Tell me how you feel!

Poll

Is it worth it to lose 4 draft picks to have Weber for 1 yr if we won the Stanley Cup?

Yes

22 votes

No

22 votes

44 votes | Poll has closed

Is Shea Weber worth four 1st rd picks?

styks — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:08:50 -0000

With Weber being an RFA, we all can pretty much agree that it will take more than $8.4M to sign him away from Nashville. In doing just that, if Nashville lets him walk, the team that signs him would surrender FOUR 1st round selections to Nashville. Is it worth it to the Red Wings to give up those 4 picks?

Lets look at the history...

Since 1990, the Wings have used 13 of their 23 1st rd picks. They've traded away they pick 10 times. Of those 10 picks (just assume for a second that the Red Wings would have taken the same player drafted), only 1 has had any sort of success, 2004's pick Mike Green. I'm not going to examine who was left on the table and drafted after those 10 picks we traded, because we can't focus on the hindsight of the entire draft.

Of those 23 picks, Keith Primeau, Martin LaPointe, Mike Green, Niklas Kronwall, and Jakub Kindl are the only ones with significant NHL playing time. Jiri Fischer's career was cut short, Brendan Smith hasn't been around long enough but shows all the signs of significant time, and Matt Puempel, Riley Sheahan, and Andrei Vasilevski are too recently drafted to really be factors. So that means that in the 20 drafts from 1990-2009, only 5 players have made it to the big time and been contributors to an NHL team.

The average draft position for the Wings since 1990 has been 23rd. Since 2003 it's been 25th. And since 2008 it's been 24th. If we take a 15 year period, 1994-2008, and examine how many all-stars came from the pick #20 through the end of the 3rd round. With the exception of 2003 which has 9 guys who have made the all star team at least once, no draft class has had more than 5. And from that, totaling them up, there were 18 1st rd all stars (again this only takes into account pick 20 and beyond), 14 2nd rd, and 13 3rd rd. That means that of the 987 picks made in those 15 years, only 45 turned into all stars. 4.56% for those of you keeping track at home. But that is for picks 20-90.

So the question remains, is Shea Weber, a bonafide All-World defenseman, worth more to the Red Wings, over the course of an estimated 10-12 year deal, than a chance at drafting an All-World player within the next 4 years?

I think I would take Weber if given the opportunity.

What's more important to address?

styks — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:23:46 -0000

With the UFAs left, it might be in the Red Wings best interest to address their offense this offseason and wait until next season to bring in a top tier defenseman. There are too many questions surrounding the remaining key defensemen. Rozsival, Spacek, Finger, Eaton, Kubina are all past their prime and mostly been overpaid. Colaiacovo has yet to play a full season. He's barely played over 60 games the past 4 years. Foster, Sauer, Jurcina, Huskins, Hannan are all bottom 3 defenseman. While they don't make huge mistakes, they're not going to be any better than Ian White is in their own zone but don't add the offense that White does.

Pickings are certainly slim. So how about this:

Forget about finding a top defenseman this year unless it is via trade. Sign a veteran stay at home defenseman to pair with Brendan Smith in the 3rd pair for a 1 year deal and readdress it next year. Next year's class of defenseman should be more promising. Among the list of possible UFAs are Mark Streit, Ryan Whitney, Alexander Edler, Tobias Enstrom, Ron Hainsey, Robyn Regher, Rob Scuderi, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and if he signs a 1 yr RFA, Shea Weber.

Here's our defense this year:

Kronwall - Ericsson

White - Quincey

Randy Jones - Smith

Kindl

Next year it could be:

Kronwall - Weber/Enstrom/Whitney

Streit/Vlasic - Ericsson

Hainsey/Jones/Scuderi - Smith

Sproul

So lets go out and get Semin, Nash, Doan, or Ryan to score in bunches this year. We're going to need it.

Rosterbation...because it feels so good!

styks — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:23:01 -0000

Open thread to post your rosters.

Please note the following:

Trades - Who is traded away for whom

FA Signings - How long of a contract

Open thread to post your rosters.

Please note the following:

Trades - Who is traded away for whom

FA Signings - How long of a contract

My Custom Lineup #1
FORWARDS
Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Shane Doan ($5.000m)
Gustav Nyquist ($0.875m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($3.000m)
Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Damien Brunner ($1.350m)
Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.500m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m)
Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Keith Yandle ($5.250m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m)
Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Brendan Smith ($0.875m)
Cam Barker ($4.000m) / Ian White ($2.875m)
Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) /
GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard ($2.250m)
Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $70,200,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,525,000; BONUSES: $462,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $8,675,000

Franzen, Miller, Cleary, and 4th Rd Pick for Yandle and 6th Rd Pick. Cam Barker, 1 yr / $4M. Shane Doan, 3 yrs / $15M. Justin Abdelkader, 4 yrs / $6M.

My Custom Lineup #2
FORWARDS
Gustav Nyquist ($0.875m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Bobby Ryan ($5.100m)
Tomas Tatar ($0.840m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($3.000m)
Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Damien Brunner ($1.350m)
Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.500m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m)
Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Drew Miller ($0.838m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m)
Pavel Kubina ($4.500m) / Luca Sbisa ($2.175m)
Ian White ($2.875m) / Brendan Smith ($0.875m)
Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) /
GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard ($2.250m)
Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $70,200,000; CAP PAYROLL: $56,552,500; BONUSES: $910,000
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $13,647,500

Franzen, Cleary, Mursak, and Filppula for Ryan, Sbisa, and 2nd Rd pick. Pavel Kubina, 1 yr / $4.5M. Justin Abdelkader, 4 yrs / $6M.

My Custom Lineup #3
FORWARDS
Rick Nash ($7.800m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($3.000m)
Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Shane Doan ($5.500m)
Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Damien Brunner ($1.350m)
Gustav Nyquist ($0.875m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.500m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m)
Drew Miller ($0.838m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m)
Kyle Quincey ($3.250m) / Ian White ($2.875m)
Jaroslav Spacek ($4.500m) / Brendan Smith ($0.875m)
Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) /
GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard ($2.250m)
Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $70,200,000; CAP PAYROLL: $67,412,500; BONUSES: $462,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $2,787,500

Franzen, Cleary, Eaves, Tatar, Mursak and 2nd Rd pick for Nash and 5th Rd pick. Shane Doan, 3 yrs / $16.5M. Jaroslav Spacek, 1 yr / $4.5M. Kyle Quincey, 2 yrs / $3.25M. Justin Abdelkader, 4 yrs / $6M.

Let the games begin!!!

Moving on as fast as we can

styks — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 17:04:05 -0000

Ok, so the All-American Boys screwed the All-American HockeyTown. That's ok, we don't need them. Why? Because we have Pavel "Dangle" Datsyuk and Nicklas "Hitman" Kronwall. But our lineup isn't complete. We need to make a few moves.

First and foremost, we need help on defense. Signing Quincey is almost a certainty now, even if we don't end up keeping him. Matt Carle will be the primary UFA defenseman target. With Suter getting $7.53M, I would expect no less than $6.5M for Carle and as much as $7.25M to be possible. $6.5M is acceptable, but $7.25M would be a tough pill to swallow. Sometimes its the hardest to swallow that is the one that is necessary. But if Carle is getting between $6.5M and $7.25M, Quincey isn't going to want to sign for less than $5M. And that is unacceptable. So If the Wings can't come to terms with him, I expect his rights to be traded. Florida has 5 defenseman already, but I'd like to see Franzen and Quincey moved for Kris Versteeg. Then sign Versteeg, to a 9 year / $49.5M deal. $5.5M cap hit.

Second, trade for Bobby Ryan. I would move Cleary, Miller, Mursak, and MacDonald. Combined they make $4.96M which is just over $500,000 less than Bobby Ryan. This move saves Anaheim money while giving them 3 NHL ready players with expiring contracts and a backup goalie. Cleary HAD a NTC, but it expired 30 days before the 2011-12 trade deadline. He is entirely moveable now. You can see it here.

Third, I would sign a depth defenseman. Someone to be a healthy scratch or play the third pairing with Ian White when Kindl is scratched. Cam Barker for example. I would be willing to overpay him so he'd only sign a 1 or 2 year contract without a no-trade clause.

Finally, I would resign Abdelkader to center the 4th line.

Here's your lineup (with notes):

CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER
My Custom Lineup
FORWARDS
Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Bobby Ryan ($5.100m)

Filppula would be extended. Bobby Ryan is a RH shot.
Kris Versteeg ($5.500m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($3.000m)

Samuelsson is a RH shot and since he's a sniper would play better with Datsyuk than Zetterberg.
Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Damien Brunner ($1.350m)

Bertuzzi would provide nice veteran presence for Helm and Brunner. He has soft hands to feed both of them as well as a big body to sit in front of the net. Brunner is a RH shot.
Gustav Nyquist ($0.875m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.200m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m)

I really wanted Nyquist to play with Datsyuk, but he should get 3rd line time with Helm and Brunner. Tootoo is a RH shot.
Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) /

Eaves won't be rushed back and should get some of Brunner (if he struggles) and Bertuzzi minutes.
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Carle ($6.750m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m)
Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Brendan Smith ($0.875m)

Kronwall will be a nice mentor for Smith. Both for finishing hits and normal play.
Ian White ($2.875m) / Cam Barker ($3.000m)
Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) /
GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard ($2.250m)
Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $70,200,000; CAP PAYROLL: $66,775,000; BONUSES: $462,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $3,425,000

Draft is over....now what?

styks — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 04:02:24 -0000

So Kendall Marshall is the pick for the Suns. An athletic floor general with excellent vision and well above average passing ability. While he's not a scoring machine, he's a high percentage shooter from the field. He needs to work on behind the arc and at the line.

But beyond Marshall, what to the Suns need to do?

Well, we know now, that another PG, not named Steve Nash is clearly not in their plans. Nash could return with Marshall on the roster, but even that seems less likely now. But it would be quite unlikely for Deron Williams, Goran Dragic, Kirk Hinrich, Raymond Felton, Jason Terry, Andre Miller, Chauncey Billups, Jameer Nelson, etc will be in a Suns uniform next season. Some of those we might be sad about. Most of the FA PGs, were glad they're not coming to Phoenix.

So the position clearly left in the open, the position that is transforming the NBA world, the position that every team is searching for is 'the explosive' wing-player. The Kevin Durant, the LeBron James, the Paul Pierce, the Luol Deng. (Don't read too hard into my examples as Luol Deng and Paul Pierce are clearly not in the same category as KD or LBJ). By the way....there's no one even close to being like them on the market this off season.

So as it sits, here is our roster (without QFO FAs)

PG - Telfair, Marshall

SG - Childress

SF - Dudley

PF - Frye, Morris, Warrick

C - Gortat

Adding Brooks really doesn't give us much. We shouldn't need the depth, though Telfair has never played a complete season. Lopez is a welcome returner as a bench/role player; but if someone else offered him more, let him go. I'd add Omer Asik or even Marcus Camby (if his price was in the $2-3M range) as a 3rd C behind Gortat and Frye if Lopez left.

So what we need is two SG/SF who can run the floor, rebound, shoot lights out, and play defense when there aren't any out there. Nick Batum is the closest you could get, but he's restricted. Gerald Wallace would be on the bigger size of the scale, but not necessarily ideal.

First off, I do think the Suns should try to resign Steve Nash and Grant Hill. Make them respectable offers. $9M for Nash, $6M for Hill. It's respectable, not a slap to the face. Nash can play the 2 from time to time since Marshall is bigger and can defend on ball. He would also get more nights off. Hill would be the 6 or 7 guy coming from the bench most of the time and get a spot start maybe once a week.

Second, sign Gerald Green (W, Nets). He's 26, was drafted in 2005. He played well for Boston in 06-07 but has struggled since he was traded (with others for Garnett). Last year he seemed to find his touch again averaging almost 13 ppg in 31 games. He has size at 6'8 and is a great leaper (he won the 07 Slam Dunk Contest) but he is also a decent midrange shooter and average from behind the arc. He shot 48% from the field and 39% on 3s. He's about 80% at the line for his career. He needs to do some work on the boards, but is even on his A/T ratio. He moves well and can run the court for monster dunks, he'd be an above average signing who should be available in the $2-3M range since he only made $400k last year.

Finally, I would target a better reserve PF by moving Childress, Frye and/or Warrick (only if Lopez resigns does this work). Not all three have to move in the same deal, but I would try to move them in separate deals or with a third team to get cash, picks, or a SG who would rarely come off the bench but when he did, he'd nail open shots. Someone similar to Ray Allen, Jason Kapono, or Michael Redd. Obviously not those 3 since their FAs, but someone similar to them that would have an expiring contract. We'll use JJ Redick for this example. By moving 2 or 3 of the above mentioned Suns, then the FO can go and sign a Carl Landry, Jason Thompson, Louis Amundson type of FA. If they want to reach and sign Kris Humphries to be a starter instead of Morris, I'd be ok with that too. But someone who would get spot starts, provide some veteran presence behind Markieff, rebound well and have a decent low post game for when Gortat is resting. We'll use Thompson for this example, even though he's restricted.

Here's your new lineup:

PG - Nash

SG - Dudley

SF - Green

PF - Morris

C - Gortat

Bench - Marshall, Telfair, Redick, Hill, Childress, Thompson, Lopez

um...WHAT?!?!?!?!

styks — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:56:53 -0000

um...WHAT?!?!?!?!

Shanahan didn't make the hockey hall of fame first ballot??? wow...just wow...

Yandle on the market?

styks — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:23:27 -0000

Yandle on the market?

According to ESPN, the Red Wings are interested (who wouldn't be???), but why the hell would Phoenix move him a year after signing him????

Underrated Pitchers!

styks — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 22:07:16 -0000

Underrated Pitchers!

King Felix and Jason Vargas make the list of most underrated pitchers as voted by 293 major league players. 2 former Mariners were also named.

Defensemen

styks — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 07:13:39 -0000

There's been a large debate running on a number of different posts about Kyle Quincey and whether he should be retained. JJ has made some good points (like usual) about why he thinks Holland will keep him aboard. But as good as his points are, they don't completely satisfy our curiosity about the plan for the defense for next year and beyond. There are so many what-ifs, whys, and hows surrounding that part of the team. We all know that Jimmy is going to be in goal and we know that we have enough forwards under contract to field a team even if we don't know which line they'd be on. And while there are questions as to those lines, due to the retirement of a certain Captain Nicklas Lidstrom, the defense, which has been a solid and mostly stable group is in a greater flux (maybe we need a capacitor) than ever before. What really needs to be done????

Pairing #1 - Kronwall and Ericsson

It's hard to argue that Kronwall shouldn't be in the top pair. He's regarded as the leader of the defense with Lidstrom now gone. And if Suter is brought in, Kronwall is still the most knowledgable and veteran defenseman on the team. He's developed his defensive prowess and offensive prowess to match his hard hits and from that has earned respect in the Red Wings locker room and around the league as being more than a heavy hitter. JJ made mention in here that Suter and Kronwall are both accustomed to playing the same side. It is not likely that either one would make the switch. And frankly, I believe that is the correct move. I do not want to play them together. Since Jonathan Ericsson has apparently gotten past the wall he hit two years ago, I believe that he should be paired with Kronwall in pairing #1. He provides a big body to push guys around in front of the net, he learned to play more stay at home and not chase as much, and with his long reach can protect more space. Kronwall is an excellent skater and has more offensive upside, so by letting Ericsson play near the net, Kronwall can be the rover in the Red Wings zone and be a part of breakouts, jumping into offensive rushes, and push the puck up ice. He can still get those open ice hits and know that Ericsson can play responsibly and get back to prevent the open breakaways. By pairing them here, they then will be acclimated to playing together on the PK. If this pair plays as well as I think they should, Ericsson should be extended 2-4 more years. No more, no less.

Pairing #2 - Suter and ???

This pairing is a lot harder to figure out without FAs being signed. If Ryan Suter is signed, he's here. No doubt about it. If Matt Carle is signed, he is here. No doubt about it. If both are signed, they both are here, no doubt about it. But if we whiff on both, there's a lot of head-shaking and hand-wringing. Wideman and Jackman would probably play here too, but I don't feel they'd be the same. Any way you try to match it up, Suter is a "must have" for the second pairing. His size and skill demand his placement here. It would just be a matter of time to figure out who partners best with him. The good news in that is that I don't think it matters. Suter will make up for the mistakes made by his partner.

But will Suter be willing place his pride behind him and not be the 'top pairing' defenseman? He'll clearly be the #1 or #1A defenseman on the team, but he won't part of the best pair unless either he or Kronwall switch sides of the ice to play with each other. I think he's capable of playing on the second pair if asked to do so. Give it 3 years and Suter and Smith will be the top pair. Probably 2 years.

Pairing #3 - White and ???

Another set of question marks. Let's play a little 'what if.' If Quincey is resigned: I'd rather see Smith with Suter and Quincey with White. It would give Ian White a good sized partner on ice with him. If Carle is signed, he'll play with Suter and Smith will be with White. I don't really like the idea of Kindl and White. White really disappointed me. I really thought his signing was going to be a solid pickup even though he wouldn't actually replace Rafalski. Maybe it showed Rafalski's greatness rather than White's average-ness.

In the same posting as above, JJ mentions that Quincey will be resigned. I DO believe that Quincey will benefit greatly from training camp and preseason. But I worry that he won't get past his bad habits and dumb penalties. White had TC and Preseason with the Wings and he didn't amaze people at the end of the season. I also would like for Ouellett, Pyett, and Sproul to get as much TC and Preseason time as possible.

Either way, White and Quincey or White and Smith, it's a better pairing than most other teams have for their 3rd pair defensemen.

Healthy Scratch - Kindl

I'm not really going to get into this, but Kindl excelled in this role. He's a better player than his contract (not be much) and he's a better 7th defenseman than most teams have.

Contracts

Currently under contract we have Kronwall, Ericsson, White, Smith, and Kindl. Kronwall for 7, Ericsson for 2, and the rest for 1. Kindl and Smith will be RFAs.

First off, Smith will be extended.

Secondly, as I said before, if Ericsson and Kronwall excel together (which I believe they would), then Ericsson should be extend no less than 2 and no more than 4 years.

Third, Suter will be signed to a minimum 7 year deal. Probably 8 to put him at 35 when he hits the market again.

Fourth, White will be gone after next year. Unless he scores 20 and assists on 50 and wins the Norris, he's not coming back. Period. Too many others ready to take his place.

So with that in mind, if Quincey is resigned, how long should his contract be???? Let's assume Suter is signed and no one else on defense. So for '12-13 your D looks like this (based on my thoughts):

1/2 - Kronwall/Ericsson
3/4 - Suter/Smith
5/6 - White/Quincey
7 - Kindl

But for '13-14 if Quincey gets a 2 year deal and Ericsson is extended, then you have 1 roster spot available and 3 guys knocking on the door. That doesn't even begin to mention Justin Schultz who has been linked to the Red Wings.

So If I were in Holland's shoes...I would put Quincey on a 1 year contract. Let him walk after next year or if he is only playing so-so, move him at the deadline, insert Kindl with White and bring up Sproul or Ouellet to be the 7th defenseman. One of them should be ready to make the jump. The last thing I would do is keep Quincey over Ericsson. Between the two, Ericsson has already proven his value to the team this last year. He needs to do it again, but Quincey has a lot more to prove and will probably cost you a lot more for less talent. If someone makes a run for him this offseason, don't be afraid to let him go now.

I've cried my tears, I've wrung my hands, I've begged and pleaded

styks — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:31:55 -0000

but as much as I want to believe that doing those things will bring Lidstrom back next year, it won't. So it's time to move on to what should Kenny do and what our team is going to look like next year. Cap Geek is listing the salary cap at $70.3M for next year. That is more than enough to land both Suter and Parise. But it's also more than enough to land plenty of more pieces. So let's take a look at that after the jump:

Here's the roster I've created:

My Custom Lineup
FORWARDS
Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Zach Parise ($7.000m)
Gustav Nyquist ($0.875m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m)
Justin Abdelkader ($0.900m) / Darren Helm ($1.500m) / Drew Miller ($0.838m)
Danny Cleary ($2.800m) / Chris Kelly ($2.750m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m)
Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Ryan Suter ($6.500m)
Matt Carle ($5.000m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m)
Brendan Smith ($0.875m) / Ian White ($2.875m)
Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) /
GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard ($2.250m)
Tomas Vokoun ($1.500m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $70,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $68,092,045; BONUSES: $37,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $2,207,955

I'll address the defensive pairings first: If Lidstrom hadn't retired, the plan was still to go after Suter. So adding Suter is obvious. But with Lidstrom's salary being off the books, they can now also chase the second best UFA defenseman, Matt Carle. Pairing Kronwall with Suter is a no brainer. They'll shut down the top pair on any team in the league. Ericsson really came into is own this year of being able to play solid, consistent defense. Carle is a more than capable defenseman, but he has an offensive upside that if Ericsson can stay at home on defense and let Carle be an offensive force, they'll be a solid second pair. And finally, while Jeff may hate it, Brendan Smith on the 3rd pair with White makes sense. Smith can use the veteran presence of White and will hopefully learn both offensive roles and defensive positioning from White. I know White struggled at times this year, but he's better than he played and is a capable teacher. Kindl is the 7th defenseman like last year. Any way you mix up those 7, the Red Wings will be stacked in their own zone.

Now for Vokoun: They want someone to push MacDonald and Howard. Vokoun is just that. He's a veteran and capable of putting up good numbers and provide quality relief for Jimmah when necessary. It makes sense to chase Vokoun if he's willing to be a backup.

And for the forwards: As most of you who are active on here know, I think Parise should take Hudler's spot and that line should be the "top line." But I don't actually believe in a "top line." It's about pairings. Datsyuk has a pure scorer in Franzen. Adding Nyquist gives that line a second playmaker. Similar to what Filppula does for Zetterberg's line. So adding the pure scorer in Parise to the Zetterberg line makes sense in my book. On the 3rd line, I have Miller with Helm and Abdelkader. Ideally, I'd rather Mursak or Emmerton in Abby's spot and Eaves instead of Miller to create a speed line. But we don't know yet if Eaves is going to be ready at the start of the season. The reason I have Abby on the 3rd line is because I'd prefer the Wings pick up a tough guy C to put on the 4th line rather than a tough guy on the wing. Helm is the only lock on the 3rd line. All of the other 5 guys on 3/4 can be moved around at will. Which since we have the cap space, Chris Kelly is a logical choice. In this scenario, Mursak goes back down to Grand Rapids.

Any way you pick it, while it hurts to lose The Perfect Human, if cap geek is right and $70.3M is the new cap, we have a TON of cap space to work with and can get a new super star defenceman AND an allstar defenceman not to mention a scorer and a tough guy.

Parise vs Suter

styks — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:00:06 -0000

We all know that Parise and Suter are the top targets of the Red Wings this off season. But what if you could only get one of them? Which one is more valuable; a top flight, team leading winger or a shutdown, big body, 25+ minutes per night defenseman?

I don't think I need to detail all the pros and cons of each player, but forget about all the other of season issues. Forget Homer, Hudler, Abby, Helm, Quincey, and even Lidstrom for a minute. Which signing is more important to the Red Wings now and long term?

Poll

If you had to choose one, who would you choose?

Zach Parise

77 votes

Ryan Suter

88 votes

165 votes | Poll has closed

Looking beyond next year...

styks — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:34:52 -0000

Imagine with me if you will...which is more important to the Red Wings future, a top 12 defenseman or a top 25 goal scoring wing? If you look at the remaining teams in the West, all of them (except Nashville) allowed fewer goals per game than Detroit in the regular season and NONE of them average more goals per game. To me, that means we need to be stronger in our own zone and the neutral zone. Only Phoenix was worse on the PP and all of them were better on the PK. So adding a PP and PK defenceman seems to be the primary goal for the front office. I've added a chart after the jump that details the cap for the next 4 years:

The chart below breaks down the cap hits for the next 4years on the left and on the right has the lines for each year. I tried to keep between $800K and $2M of cap space for each season. Based on my belief that the immediate need is for Suter rather than Parise, I signed him. But I'm a big fan of going after Jordan Staal to C our 2nd line for '13-'14. There's a couple open spots (7th D in 13-14, 14-15, & 15-16; 4th line W in 14-15 & 15-16) that will need to be filled depending on FAs and GR play. Originally I had highlighted any signing I had made in a different color, but I don't know how to do that on here so I used italics instead.

Cap Hit

Last Name

'12-'13

'13-'14

'14-'15

'15-'16

Forwards

34.208

38.561

37.237

38.237

'12-'13

'13-'14

Datsyuk

6.7

Filppula

Zetterberg

Hudler

Zetterberg

Datsyuk

Franzen

Zetterberg

6.083333

6.08333

6.083333

Franzen

Datsyuk

Nyquist

Filppula

Staal

Nyquist

Franzen

3.954545

3.95455

3.954545

Eaves

Helm

Emmerton

Helm

Sheahan

Tatar

Filppula

4.5

4.75

Abdelkader

Konopka

Bertuzzi

Abdelkader

Andersson

Bertuzzi

Hudler

UFA

Scratch

Miller

Mursak

Scratch

Mursak

Emmerton

Cleary

retire

Bertuzzi

2.075

UFA

Suter

Kronwall

Suter

Kronwall

Holmstrom

retire

Lidstrom

Ericsson

Smith

Eaves

1.2

UFA

White

Smith

Kindl

Ouellet

Helm

1.5

Scratch

Kindl

Scratch

Sheahan

GR - .9

0.9

1.25

1.5

Nyquist

0.875

1.5

1.75

2.25

Howard

Miller

0.8375

UFA

MacDonald

Abdelkader

0.9

Emmerton

0.533333

0.53333

0.9

'14-'15

Tatar

GR - 0.84

0.84

1.2

Zetterberg

Datsyuk

Franzen

Filppula

Staal

Nyquist

Mursak

0.55

0.875

Filppula

Staal

Nyquist

Zetterberg

Datsyuk

Tatar

Andersson

GR - 0.857

1.2

Helm

Sheahan

Tatar

Helm

Sheahan

Franzen

Konopka

UFA

Abdelkader

Andersson

Abdelkader

Andersson

Staal

Pittsburgh

6.5

Scratch

Mursak

Emmerton

Scratch

Mursak

Emmerton

Defencemen

25.383

19.408

21.425

20.5

Lidstrom

retire

Suter

Kronwall

Suter

Kronwall

Stuart

UFA

Ericsson

Smith

Ericsson

Smith

Ericsson

3.25

Kindl

Ouellet

Kindl

Ouellet

Quincey

RFA

Scratch

Kronwall

4.75

Suter

6.75

Howard

Kindl

0.883333

0.88333

1.5

Mrazek

White

2.875

UFA

Smith

0.875

2.85

3.5

Ouellet

GR - 0.925

0.925

RFA

Goalies

2.8

5.6

Howard

2.25

Conklin

UFA

MacDonald

0.55

1.6

UFA

Mrazek

GR - 0.8

Total Cap Hit

62.392

63.569

64.668

64.737

Cap Limit

64.3

65.5

Cap Space

1.907

1.434

0.837

1.262

Obviously there's a lot of speculation here, but based on Red Wings promotion I think our chances are good. I know some people are down on Kindl, but I think he's a steal at $883K and could be had for under $2M after that. He'll be a solid 5th/6th pairing but I don't think he'll ever be more than that. So why not keep him. I'd let Hudler test the market. If he gets a good deal, let him go. I think we could get someone else for $4M or less to play with Hank and Flip. Helm will make a great W in a couple years when Sheahan is ready to be a full time C in the NHL. Yes, I bumped the Datsyuk/Zetterberg line down in '15-'16. They'll be slowing down by that time and not top line anymore.

I don't know of any team that has this kind of depth. We're in good shape inside our organization. If we get another diamond in the rough ala Datsyuk (6th rd) or Zetterberg (7th rd) or even Ericsson (9th rd) they could jump ahead of someone easily.

I don't know about you, but I like what I see.

Ideas, not Rosterbation

styks — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:14:27 -0000

I know we have a rosterbation post already, so I'm not trying to create that here. What I want to dialogue on this post is needs vs wants, dreams vs realities. Tell WHY someone should be signed, how long they should be signed, what their cap hit should be, why someone will be let go, or whatever you can think of that is similar to that. I'll start after the jump...

Idea #1: Most of you have seen my rosterbations. I've been 'critiqued' for having Cleary as a healthy scratch. Quite honestly, I don't think he will return. I know $2.8M is a lot of money (I don't know what he gets if he retires) and I quite positive that Holland won't buy him out. But if I was Kenny, I would have a nice sit down with Dan and find out if he will honestly be 100% come preseason. Not 100% by January, not 100% by the playoffs. Dan Cleary needs to be 100% by the end of the preseason, which means 95% by the start of preseason. I love everything Dan Cleary has done for this organization in his 7 years here, but I think he's not capable of being the Dan Cleary 06-07 or 07-08. He's never played a complete season for any of the clubs he's been with. With Draper, there was still a TON of things he did that others couldn't. He won faceoffs, played great defense, provided leadership. With Cleary, he is not a faceoff guru, and while he plays solid D and kills penalties (as did Draper), he's not considered a defensive specialist. He's a veteran and I'm sure he has the respect of younger guys like Filppula, Hudler, Helm, Abby, and Emmerton, but Draper wasn't just a veteran. He was a legend in that locker room. He had the respect of Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and dare I say Lidstrom. Dan Cleary does not provide the offensive ability to play on a top 2 line. With Helm centering the 3rd line, while Cleary provides leadership for that line, he doesn't possess the speed needed to stay with Eaves and Helm. On the 4th line, there's no grinding ability either that you get from Cleary to warrant his presence there. He finishes checks but he's not going to go run at people, pick fights, or other grinding necessities. I have a hard time seeing him fit on this roster anymore. Retiring would be honorable and respected. I believe he's earned a place in the organization. He'd be very fitting as a scout. ***side note: When Darren Helm loses his amazing speed, he's going to be no better than Dan Cleary, except for this faceoff ability. Neither of them are pure scorers, pure playmakers, pure anything. They're both talented in many different areas but not exceptional in any one***

Idea #2: Another thing you might have seen in my rosterbations, a true 'grinding' center for the 4th line. Someone with size, grit, and nastiness. I like the idea of a 4th line of Bert, Abby, and a cheaper, not quite as talented as Jordan Staal. If you think back, what was the most impressive thing about Draper, McCarty, and Maltby together? As much as they could mix it up and bash heads, they could shut down top lines with swarming pressure on the puck, blocking shots, smart hockey (no dumb penalties), hard hits, pinning against the boards and they could even surprise us with more than just a handful of goals. Draper won his faceoffs, they got the puck deep, they played the system right. The Red Wings can have that. Abby is a hard hitter who blocks shots and pressures the puck well. Bertuzzi will play that role if it's handed to him. He knows that he owes the Red Wings for taking multiple risks on him. He's shown he'll accept a grinding role. He's shown in the past that he can use that big frame of his to push a guy off the puck just as well as keep the puck away from a defender. Jordan Staal is way too talented (and unavailable) for the 4th line C position. But someone like him. Size, vision, ability to play with an edge, faceoff winner, solid defender, not afraid to mix it up. There aren't many guys out there that fit this mold anymore.

Idea #3: Nyquist and Franzen should play with Datsyuk and any scoring winger signed by the Red Wings should be on the Zetterberg line. First off, I think the Zetterberg line should be considered the top line. Not because Zetterberg is better than Dastyuk, I consider them both stars that do great things differently. But it was quite clear that Zetterberg and Filppula can carry a team much more easily than Datsyuk can by himself. Nyquist would benefit most from playing with Datsyuk. And I think vice-versa. Franzen does not play well with others. He's stated it and shown lack of motivation when he's been put on another line. If he isn't moved to another team, I would leave him with Datsyuk to try to get the most out of him. Datsyuk and Nyquist are both more than capable playmakers and Franzen is a pure scorer. I like that ratio. On the Zetterberg line, there are 2 playmakers in Filppula and Zetterberg, so adding a pure scorer in Parise, Semin, Doan, Jagr, David Jones, or P-A Parenteau would create that same ratio.

Idea #4: I really like pairing Helm with 2 quick wingers. Eaves and Miller, Eaves and Tatar, Eaves and Nyquist, Eaves and....? I believe Eaves will be ready to play next season and if I had to choose between Eaves and Miller, I would pick Eaves. He still has more upside to his game and I think is a more pure scorer. Having Helm and 2 speedsters allows them to stretch the defense and run the legs off another team trying to keep up with them. Forcing more changes, opening breakaways, drawing penalties.

So to break it down, my ideas are:

1. If Cleary isn't 100%, talk him into retirement.

2. Sign a 4th line C with grit and size.

3. Have the Zetterberg line be the top line and sign the winger for that line.

4. Have the 3rd line be a "speed" line more than anything else.

What ideas do you have?

Who will you root for now?

styks — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 17:58:52 -0000

St Louis and Nashville have moved on. Philly, Ottowa, Florida, LA, and Phoenix have 3 wins and could move on. Unfortunately, our beloved Red Wings are done for the year. But playoff hockey is still playoff hockey. So who are you rooting for and why?

For me, since I live in Phoenix, I'm rooting for the Coyotes. I may or may not go to a game. Depends entirely on whether I have the money or not to go to one. But they're my "second" team and I like seeing them do well (unless they're playing Detroit, then I hope they get crushed).

So who are you watching closely? Do you want Ovechkin? Crosby? Malkin? Hartnell? Giroux? Doan? Toews? Backes? Kopitar? Chara? Broduer? Weber?

Maybe it's specific players instead of a team that you want to see raise the cup....

Poll

Who do you want to see raise The Cup?

Nashville

8 votes

New York

9 votes

Philadelphia

13 votes

Washington

6 votes

Ottawa

12 votes

Vancouver

0 votes

Los Angeles

15 votes

St Louis

1 votes

Florida

3 votes

New Jersey

0 votes

Pittsburgh

0 votes

Boston

2 votes

Phoenix

5 votes

Chicago

0 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

Sleeping in the bed you make

styks — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 03:44:44 -0000

Let me preface this by saying that while I referee HS volleyball, HS volleyball is very different from NHL hockey. The refs have a tough job to do and I am not qualified to address the nuances of NHL refereeing. What I am qualified to address is a referee's consistency or lack there of as was the case tonight.

One of the main jobs of a volleyball official is to keep the game flow consistent and moving. In volleyball, referees have a number of "judgement" calls that can clearly swing momentum and its our job to maintain consistency in those calls so that the play on the court dictates that momentum. "Fans don't pay to come see us blow our whistle" was one of the first lessons I learned from a veteran official. I try not to penalize a better team by allowing a lesser team get away with faults that I don't let a better team get away with. So if it's a double contact by one team, the exact same play is going to be a double contact for the other team. But if you start the match by calling every little "judgement call" then you're either going to be blowing your whistle way too often or if you back off you're going to upset a coach who questions your judgement because you showed inconsistency.

The problem tonight was an extreme lack of consistency from the officials. Multiple times I saw Red Wings players going down because of Predators players sticks. (side note: I can't be partial in this because I don't watch Predators players fall, probably because they do too often) Yet no call was made. But then Hank went to the box for a much less egregious trip. Fast forward to Hudler's Dive, or lack there off. Hudler was clearly tripped, yet he was given a matching minor???? Makes no sense unless you're specifically trying to help a team.

It's way too inconsistent of officiating and while Shea Weber should be suspended a game for what he did to Hank, I also think this officiating crew needs to be replaced. If they can't reign in the whistle, then they need to at least maintain consistency and call every little thing. That will at least get them the training they so desperately need.

***Author's Edit***

With game 1 in the books for every matchup (except FLR/NJD) I thought I would total the penalty minutes by period for each matchup:

Det/Nash

1 - 6 penalties / 12 minutes 2 - 5/10 3 - 6/12 Total 17/34

PIT/PHI

1 - 0/0 2 - 2/4 3 - 2/4 OT - 0/0 Total 4/8

LA/VAN (including the boarding major and game misconduct)

1 - 6/12 2 - 5/21 3 - 2/4 Total 13/37

SNJ/STL

1 - 0/0 2 - 4/8 3 - 4/8 OT - 0/0 Total 8/16

BOS/WAS

1 - 2/6 2 - 4/8 3 - 1/2 OT - 0/0 Total - 7/16

NYR/OTT (including matching misconducts in the 3rd)

1 - 5/10 2 - 2/4 3 - 4/24 Total 11/38

PHX/CHI (game went to OT)

1 - 3/6 2 - 3/6 3 - 2/4 Total* - 8/16

So in 5 games refs handed out 68 penalties (64 minors) totalling 155 minutes (120 for minors). That averages to almost 13 minor penalties per game!!! That's crazy!! And who would have guessed that the PHI/PIT game 1 would have the fewest amount of penalties of the them all????

Wings ranks #1 in Playoff Power Meter!!

styks — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:33:38 -0000

Wings ranks #1 in Playoff Power Meter!!

Well HOT DAMN boys! Let's get'er done!

Want to know why I'm not worried?

styks — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:17:50 -0000

The Red Wings are 2nd in the Western Conference in goals scored. They're 3rd in the Conference in goals against. Only Vancouver has scored more. LA and St Louis have allowed fewer.

When this team is healthy, they can score at will and play solid shut down defense. There isn't a team in the Western Conference as dangerous as the Red Wings.

Nashville made some moves at the deadline but they haven't dominated and they have 6 remaining games against playoff teams including at Detroit, Chicago, and St Louis. They're still trying to figure out chemistry with the new parts. I think they added TOO many pieces.

Vancouver hasn't been able to close out the season strong. They're 4-4-2 in the last ten and while they have a relatively easy finish to the schedule, we all know that if you can rattle Luongo early, he'll kill his own team.

Chicago can't get Toews healthy and he's the battery to that team. Without him they are extremely streaky and very much a single line team. They only pose a real threat on the PP. Their defense is very suspect. Keith and Seabrook seem to have regressed together to be a very average pairing. They have 7 games against playoff teams.

St Louis is an enigma to me. I don't really know where they came from (and don't say Backes). On paper, it doesn't make sense. I don't know if there's a website that shows strength of schedule for the NHL, but I'd be curious to see if they have a lighter schedule strength. They do kill penalties and have the best GAA. I guess lots of 3-1, 2-0 games will do that for you. Taking advantage of Elliot and Halak playing out of their freaking skill level this year and every possible chance they had. Still, they're an enigma. The Wings are 3-2 against them this year with one more to go. I think that game will be telling of who really is the dominant team.

Colorado and San Jose...pish. San Jose paid the refs last night. San Jose might win 2 in the first round but I don't think they'll make it to the second round unless Jumbo Joe pulls something amazing out of his ass. Colorado might steal a game from any of the other playoff teams, but won't win a series.

As for the East, I'm much more worried about those teams. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston could all give the Red Wings a rough time, but thankfully we won't meet them until the Finals and by then hopefully they've beat the crap so hard out of each other that they won't be able handle the the skill play by the Wings.

Trusting Ken Holland and the "Red Wings Way"

styks — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:53:17 -0000

[Ed note: bumped to front page for discussion]

Can we all just remind ourselves after the impressive win last night that Ken Holland knows what he's doing? Really, take a minute and contemplate it....yes, Ken Holland knows more about running a major sports franchise than I know about the butt groove on my couch during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Points after the jump....

[Ed note: bumped to front page for discussion]

Points after the jump....

Ok, so now that we all can recognize the fact that Ken Holland is a genius, let's evaluate why he is.

First off, while I know many of you wrote off last night as being impossible to win with 7 starters out of the lineup, I on the other hand was excited to see the prospects come and play. We know their talented. We know they're itching to play at the next level. We know that they want to contribute. We know they hate being stuck in GR. But that's not the Red Wings way of running the franchise. For years now, we've kept our prospects down in GR to give them as much playing time as possible. It showed last night. There's not a team in the league that could have SEVEN starters out, call on prospects to fill in, and fight hard enough to win the game. That's only because they've been playing, playing, playing in Grand Rapids.

Secondly, I was thoroughly impressed with the win last night. Yes, it was our stars that led the way with a super star netting two and 2 secondary stars netting one a piece. That's exactly as it should be. Hank was amazing. He's proving that he can Captain this team, even if he's not the first line C like Datsyuk is. He's proven (just like Malkin has this year) that he can take this team on his shoulders and win games for us. He's proven that he is a bonafide star in this league and deserves as much credit as Dastyuk, Ovechkin, and Malkin (if not more than some).

Third, while the Zetterberg/Filppula pairing was impressive (and I'm not quite sure why Hudler has disappeared, maybe because he's facing top defensive units while Pasha is out), I was equally as impressed with the youngsters. Andersson and Mursak skated minimal minutes (though we know what Mursak is capable of from previous games), watching Gustav with Helm and Franzen was quite enjoyable at the end (even though Miller was on this line most of the night). Franzen hustled more last night on that shift in order to keep up with them and he worked hard at controlling the puck in the LA zone. All three crashed the net consistently and worked together as a unit rather than a group of individuals. This is why it's so vital that our prospects get playing time down in Grand Rapids. They need that time to work on working as a line, teaming together, understanding shooting lanes and driving lanes. Learning to pass off the boards into the slot. Trying to learn that at the NHL level is going to create draft busts and washouts. But by doing things the Red Wings way, they can play at 4/5ths the speed of the NHL and develop skills that you can't develop at the full speed of the NHL.

Lastly, I know that some people were upset at the lack of shots on goal, but I'm not at all. Taking into consideration that the only line(s) that were "normal" were the Zetterberg line and Kronwall-Stuart on defence, I wouldn't expect the other lines to mesh perfectly. Shots come from lines playing together and knowing how to read each other, what each other likes, and how each other works. Hank and Val knew that they were going to be heavily relied upon to score last night and they did just that. The other lines were learning how to play together as a unit. Which in looking at the stats, the fact that no one had a minus, that means that they did their job defensively (another lesson learned the Red Wings Way by playing in Grand Rapids) and worried about offense after their defensive jobs were done. You can't ask for anything more for them at this point.

Bottom line: Any other team in the league...any other team...if they're missing 7 starters including 1 allstar, 2 future hall of famers, 2 solid role players, 1 top 4 defenceman (for any other team in the league Ericsson would be), and a 7th defenceman...they wouldn't stand a chance. LA should have put up 5 or 6. Philly, Boston, New York, Vancouver...they all would drop 10 on a team like that. But Detroit isn't "any other team" because they don't do things like every other team. They do things the Red Wings Way because Ken Holland has proven it works.

I know we're supposed to boycott Lambert on Puck Daddy

styks — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:57:14 -0000

I know we're supposed to boycott Lambert on Puck Daddy

but you've got to read the comments AFTER the atrocious posting he wrote. He gets blasted left and right, by Flyers fans no less about the Kronwall hit. Just too funny to pass up.