lordstanley

I think most neutral NHL observers had confidence in Yzerman until the summer before last. It’s not hindsight. All those signings like Compher, Copp, Chiarot and Holl have turned out exactly like critics at the time predicted. Most fans and media closer to the Wings defended Yzerman the summer before last. He knows what he is doing, these players are just stopgaps, they won’t tie our hands, the Wings are making slow and steady progress, etc. The playoff race, which ended a point short, was an overall neutral. Didn’t vindicate Yzerman but didn’t hurt him either. But another lacklustre at best offseason and a poor start to this season makes Wings fans and media doubt Yzerman, has exposed that there may be no real “plan” in the Yzerplan. I think Illitch will be the last to reach his breaking point with Yzerman. Yzerman has AT LEAST until the end of next season, IMO, before his job is in the least bit of jeopardy, likely another year after that.

Now he’s a Lion with a mane.

I just checked and after picking up 72 points in 59 season to start last season, the Wings finished 8-12-3 for 19 points in their final 23 games. They’ve started this year with 26 points in 29 games. So 45 points in past 52 games (that would be a 71 pt season). Yeah, a bottom 5 finish this year is now as likely as not, IMO.

First 50 games of the season last year the Wings were better than just puck luck. They were competitive in most games and earned their record. The goaltending was good but not THAT good. This year is different. Their goaltending from Talbot’s is as good as last year’s but the Wings are being outplayed in 75% of the games. If anything, their bad record flatters them.

And the Rams are only 1/2 game behind Washington so that's another path to the playoffs. If the Lions win the #1 seed, there could be an intriguing wildcard round matchup of #7 Rams @ #2 Eagles. Who would I cheer for that instance? On one hand, perhaps a legitimate chance for the Rams to do the dirty work of knocking out the Eagles. But that would mean Rams @ Lions in the divisional round.

And the Rams-Seahawks play each other the final week. So if the Seahawks beat Green Bay this weekend, the Niners are eliminated from the division. The Niners lose the tiebreaker to GB on head to head. So the only playoff spot left to them would be Washington. If the Commanders beat the Saints this weekend to get to 9-5, the Niners are all but mathematically eliminated.

9-6 Rams, or 3 FGs to 2. I think if the game is tied with 43 seconds to go and one team has a 4th down within FG range, in this case they should definitely kick the field goal. Offenses are doing little. At least the Rams have picked up good yardage the past two drives, but are getting bogged down by redzone difficulties like they did in last year's playoff game against the Wings.

6 punts in that 1st half by San Francisco, 5 punts by LA Rams.

Philly's first shot in 13 minutes is an empty netter with a minute to go to ice it.

Late hope. Chiarot scores with 4 minutes to go, Gustaffson almost ties it seconds later. 2-1 Philly with 2:35 to go.

Giving up a shorthanded goal is a lousy way to start the 3rd period. 2-0 Flyers.

Give that man a designated driver, lol. The Lions’ defense incurs enough injuries on the field, don’t need any on the roads as well.

Points given up the Lions in the 2nd half of their past 7 games: 0, 11, 0, 0, 0, 20, 24 I’m hoping a lot of the breakthroughs the past couple of games is due to injuries and depth and that the hoped for return of a few players this week will help with that. Buffalo is a very good 2nd half team, by the way.

He was my aunt’s heartthrob as a girl. She was 10 when the Tigers acquired him, 13 when he was traded. Years later you could mention his name and her eyes would light up and she’d start gushing about how wonderful he was.

It has some similarities to going for 2 to try to win the game with a late TD instead of kicking the extra point for a tie. Time left makes a big difference. Campbell made his decision because there was 40 seconds left and 0 timeouts. He may well have made a different decision if 30 seconds and 0 timeouts. What about 25 seconds and 1 timeout? And to re-iterate, the touchbacks to the 30 yard line and the way that FG attempts of 55+ are now so common will make coaches in Campbell’s position more likely to try to ice the game with a 1st down. So I agree with Jimbo. If Campbell’s decision truly had been reckless, it would not set a trend. But it was a logical decision. Simply against conventional wisdom. What’s unconventional today can become conventional pretty quickly.

So Nashville signing Stamkos for 4 years @$8.0mm looks worse than it did this summer. Worries me a bit that the two names linked to the Wings in recent months as Yzerman possibly being interested were Stamkos and Trouba. Both would have been great gets ... on the day he took over the Wings in 2019. Both are still big names but both have faded since then. They would have been Ken Holland-like signings.

That’s why I don’t think it’s fair to compare this to the Leon Lett play. The game was over if Lett had just minded his own business and stayed away from the ball, instead of ignoring the 3 Dallas players that were waving everyone away. It was a gaffe. Amani’s play last night was effectively a fumbled punt on an attempted run back, not a mental gaffe. The Cowboys would have been close to field goal position, but not quite in it, if he had just fallen on it or left it alone. Yes, that still would have been the smart play. But he saw open yards ahead of him so I get why he did it. Problem is he didn’t execute.

I do credit you though for pressuring Lalonde into pulling Husso for Cossa. It worked, wasn’t headed for a win after the first period.

We have a winner!

Made it to overtime. Sabres fans booing b

Wings on a late penalty kill. 2:19 to go. We’ve been though this before.

Comeback! 5-5 with 4:18 to go. Seider ties it.

Two Copp goals in one game?! Wings still trail though, 5-4 with 6 minutes to go in regulation.

I think the Wings missed the window to fire Lalonde. 1/3 of the way into the season it would already be too little too late.