lordstanley Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Wings lose outdoor game to Columbus in controversial ending. They outshot the Jackets 46-21. They better nip this in the bud, can't repeat early March of last season. Quote
slothfacekilla Posted March 2 Posted March 2 I was away from home in Winnipeg for a little over a week so I've missed the post Four Nations games, but I did catch some of the outdoor game on the plane home when the feed worked for me. I missed most of the third unfortunately. I thought Larkin looked really off all game it was weird, maybe the ice was affecting him/his speed but I felt pretty frustrated with what I saw of his play. Maybe I was just overtired and mixed with a few airport margaritas though. Quote
Shinzaki Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Watching last night I honestly didn't know if Kasper was even playing for most of the 1st period. Top line can't disappear if we hope to win Quote
lordstanley Posted March 2 Author Posted March 2 46 minutes ago, slothfacekilla said: I was away from home in Winnipeg for a little over a week so I've missed the post Four Nations games, but I did catch some of the outdoor game on the plane home when the feed worked for me. I missed most of the third unfortunately. I thought Larkin looked really off all game it was weird, maybe the ice was affecting him/his speed but I felt pretty frustrated with what I saw of his play. Maybe I was just overtired and mixed with a few airport margaritas though. McLellan did call out Larkin for his play in the first Columbus game. Not sure whether he said anything yesterday. Quote
slothfacekilla Posted Monday at 04:42 PM Posted Monday at 04:42 PM 23 hours ago, lordstanley said: McLellan did call out Larkin for his play in the first Columbus game. Not sure whether he said anything yesterday. Oh interesting, maybe he has some sort of 4 nations injury Quote
lordstanley Posted Monday at 09:12 PM Author Posted Monday at 09:12 PM (edited) So what does the playoff situation look like as of today March 3, with 22 games to go? - No surprise that Toronto (12 pts up on Wings), Florida and Tampa (8 pts up on the Wings) have all distanced themselves from the Wings. The Wings aren't going to snag a top 3 spot in the Atlantic, they're competing for one of two wild card spots. Fine, negligible difference between playing 1st place Atlantic or 2nd place Atlantic, since any of the top 3 could end up in any of the top 3 spots - Keep expecting Columbus to fall off and the Wings could have delivered them a near-fatal blow the past week, but after winning 4 of 4 points from the Wings it is instead Columbus that holds the #1 wildcard spot - The Wings still hold the #2 wildcard spot but the Senators would pull into a tie and have more Regulation Wins if they win the game in hand they have on the Wings - The Rangers and Bruins are also lurking 2 points back of the Wings. The Rangers probably have the best roster of teams battling the Wings, but the loss of Adam Fox for awhile might hurt. Still a chance for NJ to fall down enough into a bubble spot, so can hope for that if the Rangers begin a surge into 3rd place in their division. - Montreal, Philadelphia and NYI are close enough still to be counted, at 3-5 points behind Detroit, but if the Wings end up having to worry about any of those teams they're in trouble and probably will have been passed by a couple of others before that - Pittsburgh at 8 points back and having 3 more games than the Wings is a non-factor. We can hope for Penguins' wins when they play bubble teams. Needless to say Buffalo is out too. In tonight's games: - Ottawa at Washington. Go Caps. - Buffalo at Montreal. Go Sabres. - NYI at NYR. Go Islanders. Edited Monday at 09:13 PM by lordstanley Quote
Hongbit Posted Monday at 09:32 PM Posted Monday at 09:32 PM They need to focus on getting back to playing good 5v5 hockey. The playoffs will happen if they can do that. They have been far too reliant on PP and can’t let games come down to if they get calls or not. Quote
gehringer_2 Posted Monday at 09:59 PM Posted Monday at 09:59 PM (edited) 26 minutes ago, Hongbit said: They need to focus on getting back to playing good 5v5 hockey. The playoffs will happen if they can do that. They have been far too reliant on PP and can’t let games come down to if they get calls or not. they get in the habit of just continually falling back on D instead of pressuring the puck. You can watch 5 minutes of Wings game and see exactly how it's going to go by whether they are pressuring the puck aggressively on defense. Edited Monday at 10:07 PM by gehringer_2 Quote
buddha Posted Monday at 10:47 PM Posted Monday at 10:47 PM i could see them making the playoffs as the top wc or see them drop below montreal and philly. neither outcome would surprise me. Quote
Hongbit Posted Monday at 10:49 PM Posted Monday at 10:49 PM More commitment to forechecking will go a long way to improving their 5v5. They have seen first hand how teams can become tough to play when you’re fighting just to get the puck past the red line. Quote
buddha Posted Tuesday at 12:00 AM Posted Tuesday at 12:00 AM the red wings have had problems with big, physical teams for a long time. yzerman has tried to bring in tougher players like chairot, seider, petry, and even edvinsson. i'm pretty sure that's why they wanted trouba and had no issue getting rid of walman. there's a lot of soft - or non-physical - players on the team, especially up front. berggren, kane, debrincat, raymond. the guys who SHOULD be physical presences are rasmussen and soderblom but theyre really not those types of players. this seemingly happens every year. once the games start to matter the red wings get punked because other than larkin (who has a ton of pride but isnt big), chairot and now seider, no one else on the team plays with a real physical edge. its was rasmussen bugs me so much. youre that big. act like it. Quote
Shinzaki Posted Tuesday at 01:08 AM Posted Tuesday at 01:08 AM Debrincat is pretty physical..especially for his size. He stepped to Seider during his Ottawa season. Of course MO just laughed at him...but Debrincat isn't a shrinking violet Quote
gehringer_2 Posted Tuesday at 02:24 AM Posted Tuesday at 02:24 AM (edited) 2 hours ago, buddha said: the red wings have had problems with big, physical teams for a long time. yzerman has tried to bring in tougher players like chairot, seider, petry, and even edvinsson. i'm pretty sure that's why they wanted trouba and had no issue getting rid of walman. there's a lot of soft - or non-physical - players on the team, especially up front. berggren, kane, debrincat, raymond. the guys who SHOULD be physical presences are rasmussen and soderblom but theyre really not those types of players. this seemingly happens every year. once the games start to matter the red wings get punked because other than larkin (who has a ton of pride but isnt big), chairot and now seider, no one else on the team plays with a real physical edge. its was rasmussen bugs me so much. youre that big. act like it. in at least one game recently Soderblom did lead the team in hits. That may not be saying a lot for this team. The thing is, even the other team is taking you out of your offense with their physicality, that's no excuse for not pressuring the puck better when they are on O. You aren't going to get checked by the puck carrier. Edited Tuesday at 02:27 AM by gehringer_2 Quote
1984Echoes Posted Tuesday at 02:32 AM Posted Tuesday at 02:32 AM 2 hours ago, buddha said: ... once the games start to matter the red wings get punked because other than ... no one else on the team plays with a real physical edge... I just said this to my dad yesterday as we were talking about the Wings... This team is missing the playoff-level toughness required to make it. I told him we need at least 3 or 4 guys on the team that play at that level. He suggested the Grind Line. I suggested Brendan Shanahan. We need both. It's not just that Debrincat has toughness (but with Cicarelli-size) or that we should forecheck more (ala Hongbit)... But the players have to be at the current level of size/ toughness/ physicality/ skill of whatever the current iteration of those guys are... PLUS also a couple playoff-level defenders (with size, toughness AND skill) like Trouba or similar... And as you say: Rasmussen has the size but can't/ won't/ doesn't use it. He's missing that highest level of toughness (playoff-level) needed... Quote
gehringer_2 Posted Tuesday at 03:15 AM Posted Tuesday at 03:15 AM 36 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said: And as you say: Rasmussen has the size but can't/ won't/ doesn't use it. just because you are big doesn't necessarily mean you have the strength that matches your size. I suppose if we could watch one of his workouts it would tell, but watching him I've just never gotten any impression of power in that body. He's not all that strong on his skates - though better than a couple of years ago, he's not particularly strong against other players at the boards even aside from willingness to hit. You don't even have to clobber guys all over the ice to win the physical battle of a hockey game if you can out power or even out work guys in the one on ones. Quote
Shinzaki Posted Tuesday at 03:18 PM Posted Tuesday at 03:18 PM Tonight's game has a must win feel to it Quote
lordstanley Posted Tuesday at 04:45 PM Author Posted Tuesday at 04:45 PM (edited) 1 hour ago, Shinzaki said: Tonight's game has a must win feel to it Yeah, fans and players remember that this time last season is when the Wings lost 7 straight, all in regulation, to not only lose their cushion but fall out of a playoff spot. It has only been 2 games so far, but nip in bud. Edited Tuesday at 04:45 PM by lordstanley Quote
Sports_Freak Posted Wednesday at 12:19 AM Posted Wednesday at 12:19 AM 7 hours ago, lordstanley said: Yeah, fans and players remember that this time last season is when the Wings lost 7 straight, all in regulation, to not only lose their cushion but fall out of a playoff spot. It has only been 2 games so far, but nip in bud. We have 2 games to prevent Yzerman making us sellers at the deadline? 1 Quote
lordstanley Posted Wednesday at 02:06 AM Author Posted Wednesday at 02:06 AM Wings looking listless, another 2-goal deficit. 12 minutes to go vs Carolina. Quote
lordstanley Posted Wednesday at 02:07 AM Author Posted Wednesday at 02:07 AM Wings in white at home, wearing the Winter Classic jerseys. Quote
lordstanley Posted Wednesday at 02:12 AM Author Posted Wednesday at 02:12 AM Soderblom gets the Wings on the board, plenty of time left. Quote
lordstanley Posted Wednesday at 02:25 AM Author Posted Wednesday at 02:25 AM 2 hours ago, Sports_Freak said: We have 2 games to prevent Yzerman making us sellers at the deadline? They won’t be sellers. The only reason they won’t buy is if the market is skewed to prices too high. But even sellers’ market won’t have them sell, nor would a blowout loss before that Quote
Shinzaki Posted Wednesday at 02:32 AM Posted Wednesday at 02:32 AM Does Berggeren ever hit the net when he shoots? Another game where our top line disappears. Lotto here we come Quote
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