Wings back in 8th !!!

[biggunsbob]

Blackhawks blow at home verses the Flyers and lose. Wings now chasing Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh for the last spot.

 

[biggunsbob]

X Washington 114
X Pittsburgh 102
X Panthers 101
X Rangers 99
X Islanders 99
X Lightning 97
Wings 93
Bruins 93
Flyers 92


X- -clinched playoff berth.

 

[biggunsbob]

Boston 1 game left 93

Ottawa

-----------------------------------------------------------
Philadelphia 2 games left. 92

Pittsburgh
@NY Islanders
------------------------------------------
Wings 1 game left 93

@NY Rangers
============

 

[biggunsbob]

Need Pittsburgh and Philadelphia not to have a 3 point game.

 

[JScottWriter]

Philly just lost 1 of their goalies for the rest of the season and have a lot of back to backs coming up. The Wings just need to take care of their business.

 

[biggunsbob]

Go islander tomorrow! !!

 

[JScottWriter]

After Pittsburgh won tonight I don't see them collapsing. 2 spots down to wings, flyers, and Islanders.

 

[biggunsbob]

After Pittsburgh won tonight I don't see them collapsing. 2 spots down to wings, flyers, and Islanders.

I agree man they are playing great since Malkin went down.

 

[biggunsbob]

Flyers beat the islanders.

 

[biggunsbob]

Well the jackets took a point away from the flyers but damn Avalanche choke a 2-1 lead late to the flyers and are losing 3-2 now under five to go.

Damn Colorado choked.

 

[biggunsbob]

Wings get a gift in New Jersey come back and take a 3-2 lead in Montreal and f****** choke.

5 danm goals in the 3rd period last two times we played this crap hole team and it freaking cost us 2 points.

 

[everyoneneedsasmil]

I have been trying to hold off on snap judgements all year. But, this team never plays hard out of the gate, and never plays disciplined closing games out. This just not look like a well coached team.

 

[biggunsbob]

I have been trying to hold off on snap judgements all year. But, this team never plays hard out of the gate, and never plays disciplined closing games out. This just not look like a well coached team.

I agree the defense is God awful and so poorly coached..

 

[tbone413]

eh - this team is performing essentially the exact same as it was the last 3 years under Babcock. They are just a maddeningly average team...honestly the blame falls on Holland IMO. They have too many '2nd tier' players, and not enough top end talent. Yes depth is important in the NHL, but so are stars...

The Offense (which is in better shape than the defense) is full of 2nd line players (Production wise). An average NHL 1st liner will put up around 55-65 pts. We may not have a single player crack 50 pts this year, which is an absolute joke. Yet we have 6 players who will finish with atleast 40 pts...this means we have too many forwards producing at a secondary level.

The Defense has been a cluster fuck since Lidstrom retired to be honest, and its gotten worse every year.

Danny Dekyser is solid - he is the only legit 1st pairing guy we have on the team.

Kronwall - hes injured and getting old...he is not a 1st pairing guy at this stage of his career, unless he gets fully healthy (which wont happen).

Green - has been a disappointment...yes he leads the D in scoring, but thats not saying much and hes being paid $6m/year, which means he needs to produce at a much higher clip than he has been.

Ericsson and Quincey have both regressed big time this season (especially Big E) to the point where I don't think either one should be on the team next year. Ericsson is getting paid to be a top pairing D-man, yet is barely playing better than Smith/Marchenko at this point.

Howard/Mrazek situation is odd - I dont know what to think of Mrazek, I think he may be fatigued, but it seems like its almost a confidence thing at this point with him. Howard is another terrible contract, and needs to be moved in the offseason for whoever will eat the majority of his contract.

The sad/scary part is there are no 'easy' fixes with this team. You need atleast 2 top end forwards, and a legit top end Defenseman. Both of those are essentially impossible to find nowadays. My only hope would be the Wings throw a Max deal at Stamkos and see if he bites, but I find that highly unlikely considering both Toronto (his hometown) and TB will be fighting for him as well. There are no great Defensemen on the market (like usual) so the wings will have to overpay a mid level guy like they did with Green, or make a big trade for someone.

I am discouraged with this team, and dont know how to fix it....this is Hollands fault - not the coaches.

 

[biggunsbob]

Yes I agree Holland should share most of the blame but the team had a much better power play last year and that speaks to coaching in my opinion plus mike's team seemed a tad tougher. Not much mind you but still.
Also late in the game where was jeff after Helm was fucking crossed in such a way that could have caused injury? I don't care if he gets fined I wanted the cameras on him and him screaming at the refs defending his players
Also jeff is nonstop tinkering in game with his lineups. Maybe he has no choice but still It shows that he is in panic mode and so is his team.
Is Smith hurt ? Because maybe Marchenko is better offensively but he was so out of position on the winning goal. Smith while not great is not afraid to mix it up.

 

[tbone413]

Yes I agree Holland should share most of the blame but the team had a much better power play last year and that speaks to coaching in my opinion plus mike's team seemed a tad tougher. Not much mind you but still.
Also late in the game where was jeff after Helm was fucking crossed in such a way that could have caused injury? I don't care if he gets fined I wanted the cameras on him and him screaming at the refs defending his players
Also jeff is nonstop tinkering in game with his lineups. Maybe he has no choice but still It shows that he is in panic mode and so is his team.
Is Smith hurt ? Because maybe Marchenko is better offensively but he was so out of position on the winning goal. Smith while not great is not afraid to mix it up.

I can agree with you on the tinkering...that needs to stop - with the lineups and the goalies.. I think he pulled the trigger on Mrazek too fast last night, and has done so with both Howard and Mrazek at times this season.

Marchenko has been solid IMO this year. hes had some mistakes, but I think hes the least of their concern...Big E, Quincey, and even Kronwall have all played really bad as of late. Kronwall had two stupid interference penalties last night because he cant move that well out there with his knee.

No doubt Babcock did some things better last year, but I still have confidence in Blashill. Hes a rookie coach, so he will have his own growning pains, but I think he will be fine in the long run.

 

[biggunsbob]

I can agree with you on the tinkering...that needs to stop - with the lineups and the goalies.. I think he pulled the trigger on Mrazek too fast last night, and has done so with both Howard and Mrazek at times this season.

Marchenko has been solid IMO this year. hes had some mistakes, but I think hes the least of their concern...Big E, Quincey, and even Kronwall have all played really bad as of late. Kronwall had two stupid interference penalties last night because he cant move that well out there with his knee.

No doubt Babcock did some things better last year, but I still have confidence in Blashill. Hes a rookie coach, so he will have his own growning pains, but I think he will be fine in the long run.

Hope so he is signed for 3 years ( I think )so I really don't see Holland canning him and I do think he should get another season.

 

[biggunsbob]

Flyers just tied Capitals late 1-1.. man they are a dirty team. They have the capitals playing dirty too and it's costing them.

Flyers Are Playing BETTER Then Either Boston OR Detroit though.

Overtime dang it.
Caps pp.
Hit post had mason beat easy :/
Killed.
Refs are awful all over the league .
Flyers win Shootout as Montreal, Toronto, and blue jacket losses by detroit recently come back to roost :/

 

[biggunsbob]

Blues freaking score 5 verses Boston and gag just like they always do in the playoffs.

 

[JScottWriter]

Looks like we have the hardest schedule. Need the win vs Boston.