I hear there's this Finn that's an absolute sniper (no not Simo Häyhä) that is the next Teemu Selanne. We should take a look at him. April 8, 2009: "This kid looks like he's going to be a superstar. He's absolutely electric 1-on-1 against a defender, and made a lot of highly ranked defenseman look absolutely silly. He's a natural goalscorer that could be among the tournament leaders in goals. I've heard a lot of good things about Taylor Hall, and I've been a huge Cam Fowler fan for years now, but Pulkkinen might be good enough to get consideration as the top overall pick in next year's draft."
Athanasiou made the club obviously. Kronwall on short term IR. Not sure why DK and Marchenko are together, seems redundant. Hopefully Smith isn't hurt as well.
It cracks me up to read what fans of other teams are saying regarding our shit situation; they all give the wings a pass thinking we've been so good for so long, KH knows what he's doing
One game in and the D is trashier than I figured. Outside of one soft goal Mrazek played great. We should have absolutely given up ten last night.
Also I am sure the 4th line will be better than last night but they were so overmatched. Our fourth line should be Helm/Glenny/Sheahan. I am not sure why it's so hard.
I'd be curious to see what the advanced stats say about McCarty, maltby, and draper were like during their heyday. Maybe it's my fondness for those teams, but I feel like they more than held their own regardless of competition
Hate the 4th line right now. Nyquist-AA-Vanek may be a little soft.. But that would be a stellar and speedy 3rd line. Throw Vanek up to the 2nd line and bring Mantha up. Nyquist-AA-Mantha. Nyquist-AA-Z?
This seems much better Ansar Khan @AnsarKhanMLive 2m2 minutes ago 3 different lines in #RedWings practice: Athanasiou-Nielsen-Zetterberg Tatar-Larkin-Sheahan Nyquist-Helm-Vanek Abdelkader-Glendening-Miller Ansar Khan @AnsarKhanMLive 2m2 minutes ago Ott rotating in on fourth line. Ansar Khan @AnsarKhanMLive 2m2 minutes ago One switch in #RedWings defense pairs in practice: DeKeyser-Green Smith-Marchenko Ericsson-Ouellet Kronwall (knee) and Sproul extras
God damn is Miller just a waste of a roster spot. You need 4 PKing forwards. Sheahan, Helm, Abby, and Glendening. Done. All 4 can take draws too.
If there not gonna give Mantha a shot and would rather roll with Drew friggen Miller they might as well just unload the kid.
He's well seasoned though. And it's hurting the team having Miller instead of him. What's the argument of waiting?
I'm not arguing for waiting. Merely pointing out that there is something between "play him now" and "dump him forever".
sweet Jesus - a $4.25 million 4th liner IF Mantha comes up and Miller/Ott go away, what do the lines look like?
Caught some feels seeing this is the final opener at the Joe. Other than The Igloo/Consol/PPG Paints Arena and Nationwide arena, The Joe is where I have seen the most games. Will miss that old barn.
I saw more games in the Olympia than I did at the Joe. I still think of the Joe as the fancy new place. Fuck, I'm old. But the Olympia rocked.
I would like to know the last time 1.00 GPG in the CHL over the entire season didn't translate to the NHL.
36 in 122 in the AHL is probably more relevant. It's promising, but he's a 20 goal scorer to ate. It doesn't scream "how can you keep this kid down!!". How's his defensive game?
Gotta consider half his AHL games he was recovering from a shattered leg and then focusing on developing his defensive game. Now that he's recovered and checked off he has been pretty impressive.
Am I the only one who is getting sick of such a focus on the defensive side of the puck for forwards who are considered goal scorers? I get the need to be able to play a 200 foot game, but come the fuck on...we have Sheahan, Nielsen, Helm, Abby, Z and even Tatar, to an extent, who excel as "two-way forwards." where is the harm in letting guys like Mantha loose? Let him find his offensive game and start teaching him the nuances of the NHL defensive game from there. And I get that Holland puts a premium on that right now because our defense is atrocious, but it's starting to wear thin with me. We can't keep neutering our pure offensive players.