What’s wrong in Detroit? The mighty-mighty RedWings have lost 4 straight, and have to be honest, looked baddd in doing so. This isn’t a panic-button, there are 70 games left in the regular season; but what I’m about to post are some problems that myself and other Wing fans have seen for a while, and some that could possibly come up to haunt the Wings before it’s said and done…. For starters we are SOFT to play against, other teams slap us around like corner whores, and for the most part we do nothing. Our 3rd and 4th lines are a joke to play against. Abdelkader and Helm give somewhat of a spark, but not enough to install fear in the hearts of an opponent. Holland says the Wings are a skill team… All of the previous Cup winners had some grit along with the skill, be it the Grind Line, and Dallas Drake. Wake up Holland…… NOW
The lack of driving the net… All the teams do to the Wings now are forecheck like crazy, and then drop back in front of the goalie… They know that the Wings will shoot from the outside, or pass it around with their vaunted “Puck Possession” game, and attempt more shots from the outside.. (Did I just say that?) Holmstrom will go to his place of residence in front of the net granted, but aside from Bertuzzi doing it here and there, NOBODY does this anymore.. (Both of these guys probably hang it up after this season)
Franzen aka The MULE; this guy hasn’t driven the net since he cashed in for this big contract he got 2 seasons ago. He would put guys on his hip and drive the net, not sure where this aspect of his game disappeared to, but all now he wants to do is float around and do wristers from the face-off circle. Many nights he is not a factor at either end of the ice. I get disgusted with him more often than not; he reminds me of Fedorov in the aspect of lots of talent and just lazy at times.
Zetterberg and Datsyuk -
Datsyuk- a world-class performer; this guy could stick handle his way out of crowded phone booth, and is very good at what he does, with the puck or at the other end of the ice, the Selke awards speak for themselves. I feel like he should be more selfish with the puck than he is, he is a 100 point player IMO but in the Wings defense first scheme, that probably doesn’t happen. But…. You Already Knew This !!! (Thank You Alberto Del Rio)
Zetterberg – I wonder if his back injuries are showing up, or never went away. Regardless he is valuable in the 2 way game; he is the one that draws the opposing teams top gun each night, just ask Sidney Crosby how good he is defensively. Another who should be more selfish with the puck, would like to see him bury it more than he does… But You Already Knew This… !!! (Thanks to Alberto Del Rio for that one)
It used to be the Wings Top 6 were as good as ANYONE in the league…. I don’t feel it’s that way any longer.. Datsyuk and Zetterberg and it drops off … Our second line is nothing to fear these days, Filppula well who knows what to expect from this kid, I wonder if he ever becomes more than a 3rd line guy, part of his problem has to do with the constant moving around from 2nd line to 3rd line then back again, it has to really affect his confidence level, but the line swapping is to be expected from Babcock… Franzen, Filppula, Bertuzzi, Cleary are nothing to fear anymore, Cleary works his tail off but he’s not good for more than 20 goals during a great season, just not there. Why the Wings front office has stood pat with this issue, well my opinion will show later in this blog..
Blue Line Group – I will say the Top 4 are as good as anyone else can put on the ice…
Norris Nick Lidstrom goes without saying, guy is an amazing player who can’t and won’t be replaced, Top 5 in History at his spot. Sure he’s lost a step, but he is still at a high level of play even in his early 40′s.
ALL the contenders have improved themselves over the off-season, and some during the season. Vancouver basically got David Booth for NOTHING… Booth would be a great fit in Detroit, but once again Ken Holland (Wings GM) drops the ball. San Jose got bigger and better, Brent Burns was a HUGE pickup for them, and Doug Wilson (Sharks GM) isn’t afraid to make moves if he feels changes should be made or to shake things up… Holland continually stands pat, plus they have 6 mill of cap space to use, no excuses there.
I along with other Wing fans feel as if Ken Holland is afraid to make a move, obviously he has put back the cap space to make a run at Predators defenseman Shea Weber or Ryan Suter, either would fit our system perfectly, but I prefer Weber because he’s one tough SOB to play against, with a mean streak as big as the booming slapper he unleashes (100mph +) but Holland also has this issue of making kids stay at the AHL level for 3 or 4 seasons, in some cases thats fine but there are times that kids are ready to play) I feel this is the reason he resigned Jonathan Ericsson to a ridiculous contract and didn’t allow top prospect Brendan Smith to play on the Wings this season. Smith would have benefitted enormously from the experience of Lidstrom each day during practice and his mentoring during the games, but NOOOOOOOOOO we can’t play kids….
Kenny Holland, standing pat like this won’t win another Cup for the Winged Wheel Organization; instead it will be more of the same, losing in the 2nd round or earlier and I will be honest… The best GM the Wings had was allowed to leave for Tampa Florida, and it will cost us in the long run. It is what it is, and I will support the RedWings team regardless, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have to like what’s going on. Hopefully you have a rabbit in the hat that you are holding out on pulling, and make me eat my words. But until then GO WINGS !!!
