Five straight!

[yave1964]

Bested the Hurricanes 4-2 last night to run the winning streak to five, last season our longest was only four and we only did that once so the boys look ready to go in the last season at the Joe.

 

  Vanek Helm and Athanasiou got it going early, Helm and AA disrupting the Canes D with their speed, Vanek trailing taking the perfect pass from AA and burying it to put the good guys up. Speed kills.

 Speaking of speed, Larkin blocked a shot which deflected towards Zetterberg who in the scramble looked up and saw Larkin streaking away and found him all alone, Larkin scored his first of the year on his bobblehead night.

  THEN Larkin decided to double down a few minutes later carrying the puck into his spot to the right of the net, firing a pass towards Nielsen thru the crease that deflected off a Cane defender and into the net, Cam Ward lost his mind in frustration.

  The last goal was a combo of hard work and pure skill. Steve Ott and Luke Glendening battled three Cane defenders behind Cam Ward for the puck for what seemed forever, AA set up just inside the faceoff dot, when Glendening finally got the puck, he spotted  Athanasiou inexplicably alone who took the pass and faked the shot twice freezing the defender before firing an absolute rocket into the net essentially wrapping up the game.

  I need to say a few words about Steve Ott, I was mistaken when I saw we had signed him, I pictured another failed experiment ala Brad May finishing out his career with no real talent left, Ott has plenty in the tank, a solid 4th liner, he did a great job killing penalties, had a nice short handed breakaway as the Wings continue to disrupt by pressing the puck while short handed, he won 4 of 6 faceoffs, all defensive zone variety where we have been weak over the past several years, battled for pucks and when Viktor Stallberg ran Mike Green late in the third Ott absolutely lit Stallberg up continuing the Wings new found philosophy of standing up for one another and taking no gruff from anyone. Truthfully, he played his best game as a Wing and finds ways to contribute.

  The Wings rotate and tinker with the lines in game this year more than in years past, something Babs didn't do a lot of, other than when down a goal he would pair Z and Pavel a bit more. Changing the lines around disrupts the other teams chemistry especially when you are at home and have last change.

  Mrazek was solid again giving up a couple of second period goals as the Canes tried to claw their way back into the game, their sixth in a row on the road to start the season. The first goal was given up when Ryan Sproul ran into Frans Nielsen and the puck popped directly to Jordan Staal who skated in all alone and scored. All the fault goes to Sproul who was looking at the puck and the defense and not paying attention to Nielsen. Otherwise Sproul was solid tonight.

  Green as per usual led the team in ice time and was solid again as was his partner DK. Marchenko managed an assist on the second goal by Larkin and played a good game.

  The line of Nielsen, Tatar and Sheahan did nothing much tonight to even remember they were on the ice, but other than that a very satisfying victory.

  On to St. Louis on Thursday!

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

 

I agree with your assessment of the merits of picking up Steve Ott. He is fulfilling the roles for,which we signed him. He sat for a game or two, and then came out determined to not sit by doing what he was brought here to do.

 

However, his acquisition does come with negatives, and one is a serious issue. AA continues, as he did last season, to lead the team in both points and goals per TOI. The kid has found his game--at least enough of it to deserve to be on this team. However, from a business perspective, he is the odd man out. He's the only player we can send down to GR without having to waive him. (And we all know that if AA is ever waived, KH will be run out of town!) while Abby is injured, we are fine keeping him up here. But once Abby is ready to return, we have a real problem. It's called one too many. And that issue was created by the Steve Ott signing.

 

Vanek continues to do what we signed him to do as well. Seriously, the Wings haven't had a true scorer like him since maybe Hossa. Some people are attributing some of it to puck luck. I'm not buying it. If you watch him, he knows how to set himself in the right position and has his stick ready. His deflections are intentional and guided, even if almost instantaneous. I don't know whether it is the team environment--Vanek hasn't been on a historied team like the RWs before, has he?--or the players around him, or perhaps the one-year deal chance that the Wings took on signing him that he wants to make the most of. Whatever it is, I like his game right now.

 

Vanek is making Helm more effective. Last night's goal was a perfect example. Before, Helm would use his speed, but then he wouldn't have anyone to pass the puck to, so he had to finish himself, which has not been his strong suit. Now, he just needs to gather the puck and dish. Last night, it was to AA behind the net, who zipped one to Vanek. Goal. Yes, occasionally Darren has to finish, and sometimes he does. But not like Vanek. And by having Vanek on his line, it seems to take the pressure off and give him purpose for his speed. Certainly the cob inaction of speed with others like AA is paying dividends. Opposing D have their hands full.

 

And I dunno if I'd blame the first goal against solely on Sproul. Nielsen tried making a pass off the Joe boards, and it was off, perhaps because the Joe boards are the Joe boards. And then he seemed to stumble trying to recover to get back on D, right into Sproul. I don't put that goal all on the kid. Some, but not nearly the whole load.

 

This scoring thing is kinda fun, eh? I like that we seem to be able to get that extra goal that provides the cushion we need, lately. Awesome fake by AA. (And BTW, the player whose jock was on he ice after buying the fake was Frk, I think.) And he did what he should do with time like that in the slot--bury it top corner. But it's not just AA. This team is thinking differently than the past few seasons. They look NOTHING like the team that played the first 2 games.

 

Good that Larkin got the 100-lb gorilla off his back too. I'm sure that weighed heavily on him, not scoring.

 

And finally, let's credit Z for some really good passing of late. He's clearly not going to score like he used to, but he is definitely contributing defensively and with these slick passes. There was another one that went off someone's leg (Nyke?) that would have given another breakaway. The guy is accepting his change in role. Maybe there's some relief that he isn't the one being counted on to score as much, because others are actually doing it. I'm sure that is true to some degree, and it's a very good thing. But he is staying very relevant despite the fact he hasn't scored yet. I mean, when was the last time that's exactly could say with a straight face that we didn't NEED Zetterberg to score to be able to win consistently?

 

It's different this year.

 

[WingNut722]

@SpikeDDS

@yave1964

 

Like I'm gonna disagree with you guys...

 

I gotta say though, it wasn't their best game for sure.  Both teams had their share of sloppy moments and flat-footedness.  So we aren't "there" yet.  But we are well on our way.  This team is gellin' (...like a felon!  Want some melon?) and I dare say that this team will likely prove at least a few critics wrong this year.

 

Now away from the friendly confines and out to the plains.  Scottrade Center is NOT an easy building to play in.  Thankfully the Wings get a travel day, enough to keep their spirits up and allow them a little bonding time.

 

I was wondering though...During the last minute and a half when Cam Ward was sulking on the bench, Larkin, with two goals on the night, never made it back to the ice.  They never gave him the opportunity to make it rain headgear....

 

By the way, as a father of girls, I absolutely love the pic Yave posted of the Ott and Larkin photobombing that cute little kid.  Hockey players are truly a class unto themselves.  That girl has souvenir for life!

[Old School Hockey]

I'm extremely surprised with Vanek and Ott and pleased.  So my first thought is re-sign them both.  And then reality kicks in...........these guys are holding back younger players.  I'm so torn right now.

 

I can't believe I'm going to say this????  At this point I don't think Howard should be traded.  Both are playing very well and the cap is managable at this point.

[WingNut722]

@Old School Hockey

 

Well, he has certainly played two very good games.  But he's only played two games.  He spent most of last season in mediocrity, and that is not solved in two games.  It's a terrific sign, to be sure, but you can't turn the impressions around that quickly.  Let's leave him float for a while and certainly allow him enough chances to maintain his form. It's a long way until February

 

 

I other news, I gotta throw this out there.  Last night after Larkin scored his breakaway goal, Mickey Redmond quipped, "There goes the piano!"  Now, I absolutely love "Mickey-isms," partly because they are off the wall to begin with.  However, he always leaves enough for you to make heads or tails out of them.  What exactly does "There goes the piano!" mean???

[Old School Hockey]

3 minutes ago, WingNut722 said:

@Old School Hockey

 

Well, he has certainly played two very good games.  But he's only played two games.  He spent most of last season in mediocrity, and that is not solved in two games.  It's a terrific sign, to be sure, but you can't turn the impressions around that quickly.  Let's leave him float for a while and certainly allow him enough chances to maintain his form. It's a long way until February

 

 

I other news, I gotta throw this out there.  Last night after Larkin scored his breakaway goal, Mickey Redmond quipped, "There goes the piano!"  Now, I absolutely love "Mickey-isms," partly because they are off the wall to begin with.  However, he always leaves enough for you to make heads or tails out of them.  What exactly does "There goes the piano!" mean???

You are 100% correct.  What I should have said "if continues to play well, don't trade him".

[WingNut722]

30 minutes ago, Old School Hockey said:

You are 100% correct.  What I should have said "if continues to play well, don't trade him".

 

In that case I heartily agree with you! 

[SpikeDDS]

2 hours ago, Old School Hockey said:

I'm extremely surprised with Vanek and Ott and pleased.  So my first thought is re-sign them both.  And then reality kicks in...........these guys are holding back younger players.  I'm so torn right now.

 

I can't believe I'm going to say this????  At this point I don't think Howard should be traded.  Both are playing very well and the cap is managable at this point.

@Old School Hockey

 

You just earned major points in my book. As vocal as you have been in your dissing of Howard--much of it well-deserved--it takes a man to admit a change of heart like this.

 

BRAVO!

 

And I agree that trading him now at least deserves serious deliberation. But in the end, I'm OK with Coreau as a backup if the right deal was presented for Howard that paved the way to a better future. Still hard to see us seriously contending for a Cup with what we have. If it gets somewhat close to that, having some cap space to acquire what we would need for a run would be good.

 

A deal for Howard is still smart, depending on the deal.

[SpikeDDS]

1 hour ago, WingNut722 said:

@Old School Hockey

 

Well, he has certainly played two very good games.  But he's only played two games.  He spent most of last season in mediocrity, and that is not solved in two games.  It's a terrific sign, to be sure, but you can't turn the impressions around that quickly.  Let's leave him float for a while and certainly allow him enough chances to maintain his form. It's a long way until February

 

 

I other news, I gotta throw this out there.  Last night after Larkin scored his breakaway goal, Mickey Redmond quipped, "There goes the piano!"  Now, I absolutely love "Mickey-isms," partly because they are off the wall to begin with.  However, he always leaves enough for you to make heads or tails out of them.  What exactly does "There goes the piano!" mean???

 

It means that his lack of scoring was a burden similar to carrying a piano around on your back. By scoring, Larkin lost the piano off of his back. Thus, "There goes the piano!"

 

HTH

[Old School Hockey]

6 minutes ago, SpikeDDS said:

@Old School Hockey

 

You just earned major points in my book. As vocal as you have been in your dissing of Howard--much of it well-deserved--it takes a man to admit a change of heart like this.

 

BRAVO!

 

And I agree that trading him now at least deserves serious deliberation. But in the end, I'm OK with Coreau as a backup if the right deal was presented for Howard that paved the way to a better future. Still hard to see us seriously contending for a Cup with what we have. If it gets somewhat close to that, having some cap space to acquire what we would need for a run would be good.

 

A deal for Howard is still smart, depending on the deal.

Hey it's all good.  I just think without cap issues it's not as important to free the cap space.  I still think he's very inconsistent but having him around isn't as bad.  But here's the tough part.  His trade stock is pretty good if he continues, yet if he's playing good why trade him?  I still think almost $10m in cap space for goalies is not a good thing moving forward.

[SpikeDDS]

38 minutes ago, Old School Hockey said:

Hey it's all good.  I just think without cap issues it's not as important to free the cap space.  I still think he's very inconsistent but having him around isn't as bad.  But here's the tough part.  His trade stock is pretty good if he continues, yet if he's playing good why trade him?  I still think almost $10m in cap space for goalies is not a good thing moving forward.

It's like a game of chicken: wait to long (when his inconsistency will almost surely return), and you will be stuck holding the $5.25M per season bag. But if you move him while he's marketable, you could be giving away your solid backup for this year.

 

That's why KH gets paid the big bucks--to make these kinds of difficult decisions, while still being unable to guarantee the future!

 

Meanwhile, in other news, Mantha continues to score in GR...

[ScottM]

I don't want to overreact to just seven games, but if the early going of this season is any indication of what's coming, I'm going to be proven very wrong about Detroit. I felt sure that this would be the year that the playoff streak ended. It felt like it should have last year, but they found a way to extend it. Because of that and Datsyuk leaving, I gave it little chance of continuing. We'll have to wait another 75 games to see, but they just might do it.

[yave1964]

@Old School Hockey Coreau is absolutely ready to take over as a 20 game a year backup, at the tiniest of a fraction of Howards salary. I still do not believe we have enough defense, although I have been preaching the Sproul thing for some time. Marchenko and Smith are just bodies, as well as Ericsson has been playing we all know the other shoe is going to drop eventually and Kronwall is clearly on the back nine heading towards the clubhouse for a tasty drink. Trading Howard, even if we eat half his salary is the only way we can get into the Fowler or Trouba sweepstakes. So if the choice is Howard and Marchenko OR Coreau and Fowler to me it is a no brainer.

 

  @WingNut722

  You never heard the piano comment????? Loved it! Mickey is the absolute master of this kind of thing. It is good to see Larkin get the weight of the world off his shoulders with not one but two goals. He has been working his tail off and I am happy for him.

 

@SpikeDDS

  Agreed with Z, he no longer is capable of nor does he need to be the focal point of the offense. I do not ever remember the Wings having a five game winning streak with no goals from the bearded one, he has been slipped to a supporting role and has accepted it and in a lot of ways is thriving.

 

@ScottM 

Agreed, the Wings are playing better now than they have in years. Granted it is only seven games in but I like wat I see. Speed power and crash the net. Works for me.

 

[SpikeDDS]

2 hours ago, yave1964 said:

Trading Howard, even if we eat half his salary is the only way we can get into the Fowler or Trouba sweepstakes. So if the choice is Howard and Marchenko OR Coreau and Fowler to me it is a no brainer.

 

Yeah, the trick will be waiting long enough to get as much of his contract off of our hands, but not waiting so long as to let Jimmy revert back to the inconsistent Jimmy that has made him untradeable before we make the deal. How many games does it take, do you think?

 

Teams have to start thinking more seriously if Jimmy puts three in a row together. Teams that really need a goaltender can't afford to ignore him at that point, methinks. He gets 5 together, and we've got some negotiating power then.

[WingNut722]

15 hours ago, yave1964 said:

 

  @WingNut722

  You never heard the piano comment????? Loved it! Mickey is the absolute master of this kind of thing. It is good to see Larkin get the weight of the world off his shoulders with not one but two goals. He has been working his tail off and I am happy for him.

 

 

 

I had never heard the piano comment in so many words.  As @SpikeDDS indicated above, the explanation makes perfect sense, but carrying a load like that, was alwasy referred to (in my circles) as a boulder, a load, or even when it's real bad, the elephant or gorilla.  Now I guess I can add piano to that list.  Thanks for clearing the static!!

 

As for the trade talk of Howard, we still need to wait (just a bit) to see how good he really is.  I think a lot of GMs are going to be loathe to take Howard at this point, only after two games.  If his stock continues to rise, then absolutely, make hay while the sun shines.  But this deal ABSOLUTELY HAS to include the new veteran defenseman who can immediately throw it into fourth his first game out.  As good as Coreau might be, he has zero NHL experience, and when you put that behind a weak blue line then @ScottM will be able to clamor "I told you so!" all over  (Cheers, buddy!).

 

We can't deal Howard just for the cap space.  Even if it means having the money to go after someone hot at the deadline.

[SpikeDDS]

21 minutes ago, WingNut722 said:

As for the trade talk of Howard, we still need to wait (just a bit) to see how good he really is.  I think a lot of GMs are going to be loathe to take Howard at this point, only after two games.  If his stock continues to rise, then absolutely, make hay while the sun shines.  But this deal ABSOLUTELY HAS to include the new veteran defenseman who can immediately throw it into fourth his first game out.  As good as Coreau might be, he has zero NHL experience, and when you put that behind a weak blue line then @ScottM will be able to clamor "I told you so!" all over  (Cheers, buddy!).

 

We can't deal Howard just for the cap space.  Even if it means having the money to go after someone hot at the deadline.

 

Depends on whether you are thinking more long-term or short-term. I tend to think more long-term. It's not just cap space for THIS year. It is cap space for the next two after this one too.

 

We will see how this year goes a bit more. I agree with you we shouldn't pull the trigger yet (unless the deal is ridiculously good), because we really need to see how these boys are gonna play for the season. Five games, after all, isn't even one of Babcock's six-game segments. It's good, but it's not as good as consistent play and points in a a quarter season.

 

If the Wings were really close to being a genuine Cup contender, I might see it, because it could make the difference there. But I don't see our boys at that level yet. It'll take more than a 5-game win streak--as nice as that is--to convince me that we are ready to seriously contend and might only need that one trade to put us over the top. We need a Dman to get to where we are really in that conversation. But I'm OK with the boys proving me wrong to show that they are close than I'm giving them credit for! 

 

Having said that, Budaj isn't exactly putting the Kings in panic mode with his play. He's got 3 wins and around 1.75 GAA. So that does buy us some more time to see what we really have, because the need for an immediate trade doesn't seem as urgent to the Kings right now. If Budaj is gonna win 3 out of every 5, that's not bad enough to make a panic trade.

[Old School Hockey]

36 minutes ago, WingNut722 said:

 

I had never heard the piano comment in so many words.  As @SpikeDDS indicated above, the explanation makes perfect sense, but carrying a load like that, was alwasy referred to (in my circles) as a boulder, a load, or even when it's real bad, the elephant or gorilla.  Now I guess I can add piano to that list.  Thanks for clearing the static!!

 

As for the trade talk of Howard, we still need to wait (just a bit) to see how good he really is.  I think a lot of GMs are going to be loathe to take Howard at this point, only after two games.  If his stock continues to rise, then absolutely, make hay while the sun shines.  But this deal ABSOLUTELY HAS to include the new veteran defenseman who can immediately throw it into fourth his first game out.  As good as Coreau might be, he has zero NHL experience, and when you put that behind a weak blue line then @ScottM will be able to clamor "I told you so!" all over  (Cheers, buddy!).

 

We can't deal Howard just for the cap space.  Even if it means having the money to go after someone hot at the deadline.

This past summer going into the UFA period I without a doubt felt cap space was critical and wanted Howards space to bring in UFA's.  The tagging rule is/was the big helper.  The ONLY reason his (Howard) cap space isn't killing the team right now is Franzen.  LTIR is the savior right now.

[WingNut722]

@Old School Hockey

 

Good grief, what a sad story that guy is, eh?  He should just retire as gracefully as possible.  Realistically, he has no prospect of continued ice time anymore.  

[SpikeDDS]

27 minutes ago, Old School Hockey said:

This past summer going into the UFA period I without a doubt felt cap space was critical and wanted Howards space to bring in UFA's.  The tagging rule is/was the big helper.  The ONLY reason his (Howard) cap space isn't killing the team right now is Franzen.  LTIR is the savior right now.

 

But at the same time, if we didn't have Franzen's remaining cap hit after LTIR, imagine what we could do or could have already done.

 

But I know...accentuate the positive. 

[Old School Hockey]

1 minute ago, SpikeDDS said:

 

But at the same time, if we didn't have Franzen's remaining cap hit after LTIR, imagine what we could do or could have already done.

 

But I know...accentuate the positive. 

Sign Hossa instead?  #sarcasm

[SpikeDDS]

1 minute ago, WingNut722 said:

@Old School Hockey

 

Good grief, what a sad story that guy is, eh?  He should just retire as gracefully as possible.  Realistically, he has no prospect of continued ice time anymore.  

If he retires, it actually HURTS the RWs more!

 

SSSHHHHHH! 

[ScottM]

@WingNut722 I don't really have a problem with Detroit, so I wouldn't be likely to jump on the "I told you so!" thing with them. Now, if we were talking Leafs or Habs in this situation, that would be another story... Lol

[WingNut722]

17 minutes ago, ScottM said:

@WingNut722 I don't really have a problem with Detroit, so I wouldn't be likely to jump on the "I told you so!" thing with them. Now, if we were talking Leafs or Habs in this situation, that would be another story... Lol

 

Touche!