A four point weekend

[yave1964]

The wings in back to back matinees defeated the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday 2-1 and early this afternoon (12:30 starting time) beat the Los angeles Kings by the score of 3-2. for a very nice 4 point weekend, to run the record to 7-4-1 for 15 points, good for fifth place in the western conference. A few thoughts

Jimmy Howard came up huge for the Wings over the weekend after getting a game off earlier in the week. He has been quoted as to how he loves the matinee games, especially when they are nationally televised. Today the Kings fired 47 shots his way and he looked brilliant.

I really do not expect Howard to return next season, he has been the biggest bargain in goal for the past four years, three years in a row with at least 35 wins, this year a day in day out goalie making only 2.2 million dollars a year. as an UFA at the end of the season, I believe his salary will double or more, and he will wind up in Edmonton or Toronto. I also believe letting him leave will be a huge mistake.

Zetterberg makes this team go. 18 points in 12 games, killing penalties, revving up the troops, hell he even has the mule playing with a bit of passion. I believe everyone expected him to be up to the task of being the captain, but he has done an amazing job of putting his stamp on the team.

Brunner seems to make a play a game at least that makes you sit up and take notice. Good job on former Wing Doug Shedden and Mike Babcock in getting him in a Wing uniform. I was afraid it was a desperation move signing him, and that he would fall somewhere between Fabian Brunnstrom and Ville Leino, but so far so great.

Ian White makes the Wings defense go, and we need him in the lineup every game. He works the power play, is a tough little guy, over all, He makes the second unit power play work, does the hard work in the corners, and is unsung. Re-signing him needs to be a priority.

Overall, a quarter of the way in on pace for 60 points in the 48 game season, the playoffs if we can keep this pace are a lock. I still feel we need help on our lower lines, but it is nice to see Andersson and Tatar playing with energy (where the hell is Nyquist?) and one more defensemen who can move the puck, along with a return to health of the half dozen players still out, but I have moved away from the edge of the roof, and I am cautiously optimistic.

[jammer2]

@yave1964 A few more abosolute bombs by Kronwall from the point. I knew he had a decent shot, but this is just a blistering drive you can barely see.....quite impressive.

[yave1964]

@yave1964 A few more abosolute bombs by Kronwall from the point. I knew he had a decent shot, but this is just a blistering drive you can barely see.....quite impressive.

Jammer,

Kronwall is my favorite Wing, (Weber is my favorite player) and I love his game. Through 12 games, he now has one goal and nine assists, as well as 22 penalty minutes. He has really stepped up the last couple of seasons especially. I still think we need to play the kids on the bottom lines, although Cleary has really turned up his game the last week and a half or so, and if we add one more solid puck moving blue liner it could be a good year. Of course half the league is looking for that mythical one more puck moving blue liner.... I am beginning to think it is like snipe hunting.

[Vanflyer]

Kronwall is my favorite Wing,

Should not even be in the NHL after all his dirty hits. Just saying.

[jammer2]

@Vanflyer In all fairness, some of those wicked hits are just borderline, it's hair splitting on a lot of them.....bottom line, if the puck is anywhere around you and Kronwall is anywhere on the ice, you have an obligation to your family to keep your head on a swivel....lol.

[yave1964]

And here we go with Kronner again. He is a lot like Claude Lemieux or Chris Pronger, you hate him if he is playing against you, but love him if he is on your team. That is all there is to it.

[Wingsallday]

I can't believe I canceled ourselves out of the division title race. We're goin in for it. #wingsarementtotakeusup

[WingNut722]

I can't believe I canceled ourselves out of the division title race. We're goin in for it. #wingsarementtotakeusup

I agree with you, but only halfway. The Wings are seriously better than they were a week ago. However, Chicago is too good, and too solid. Unless they crash completely (which they tend to reserve for the playoffs), I don't think they'll relinquish the top spot in the Central.

Still, I'm absolutely thrilled with the Wings performance of late. There a huge surge in confidence through that locker room now. Keep your eye on Kronwall too. Now that he's got his first goal, he'll be a little more loose and his numbers will start to climb.

[SpikeDDS]

Should not even be in the NHL after all his dirty hits. Just saying.

We HAVE had the discussion before, so I won't belabor it. The true count of frame-by-frame "dirty hits" by the letter of the law, VanFlyer, is one. 1. Uno. It was the hit on Kesler. Skates both left the ice on that hit 1 frame (@ 30 fps) before contact was made on that hit. The remainder on hits that anyone has shown me since the rules changed we have shown contact begins BEFORE skates leave the ice, making the leaving of the ice "concurrent with or after contact" in compliance with the rules. And if you want to piss and moan about that 1/30 of a second, you have that right, although most of us normal people who don't have an axe to grind would call that 1/30 of a second being "concurrent with the contact."

Just sayin'. Again. And I'm done. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

[SpikeDDS]

I agree with you, but only halfway. The Wings are seriously better than they were a week ago. However, Chicago is too good, and too solid. Unless they crash completely (which they tend to reserve for the playoffs), I don't think they'll relinquish the top spot in the Central.

Still, I'm absolutely thrilled with the Wings performance of late. There a huge surge in confidence through that locker room now. Keep your eye on Kronwall too. Now that he's got his first goal, he'll be a little more loose and his numbers will start to climb.

Brunner sure looks like a hockey player to me! Lovin' it! GREAT chemistry with Z. Knows how to put himself in good spots at the right times. He's got a DANG quick release too if you get him the puck on the tape.

I'm annoyed with Kronner and Cleary. Those guys are LIVING in the box. The've gotta stop it with the sticks, and just skate hard. The rules changed. Everyone has to comply. Comply or go short-handed. Leaders can't do that to their teammates. We cut out those kinds of penalties, we're gonna be MUCH more competitive.

Hope Jimmy's scalp is OK after standing on his head for the middle 1/2 of that game yesterday! His lateral mobility was stunning! A couple of those shots he stopped had no business not going in the net. Fantastic movement and positioning. He was really seeing things well. Hope it continues.

[jammer2]

@SpikeDDS "Brunner sure looks like a hockey player to me! Lovin' it! GREAT chemistry with Z. Knows how to put himself in good spots at the right times. He's got a DANG quick release too if you get him the puck on the tape."

I said right from the start, the key to the Wings offense this year will/would be Brunner. If he was to suceed with Zetts like he did in the Swedish Elite league (think that is where they played), it allows Babcock more felxibity and allows the other lines to become stronger. He has started out well, I expect him to pick it up a bit now....he's looking more and more comfortable out there.

[WingNut722]

I'm annoyed with Kronner and Cleary. Those guys are LIVING in the box. The've gotta stop it with the sticks, and just skate hard. The rules changed. Everyone has to comply. Comply or go short-handed. Leaders can't do that to their teammates. We cut out those kinds of penalties, we're gonna be MUCH more competitive.

The NHL is forever tightening the rules on these guys, little by little...a bit more every season. These guys learn to play under a certain set of parameters, and when those parameters are changed suddenly, it's tough to shift automatically. Cleary and Kronwall are working hard. A lot of the penalties these guys are slapped with are sketchy at best. Something that would have been allowed, say, three years ago. It's a period of adjustment. Zetterberg's spent more time in the box too, then he's used to. It'll come around.

Especially this whole "hand over the puck" malarkey....

[yave1964]

The NHL is forever tightening the rules on these guys, little by little...a bit more every season. These guys learn to play under a certain set of parameters, and when those parameters are changed suddenly, it's tough to shift automatically. Cleary and Kronwall are working hard. A lot of the penalties these guys are slapped with are sketchy at best. Something that would have been allowed, say, three years ago. It's a period of adjustment. Zetterberg's spent more time in the box too, then he's used to. It'll come around.

Especially this whole "hand over the puck" malarkey....

Yeah what the hell is this whole hand over the puck stuff????? Whoever came up with that should be sentenced to 48 hours straight of bettman sings Manilow songs.

[WingNut722]

Yeah what the hell is this whole hand over the puck stuff????? Whoever came up with that should be sentenced to 48 hours straight of bettman sings Manilow songs.

I clicked the "agree" button, but it only lets me click it once...Agree x 10!! :-)

[jammer2]

@WingNut722 I have only heard it mentioned in passing, but I *think* the hand on the puck rule was fabriacted by the NHL to promote scoring...it's playing with the game if you ask me.

[yave1964]

@WingNut722 I have only heard it mentioned in passing, but I *think* the hand on the puck rule was fabriacted by the NHL to promote scoring...it's playing with the game if you ask me.

I have seen Franzen called twice this year and Zetterberg once for it. It has to be the most absurd rule ever, and hopefully will die a quick death after this year.

[Polaris922]

There have been a lot if rough calls this year, especially the abundance if boarding calls. They'll all adjust.

I do agree with @Vanflyer though about Kronwall. He leaves his skates at LEAST half of the big hits he throws. And of course it's a fraction of a second. At the speed those hits fly they're always going to be just before contact. But if others can hit hard while staying on the ice and not elevating themselves then there's no reason he can't too. He launches upward and that aggravates the risk if serious injury. He should be penalized severely when he does it.

[yave1964]

There have been a lot if rough calls this year, especially the abundance if boarding calls. They'll all adjust.

I do agree with @Vanflyer though about Kronwall. He leaves his skates at LEAST half of the big hits he throws. And of course it's a fraction of a second. At the speed those hits fly they're always going to be just before contact. But if others can hit hard while staying on the ice and not elevating themselves then there's no reason he can't too. He launches upward and that aggravates the risk if serious injury. He should be penalized severely when he does it.

If you are skating in open ice with your chin down admiring the puck then you get what you get. Kronwall hits clean but hard, the way you should. He does not hit from behind, driving an opponent in to the boards. He is not a big guy, just knows how to hit, as Havlat, Brierre, Kessler, Voracek and many others know. He takes away a part of the ice from the opponent just by his mere presense.

No penalties called on his hits. No suspensions. Like it or not he is playing within the rules of the game.

[Polaris922]

If you are skating in open ice with your chin down admiring the puck then you get what you get. Kronwall hits clean but hard, the way you should. He does not hit from behind, driving an opponent in to the boards. He is not a big guy, just knows how to hit, as Havlat, Brierre, Kessler, Voracek and many others know. He takes away a part of the ice from the opponent just by his mere presense.

No penalties called on his hits. No suspensions. Like it or not he is playing within the rules of the game.

Leaving your feet before a hit is NOT within the rules of the game. And he does that 50%+ of his so called "big hits".

[SpikeDDS]

Tough to remain silent in the face of those who blatantly ignore frame-by-frame hit review, but I shall.

<sigh>

[Polaris922]

Tough to remain silent in the face of those who blatantly ignore frame-by-frame hit review, but I shall.

<sigh>

You don't have to. We've done frame by frame.. you said yourself he leaves his feet a fraction of a second before impact on some of them. THAT remains against the rules and increases the likelihood of higher hits and injury. He has a habit of leaving his skates to propel his butt into people, which allows him to use his center of gravity to hit other skaters above the hips, which of course leads to more devastating impacts. The problem is it also means his center of gravity is hitting above the center of gravity of who he hits. He makes shoulder contact with chins and ears. He DOES make some really nice, hard impact LEGAL hits... and those are great to watch. But he also makes plenty of hits where he's left his skates, and he times it well enough that the officials really don't see it or they choose not to call it. But illegal is illegal.

I'm not sitting here saying he's a Pronger, Cooke or Rinaldo. I'm saying he crosses the line a lot with his body checks.

EDIT: And for the record, we've done several frame by frame reviews of his hits in previous posts during the off season and most of us came to the same conclusion.

Edited February 16, 2013 by Polaris922

[WingNut722]

@WingNut722 I have only heard it mentioned in passing, but I *think* the hand on the puck rule was fabriacted by the NHL to promote scoring...it's playing with the game if you ask me.

Absolutely agree. That's why all these rules are being changed. The NHL is trying to "sell" the game on the American public. Americans seem only interested in scoring, not the mechanics of the game itself. A 10-0 blowout would be more appealing to them then a hard-fought, back-and-forth, 2-1 win. They like scoring celebrations...they like to see teams get defeated, they like to see teams get humiliated.. This is why the American public likes football more than they do hockey. Hockey is decidedly rougher, faster, and more dangerous than football (fighting is PERMITTED for crying out loud!), but the scores end up being 34-21 and the players celebrate the "H-E-double-hockey-sticks" out of their on-field achievements. And the NHL is trying to adopt that for themselves at the expense of the game's integrity. It sickens me....

*Footnote...I am an American, born and raised, and I also like to watch football

[jammer2]

@WingNut722 " And the NHL is trying to adopt that for themselves at the expense of the game's integrity. It sickens me...."

Could not agree more!!! Stop messing with the game in a vain attempt to attract new fans. Hey Gary, how about you strengthen the hold on the fans you already have before going outside the box and messing with rules and integrity of the game we love!!