Bear hunting

[yave1964]

 Thoughts on last nights 6-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.

 

  Well we have now won 3 of our past 4 games, seeming to right the ship a bit and have won two in a row with Pavel out.

  Johan Franzen is on quite a streak, he has been among the best players on the ice for two games in a row, three assists last night and a plus 3, His crazy pass between a defenders legs to Kronwall for a goal was almost Datsyukian. If he can keep this up.....

  Tatar and Nyquist both scored goals. I can think of no reason to keep either one of these guys out of the lineup at all for the rest of the season. I love Tatar for his north south game and Nyquist has amazing vision.

  Abdelkader got the scoring started with a nice goal and was hitting bodies left and right. He seems to have settled in nicely on his line.

  The fourth line is Samuelsson, Weiss and Cleary who were non factors. All have been passed over by the kids and the three of them didn't register a point.

  Kronwall played his best game of the year last night, a goal and an assist and hitting everything that moved. The defense was solid, Kindl looked to have returned to form.

  Reilly Smith ran his brother Brendan in the third, Brendan had to go to the bench and was grimacing in pain. He returned, I was hoping for a brother fight at center ice, lol.

  For Boston, I watch rookies to see what they have. Soderberg was beyond bad, he turned the puck over repeatedly, looked out of position all night. He reminded me of Damian Brunner in the second half of the season with the Wings last year. Just an awful game.

  Overall I was surprised by the Bruins lack of effort. They got down early and then sagged, writing the game off halfway thru the second period. After it went to 3-0 they were deflated and one minute later when Kronwall scored they gave up completely.

  Finally how can I not mention Jonas Gustafsson, who is now 6-0-1 in net. He has been our savior this season while Jimmy Howard has struggled between the pipes and between the ears this year. I don't want to think of where we would be without the monster.

  Best win of the year, knocking off the team that is among the class of the East.  Now it is off to Long Island tomorrow, where we need a bit of revenge for the overtime loss last week.

Oh and Happy thanksgiving to all!!

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

Easily the Wings best game of the year. The Monster continues to play solid between the pipes, and that's what we need. We don't need spectacular--well, every once in a while EVERYBODY needs spectacular--we need consistency. I know Babs is downplaying a goalie controversy. Certainly understandable that he's gonna say that. But if Gus keeps playing the way he's playing, and Howie's keeps playing the way he's been playing, a controversy will be inevitable and undeniable.

Your point about the Wings' young players finally being allowed to leapfrog some of the Wings stalwarts is right on. I watched Kenny Holland talking about Big E's development. The reason he stayed a 3rd pair Dman was because of who he followed: Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall. Those guys were legitimate top-2-pair guys. Our forwards have been held back longer than than they should have because of much-lower-caliber players. For so long, the Wings have drafted low, and have had to rely on older players while their lower-draft-pick players developed. But they have needed to shift a bit to give these young guys a chance, and now is the time for sure. Gus and Tats have made their statements; it's their time. It's good to see the Wings organization finally realize it.

And Franzen is seeing things pretty well right now. I wonder if he's starting to play because he knows the Wings might buy him out in the off-season? Whatever the reason, we need him to keep playing like this. Franzen the playmaker.

I know it would be idiocy to sit Pav when he is not injured, but look at what you can learn about your team when one of your top 2 players is out? It's nice to know that you've got other people who can score when given an opportunity. Now to continue to build the environment where this kind of scoring is normal and teams have to defend three lines. If Babs can get that done, watch out for this team!

[SpikeDDS]

Oh, and P.S. Jerome Iginla owns us, man! That dude scores on us every game, it seems like. I was fuming at Laschoff for losing him last night, but then again Iginla just knows how to score on the Red Wings. That doesn't mean we beat the Flames most of our games, but he would score in just about all of them, including this one with less than 3 minutes left to break up the donut.

All right. I feel better now.

Edited November 28, 2013 by SpikeDDS

[yave1964]

Oh, and P.S. Jerome Iginla owns us, man! That dude scores on us every game, it seems like. I was fuming at Laschoff for losing him last night, but then again Iginla just knows how to score on the Red Wings. That doesn't mean we beat the Flames most of our games, but he would score in just about all of them, including this one with less than 3 minutes left to break up the donut.

All right. I feel better now.

I know!! some players are just like that, I have said for years that no matter who we play they need to tell the mule we are facing the Avalanche, lol.

[jammer2]

 Real bad time for Howard to go into an extended slump, he's wrecking his shot at Team USA in Sochi!!!

[yave1964]

 Real bad time for Howard to go into an extended slump, he's wrecking his shot at Team USA in Sochi!!!

I know we have a guy in here who is screaming to the heavens that Miller should go to the Olympics, ect... my opinion is selfish, I think it would do Howard a world of good to take the week plus off and get his head on right as they prepare for the second half of the season. I think the Olympic break will make it worse for him if he is playing and he would be better served to take the time to get hi shead back on right.

[jammer2]

@yave1964  I have a tendency to agree, Howard could use some rest during the February break. He looks spent right now, and that break is a long way off. His #1 goal should be helping the Wings.

 

 

 Looks like Franzen is finally coming out of his slumber. I expect him to remain hot for a week or so then disappear for a month or so...lol.

[yave1964]

@yave1964  I have a tendency to agree, Howard could use some rest during the February break. He looks spent right now, and that break is a long way off. His #1 goal should be helping the Wings.

 

 

 Looks like Franzen is finally coming out of his slumber. I expect him to remain hot for a week or so then disappear for a month or so...lol.

 Me and a Friend of mine refer to Franzen as Punxatawney Johan, he plays great hockey for a while then sees his shadow and goes back to sleep for six more weeks. Sad, with his size and skill (and contract) he should be a top line forward on a contending team......

[SpikeDDS]

Me and a Friend of mine refer to Franzen as Punxatawney Johan

 

Now that's funny! Kinda sad too, but still funny!

 

;-)

[SpikeDDS]

I know we have a guy in here who is screaming to the heavens that Miller should go to the Olympics, ect... my opinion is selfish, I think it would do Howard a world of good to take the week plus off and get his head on right as they prepare for the second half of the season. I think the Olympic break will make it worse for him if he is playing and he would be better served to take the time to get hi shead back on right.

 

Be careful what you wish for. If he doesn't make it, it might bruise his confidence. It could go either way if he doesn't. I think I'd prefer him make it actually. If he makes the team, I think it'll be unlikely that he will play that much unless the other two goalies choke. Any chance Jimmy Bedard can travel to Sochi too? ;-)