Prediction Time

[WingNut722]

Alright folks, let's bring it out to the forefront now.

 

Knowing what we know now, will the Red Wings make the playoffs?

 

Here are the contributing factors:

 

-24 games left in the season; 11 home, 13 away

 

-Currently ranked 8th in the Eastern Conference and hold the last Wild Card spot with 64 points.  Toronto and Montreal currently hold the first Wild Card and third place in the division, respectively, and are tied with 70 points

 

-Red Wings first game is at Montreal tomorrow, followed by Ottawa on Thursday.

 

-Henrik Zetterberg is out for pretty much the rest of the regular season after having (successful) back surgery.

 

-Johan Franzen and Stephen Weiss are eagerly expected back soon, hopefully for tomorrow's game, but no official announcement has been made for either

 

-Pavel Datsyuk entered the Olympic break after just returning from what was later stated to be an "inflamed knee."  Datsyuk played very little of their opening game against Slovenia, but looked sharp through the rest of Russia's representation in the tournament and turned out to be one of their top scorers.  With Russia having been eliminated early, Datsyuk was able to visit family in Yekaterinburg and rest for over a week before rejoining Detroit.

 

-The trade deadline is looming, but in his usual style, Ken Holland has not made any comment as to whether or not he might make a move

 

What say you?

 

 

 

[jammer2]

@WingNut722  I'd like to see a pro-longed stay from Riley Sheahan. He's looked very respectable in his call ups, and frankly, the Wings need goals from unexpected sources like this. It will be interesting to see if Nyqvist will be able to keep up his torrid ppg pace without Zetts. They need Helm to stay healthy and Datsuyk to play the best hockey of his career. The playoffs can be reached, but a lot will depend on if Howard can return to his usual self. I'm wondering how many back to backs they have, knowing the Monster is out fo a while, another goalie will have to step in and keep the pts flowing when Howard has back to backs...this could be a key. From the looks of things, Marasek is ready to step in and be a force.

[WingNut722]

@jammer2

 

I hadn't heard that Gustavsson was hurt.  He didn't play in the Olympics so he must have tweaked something in practice.  Hopefully it's nothing too serious.  I'd rather have Monster than Mrazek.  Mrazek is capable, but the Wings won't make the playoffs on "capable".

 

From the result of last night's play, it looks like you're wish is granted a la Nyquist, coming up huge in overtime to win over the Habs.  Great second chance opportunity for the kid driving to the net.  Another beauty by Bertuzzi from Franzen...two guys who haven't played hockey in a month put together a perfect power play goal.  

 

They looked a bit rusty to be sure, but but all the rust came off quickly and cleanly.  Good to start the last stretch of the season with a win.  Hopefully they can get at least a point in Ottawa tonight.

 

Son't forget Stephen Weiss is due back next week.  He's been playing in Grand Rapids, tuning up his game.  Hopefully he's ready to return and be able to consider this a fresh start from his stale play.  Looking forward to seeing him again.  If he can get going it will go a long way to make up for Zetterberg's absence.  And he'll certainly bring the other guys with him.

 

PS - Is it just me or did the Red Wing uniforms looks just a little bit odd last night?  We've all been watching two weeks' worth of Olympic uniforms, so seeing the ol' Red and White was a bit strange to me.  

[jammer2]

PS - Is it just me or did the Red Wing uniforms looks just a little bit odd last night? We've all been watching two weeks' worth of Olympic uniforms, so seeing the ol' Red and White was a bit strange to me.

 

 HA...funny, I did a double take also!

[yave1964]

Last night in the third period they went through strength of schedule for every team down the stretch. Detroit has the fourth most difficult schedule in the game for the stretch drive, behind only Boston, Montreal, Philadelphia and then us.

 

   My personal opinion is as presently constituted we will fall just short. Losing Zetterberg was a crippling blow. I do not see how they recover. Weiss is due back, he certainly will be better than he was, Franzen looked solid last night, Nyquist is quickly becoming a star right before our eyes, he would have around 24, 25 goals if he had been up all year. I just do not think it is enough.

  Ryan Kessler would look great in a winged wheel jersey and would change my whole thinking on the subject. I just don't think that Holland will pull the trigger. I read a sickening quote from him today about how he would hate to give up an asset and then not make the playoffs anyway. Rather depressing attitude from your GM. I am not suggesting going all Garth Snow or anything of the sorts but for God sake how dreary when your GM basically is leaving the remaining players high and dry because he doesn't think they are good enough anyway.

  My opinion is the Senators and Blue Jackets are in, leaving the Wings and Flyers on the outside looking in. I sure hope I am wrong, we have had the best record in hockey for each of the last two post Olympic stretch drives so there is always that.

[SpikeDDS]

 

   My personal opinion is as presently constituted we will fall just short. Losing Zetterberg was a crippling blow. I do not see how they recover. Weiss is due back, he certainly will be better than he was, Franzen looked solid last night, Nyquist is quickly becoming a star right before our eyes, he would have around 24, 25 goals if he had been up all year. I just do not think it is enough.

  Ryan Kessler would look great in a winged wheel jersey and would change my whole thinking on the subject. I just don't think that Holland will pull the trigger. I read a sickening quote from him today about how he would hate to give up an asset and then not make the playoffs anyway. Rather depressing attitude from your GM. I am not suggesting going all Garth Snow or anything of the sorts but for God sake how dreary when your GM basically is leaving the remaining players high and dry because he doesn't think they are good enough anyway.

  My opinion is the Senators and Blue Jackets are in, leaving the Wings and Flyers on the outside looking in. I sure hope I am wrong, we have had the best record in hockey for each of the last two post Olympic stretch drives so there is always that.

I disagree with yave. I think we will make it, but be out after round 1.

I also had the totally opposite reaction to the Holland quote. To me, what he said was, "We're not going to sell the store just so that we can play in round 2 of the playoffs." Let's face it, we are not going to be serious Cup contenders this year, and you don't fork over the future for a rental unless you believe that one guy is enough to give you a serious shot at the Cup. Realistically, with Hank playing, we are a mid-to-low seed playoff team. We are right on the fringe without him. It could go either way. But one man, unless he is one heckuva scorer or Dman is not gonna take us from round 1 to round 4. So when Holland said what he said, I don't think he is "hanging his guys out to dry. I think he is hanging onto solid assets, which we have discussed at pretty good length before, which are likely to grow us into a very solid Cup contender in 2-3 years. If players think they are being hung out to dry, I think they have an overblown sense of what their chances for the Cup really are.

We are a good hockey team. When we play our best hockey, we are a very good hockey team. But we need to be great to win the Cup. Great we are not...yet. Keep the assets. Develop the assets. And then when you are a 2nd to 3rd round team trying to make it to the Finals, you rent.

JMHO.

[jammer2]

I disagree with yave. I think we will make it, but be out after round 1.

I also had the totally opposite reaction to the Holland quote. To me, what he said was, "We're not going to sell the store just so that we can play in round 2 of the playoffs." Let's face it, we are not going to be serious Cup contenders this year, and you don't fork over the future for a rental unless you believe that one guy is enough to give you a serious shot at the Cup. Realistically, with Hank playing, we are a mid-to-low seed playoff team. We are right on the fringe without him. It could go either way. But one man, unless he is one heckuva scorer or Dman is not gonna take us from round 1 to round 4. So when Holland said what he said, I don't think he is "hanging his guys out to dry. I think he is hanging onto solid assets, which we have discussed at pretty good length before, which are likely to grow us into a very solid Cup contender in 2-3 years. If players think they are being hung out to dry, I think they have an overblown sense of what their chances for the Cup really are.

We are a good hockey team. When we play our best hockey, we are a very good hockey team. But we need to be great to win the Cup. Great we are not...yet. Keep the assets. Develop the assets. And then when you are a 2nd to 3rd round team trying to make it to the Finals, you rent.

JMHO.

 

 Just love that line of thinking, very smart and I believe Holland will follow your lead.....although going after a guy like Kesler would be advantageous for the long haul, not really a rental, so I don't think that specific transaction would follow into the rental thingy....BUT would probably cost some young assets to get the job done. Depends on the asking price I guess.

[WingNut722]

 Just love that line of thinking, very smart and I believe Holland will follow your lead.....although going after a guy like Kesler would be advantageous for the long haul, not really a rental, so I don't think that specific transaction would follow into the rental thingy....BUT would probably cost some young assets to get the job done. Depends on the asking price I guess.

 

I don't know that I would pull the trigger on Kessler.  Although the contract of 2 years and $5M is pretty attractive, I agree with Holland that he would be the high-priced rental that everyone is talking about.  Given loss of Zetterberg, but considering the play of the last two games (Ottawa and Montreal), I think they're starting to put it together.  Z making a return will really help, especially having him fresh.  Datysuk could use a bit of rest too for the long haul.  he sat out the third period last night.  Hopefully the speculation is true and it was just precautionary since they were up 6-1.  Franzen is starting off huge which is excellent.

 

I really think Weiss is the X-Factor.  If he can play to his potential, the Wings have no need to worry about their playoff prospects, and they don't need to trade to do it.  Bertuzzi is always going to be a strong player, even if he doesn't score.  He brings much to the table.  Samuelsson has been waived and Cleary is warming the bench.  I agree with all here that Sheahan is a pleasant surprise this season, so when Weiss comes back and needs to take a center position, I would hope that Andersson is the one to get bumped.   

[SpikeDDS]

@WingNut722

As much as Andersson has helped the Wings since last year's call-up, and as reliable as he is defensively for a center, I agree that Sheahan deserves to stay in the lineup. I like his size. I like his instincts. He does make the occasional mistake, though, like in the 1st period when he threw the puck from the corner behind our net to right in front of our net for a point-blank opportunity for the Sens which Gus saved brilliantly. However, his game seems really suited for playoff hockey to me. He plays tough, an element that quite honestly has been missing from the RW game for a few years now. He's a keeper. As Babcock noted after only 3 or 4 games for Sheahan, "He looks like a hockey player to me."

[WingNut722]

As Babcock noted after only 3 or 4 games for Sheahan, "He looks like a hockey player to me."

 

And in terms of Mike Babcock, that's just about the highest complement a player can possibly receive!

[SpikeDDS]

And in terms of Mike Babcock, that's just about the highest complement a player can possibly receive!

Especially at this stage of a career. Babs does give higher accolades (see comments on Nick Lidstrom), but accolades like that only come when players stand out for long periods of time. When you are a rookie, if Babs says something like that, it's significant.