Thoughts after Chicago

[SpikeDDS]

The streak's been a nice run while it lasted. Time to develop players. Good to see Pulkinnen remain up. Hope he stays. They had BETTER not send him down in lieu of Tootoo if someone gets healthy. He should be up to stay unless we are somehow surprisingly in serious contention for the last playoff spot, which is doubtful at this point.

The Chicago game simply showed how undermanned we are as compared with true Cup contenders. We simply do not have the personnel to compete at that level. We can keep a tie score for a while, but we will end up breaking down. They exposed Quincey/Smith for who they are. Again. Hossa and Sharp were the best players on the ice. Hossa took us to school. Made Franzen look bad to, eh?

So now, we need to stop with the focus on the playoffs and get in onto developing these young players. Give 'em some ice time. Let them make their mistakes now. Get them ready to be ready for next season, when we drop some of our dead weight. I asked Helene St. James when she thought the Wings should abandon making the playoffs and start making developing players the primary focus, while still allowing for making the playoffs if the kids can compete. She said that it didn't sound like a successful business model to her. Being aware of who we are makes her vision short-sighted. Now's the time.

BTW, LOVED Pulkinnen's hip check in his first game. Had a few good chances too. As far as th Chicago game is concerned, I thought Alfie skated well, and Drew Miller was solid as well. It might have been a bit of a different game if Alfie had scored on that chance where the rebound hopped over his blade in front of an open net, but Chicago would probably still have won.

Let 'em play, coach!

[yave1964]

@SpikeDDS

 

  Been a rough season, not a lot of teams have the depth to recover from what the Wings have faced this year, especially with our two best players both out. But like Babs always says, you cannot cry about who you do not have, you just gotta play the players you have.

 Hence your point.

 

  I agree about Pulkinnen, he belongs in the NHL right now, he is a bit small but so many of the Wings are, but seems to play big. I hated seeing Jarnkrok go but Pulkkinen in the mix with other kids such as Jurco, Sheahan, Tatar and Nyquist, that is FIVE spots that need to be locked down by the kids and that is not even counting guys like Glendening who Mickey has a man crush on for the way he hits.

  So FINALLY youth is being served, we need to improve the quality of the blue line next year and let the veteran Cleary and Bertuzzi types go, but overall I like the way the team is going. We are still barely in the mix at the bottom of the pile (a remarkable feat all things considered) but the upcoming stretch is absolutely brutal, the next nine games against top teams or those on the fringe. it looks like we are looking at the end of a great run but the future is nonetheless very bright.