flyercanuck Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Not exactly how I'd expect the goal to go in...but the rush was ALL Andreas. With his speed and skill, many more to come. Another steal by the Wings scouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 @flyercanuck He literally carried the puck 198 feet down the ice, leaving the Washington defense flat footed, almost went too far past the goal but good things happen when you shoot the puck. Loved his sheepish grin after! Both Holtby and Trotz spoke derisively about the goal after the game, saying Holtby would stop that puck 99 out of 100 times but at the end of the day they don't ask how they ask how often. Athanasiou has been off to a very slow start at Grand Rapids, IMHO it is because of busting his butt in the preseason and getting sent down anyway, part of the learning curve. I believe he will yoyo a bit this year, Datsyuk is coming back Friday so the kid is going to in al likelihood get sent back out but he will be on Kenny Holland's speed dial, that is for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingNut722 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 I really like the way the whole team played yesterday evening. They had several moment later in the game where they really tried to pepper Holtby. Looked real good and had good puck control for the better part of the night. A great performance by Mrazek. Getting a shutout is grand enough, but stopping 15 Ovechkin shots on the one night that he REALLY wanted a goal for historic reasons. Outstanding work by the whole team! Things are looking up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeDDS Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 @yave1964@WingNut722And most of those 15 Ovie shots were one-timers from his office. A few of them were not, and those may have been his most difficult saves. Brilliant performance by Mrazek. But I'm agreeing with Mickey and any other sane people that continuing to allow those passes to 8 for the one-timers in the circle is a recipe for disaster. We are darn fortunate that Mrazek was up to the challenge, but we cannot play like we are relying on that kind of performance on a nightly basis.One thing is sticking out to me with these young kids coming in and that is how slow the Red Wings are without them. Their speed changes the game for the opposing D. AA blew by those Dmen. They didn't anticipate him well enough, and they had the opportunity to do so. Perhaps this particular one could be tallied to not knowing his capability, but it doesn't matter. If they DO anticipate him, it still opens up the ice for the Red Wing trailing the play. We are still better with the speed than without it.The other thing I've noticed is a general lack of creativity in moving the puck. I was watching the Montreal-Penguins game last night (didn't see all of it), but on numerous occasions, the puck was tic-tac-toed back and forth several times that surprised even me. Why did it surprise me? Because I'm no longer used to seeing it in our game. We have become a much more predictable team offensively, which leads to more blocked shots and fewer shots on goal, resulting in fewer goals. Datsyuk cannot get back fast enough. His skill set is EXACTLY what we need back in our game right now.Unfortunately, Pav's return will VERY likely mean the return to GR of AA (unless he continues to wreak havoc, and maybe even IF he does that), but I agree that if the scoring drought continues, and injury doesn't make the decision for him, KH will have to make some hard decisions about who is expendable in order to bring up the youth. Thank goodness for our goaltending. They have kept us in this season, when otherwise we don't deserve to be where we are.Finally, it's pretty amazing that one win took us from being the second team below the line to second in our division. Beneath Montreal, the Atlantic Division is extremely competitive for mediocr...I mean, second place. If we were in the Metro Division, we'd still be 2nd below the line. We are now 15th out of 30 in the league in points. And in second place in the division. I suppose I CAN say it--mediocrity.Did I mention that Datsyuk can't come back quickly enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 @WingNut722@SpikeDDS In a giddy moment after the 3-0 start I mentioned that in years past when Datsyuk went out we were a .500 team but now we were obviously much better. Looks like i spoke too soon. We lost Datsyuk, Green and Richards, our top d-man and our centers for our top two lines, in truth how many teams could withstand that and still be sitting where we are? Richards while looking old can still create and was starting to gel with Tatar when he went down, that trio brings experience and a different attitude to the team. From what I understand with Athanasiou he was basically told that if he went out and was a minus 4 or if he scored a hat trick it was moot, he was getting some experience under his belt and then gone back to Grand Rapids. This should be the boost t his confidence that eh needed, he was really lackluster in GR so far this year, I think kind of a hangover after his great camp. But he willl be here soon to stay and then the speed of both he and Larkin combined with the quickness of Pavel will make this team that much better. We withstood losing Datsyuk for nearly a quarter of the season and now he is back, hopefully great things will follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeDDS Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 @yave1964And sending AA down is the right play...for now. If this was later in the season and/or if we were further down in the standings, it might be different. Actually, the lackluster competition in the Atlantic Division may be why AA will be waiting longer to get the REAL call-up.But I hope/wish his call-up would be a sounding call to the second, third, and 4th line (more the 2nd and 3rd really--I think for the most part that 4th line plays their role pretty well, and it's not really AA's role) that they need to up their effort or they are going to get moved. That if they want to stick around to be able to play with these young and obviously talented guys, their play better say it. But you know what? I'm a bit skeptical at this point about that. Andersson? Jurco? They have had plenty of opportunity to shift gears and make a statement. Andersson might still be a 4th liner, but I think Jurco's days are numbered. Just gotta time the trade right.I'm not quite sure what's going on with Tats. I see him making plays, but he just can't put the puck I the net. I credit the opposing D for adjusting and making him more of a defensive priority as part of the "slump," but his relative absence from the scoresheet is a mystery to me. Nyquist to some degree also, especially even strength. I think we've only gotten 3 or 4 goals this season from the two of them combined while at even strength this season. That is more than a little concerning.Might have more to say, but gotta head to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 This is the kind of stuff i got used to seeing on the Colts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 18 minutes ago, flyercanuck said: This is the kind of stuff i got used to seeing on the Colts... I posted elsewhere that the Wings have been wretched in shootouts and how cool it was to see Blashill have the rookie AA not only as a shooter, but as the ANCHORMAN in the shootout against Columbus. No way no how would Babs have let a rookie even be among the first three shooters, Hell, Athanasiou (and Larkin) would still be toiling for Grand Rapids. The kid is gaining confidence every day and getting better. Here is to hoping his ice time goes up, right now he is on the ice less than any of our forwards, it would be nice if his hard work pays off by getting bumped to a middle six role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyerrod Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Every time I see that name (Athanasiou), I think of the Non Sequitor cartoon and Capt'n Eddie........or his boat...... http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2013/01/27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeDDS Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 23 hours ago, flyercanuck said: This is the kind of stuff i got used to seeing on the Colts... I mentioned in another thread about that 3rd period move and his SO goal. Thought of you, because I think you were the first I saw mention him and say how good he was. You were right. Kid's got skills! Perhaps the reason we are 2-5 in SOs is that we are only 1-0 when we put AA in it. ;-) Gotta feeling it may not be the last time we see him there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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