Abel to Yzerman
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Blasted By Bubba
by IwoCPO on 11/26/06 at 08:12 AM ET
Comments (11)
I’d like you to read something. It’s not anything particularly well written, or inspiring. It’s not a line from Pat Conroy’s The Great Santini, or from the “Anchorman” manuscript (two genius works, by the way). It’s just something I saw today that I think might make you laugh. Ready? Here we go.
Detroit News/Ted Kulfan
NASHVILLE - Let’s not dwell on this game by the Red Wings. There’s absolutely no reason anyone should.
I’m sorry. What?
Oh, I’ve got some dwelling to do. A dwelling we will go. Dwell I shall and dwell I will. “Let’s not dwell on this...”. Jesus, you wonder why Kulfan’s no longer DD Captain.
A few dwell-worthy items before we chronologically break down last night’s breakdown.
Shea Weber with an elbow to Pavel Datsyuk. Only one of about 20 similar images from last night.
* Why wasn’t Dominik Hasek in net? You want to avoid starting him twice in two nights? Understandable. But you start him against Bubba rather than Friday against St. Louis. You give yourself every chance in a 4-point situation. Nashville had just put up 6 on Vancouver’s backup. You knew they were hot. Vokoun’s out so you put your foot on their throat.
* Chris Chelios. Perhaps the worst game I’ve seen him play. Beaten in every conceivable way and beaten against a team he traditionally gets up for. If Chelios hates losing to one player in particular, it’s Paul Kariya. Balboa’s little sister was just one guy who turned Chelios inside out last night.
* Pavel Datsyuk. Bring your agent back to town Pavel. Kenny’s got that 6mil/year deal all ready to go. 3 goals in 22 games. Cornerstone of the franchise.
* Heart. The Wings had just lost 4 in a row, the last three in gut wrenching fashion. They’re facing the only real rival they have left, a team the Wings have to consider a true threat to the division crown; and they bring that to the table.
* Bubba’s one of the fastest teams in the league, so let’s go ahead and scratch Lebda and play Lilja.
So, Ted says we shouldn’t dwell. I prefer to go in a different direction.
MLive/Khan(!)
The Red Wings need a little shake-up right now.
More on that in a bit.
After a few days of rumors that Hasek might get back-to-back starts, Joey MacDonald gets the start. Vokoun’s out two-to-six weeks with a torn thumb ligament. Two-to-six weeks? Is that the kind of exact science medicine has become in Nashville? Arnott’s also out three-to-six (oh...much better) with a knee. Bubba’s wearing his baby-poop colored third jersey.
Cleary, Maltby and Draper start out for the Wings. Good call. Better put a quick end to that pesky scoring streak. How? Put Cleary between Drapes and Maltby. That’ll finish it. A nice grind line? Yes. Expecting any points? Nope.
We can and do expect points from Hank Zetterberg, though. On a rush with Lang, Zetterberg goes top shelf from between the circles, beating Mason for his 8th. And with that goal, at 11:25 of the first, the Wing highlight package for the evening comes to a tidy close.
Six minutes later Draper goes for tripping. 45 seconds after that, Maltby joins him. Two men down with your two best penalty-killing forwards in the box. Encouraging. The Zen-like Pete Weber tells us Bubba hasn’t scored with a 5-3 all year. As Terry Crisp explains to the 6-person Nashville tv audience what a 5-on-3 is, Timonen goes 5-hole and we’re tied.
Tomas Vokoun joins Pete and Terry in the box to start the second. Struggling through broken english, Vokoun is still the best broadcaster of the three. Zetterberg goes for hooking, Hartnall for holding the stick, then Suter for cross checking. Wings end up with two straight power plays and sleep through both.
And now the fun starts. Let me try to put this as succinctly as possible: Dumont, Radulov, Zidlicky, Hartnall. Odd man rush, deflection, back door, deflection: 4 goals on 5 shots. 5-1.
MLive/Khan(!)
“That’s a real tough effort for our team, we’re real disappointed with that,’’ Babcock said.
Us too. But no dwelling.
After Radulov’s punt made it by MacDonald (the backup who shouldn’t have been starting), we may have expected to see a goalie change, if there was a goalie on the bench who the Wings could bring in without first undergoing three hours of stretching and six groin massages. Not a chance. Not last night. Not ever. Hasek’s a figurehead when he’s not starting, and we all know it.
Let me tell you something else about Radulov’s goal and why that was the game right there. It was Bubba’s 3rd goal. And 3 goals against Detroit in 2006 equals certain victory. The Wings have given up 3+ goals in 9 games this year and lost 8. The Wings have scored 3+ goals three frigging times. If you’re scoring at home the rest of the year, put a little asterisk next to the opposition’s third goal, or just go to bed. Because, unless the Wings find some offense soon, comebacks are going to be a rarity.
Woops. I got so excited typing there for a second that I almost missed Bubba’s sixpack. There goes Erat by a flailing Chelios. Kariya one-times it past MacDonald. The Enigma netted his 200th career goal a few minutes into the third, but even Tammy Fae Bakker sitting behind the Wings’ bench (anybody see her? Striking resemblance) knows it’s over.
Detroit Free Press/George Sipple
“Tonight, you can’t leave here as a coach or as a player and not be disappointed,” Babcock said.
What the Hell was that? I have no idea how a team comes out that flat, against that team.
Daily Tennessean/John Glennon
“I know that me and (Steve Sullivan) were saying on the way to the rink that this just might be the first time we were ever leading Detroit in the division when we played,’’ Predators captain Kimmo Timonen said. “Everybody knew it was an important game — a four-point game — and I think it showed on the ice.’’
-----
Back to Khan(!)’s blog entry from last night. He’s of the opinion changes need to be made and made immediately. Correctly, he points out offense is a definite concern, but recommends sending Filpulla down, MacDonald down, calling Norton or Bootland up, rolling three lines instead of four.
Temporary measures. All of them. Look. Were the Wings as good as the 9-gamer made them out to be? Maybe not. Are they as inept as they showed us last night, or the previous three games? Let’s hope not. But the reality is this: We’re at the quarter pole and cannot score. Datsyuk has apparently been found out. Shea Weber violated him all night. In fact, the Wings were generally beat down again.
More reality: Detroit sits in 6th, but behind them are Minnesota, Colorado, Vancouver and Calgary. Any or all of whom are playing better, and could easily slide up.
Last night was the exception as far as goals allowed. We won’t see too much more of that. But it was the rule where production is concerned. A six-game downward trend is one thing. The first quarter of a season is another. Three games with 3 or more goals. One game with multiple power play goals. 8 goals from your leading scorer. 3 from Datsyuk. 3 from Williams. 3 from Samuelsson. This isn’t a slump. It’s not going to be solved by line changes or fine-tuning.
Two choices: stand pat, hope and wait for July and the Second Summer of Ken. Or deal now. And you know who.
3 goals after 22 games. No progress in recent negotiations. UFA on July 1st. No indication that he can score when it counts. The last clutch Wing to wear #13 was Slava Kozlov. I’m betting Datsyuk’s on the block.
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Comments
I’d agree that starting Hasek against St. Louis rather than Nashville was a mistake. While I’d prefer to see Lebda over Lilja, Lils wasn’t really the problem last night: it was Schneider and Cheli. Cheli has complained about how he doesn’t need a night off here are there. In retrospect he should have taken last night off.
Datsyuk just doesn’t have any quality wingers. I think the first thing I’d do is a little line juggling, maybe put Clearly on his line and see if that can jumpstart that line. Having Zetterberg play on Lang’s line isn’t ideal but it has worked. So see if you have a winger on the squad who can get that top line going. If that doesn’t work then I’d look into trades.
Posted by Dave on 11/26/06 at 11:48 AM ET
Good on ya ‘Bubba’, the wings needed that.
I agree with IWO, about the poor coaching decisions leading up to, and including this game.
Interesting that Babcock got all the credit for the 9 game win streak, but now the DD and GM wanabees are pointing at the individual players for the quick 180. The players don’t put themselves out on the ice, and they don’t get put out there unless they are playing the coaches game. If anyone goes to the play by play (http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20062007/PL020341.HTM) they will notice some ‘splainin necessary’ stuff.
Filppula, Kopecky, and Hudler (combined total 66 NHL games) were the forward line on the ice for 2 EVS goals. Anyone figure out what planet Babcock is from? And..Kronwall, the new 5 yr catch..I still cannot justify all the ice time he gets with a meager 65 NHL games. The Wings better be looking for a new Scotty Bowman, and that should be a priority. At least when he lost, it was tired experience, not inexperience. I objected when the ‘Geat Datzky’ was given a free ride for 2 years, and now he is worth even less.
Posted by Gramps from Hockeytown on 11/26/06 at 01:39 PM ET
Having re-watched the game, there WAS one positive last night: Samuelson fighting, (after a fashion), and Markov getting into it, too. MacDonald looked overwhelmed from the start. Overall, the Wings were SLOW. Slow on their feet, slow to get to the puck, slow to move the puck, slow passes. The Preds were picking them off all night. That is what Steve Sullivan said after the game. The Wings are old and slow.
Posted by w2j2 on 11/26/06 at 02:52 PM ET
How is this Babcock’s fault? He was brought in here to make the Wings tougher and hareder to play against, to instill discipline and implement a system. Holland gives him finesse players who are small and clearly uncomfortable with that style. Holland has just as much explaining to do, because if it wasn’t for Johnson’s heart aliment, and other injuries, there would be no youth movement. I continue to think that Babcock is a backyard barbeque cook being asked to cook for a team of New York Times food critics. Doesn’t fit, doesn’t work, something needs to give. If I’m the GM, I’m making some calls and moving guys like Schneider (who’s gone now that Kronwall is getting the bucks) Datsyuk (though no one would want him) and one of Williams, Samuelsson or Hudler.
Posted by bababooey on 11/26/06 at 03:15 PM ET
the problem is strategy.. babcock only knows one way to generate offense, and its garbage goals. Even when this team plays his system to a T, they outshoot the other team 40-15 and squeak out a 1 goall win(or lose by one goal. Attempting to turn datsyuk, hank and lang into crashers and grinders does not play to their strengths.. playing the wrong forwards with the wrong centers brings out the worst in everybody. how about putting hank homer and sammy back together? you know.. the line that produced 90 goals last year?. Babcock wants each line to have speed, playmaking, and grinding.. the problem is those types of players dont necissarily compliment each other.. thus.. no chemistry. His system stinks.. and the whole team knows it. Unfortunately hes too stubborn to change it.
Posted by aTTicA on 11/26/06 at 04:47 PM ET
Babalooey from Quickdraw: That is the question. Why have the Wings gone from the winner of the Presidents Trophy, with the best power play in the league and one of the highest scoring teams, to the worst? They only lost Shanahan and Yzerman, who played less than half the year on the third / fourth line. I think that Babcock wants a fast, gritty team like Calgary or Edmonton, and that may take years to build, with high draft choices. During the transition, they want to continue to win. Maybe the Wings forwards have been exposed as previously over-acheiving mediocre players. After Hank, Lang, and Pavel, you have Holmstrom, Williams, Samuelson, Franzen, Draper, Maltby, Cleary, then 3 rookies with potential. None of that latter bunch will strike terror into the hearts of D-men.
Anyway, maybe it is too late to ask why this has happened. Maybe the question is, how do the Wings become young, fast and gritty as soon as possible. The only answer I can see is to clean house.
Posted by w2j2 on 11/26/06 at 05:07 PM ET
Cleaning house with the new Salary cap and CBA is impossible. You can only raise the white flag and put your players out on the curb with your bagged leaves and grass clippings. Not the answer, anyway, Chicago tried that in 1962, and they are still trying to make it work. Wings have talent, and need a coach with enough experience to use it wisely. Babcocks only successful season with the Ducks, he had so many seasoned veterans, they could have coached themselves.
Posted by Gramps from Hockeytown on 11/26/06 at 05:24 PM ET
Who is that coach? Holland thought he had the best in the business when he hired Babcock. I say get Barry Smith. He has coached years beside Bowman, and nobody has given him a chance.
Posted by w2j2 on 11/26/06 at 05:42 PM ET
Thanks for the recap Iwo- I couldn’t catch the game last night and was wondering how the Wings lost 6-2 to Nashville while they were missing Vokoun & Arnott.
I agree, Datsyuk needs to go. He is not worth the increase in salary and I just pray that Holland does not re-sign him for anything more than his current contract…
Posted by Christy on 11/26/06 at 05:45 PM ET
Barry Smith would have been terrific, we have now wasted 4 seasons for not listening to Bowman. Get him now, and let him pick his own assistants.
Posted by Gramps from Hockeytown on 11/26/06 at 06:31 PM ET
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Head to Hockeytown
Blogs the Chief Likes
“This isn’t a slump. It’s not going to be solved by line changes or fine-tuning.” That is profound, Iwo. Another thing you could have said was “It cannot be solved this season.”
An important question is: How much does coaching contribute to this debacle? Clearly, using Hasek against the Blues was a mistake. Dressing Lilja and Chelios instead of Lebda is mistake #2. I suspect that coaching philosophy, practice drills, and line combinations are much bigger mistakes on a daily basis.
Posted by w2j2 on 11/26/06 at 10:35 AM ET