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Re-Thinking The Official A2Y Stance on Hudler

by IwoCPO on 11/30/07 at 08:33 AM ET
Comments (10)

I’m a big guy.  In stature?  Perhaps not.  But, emotionally?  Huge.  It takes a strong man to do something like this.

December 15th, 2006/Me

What is the infatuation with this kid?  Who in the organization is so tied to him that we can’t jettison him? Is Hudler better than Rem Murray or Boyd Devereaux...two players the Wings passed on the last two training camps?  Can anyone tell me Hudler fits into the Babcock system...at all?

At what point does wasting a roster spot on his potential become too cumbersome?

Through 25 games last year?  4 points, all goals.  I had lit the torches.  Lit them, ran with them through the village.  “Hudler must go,” I said. 

But he didn’t. Nobody listened.  Kenny didn’t.  Jimmy D, our boy, didn’t.  Uncle Mike may have because he never really gave the kid the ice time he needed to show us much last year.  But now?  Well, it looks like we’ve got ourselves an improving oompa loompa on our hands.

15 points in the same span of time.  9 of them are assists.  I like that.  I’m liking Hudler.  I liked the goal last night, breaking for the net, anticipating Chelios’ next move.  I like the fact that he was absolutely drilled by a girl named Dion, stays down for a Balboa-like count of 8...and doesn’t miss a shift.

And the best part?  Hudler’s improvement is getting to be gradually infectious.  We’re not going to put a second (or third) line out there that’s going to compete with Monty Babcock’s Flying Circus in terms of production, but improvement can be seen.  Filppula, Samuelsson, Kopecky: all looked good last night.  Franzen registered 6 shots. Cleary’s looking dangerous again and even Drake showed a little offensive flair, minus the full face shield.  And Aaron Downey had multiple scoring opportunities.  No he didn’t. Just seeing if you were still with me.

But the key, in my opinion, is Hudler.  I’m still shaking my head at Babcock’s decision to stick him on the fourth line with Drake and Downey last Saturday at Columbus. To me, that made zero sense.  Since then, he’s been back up to the third--and occasionally--second line.  His ice time still hovers around 10 minutes, compared to the 18 Cleary had last night; and that has to be due to size and matchups.  He may have the heart to play effective defense right now, but he doesn’t have the size or strength. 

An inch shorter and about ten pounds lighter than Datsyuk, there’s hope he can find a means to check some of the bigger forwards he’d be matched up against, but until he does that ice time probably won’t increase. 

And speaking of Datsyuk...stand by.  He’s been around long enough for us to recognize the signs and they’re all there. 4 goals and 6 points the last three games and he’s just heating up.  Forget the stats and just consider the way he’s controlling play every shift. 

A note:  During the live blog from the Verizon Center Wednesday night I mentioned that a crew from Hockey Night in Canada was there shooting a story on hockey bloggers.  You’ll be able to see that story tomorrow at 6:30pm EST on CBC.

Another note:  I was remiss yesterday in that I didn’t say Happy Birthday to Grampa Pinhead.  I feel significant shame.  A belated congratulations Gramps, the day after your 40th.

Filed in: | Abel to Yzerman | Permalink
 Tags: Babcock, Cleary, Datsyuk, Downey, Filppula, Franzen, Holland, Hudler, Kopecky, Samuelsson,

Comments

Happy Birthday, Gramps!

I agree, chief, Hudlum is the key to 2nd line scoring.  Whether he is with Samuelson, Filpulla, Cleary or Franzen, Hudlum is the playmaker.

Furthermore, as you alluded to, the kid is tough as nails, and keeps smiling.  I REALLY like that in a Red Wing. 

This guy could quietly become a leader on this team.  “Under the radar”, so to speak. 
Like the Dalmation on a fire truck.

Posted by w2j2 on 11/30/07 at 09:41 AM ET

Do you want to describe yourself so we’ll recognize you on the blogger piece on CBC?

Or do you trust your avid readers to draw their own conclusions? 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/30/07 at 10:09 AM ET

Totally unrelated there big fella, but did you notice they FINALLY fixed the #$*2 &%@! schedule cluster???

The Wings play EVERYbody next year - woohoo!

Posted by Hoser from Downer Peninsula, Michigan on 11/30/07 at 10:35 AM ET

Happy birthday, Gramps!  Mine was yesterday, but I daresay I’m not nearly as old as you, though I cam probably compete with you on crankiness levels.

Chief, glad you’re coming around to my way of thinking on Hudler.  His wizardry is absolutely mind-blowing sometimes, and his spirit, tenacity, ethic and sheer bloody-minded fearlessness that belie his slight frame (a body shape I alas share with him, though I lack the other aforementioned traits) make me, well...’happy’ to have Happy on the team.  As for his defense, granted, he’ll never throw big bone-crunching hits like Kronner or Cleary, but the fact that he’s a +5 (not against top scoring lines, but still against a wide variation of opposition) has to count for something.  I think he bought into Uncle Mike’s gritty style of two-way play in exchange for more ice time (and some PP time), and that’s starting to pay off at both ends of the ice.  I had my doubts when we used a second-rounder on him, but like he said that day, we wouldn’t be sorry.  I know I most certainly am not.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from out of the hat, just like the rabbit on 11/30/07 at 12:03 PM ET

First Gerber and then Devereaux?  Cheif… wtf?

Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 11/30/07 at 12:21 PM ET

The Wings play EVERYbody next year - woohoo!

It could be even better, with a home-and-home for every single team, and still allow time for the Olympics without excessive stress.

(And the players wouldn’t mind 84 games if the number of pre-season matchups was reduced, either.)

And never underestimate us short people!  We’re tougher and sneakier than most realize. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/30/07 at 12:37 PM ET

Slinger: I know. It was a weak moment. In fact it was my birthday. I was probably wasted.

W2: I’m thinking you may have just created an addition to the glossary.

Baroque: I guess you’ll have to see on Saturday. Unless I pull a Klessel and ask the to pixilate me.

And for all who commented regarding the schedule.  Agreed.  More on that later.

Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 11/30/07 at 01:02 PM ET

We will be grabbing the CBC pre-game stuff, just in case the sailor made it past the cutting room floor.
It should be up sometime later Saturday night.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 11/30/07 at 02:02 PM ET

Happy won me over last year when he got into a shoving match one night with Phaneuf in front of the goal crease. “The Man With The Scary Face” was being his usual bad-ass self and cross-checked Happy after the play ended...sort of a “Get out of our crease you little pip-squeak” kind of a thing.

Next thing you know, Happy was punching him in the chest (or at least as high up on his chest as his little arms could reach). Phaneuf looked a bit confused and then skated away shaking his head in disbelief. He even turned around half way to the bench and looked back as if to make sure it had really happened. Funniest damn thing I saw on the ice all last year.

What’s impressed me most about Happy this year is the way he controls the puck on the power play. His skills aren’t exactly Datsyukesque (at least not yet), but he makes clean, crisp passes to guys who are open. That’s a big improvement over last year.

Happy still gets knocked off the puck pretty easily, but hopefully another summer of training with Cheli’s group will change that. All in all, he’s a bargain at $880k. Heck, the smile alone is worth that much.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 11/30/07 at 02:23 PM ET

An inch shorter?  Huds is 5’6”...Pavel really is 5’11,” I know that from in-person experience.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 12/01/07 at 05:14 AM ET

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