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Probably Not The Best Day To…
by IwoCPO on 12/01/08 at 03:22 PM ET
Comments (27)
...hear this, courtesy of Helene St. James.
“Who’s the hardest working team in the National Hockey League?” he said. “Well, in the past I’ve been able to say without any question, here. I don’t think that’s the case right now.”
That’s Uncle Mike doing the talking, and he wasn’t done yet.
As has become his usual routine with the Diggers, he threw in a jab at the goalies too.
“We gave up seven goals on 38 shots the last two games,” Babcock said. “I think that’s pretty self-explanatory. We’ve got to do a better job in that area. We have to play better defense, but we’ve also got to get saves, and then that helps you go.”
Here’s a mind-numbing newsflash for you: neither of our goalies has stolen a period much less a game. It’s just not happening. It never does. Ever. Hasek didn’t do it. Cujo didn’t. Osgood, suicidal Manny. Nobody. The Wings aren’t built that way and we’ve come to understand that.
It was cool when the defense was stifling. But it’s not and now it’s a worry. Now we have to be concerned with bad, bad, bad goals and not just one. But a few, in a short period of time. And that sucks. Because, not stealing a game is one thing. Giving it away is another. And while our Conk is blocking no one and Ozzie is waiting to be “awesome again”, the poultry actually have two goalies playing real well. One of them is French and won’t be available. The other?
SECOND STAR—JONAS HILLER, G, ANAHEIM DUCKS Hiller highlights
Hiller posted a 2-0-0 record with a 0.50 goals-against average, .984 save percentage and one shutout as the Ducks (14-8-3, 31 points) won three consecutive games and improved to fourth place in the Western Conference. Hiller made 26 saves in posting his second career shutout as the Ducks defeated Chicago 1-0 Nov. 28 and turned aside 36 of 37 shots in a 4-1 victory at Carolina Nov. 30, tying a Ducks’ team record by earning standings points in eight consecutive road games. Hiller improved to 6-1-1 with a 1.94 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and two shutouts in 10 appearances this season.
Awesome. I can’t remember the last time a Wing goalie “turned aside 36 of 37 shots...”. Hell, I can’t remember the last time a Wing goalie “only let in 2 goals when we’re used to seeing 3 EVERY FRIGGING NIGHT BITCHES.”
Oh yeah. And now that bastard instigator Sleek is comparing us with last year’s underachievers, the year-long hungover MF’ing poultry. It’s like getting in trouble at the same time your little brother does. I’d rather just take the whole wooden spoon myself, rather than be lumped in with his dumb ass. You know?
For both the Ducks and Red Wings, the current-year versions have been surrendering way more goals than they did last year—each team is giving up around 2/3 an extra goal-per-game, with some of that comes from a declining penalty kill. Each team has found a way to generate wins despite a shakier defense, though, mainly through an improved team offense.
Sleek brought up the fact that the Duckies are getting regularly outshot, yet they’re still winning. Can you imagine the horror if the Wings were getting outshot every night, with our goaltending? Holy hell.
So, here’s what I want for tonite...with 90-foot Chris in net. I’ll take a win, but what I really want? Could I have a shutout? Is that too much too ask? Well that plus a Sasquatch tantrum that leads to a Wing 90 second 5-3...twice. That would be neat.
Really a win is all I want. No, it’s not. I want a dominating win. A stress-reliever. A win that says all is well. A win that will let us all breathe easy until Thursday and the Sedin sisters.
And if I can’t have that? If that’s too much to ask? I feel a manifesto coming on. I see it building on the horizon, a turbulent, rolling thundercloud of goalie-hating angst that not even puppies and firetrucks or hookers could stave off.
We’re not doing a poll today. I may not even dedicate the live blog. It may just be titled: “Comments Below”, or “Write something if you want”, or “Wake Up Andy, Dwight’s Drilling Angela.” I just don’t know. See you tonite.
----
Updated 1610 EST: Giguere is, in fact, available tonite if Carlysle wants to use him.
...or the coach can call on veteran Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has been on the ice just once in the past week because he was attending to a serious family concern in his hometown of Montreal.
Carlyle, who customarily protects the identity of his starting goalie at all costs, said Sunday night only that Giguere would likely be “available” to face the Red Wings.
Hiller wasn’t quite sure what to make of the prospect of perhaps being in net for a second consecutive night, with a two-hour airplane flight in between.
“For sure, my legs are a little tired right now,” Hiller said Sunday night. “Hopefully, I get a stretch and massage so I’ll be ready for (Monday). Until now, we never play back-to-back, me and Jiggy. I don’t know if he’s ready to play, but if not, I’ll be there and try my best.”
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Comments
Our cap space is a part of the problem I think too Chief.
Babs is frustrated, there’s no denying that. But his hands are tied, he can’t do anything to get them motivated. If he could, I bet Leino, Helm, Ericsson and maybe even Abadabbadoo would begetting good looks right now at the expense of the regulars. A benching is just what some of these guys need. But Babs can’t do that because of the cap (Thanks Gary. Ass.), and benching someone right now would leavue us short a player.
This team, from the way it look to me, seems to be stuck in cruise control. “We’re the Champs, we can score 7 goals, no one can touch us.” Hell it’s been evident by how many times the guys seems to go for the highlight reel play instead of just getting the puck to the back of the frigging net.
As the Wings fan I am, I do tend to be harsh-- no hostile is more the word, towards our goalies. Giving up one is too many, especially in the playoffs. But this season, I’ve been cutting Ozzie and the Conk-Blocker some slack, because of how terrible their team in front of them is defensively. But if I still see 3+ in the opponent’s scoreline a few more games from now, I’m gonna be joining the raiding party.
Posted by Alzy from Innisfail, Alberta, Canada on 12/01/08 at 03:39 PM ET
would you give up one of the 3, if it meant bringing in some solid goaltending? anyone else notice joey macdonald has been playing pretty well lately?
Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 12/01/08 at 03:59 PM ET
Is there any way we could trade Lebda and Lilja for Quincey?
Posted by JR from Mich on 12/01/08 at 03:59 PM ET
would you give up one of the 3, if it meant bringing in some solid goaltending?
Great question. No, I wouldn’t. Not when Howard, even though I really don’t believe he’ll ever start in Detroit, is only 25. Not with Larsson and that chubby kid McCollum down there and looking good.
If given the option, I’d spend on The Three and hope for the best. Despite Osgood’s play of late (in other words, all season) he still has the pedigree and enough experience to have us optimistic that he could at least not screw us in the playoffs.
Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 12/01/08 at 04:04 PM ET
Simple solution to end all of this- Some goal production from the 3rd and 4th lines!
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/01/08 at 04:04 PM ET
Heh, I didn’t mean my post to be a gloom-and-doom piece. Sure, there’s a downside to winning games sloppily. But really, that’s for February and March--it really doesn’t matter in November or the first day of December.
At this point, I’m quite happy with the questionably-earned winning. Why go through all the hassle of goal prevention when you don’t really need to (yet)?
Posted by Earl Sleek from Anaheim, CA on 12/01/08 at 04:15 PM ET
This team, from the way it look to me, seems to be stuck in cruise control. “We’re the Champs, we can score 7 goals, no one can touch us.”
Is there any way we could trade Lebda and Lilja for Quincey?
Simple solution to end all of this- Some goal production from the 3rd and 4th lines!
Yes, we’re letting in far too many goals. But the goalies have no control over the shots against...the team in front of them does. And when the whole team is having defensive lapses, we can either blame a hangover...which we’ve done...or we can blame the braintrust....which we haven’t. When do we hold the coaching staff accountable?
More than once we’ve seen players - even #5 - caught looking confused and completely out of position. When a player of his caliber is out of sync with the game plan, I suspect there’s blame to go around.
Yes, the team hasn’t been working as hard as they should have. And yes, we’re winning games. But they’re hard fought games against the Blues, Canes, Thrashers, Blue Jackets, Kings and Oilers. But the Sharks, Habs, Ducks, Bruins, Pens...all of the teams we would consider to be competitive...we haven’t won a SINGLE GAME against what I would consider to be a top tier team. That’s more than a hangover. That suggests a failure at the front office.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 12/01/08 at 04:32 PM ET
I used to think: “It’s okay that Wings goalies seem to have worse save percentages than others although they have a good GAA. Because the quality of the shots they face is high: shooters have to first beat the best defense in the league snipe one off, and it’s THOSE shots that the goalies are facing on a regular basis. So sure they’re going to let in one in ten or a little more. The goalies themselves are just as high caliber as any in the league; the numbers don’t tell the whole story on them.”
But now, with the defense being ordinary I can’t be an apologist anymore. Our goalies are equally ordinary. Their save percentages ought to have increased if I was right about them before, since they are seeing more shots, but less remarkable ones overall, than they were before when the defense was great. But that just isn’t happening. Now the numbers DO tell the whole story on them.
Blech. But they’re so used to thinking that only the great shots get through the D that they’re sloppy or overthinking the ordinary shots.
Posted by Backpacking Dad on 12/01/08 at 04:37 PM ET
Doom. Gloom. What are the options......? The Hasek is still out of commission so....
I hear “Xanadu” is on at the LaJolla Playhouse...Gabe, grab the family and c’mon along!
On stage seating still available!
Posted by Rumbear from the den.... on 12/01/08 at 04:40 PM ET
I raised the coaching question in Oct, and got slammed with ‘Wait until 20 games’.
Well, I am still waiting, and all I know for sure:
McClelland and Scotty are off the hook.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs dont live up to my expectations on 12/01/08 at 04:45 PM ET
But the Sharks, Habs, Ducks, Bruins, Pens...all of the teams we would consider to be competitive...we haven’t won a SINGLE GAME against what I would consider to be a top tier team.
Well, we did win (barely) against the Rangers. But that’s really a footnote at this point. The overall truth of that statement makes me want to curl up and cry.
Posted by Sadie from Ann Arbor, MI on 12/01/08 at 04:52 PM ET
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:
If the Wings get a lead (any lead) Mike thinks his team can just shut it down like the the pre-lockout days.
I really don’t think Babcock is suited for this era of the NHL.
Yes, goaltending hasn’t been stellar, but… god, why is it so hard to understand that when you get a lead, you push for 1, 2… maybe even 3 more goals still. When you have the skate on the throat, you PUSH DOWN.. not sit there grinning waiting to see what happens next.
With Mike right now, this team has no killer instinct AT ALL.
Posted by Primis on 12/01/08 at 04:58 PM ET
I raised the coaching question in Oct, and got slammed with ‘Wait until 20 games’.
Well, I am still waiting, and all I know for sure:
McClelland and Scotty are off the hook.
As a coach, what do you tell your players when you’re still picking up two points more often than not?
Babcock NEEDED a stretch like this, losses like the ones against the Habs and B’s, so he could have some points that will actually hold weight with the players.
The players are smart—they know they haven’t played great. But no matter how hard Babs screams that at them, I can’t imagine they’ll listen if they’re still piling up the points.
Now Uncle Mike has the ammo he needs to coach ‘em up… to motivate them. He’s got something tangible to throw at the club and say, “Look, you’re not working hard, and we’re not winning as a result.” He didn’t really have that before these two games. And even with those games, they got three points in games against the ‘Nucks and BJs, so (as much as this pains me to say it), Babs might need his team to get spanked tonight so he can really rip them a new one and wake them up.
Posted by Nathan on 12/01/08 at 05:03 PM ET
When you have the skate on the throat, you PUSH DOWN..
I thought last year’s Zednik incident essentially outlawed this metaphor. 
Of course, I totally approve.
Posted by Earl Sleek from Anaheim, CA on 12/01/08 at 05:09 PM ET
I raised the coaching question in Oct,
Yes, but whereas you came across as alarmist and reactionary, I now come across as knowledgeable and pragmatic. 
Either way. Desperate times call for desperate avatar changes.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 12/01/08 at 05:10 PM ET
I wish I could control myself. You guys know what I mean? We just torture ourselves…
The defense played pretty well for a stretch a few weeks ago, and then went back to “3+ GA” mode once we started struggling to score goals. Even in the Calgary game, I could see us having trouble scoring for most of the game. They haven’t played well since then, but it hasn’t been many game. We’ve gotta try and accept that they’ll figure things out.
I do wish they’d figure things out soon though. I’m sick of other teams being better than us.
Posted by Tyler from Arizona on 12/01/08 at 05:23 PM ET
paul is right with needing scoring from the third and fourth lines. It is a waste to have Fil on the third line but what do you do other then trade Sammy. I just have this real weird feeling about the third and fourth lines. I can’t really explain it, just seeing them play is explanation enough. No flow no nothing really, just bland like a food dish that has an ingrediant or two missing. Blah bland, yuck! Puck, get the picture?
Posted by hankyspanky40 from Michigan on 12/01/08 at 05:32 PM ET
Either way. Desperate times call for desperate avatar changes.
Like you said the other night, the attitude isn’t changing til we get a CONVINCING win. Just sayin’, nights like the B’s n Habs games, I’m more pissed after those games than missing a monster 10 pointer in deer season. That’s saying something for me.
When you have the skate on the throat, you PUSH DOWN..
Effin A.
I’ve called us mushy, said we have no focus-insensity, lack of killer instinct...called out the coaching staff… called out the man wearing the C. It’s everyfreakingoneuvya..... til the Detroit Red Wings reappear from this mess we are mired in, I’m going to keep pointing my fingers at all of ya. Except the Habs game, we have Jen on the hook for that one… just funnin’.
Now… Rumbear, what about that HD tv in the kitchen? Oh yeah… pizza too.
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 12/01/08 at 05:33 PM ET
Could I have a shutout? Is that too much too ask?
Well now Chief, you either jinxed the crap out of Ozzie or, as I am hoping, it will be a reverse jinx. As you know I am a gigantic Osgood supporter. As far as stealing games, I for one will say that Oz stole a few games last June. But that was a long time ago.
It’s not just the goalers that aren’t doing their jobs. The whole team is off for whatever the reason. Nathan makes a good point. The team is not working hard enough. As much as we all like the fancy plays, the Wings need to get back to the fundamentals. That is how they got there. Hard work will always pay off in the end.
And from now on I think the Chief makes the call on the band. No more voting. After all he is the one that runs this ship.
Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!
Posted by Kate from Pa. on 12/01/08 at 05:37 PM ET
One thing to keep in mind tonight is that Pronger is a -8. They’ve tried explaining what that means to him, but when he realized there was math involved, he bit his handler.
And Rummy...if we can just win convincingly tonight, I’ll sit through Xanadu and even sing along.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 12/01/08 at 05:41 PM ET
Woops...Penalty +/- I meant...according to the main page.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 12/01/08 at 05:46 PM ET
One thing to keep in mind tonight is that Pronger is a -8.
So long as this sentence has nothing to do with actual plus-minus, it might be correct.
Posted by Earl Sleek from Anaheim, CA on 12/01/08 at 05:47 PM ET
Anyone else dreading this game besides me?
BF was just asking me the other day if anyone had ever scored a goal from center ice (sigh, he is still learning the game) and I mentioned something about ‘98 but very quickly and also mentioned the Lidstrom special and then...by golly, he got to see it himself Saturday night. I thought Osgood was over the red line special.
Will someone please let me know when my hockey team will show up again? I really want a nice, convincing win against a good team and not a just barely against sub-par teams.
I also want a million dollars. A girl can dream, right? PessimismRUs!
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 12/01/08 at 05:54 PM ET
“Look, you’re not working hard, and we’re not winning as a result.”
I don’t know what games he was watching, but I have seen all the Wings games,
and they are working plenty hard, but it is all wasted motion. I know Babs is a huge
fan of waterbug hockey, and now he has exactly what he asked for.....
They are backchecking plenty hard, but just watch them…
2 or 3 forwards chasing the guy with the puck who is often covered already by
the defenseman. No one taking the open man. Every player has a different plan
as far as getting the puck out of the defensive zone. You’ll have to take your shoes off to count the passes to players that weren’t expecting a pass. I have seen experienced
players more organized in a pickup game.
We have experienced netminders, but what does that do to their confidence to see nothing but a game of shinny in front of them.
The last time we beat a contender was Nov 22. If they pull off a win tonight, it
will just be a gimme from little gary’s scheduling plan of ‘engineered parity’.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs dont live up to my expectations on 12/01/08 at 05:54 PM ET
quote]I really don’t think Babcock is suited for this era of the NHL.
A quick check of Mike’s win-loss record post lockout 2005-06 through 2007-08
58-16-8
50-19-13
54-21-7
Umm, ya looks like he’s done pretty well. Pre Lockout you ask? 2002-03 and 2003-04 with the poultry:
40-27-9-6
29-35-10-8
So you could say he is better suited for this era than any other. Just sayin…
Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 12/01/08 at 06:01 PM ET
Rumbear, what about that HD tv in the kitchen?
Christmas is coming my friend, Christmas is coming.
I’ll sit through Xanadu and even sing along.
That’s the kind of dedication we are looking for!
Posted by Rumbear from the den.... on 12/01/08 at 06:30 PM ET
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Hate to be negative, but I think what this team might actually need is another loss or two this week—they need the bad play to turn into poor results, otherwise they won’t change a thing—it’s human nature.
Hopefully the Boston and Montreal embarrassments (not to mention the ‘Nucks OTL) were enough and they’ll come out ready to get this season started FOR REAL tonight, but we’ll see. I have a bad feeling they might need the Duckies and ‘Nucks to bitch slap them before they really snap out of it. But hey, I’ll take it, so long as it wakes them up for the long run.
Posted by Nathan on 12/01/08 at 03:36 PM ET