Mark Spizzirri: The roller coaster ride continues...

Jonas Gustavsson was reassigned to Grand Rapids for a conditioning stint and will play goal Sunday afternoon for the Griffins' home game vs. the Charlotte Checkers.

All he needed to be a superstar in the NHL was to get away from Toronto.

I find many players lack the urgency needed to get to the next level... Filpulla, Kronwall and Howard in particular.

for Howard,
He has had some solid games... but I also find he has periods where he lacks "battle" that is the only reason he is here. His battle is through the roof and he becomes a top 6-10 goalie in the league when he does battle... when he doesn't he is a bubble NHL goalie.

For Filpulla,
just too cute. Fancy passes, etc... this guys hands and speed, he should be driving to the net every chance. Not impressed at all with him.

Kronwall,
he just lacks urgency. He was giving #1 by default, he can't forget that and should be trying to prove to everyone that he needs to earn and will do it. He needs better puck management and fast.

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It is time to move out Cleary, Bertuzzi, Quincey and Samuelsson. They add little here and there, meanwhile guys like Tootoo, Miller, Tatar are busting their asses and playing great. Even Emmerton has impressed in his role up to the this point this season, fairly conservative, but that is better than some of the Kronwall plays.

Brunner has to stop being too cute too, he is about -6 in the last two games and was key in a few turnover plays.

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PP - SHOOT THE DAMN PUCK. That is it. Just shoot it and go to the net.

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yes, I am having a hard time adjusting to this club as when they work hard, they are still a top team in the West, but when they don't they drastically fall due to the lack of skill on the back end. Put on the hard helmets and getter' goin!.

Cleary, Bertuzzi, Samuelsson eat up nearly 8 mill in cap space and have contributed very little.

These three have either been injured or have done jack poop when in the lineup.

Tatar who has been in the AHL most of the season played the last two games with a high level of energy and hustle.

Couple other things:

what the (frank) is Abdelkader doing on the top line? yes, I know half the team is injured but, seriously?

Ian White looks like crap without Lidstrom

Brunner - i like that his shot always seems to be on the net. But, hes very soft on the puck and doesnt seem to contribute much else. I know hes still learning the NHL game but, he still needs to grow as a player.

The power play is so pathetic I was relieved when they took a dumb penalty and made it 4 on 4. Just because you have the man advantage doesn't mean everyone can stand around waiting for the puck. This isn't 1992, penalty killers are going to put pressure on the puck and when you are standing still and turn over the puck it's either an easy clear or a breakaway. Putting forwards on the point is idiotic too. They always give up more breakaways than score goals.

Way too many lazy passes that don't clear the zone. A lot of goals against because of it. Puck possession is nice but just chipping it out of your zone is miles better than turning it over. You wouldn't think the Wings realized that from watching them.

They need to crash the net and get more dirty goals off of rebounds and deflections, as usual.

Abdelkader should be on the fourth line and the PK. Didn't like him on the third line much less the top two. He's just not that great of a passer or scorer. Emmerton has shown more offensive skills in the little ice time he's had.

If the older guys like Cleary, Bert and Samuelson don't produce the kids should replace them.

Everything is fixable though with a little wor

Way too many times the Wings defensemen lose their man or just go out of position for no reason. Example of this is that Cogliano goal. Sure Kronwall's pass was in the skates of Filppula but wtf was Kindl doing right beside Filppula out at center ice while the puck was still in the Wings zone? His guy is the one that ended up scoring because he couldn't get back in time. Lashoff made a couple of mistakes covering his guys and it cost the Wings too. Quincey even if he has the best +/- among the Wings defense looks like he's handling a grenade everytime he gets the puck and makes bad pinches. Almost seems like the entire Wings defense has never played with each other. On the plus side though, Ericsson has been good. He is being agressive in the corners and the front of the net and doing a good job of moving the puck out of the zone.


Priority though should be fixing the PP and PK...this is killing the Wings game after game.

As for Filppula, i don't think he's 100% and don't think he will be this season with that knee injury.

What's the prognosis on Franzen? Is this a long term injury? I need to know for my hockey pool.

Jonas Gustavsson was reassigned to Grand Rapids for a conditioning stint and will play goal Sunday afternoon for the Griffins' home game vs. the Charlotte Checkers.

All he needed to be a superstar in the NHL was to get away from Toronto.
- tmlfan69

Gustavsson, had an excellent game on his first day back... He got the win against a very good Charlotte Checkers team. He made 26 saves and only gave up one goal. I guess he hasn't played a full game in like 11 months, but he was pretty solid. Fingers crossed he will reach his full potential in Detroit. We need all the goalie depth we can get.

Way too many times the Wings defensemen lose their man or just go out of position for no reason. Example of this is that Cogliano goal. Sure Kronwall's pass was in the skates of Filppula but wtf was Kindl doing right beside Filppula out at center ice while the puck was still in the Wings zone? His guy is the one that ended up scoring because he couldn't get back in time. Lashoff made a couple of mistakes covering his guys and it cost the Wings too. Quincey even if he has the best +/- among the Wings defense looks like he's handling a grenade everytime he gets the puck and makes bad pinches. Almost seems like the entire Wings defense has never played with each other. On the plus side though, Ericsson has been good. He is being agressive in the corners and the front of the net and doing a good job of moving the puck out of the zone.


Priority though should be fixing the PP and PK...this is killing the Wings game after game.

As for Filppula, i don't think he's 100% and don't think he will be this season with that knee injury.
- dcz28

Agree with you 100% on the how inconsistent and awful the defense has played. We all knew losing Lidstrom and Stuart was going to be painful... but I thought they'd be better than what I'm seeing so far (especially from the veterans). Ericsson is playing the best I've seen him play. He's hitting and passing very well.

Fils has not been the same player since he had the injury. He's in a contract year... so if he wants to keep his job he better find a way to start putting up some points.

Special teams continue to kill this team. They haven't even scored a power play goal on the road !! Zero for 26 last I heard. No way can they make the playoffs if special teams don't improve soon.

I do expect the young guns from GR to make some mistakes as they adjust to the NHL. At least Holland finally has started to dress the young talent from GR. I'm going to be pissed if he sends them all down to GR again as the useless veterans start to heal up (read: Samuellsson, Bertuzzi). And why the heck is Cleary even on the top two lines ??? Nyquist would be a big improvement over Cleary at this point.

Wings are in trouble.

plain and simple, time to trade for a quality #1 dman. Kronwall, just won't cut it.

Yikes.

Despite injuries, many players are just brutal.

Kronwall is terrbile this year, just terrible.