Thoughts From Abroad: More Off-season Reflection

Originally written May 3, 2012:


I'm currently 33,000 feet above the Atlantic as I write this. I'm going to the place where I first experienced a world that spanned continents rather than merely cities.  The excitement is such that I simply cannot sleep, despite the fact that our flight left Halifax at around 11:30PM and gets into London's Heathrow at just south of 9:00 in the morning.

As I shoot through the sky at nearly 500mph, I try to think of things to distract myself from the exhaustion that should be overtaking me.  If one thing can drive me to distraction, it is my Red Wings.

As the playoffs continue on without Detroit, the Wings, as it has already been painfully discussed, need to address a number of concerns that led to their quick post-season demise. Some of the thoughts I type here may echo my previous article, but again, I do what I must to stave off the thought of how tired I am while not being able to simply drift off.

Detroit's depth did not factor into their match-up with Nashville, and though there were key injuries, that is no excuse for the amount of no-shows who wore the winged wheel.  Changes to the bottom half of the lineup, both forwards and defensemen, would be welcomed.  A team's loyalty to a player can only extend as far as that playe is able to consistently contribute to the club.

As much as I hate how it will affect Nicklas Lidstrom's decision on retirement, I truly feel it is time for Tomas Holmstrom to call it a career.  Age has caught up with Homer and his ability to dominate in front of the opposition goaltender has drastically declined.  The perfect example came in the 1st round as Holmstrom was tossed aside like a cheap Swedish ragdoll by Pekka Rinne during play.  You can use Rinne's size as justification, but most goalies are picked to be big, and Homer is not getting any stronger.

Some players will also see the door, either by their own choosing or not.  Brad Stuart made his choice obvious by his terrible play in the playoffs, and some of the youngsters like Jakub Kindl and Jan Mursak are starting to feel the heat for not meeting expectations. With the projected cap increase and the potential exit of a number of last year's Wings, it could be a more interesting offseason than any of us imagined.  Jimmy Devellano went on radio basically stating that Detroit was looking to be aggressive this summer, and they really need to follow through with that plan of attack if they hope to make the necessary changes needed to compete at the top tier of the new, parity-obsessed NHL.  Whispers of Parise and Suter have already blown through the ranks of Red Wings Nation, but I'm willing to bet there are other names out there that Detroit has its eye on.

Until we know more about who is available for free agency, and who is hanging around opposed to leaving, it's hard to guess what direction next year's Red Wings will take, but we'll stil have fun playing armchair GM and analyzing what we think is the best course of action.

My flight will be touching down soon, and my thoughts are coming back to the present.  Next time, I'll be taking a look at a tactic that has been used to aid in Detroit's bid for success--and whether or not it should apply to the decision of a certain perect human.

Looking Ahead: Where do Wings Go from Here?

"Please Kenny bring shooter, we have good time."

It's that time if year again, but this year it has come painfully early.  The Detroit Red Wings have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, dropping their 1st Round series with the Nashville Predators.  It is the first time since 2006 VS the Edmonton Oilers that the Red Wings have exited the playoffs in the opening round.  This loss is exceptionally painful to deal with.  Detroit's play looked stagnant and uninspired, scoring only 9 goals over the course of the 5-game series, at some points barely making Pekka Rinne break a sweat.

There is, however, no single reason for Detroit's failure this postseason.  To me, it was mainly one part coaching, one part lack of team cohesion and one part inconsistency.  Injuries made life difficult for Mike Babcock and his attempts to find some line chemistry.  Many of those same injuries came at the worst possible time, giving guys on the mend little to no time to get back into form for the playoffs.  Team communication in the last stretch of the season and into the playoffs just seemed...off.  This is again something that gets affected by guys coming in and out of lineups from injury, but a general awareness of your teammates is hockey 101, and as The Geek, I have to give them a failing grade in that regard.

So, what does Detroit do from here?  With a long offseason to ponder options and potentially around $20 million to spend, my thought is that GM Ken Holland best get on the phone early and start finding out exactly what all those options are. Obviously a lot rides on that looming decision that comes every year now, I don't even have to name the guy and you know who I'm talking about.  Yes, Nick Lidstrom will make another choice whether to push ahead for another season or skate off into the sunset.  To be honest, if I were Nick, one of the first things I'd be telling Holland is that if I were coming back, I expect some big moves to upgrade this team.  If I knew Kenny was going to do the same thing he did at the deadline, I'd call it right then and there, it wouldn't be worth my time and another year of disappointment.

Three things are needed, in my eyes, to get Detroit past the 2nd Round again: A big grinder to compliment Justin Abdelkader's line, someone more defensively responsible than Brad Stuart, and a certified get-it-done shooter.  By the hockey gods, do we need a sniper.  We have far too many play-makers who can get the play started, but no one who can consistently finish the rush with a puck in the back of the enemy net.

Zach Parise seems an obvious choice for that shooter role.  Let's compare him to our biggest shooter, Henrik Zetterberg:

Zetterberg - GP: 82/G: 22/A: 47/PTS: 69/PIMs: 47/SOG: 267/SHOT%: .082
Parise        - GP: 82/G: 31/A: 38/PTS: 69/PIMs: 32/SOG: 293/SHOT%: .106


That's a HUGE difference in success rate, and Parise doesn't even get penalized as much.  Detroit doesn't have a dedicated shooter like this and it showed how much that hurts them in the series against Nashville when nobody could seem to solve Pekka Rinne.

Ryan Suter is the name most everyone is bandying around for a defensive plug supposing Lidstrom does retire.  I say go for him anyway, Brad Stuart seems like he's making no attempt to hide the fact he wants out of Detroit.  Even without Stuart's gaffes, the Wings needs more solidity in their D-men out side of Lidstrom-Kronwall.  Ian White is serviceable but a second Brian Rafalski he is not.

As for grit, the question becomes: How far to the side of grit do you want to go?  You could always bring a guy like Zenon Konopka in to center Abdelkader's line.  The guy doesn't score, but he's no fun to play against and is willing to drop the gloves for his team.  Oh, and there's also the fact that the guy is a BEAST in the face-off dot.  Take a look at these numbers:

Pavel Datsyuk: FO% - 56.2
Paul Gaustad:  FO% - 57.3
Zenon Konopka: FO% 58.9

Now remember of course that I'm only throwing Konopka's name out there for the grit hole that needs filled, but isn't that an interesting bonus? This guy, although he takes far fewer draws than the other two mentioned above, wins as high a percentage of his draws as they do.  Detroit prides itself on puck possession, why not have a guy that can win the draw, or if not, knock a guy's block off?  I joke, of course, but the fact remains. If Konopka doesn't suit your fancy, there are many other options for grit that come with a more balanced grit-to-offense ratio.

All I know is Kenny H needs to do something significant this offseason, because this team is lacking in a few respects.  We can't keep Lidstrom around forever, much as we want to, and that window closes faster every year. It may even close this summer.  Until Nick speaks, though, we can only hope for the best and push for a deep playoff run next season.

A Simple Message for Detroit's Game 5 Success

Here it is...

Everything WILL be alright.

Alright.

Let's Go Red Wings!!!!

Insanity Rules: Wings on Brink after Game 4 Loss

You know the adage, 'Don't beat a dead horse'...?

This applies to so many things in regards to tonight's game.

Detroit seemed to dominate the flow of play tonight, but Nashville's been eating their Lucky Charms and have somehow squeezed out another cheeky victory in which we were forced to witness brief--albeit gaping--defensive lapses by Detroit and stupid terrible luck at the worst possible times leading to chances and, in some cases, goals.  As if that weren't bad enough, the Hockey gods deemed it fitting to pull a fast one on the Wings, calling back what seemed like the 1st goal of the game, which would have given Nashville a 1-0 lead! The kicker: It was an 'Intent to blow' call!!

Hell hath frozen over!!

...for about a minute and a half, until Nashville came right back in and scored again, truly making it 1-0.  This is the kind of game we as Red Wings fans were forced to endure.  This is the kind of SERIES we have been forced to endure, as this has been happening since Game 1.  Individuals are under-committing, which is forcing us as a team to over-commit.  Look at the 2-1 goal.  Three (3) skaters follow one (1) Nashville player into the corner to create this chance.  At what point does that ever seem reasonable?

This under-commitment is bleeding into the offense as well.  The pressure from this team is unacceptable, and the piddly perimeter shots need to stop.  Get to the middle and screen the goalie.  The outside IS NOT WORKING, it hasn't worked in 4 games!  I can't recall all of the goals we've scored over the course of this series, but I guarantee you the ones that have gone in from the sides are not many.

Which gets us back to the dead horse.  At what point will Mike Babcock stop the posturing and admit that the game plan the Red Wings have been going with is not working?  The Predators have adapted to our style of play.  The Predators are not scared of us because they know what to expect and how to defend against it.  Insanity is defined by Einstein as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.

Well, Einstein was a pretty damned smart guy and I think he may have been on to something after having watched this series from Game 1 to 4.

The horse is dead and beaten, the Mule is asleep, and the Jackasses are laughing at it all over a game of ping-pong somewhere, knowing they need one more win to knock off our boys.

It's adapt or die.  Your move, Babcock.