Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

After The Wing Practice In Sunrise

03/29/2024 at 1:47pm EDT

In an earlier tweet, HSJ noted Lyon will start.

Paul

from Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now,

Detroit Red Wings fans awoke this morning in the worst possible of moods for a sports fan base. Excitement has long since evaporated. While there are pockets of anger visible, for the most part, even this trait is fading.

Hopelessness, despair, and perhaps worst of all, acceptance, are the emotions of the day most evident among the Hockeytown faithful.

Playoff chances are long gone, read Red Wings fan Ronnie Whites post on Facebook.

Long gone? Really?

Look, we get the angst youre feeling. Its understandable. This is not a group with a track record of getting things done in the clutch.

Detroit is 0-2-1 so far on this season-long five-game road trip. The Red Wings squandered a third-period lead and lost 4-3 in overtime at Washington. They failed to score in the other two games. And theyve surrendered eight goals over the past two setbacks.

Damn, I miss Jonathan Ericsson on the blueline, posted Red Wings Brasil on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. Yep. Thats where were at.

continued


rwbill

Damn, I miss Jonathan Ericsson on the blueline, posted Red Wings Brasil on X
That is funny, if not a sign of the times.  At the first Herm2Hockeytown there was a young lady with a makeshift Johnny Ericcssson jersey that on the back read Shitbox 52.

Now he would viewed as a saviour?  Thats sad even if written ironically.

dcarwbill

Errorsson was decent for a time, but that was as a sheltered d-man. I actually saw him play his best seasons ever (same as Kronwall--when I saw both play on the Griffins). But when Errorsson hit 30 it was like watching the guys in Indiana Jones age before your eyes.


Of course Holland signed him to a 6 yr contract PLUS GAVE HIM A FULL NTC for 4 years that became a 19 team NTC for the final years.


And if Holland was making this kind of deal with Errorsson you know why the rebuild is still going on.


I blame Zombo. You have a couple years after making the roster full time to start your career where it looks like you can play defense while trying to get that big payday then you coast the rest of your career.

rwbill

Looking ahead to games against the Florida Panthers (Saturday, 1 p.m.) and Tampa Bay Lightning (Monday, 7 p.m.), the horizon certainly does appear to be offering nothing but bleakness.

Thats only 2/3 of it.  After returning home from the road trip the Wings then face playoff-qualified, 102-point New York Rangers who skated past the Wings fluidly and effortlessly in their last match.

And I am one of the least defeatist fans around here.

akwingsfanrwbill

With the lack of heart and effort they have shown in march, there is not an insignificant chance they finish the season winless. That said the calendar will flip and we saw what they did in January. 

calquakerwbill

Of course you are Bill. And so is Kate, Paul, the 19 and many others. However there comes a time when reality must be faced. As of late, the Wings have shown no indication they are serious about making the playoffs. The talent appears to be there but not the heart. To me, that is the most dismaying aspect of the collapse we are witnessing.

VPalmercalquake

What talent do we have? We have maybe 5 talented players out of 23. two of them are 22 and one is 35.

We have 1 good dman, everyone else is 3rd pair guys on a good team and injured Walman maybe #4. Our goaltending has to be one of the worst in the league except for one hot stretch by a 31 year old whose 35 games he played this year is career high. 

And no heart? Look at the celebration on the bench after Kane tied the game against the Caps and tell me if they dont want to make the playoffs. 
And Perron does not have heart? Or Larkin or Fisher or even Petry or Copp, both are not good at hockey, but no heart?

Buffalo and Ottawa have a lot more talent than we do and not even in the conversation to make the playoffs. 
And if we were in the Western conference, we would have made the playoffs pretty easily imo.

calquakeVPalmer

So you're saying the Wings are where they are because of heart and minimal talent. Sorry, I'm not buying it.

VPalmercalquake

I think we are exactly where we should be, fighting for the last playoff spot. Before the season started I projected 7 teams to be in the playoffs with all other fighting for just 1 remaining spot. I was right about 6 of them and Flyers took Devils spot.

This is where our talent level is, 8-12th spot in the East. I just do not understand the mentality that any time we lose a game, it's a lack of heart. There are hundreds of reasons why a particular game of hockey could be won or lost. When teams like Florida or Carolina bring their A game against us, we are going lose 9 out of 10, heart or no heart. Losses to Arizona were brutal and probably sealed our fate, but I am sure the players wanted to win those game, just some games the team does not have it and could be against hundreds of reasons why.

akwingsfanVPalmer

i view heart=fire.

i dont see very much fire, or pissed off when down,  so I say that heart is a problem with this team.  also soft has some component of heart.

calquakeVPalmer

This is where our talent level is, 8-12th spot in the East. I just do not understand the mentality that any time we lose a game, it's a lack of heart.

Who said 'any time'? Re-read my post. I clearly stated, "As of late" and I stand by that.

VPalmercalquake

It's fine, nobody is saying you are wrong and I am right. My opinion, we have not lost a single game this season because of lack of heart. But if you think it's a lack of heart, I am interested what players have no heart. Yesterday for example Petry was responsible for all 4 goals against, I personally do not think he has no heart, no desire to win, he is just not a good hockey player at this stage of his career. Copp was responsible for a crucial goal against the Caps, but I do not think he has no heart or desire to win, he is not a good player and a terrible signing by SY, but he is trying. Debrincat is not going to get even to 30 goals this year, it's a failure for his contract, but he is trying every game imo.  Kane? The guy is ppg for us and scored 3 OT winners already. So who has no heart?

dcaVPalmer

Sorry but Petry wasn't the responsible guy for all 4 goals.

Seider was a responsible party on the 1st goal as he tried to poke check the puck at the blue line instead of using his body. Petry played it right on and took the middle driver (as any d-man is supposed to) and openly pointed Ras to take Aho. Ras ignored it and at the last second realizes he is out of position. Even Blash confirmed this after the game.

Petry got the penalty that cost them the PPG. So fine you CAN blame him there, BUT notice Seider again with the 1 handed poke check where he is caught reaching instead of skating. He is facing the complete opposite of the rushing forward and gets burned inside. Chiarot seeing Seider is exposed reaches in and a quick pass to the winger means an easy goal.

The 3rd goal I blame Fabbri. He coughed up the puck at center ice and completely blew his defensive assignment from there.  You can see Petry switch to the forward and Fabbri fails to take Kuznetsov so now Petry has to cover a cutting Kuznetsov and Necas and is out of position on both.

The 4th goal is on Reimer. That's a play an NHL goalie has to stop. Reimer was way too far out of the net and never got back to be in position for a shot off the boards.

Petry can be the scapegoat, but he wasn't the responsible party (except on the 2nd where he put the team short-handed).

calquakeVPalmer

Not to put too fine of a point on it, maybe heart is not the best descriptor. Perhaps 'not passionate enough' is better. Some players like Sprong or Copp or Veleno do appear to be nonchalant about back checking. Very few are finishing their checks. Not playoff hockey. You are correct. We're both right and we're both wrong. Let's leave it at that.

rwbillcalquake

I earnestly want to remind people that the nhl races often go down to the wire with amazing last 1/4 mile pole sprints, and that the Wings have 18 points to work with.  All that is true, but they are more like one of the many teams that have faded down the stretch and been overtaken rather than those finishing with a flurry.

bigfrog

Starting the season, I was hoping for improvement by the Red Wings avoiding long loosing streaks which would show progress. They have not.🤨

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