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RW
Distinguished Gentleman of the Post
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 343
Location: Seat 10, Row 8, Section 226B
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 Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 2:38 pm Post subject: At the 1/4 mark of the NHL season. A report card. |
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The Red Wings have played slightly over ¼ of te NHL season. They are at 23 games played with a 15 - 6 - 2 mark which gives them 32 points. If they are able to continue on this pace they should end up with roughly 114 points which should give them another Central Division title and a top 3 conference berth in the playoffs. This is a nice start to the season and hopefully it will continue. There have been more positives than negatives but there are still areas of concern with this team. First I will list the positives followed by the disappointments and the concerns.
The Positives
The Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Holmstrom line. These guys are incredible. Datsyuk ad Zetterberg are cementing their status as super stars in this league. Zetterberg is arguably the best two way forward in the NHL. He may not win the Art Ross trophy or the Richard trophy but he'll be in the hunt. He is also a strong Selke candidate. He is most certainly a Captain in waiting. Datsyuk is having a little difficulty scoring goals but his creativity with the puck and his assists are top notch. His goal scoring will, no doubt, catch up. His defense is also all star caliber. Holmstrom just continues to do what he does best. Irritate goalies and defensemaen to distraction. Give him 20 to 30 tip in goals. Dan Cleary is quite simply, the man. Downey, Draper and Maltby are having their typical seasons. Franzen and Drake have suffering injuries and have not found their groove yet. Drake still brings good energy when he steps on the ice
On defense Lidstrom and Rafalski are a great pairing. Lebda and Chelios are also playing solidly. I really like Lebda's performance to date.
Goalies: Osgood is having the season of his life. I've never seen him play this well. He's not the No. 2 goaltender, he's No. 1A
Disappointments
Forwards: Filppula, Kopecky, Hudler and Samuelsson. They need to score more.
Defense: Kronwall and Lilja. They play well in spurts and then give up a bone head play leading to ascoring chance.
Goaltending: Hasek. I know he traditionally starts slow but he looks human this year. There is no mystique about him. Has he run out of gas? Is this it? We'll see in the months to come.
It's now obvious that the Central Division is no longer the NHL's red headed step child. All the other teams have improved with the exception of Nashville who is still a tough opponenent. All the Central teams will give you a tussle every night. Detroit just finished a 9 game run through the Central that in years past would have been a romp. They came out of it worse than I hoped they would with a 4 - 4 - 1 record and 9 points. I had hoped to finish 6 - 3 with 12 points. Thank the Hockey Gods it is only November. This improvement within the Central, I believe, will help the Red Wings come playoff time. In years past they feasted on cup cakes only to be stunned in the playoffs by tough lower seeded teams from tough divisions. A tough division will prepare the Red Wings better for the playoffs. I still think the Red Wings need help at forward. They need a big power forward and could use some secondary scoring too. Hasek's struggles are of course a matter of concern. That said, they have a nice amount of cap space open for the trade deadline if needed. They are still playing quite well and lead the Western Conference in points. There are most decididedly more positives than negatives with this team. This team looks poised for another excellent regular season run.
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"The greatest victory a man can win is victory over himself."
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi |
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Bosc Ulrich II
OTP Resident Historian
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 3205
Location: Sweetest lid in the league
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| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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Samuelsson is a weird animal. He's got 12 points in 19 games, but at the end of the day when you watch him, you end up thinking "Where the hell are the points coming from?". He just doesn't seem to do much on the ice; less than Filppula, who has less points to show for it.
We were hoping for Kopecky or Franzen to become one of those big scoring forwards, but at the quarter point it hasn't happened. Franzen has more skills than Kopecky. I still like the physical element that both bring to the table.
I am far more comfortable watching Ozzy in net than I ever was during his earlier time with us.
Datsyuk continues to amaze me. His goal against the Blue Jackets just showed how great his stick skills are. Right off the faceoff, he gets a jump, lifts a Blue Jacket's stick, strips him of the puck, goes into the zone, lines up a defenseman as a screen and rifles a wrist shot high on Leclaire. It took 5 seconds from the faceoff.
Right now, he's at a point-per game. That should improve over the season.
Cleary, as you say, is the man. What a find this guy has been for the team, especially with his point production increasing since his first season with the Wings. While he may not always be on the scoreboard, he's always working hard at both ends of the ice. I hope he can avoid repeating his ridiculous scoring slump of last season.
I echo your setiments of the central division. This is a close, tough, and very well-coached division.
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