Boring Recap for a Boring Game: Blues 3 - Red Wings 2
by Amerinadian on Dec 6, 2011 9:39 PM CST
in Game Recaps
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Everybody still awake?
When Ken Hitchcock took over from Davis Payne in St. Louis, it was assumed he'd instill a strong work ethic and disciplined defensive system not seen since his championship teams in Dallas. Unfortunately, what we got was the high-tempo style of play normally reserved for bocce ball tournaments.
I guess one would have to say it's effective, at least against the Red Wings, as they found themselves on the wrong end of the decision for the second straight meeting with the Blues, this time by a score of 3-2.
After nearly 28 minutes of defensive hockey, the Wings opened the scoring. Johan Franzen drove the net and lifted the puck over Brian Elliott, giving the Wings a 1-0 lead. Less than 2 minutes, later, the Blues tied things up when Alex Steen blasted a shot through Jimmy Howard after a faceoff win by Jason Arnott.
After blacking out for a while, I came to only to find that the Blues had scored 2 goals to take a 3-1 lead. When asked what happened, the response was simply "Errorcsson". The Wings would get a power play goal from Jiri Hudler late in the third to get within one, but it was too little too late, and the Wings are once again mired in a losing streak.
- Another game against the Blues, another lackluster effort. Look, we all know that they aren't going to do anything this year in terms of the playoffs, and we know that there's no rivalry anymore (at least from the Wings' perspective), but these are points that the Wings need if they're going to win yet another division title. Getting stymied by the Blues' trap may make for tedious hockey to watch, but there's 4 more games where the Wings can get some points and put St Louis out of their misery.
- Christ, what a limp-dick power play performance tonight. Yea, I saw the 2 goals. But are you happy with the way they played? Entering the zone looked like a bunch of blind 8 year olds learning to drive, and there was absolutely no net presence. The Blues did a good job of taking away the point, but where were Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk tonight? Dats has been amazing the past few weeks, but he was pretty much invisible tonight, and Z, well, who knows any more.
- On the other end, nothing like giving up 2 power play goals to the league's worst PP unit to inspire confidence in the PK. For as stingy as the Wings have been defensively this year, their PK is still a problem, currently sitting at 80.2% after tonight's 2/8 showing. That it came against a team that scored 20% of their season's power play goals tonight is just awful.
- It sure was nice of Jimmy Howard to show some fight since the rest of his team didn't look particularly interested in being engaged physically tonight. The Blues are a tough team and they don't mind laying the body or using their sticks, but the Wings just looked as if they did not want anything to do with getting involved physically. It's a shame that Howard's intensity was with 3 minutes left in the game, because the Wings did seem to get a slight spark from it. It was also nice of him to show Brian Elliott how to respond like a man to being run over.
- Insert obligatory mention of the Wings being a streaky team here. We all know the story; we're 26 games into the season, and the Wings have yet to go 3 games alternating wins and losses. Fortunately, this is only the Wings' third losing streak of the season, and if the last time they lost their second game in a row is any indication, the Wings won't lose again until Christmas.
- Get well soon, Valtteri Filppula. Since Flip got injured, the Wings have been outscored 7-2, and have not looked good in the process. Filppula's absence is not just felt on the scoresheet; he's one of the more underrated defensive players, and Zetterberg looks lost without the Gorgeous One on his wing.
- Jonathan Ericsson: whatever.
With the loss, the Wings missed out on a chance to not only put some distance between themselves and the Blues (who are now tied with Detroit at 33 points) but they also remain 3 points behind the Blackhawks after spending one of their games in hand. The fun doesn't stop as the Wings will welcome a familiar foe on Thursday night when the Phoenix Coyotes bring their firebrand style of hockey to the Joe on Thursday. It's a Dave Tippett-coached team, so if you can't catch the game, just re-watch this one.
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Detroit better figure out how to beat central division teams
especially the blatantly inferior ones (i.e. Columbus, St. Louis)
DETROIT RED WINGS – "war were declared"
Twitter - @TheIngles22
The pace of the game was dictated by the officials.
Having about a period of power play time for both teams will kill the flow. Refs started by calling it too close, couldn’t be consistent, neither team got comfortable with the way it was officiated.
www.stlouisgametime.com
Refs were terrible last night
The phantom high-stick where Arnott was cut by his own player, the non-call on Howard for jumping Perron, the Franzen “slash” compared to other stuff not called.
I was pissed about the Franzen slash because of Versus' bad replay
but when I started writing CSSI and looking at all the replays, it turns out that Mule did give Jackman a chop on the back of the skate. That turned out to be probably one of the better calls of the entire game.
Didn’t help that the fuckwits on tv showed it as though it was a soft tap on Kris Russell that was the call when it wasn’t.
Although if the non-call on Howard for jumping Perron was bad, then the non-call on the two Blues players who jumped Abdelkader was just as bad.
The fact that Franzen and Stewart got equal penalties was also shit. Stewart threw about six punches at Franzen before he retaliated and then another. It should have been four for Stewart and two for Franzen. At least the call on Perron was a good one, since he felt a light touch by Stuart and tried to use that as an excuse to bowl straight into Howard.
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 8:11 AM CST up reply actions
You are completely delusional about Perron's collision with Howard.
You’re defenseman, Stuart, you know, the guy who pushed him and was right there when it happened, even said after the game that there was nothing Perron could do to avoid the collision and also said the collision wasn’t very harmful. Now, I can understand why Howard got so pissed and did what he did, and I can understand you defending Howard. I know if the tables were turned I would be doing the same thing. However, the way you are making it sound like that collision was completely Perron’s fault and completely intentional is bush league.
Let's Go Blues
Go Pack Go
You'll Never Walk Alone
It was Perron's fault.
He made no effort to avoid Howard and Stuart was barely even pushing Perron. Can’t believe Howard didn’t get a penalty though. Should have been Perron and Howard with 2 minutes each and Stewart with 2 minutes for being an idiot.
It was just as much Stuart's fault as Perron's.
Regardless of how hard he was actually pushing him, he was still pushing him, and the because of the way Stuart was going in practically on top of Perron made it almost impossible for Perron to do anything to avoid the collision. It would have been dumb for him to do anything other than what he did… brace himself.
Let's Go Blues
Go Pack Go
You'll Never Walk Alone
Regardless of how hard he was actually pushing him, he was still pushing him
Yep… and that’s exactly why Jordin Tootoo didn’t get suspended for not doing more to avoid running Ryan Miller, right?
Right?
RIGHT?!
He ran straight through Howard and didn’t make a single attempt to prevent that. He felt the contact from Stuart and used it as an excuse to run the goalie. It was a bush-league move by a kid who should know better than anybody else on your team.
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 4:47 PM CST up reply actions
I just watched the replay about 12, and I will admit I misinterpreted what happened.
So, however, did you. Versus showed a replay right before the commercial break following the incident that give a great side shot of the collision. For about the last 5 feet before the collision Perron is looking at Stuart because Stuart is pushing him. This makes it really really unlikely that Perron “used it as an excuse to run the goalie.” He was trying to brace himself from being knocked over by Stuart. This replay also shows Stuart is pushing a lot harder than you are giving him credit for. See for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RavZc_xIvz8
Let's Go Blues
Go Pack Go
You'll Never Walk Alone
Funny
because I ALSO watched the replay about 12 times last night and I STILL have the opinion that Perron uses contact as an excuse to bowl over Howard.
Because David Perron is the kind of hockey player who can make a no-look pass 40 feet across the ice to his teammate’s tape, but if he’s not looking directly at the goalie, he has no idea where the guy is?
C’mon now.
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 5:45 PM CST up reply actions
Oh wait...
Forgot to give you the SLGT welcome.
“HAYY.. YOO HAVE DIFFURUNT OPEENYONS THAN I HAVE OPEENYONS. YOO MUST BE A TROLL”
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 4:50 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
This is really really mature of you.
I have tried to be as civil as possible here (something you are making it very difficult to do). Just because 1 or 2 people at SLGT call you a troll doesn’t mean you need to get all pissy and say ignorant things like this. Classy.
Let's Go Blues
Go Pack Go
You'll Never Walk Alone
Hahaha
it’s a joke, buddy.
Can we seriously not have a little fun at each other’s expense? Loosen, up; you’ll live longer.
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 5:44 PM CST up reply actions
Well
Valtteri: Obviously having one of your top 3 scorers out hurts.
Power play: Everyone bumbles around in the neutral zone while one guys skates in, turns it over, and slap somebody go back and get the puck wasn’t a good strategy. Should definitely try something different next game.
Physicality: Franzen, Abby, and the 4th line* were mixing it up a bit before the incident with Jimmy, but I think Datsyuk (see below) led the team in hits.
Datsyuk: I swear every time the team is in a little trouble, he tries to do everything himself. I think at one point tonight he tried to skate through 4 defenders, and when he lost the puck he stapled the guy to the boards.
*Side point: If we see much more of that Emmerton-Helm-Conner line, I’m throwing the name “The ice-cold 40’s” out there (48-43-41, get it?)
Huds' stats are wrong
He had a goal and an assist. He tipped in the Cleary shot for the second goal.
Weird decisions followed by bad ones
We made weird decisions to sort of play the game the way St. Louis wanted to play it, rough and tumble down in the corners and it felt like we got beat on every puck that way.
And we just kept doing it. No finesse play, just skate to the corners and lose it in the scrum.
Add to that the abysmal job at entering during the power play… it was soulless hockey.
Still looked better than the Colorado game, so there’s that. And it’s only two.
Hopefully, we get back on the horse and get it sorted.
"I'll smile in June."
by Lords of Olympia on Dec 7, 2011 1:30 AM CST reply actions
I know this isn't how the Red Wings operate but
Jonathan Ericsson, while not the sole reason the Wings lost tonight, is absolutely atrocious. The fact that he makes $3.75 million against the cap is atrocious. So, what’s the chances that the Red Wings just bury him in the minors a la Jeff Finger, Wade Redden and Christobal Huet?
Before anyone says that that affects the team’s reputation, the Rangers have gone on to sign Marion Gaborik and Brad Richards, the Leafs have signed Tim Connolly and the Blackhawks Marian Hossa.
It’s definitely worth looking at: AHL talent belongs in the AHL.
by eight_legged_freaks on Dec 7, 2011 7:24 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Rec'd
Thank you. You beat me to this post. I hate shitbox and he has this nickname for a valid reason. He’s the worst player on this team and should be playing for the Toledo Walleye.
He makes $3.25M against the cap.
He’s had two consecutive bad games. The idea that he’s been worse or even as bad as he was last season is quite frankly absolutely wrong. In fact, there’s a whole lot of confirmation bias out there in regards to him. Dude sucked ass last night, but people love hanging shit solely on him because it’s easier. The reason Finger, Redden and Huet are buried in the minors is for cap relief which the Wings don’t need.
Both the Gaborik and Hossa contracts were signed before the Redden and Huet demotions. In fact, they were reasons for those demotions. Those were all cap-related moves that had to be made. The Wings don’t get better off by clearing $3.25M off their cap hit for no reason.
The Red Wings would be a worse team with Jonathan Ericsson in the AHL, Brendan Smith as a regular blueliner, and Mike Commodore as their healthy scratch.
If you want them to make a move on defense, then fine; but demoting Ericsson to the AHL is stupid.
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 10:33 AM CST up reply actions
Rec'd for truth
Though I won’t deny, I’d like to see Commie again soon. Otherwise, wtf is he here for. Give him 15 minutes and see what happens in 2 straight games.
Get your Al the Octopus
byjenniferleigh.etsy.com/
There goes my "paid vacation to Europe" idea than
Guess what?! I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!
Ericsson
I’ve personally seen more games from Shitbox that have been of the “BAD” and “NONEXISTANT” kind than of the “GOOD” or “ACCEPTABLE” kind. For 3.5 mil / yr, whether it’s easy or not to blame the guy, That is unacceptable.
Holy shit
It’s $3.25
Not $3.75…
Not $3.5…
Stop inflating his salary to make your point. Capgeek is your friend.
Here’s a bit of info for you… Ericsson’s job is to be nonexistent for the most part. If you’re noticing him, it’s because he’s fucking up. Try to forget your blind seething hatred for the #52 and take a step back and REALLY think hard about what his job is. You know why people didn’t recognize Lidstrom’s greatness for years and years? Because the side of the ice he played on for so long was NONEXISTENT.
Ericsson isn’t there. He never will be close to there, but if you’re waiting on a third-pairing defenseman to take over a game, you’re watching the wrong team. Again, your memories are dependent upon confirmation bias. You see Ericsson fuck up once and pretend that nobody on the team fucks up like that and then you miss the three great simple plays in a row where he bodies a guy off the puck on the boards. After the game, all you remember is the one TURRBLE mistake he made and it’s more-confirmed that he sucks.
I invite anybody, take notes on the game. Do it for ten games. Try your absolute damndest to do it objectively. Then, watch replays based on the notes. Go back on your DVR and actually re-watch the plays you took those immediate-reaction notes on. Then, tally those notes somehow.
We should then compare those notes, because then you may get as sick as I do of watching people lazily inflate how much he sucks.
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 1:48 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs
Ericsson's job is to be a reliable sixth defenseman.
That’s literally all I want from him. I don’t need points. I don’t need a +15 rating. I don’t even need powerplay time.
But I do need some physicality. I do need stable, at-home defensive plays. And I do need less pinching and more doing his job at making sure that the defensive zone, his primary responsibility, is safe.
I was more or less just airing something I’ve thought about, and I haven’t really thought about it in great detail. It’s similar to the idea of “sunk costs” and the case of Aaron Rowand for the San Francisco Giants.
Ken Holland negotiated this contract. It is signed, which means it will be paid in full. Ericsson’s job is to play well and, hopefully, improve just a little bit to make the contract sort of worth it (it never will be a good contract unless he starts doing the things his game does not contain).
Aaron Rowand, the Giants’ former centrefielder, was also signed to a large contract to do a good job playing centrefield. He did not do a good job. So, rather than pay him to play poorly and be a liability, the Giants decided that, while the money was already spent, it was better to pay him to not play than pay him to play, because he was a liability rather than a benefit.
I do think Ericsson has some value. He does a decent job on the penalty kill. He does a decent job when he doesn’t have to make a big play. He does not do a good job at pinching, nor does he do a good job at hitting.
So, is he a sunk cost? Maybe not yet, but if Kindl and Smith continue to progress the way that they are, then I see Ericsson as a sunk cost, as in we could sign someone else, who does a better job, for less money (see: Ian White).
That’s my stance. I understand that we are stuck with Ericsson. I understand that sometimes my memory is selective and I am more apt to remember the bad than the good.
I dunno. Not looking to piss anyone off. Just looking for a logical discussion.
by eight_legged_freaks on Dec 7, 2011 2:10 PM CST up reply actions
On pinching
He really hasn’t been pinching much this season. The whole Red Wings’ team hasn’t been pinching as much.
There was the one play where he pinched and ended up giving up a goal (pretty sure it was to Heatley). The scary thing about the last two games is that you can view bad pinches as reasons for goals given up. They hadn’t been getting caught in those quite as often, but an Ian White pinch against Colorado and a Kronwall pinch last night (although that was actually a good pinch) made differences.
Ultimately, I think the Wings have been getting a bit too offensively impatient the last few games with forwards not adequately covering. But, if we’re talking about Ericsson and needing to just be solid in his own end, I would state that he’s done that job very well. Ericsson’s worst mistakes this year have generally come in the offensive or neutral zones (or shortly after backing out of those zones). If the other team has the cycle working already, take note of how well Ericsson does his in-zone coverage. It’s more than just better than it used to be, I’m ready to say he’s downright GOOD at that part of the game. Sure, he’s going to get victimized when people get free because he’s still not as great blocking passes as Stuart, Kronwall, or Lidstrom, but those are generally always mistakes he shares with somebody else who made a mistake, and that’s just a little easier to take.
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 2:21 PM CST up reply actions
And.
This goes to what ELF said as well about not being physical, if shitbox doesn’t want to bang it up then maybe ’cock’s should try him back at a forward position. That’s what he was drafted as anyway. He’s a huge body with a long reach that might make more impact on the game (in a positive way) than what he does playing defenseman.
My bad
I didn’t inflate his salary to make a point. I was on my way out from work and wanted to finish my post before i left so i guessed to the closest figure i could remember.
Y'know, I'm not sure the Wings were outright slacking
but that they were simply couldn’t keep up against younger, faster legs on a lot of those “50/50” pucks (which were more like 70/30 pucks for the Blues last night).
Think about how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are even stupider! --George Carlin
Does anyone know
if Brad Stuart was a goalie in a previous life? Either that or he wants to be one because he wants to wear a cool mask. I’ve lost track of how many goals he has saved by clearing the puck off the goal line. He got my vote for Player of the Game.
My thoughts exactly.
I want to start imploring him now to re-sign with the Wings. He got my vote as well. Did you see the game re-cap at TPL that Stevie did? If not, take a look at the first picture she drew, it made my day.
by SlapshotGoal on Dec 7, 2011 12:19 PM CST up reply actions
Would love to see this called someday...
Rule 64 – Diving / Embellishment
64.1 Diving / Embellishment – Any player who blatantly dives, embellishes a fall or a reaction, or who feigns an injury shall be penalized with a minor penalty under this rule.
A goalkeeper who deliberately initiates contact with an attacking player other than to establish position in the crease, or who otherwise acts to create the appearance of other than incidental contact with an attacking player, is subject to the assessment of a minor penalty for diving / embellishment.
by Nim ~ on Dec 7, 2011 3:46 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Only happens against San Jose and sometimes Calgary
Guess what?! I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!
I'm very pissed off at Ericsson's effort on the 3rd goal.
It was obvious that the backchecker was able to take the second man in. I can’t believe how much room he gave Berglund. Berglund could have skated all the way to the goal.
The Wings need to learn how to play and BEAT pansy teams like Minnesota and St. Louis. These teams are content with doing NOTHING all game except force a turnover here and there to set up chances. Especially when they get the lead. They NEED to start playing conservative in the neutral zone and just dump the puck in. Especially on the power play when 5 guys are standing up at the blue line. They just simply refused to dump the puck in with speed. They are also scared of beating opponents to pucks in the corners because they don’t want to get hit. Pansy teams like St. Louis use absolutely no skill when retrieving pucks in their own zone like Detroit tries to do. They throw it out as quick as possible because they don’t have the ability to dink around with it. That’s why you have to beat them to the puck. Your not going to steal the puck, because they aren’t going to hold onto the puck for long enough.
The Wings need to learn to be patient against teams like this and just keep dumping the puck in and forechecking. Wear them down. Giving the puck away in the neutral zone does nothing but create odd man rushes. Play simple against simple teams.
The Wings need to learn how to play and BEAT pansy teams like Minnesota and St. Louis. These teams are content with doing NOTHING all game except force a turnover here and there to set up chances. Especially when they get the lead. They NEED to start playing conservative in the neutral zone and just dump the puck in
Agreed. The Wings got impatient and it cost them. If a team wants to play the boring style that the Blues do and they don’t have their passing game on, then learn to beat them at that game.
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 4:48 PM CST up reply actions
Speed
I’m wondering also if Babcock will let the youngsters loose and just start the lob and chase. Not quite the dump and chase, but have a forward bring the puck up with support on either side then airmail the puck deep over the collapsing Dmen and retrieve down low to kick out to the point or another forward rushing the net.
I’d love to see more of that. They did it a couple of times against Buffalo.
I also really want to hear Larry Murphy call that the “Me dump”
by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 7, 2011 8:23 PM CST up reply actions
Me Dump
I took 2 Me Dump’s already today. 1$ dogs……..
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