Game Thread: Red Wings @ Lightning - Game 7

[postmaster]

Hope you think you can keep me awake in Toronto Babcock.

Obviously kidding. Wish you well and wish we would not have choked this series away.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

At some juncture the gun is going to have to be pointed at Holland. Yes, they're a young team, but they're a cap team. In Weiss and Howard they had $10 million+ sitting on the bench during a game 7. Take Datsyuk and Zetterberg out of the equation and nobody on the team hit the 60 pt mark. He deserves to be scrutinized right now.

 

[Trudem]

I believe the team will be very different next season. You area right that Holland is starting to feel some heat but not much.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I believe the team will be very different next season. You area right that Holland is starting to feel some heat but not much.

He's got the youth in his deck. Time to move some for some higher-end talent.

 

[detroit_schlegs]

Clean house on the back end, otherwise we'll continue to slip and slide in the mud. If Holland doesn't hit the free agent market, things aren't going to change much in Detroit.

 

[Trudem]

I know of a certain defenseman from Toronto that has a decent chance of playing in a Wings jersey next year...

 

[RP-29]

He deserves to be scrutinized right now.

He does deserve to be scrutinized some, but not that much.
-2012 he went heavy in on Parise and Suter and they both decided to sign elsewhere. Not his fault. He probably would've signed both if there was no cap.
-2013 there was nothing available for D. He decided to let Filppula walk and signed Weiss and Alfredsson instead - deserves to take heat for that and he knows it.
-2014 tried to lure several defenseman (Boyle, Niskanen, Ehrhoff, etc.) and struck out on everyone, so he re-signed Quincey, who played okay this year. It wasn't for a lack of trying. I would rather have him strikeout than significantly overpay for guys who wouldn't make much of an impact.

Regarding Howard, we've seen the emergence of Mrazek coming for years, but we didn't know when it would happen. Holland's guess was Mrazek would spend the remainder of this year in Grand Rapids, then be the Wings backup next year; thus the reason he re-signed Gustavsson as a 1-year stopgap. When Monster got hurt (again) and Howard got hurt, Mrazek came up and impressed enough to stick and eventually replace Howard when he couldn't get his game right after the injury. Howard had a strong start to the season and was playing like a solid #1 who deserved $5M/y.

When Howard re-signed, he was coming off a top-10 season. The $/y hasn't been an issue, it's the term that had most outsiders' eyebrows raised. Committing to Howard for six years knowing Mrazek would be ready sooner than that made many people think Mrazek might get traded for a high-end defenseman, which obviously never happened. Mrazek is not an RFA until next offseason, so Holland has another year to figure things out. In the mean time he may be carrying two #1's, which is a nice position to be in.

 

[RP-29]

Clean house on the back end, otherwise we'll continue to slip and slide in the mud. If Holland doesn't hit the free agent market, things aren't going to change much in Detroit.

I know of a certain defenseman from Toronto that has a decent chance of playing in a Wings jersey next year...

Mike Green and Francois Beauchemin are both UFAs. I would be pushing hard for both if they hit the open market. That would be all we really need.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

He does deserve to be scrutinized some, but not that much.
-2012 he went heavy in on Parise and Suter and they both decided to sign elsewhere. Not his fault. He probably would've signed both if there was no cap.
-2013 there was nothing available for D. He decided to let Filppula walk and signed Weiss and Alfredsson instead - deserves to take heat for that and he knows it.
-2014 tried to lure several defenseman (Boyle, Niskanen, Ehrhoff, etc.) and struck out on everyone, so he re-signed Quincey, who played okay this year. It wasn't for a lack of trying. I would rather have him strikeout than significantly overpay for guys who wouldn't make much of an impact.

Regarding Howard, we've seen the emergence of Mrazek coming for years, but we didn't know when it would happen. Holland's guess was Mrazek would spend the remainder of this year in Grand Rapids, then be the Wings backup next year; thus the reason he re-signed Gustavsson as a 1-year stopgap. When Monster got hurt (again) and Howard got hurt, Mrazek came up and impressed enough to stick and eventually replace Howard when he couldn't get his game right after the injury. Howard had a strong start to the season and was playing like a solid #1 who deserved $5M/y.

When Howard re-signed, he was coming off a top-10 season. The $/y hasn't been an issue, it's the term that had most outsiders' eyebrows raised. Committing to Howard for six years knowing Mrazek would be ready sooner than that made many people think Mrazek might get traded for a high-end defenseman, which obviously never happened. Mrazek is not an RFA until next offseason, so Holland has another year to figure things out. In the mean time he may be carrying two #1's, which is a nice position to be in.

He also let Hudler walk. He would've been the leading scorer on the Wings this season if he had the same season he did in Calgary.

I don't know about that money for Howard. Before the lockout year (the season he signed his contract) he had a career .917 sv%. Good, but some ways off from elite and sure as hell not worth $5.3 million to me. He put up a career high .923 in the lockout year but hasn't been higher than .910 in the two seasons since. It's a really, really bad contract, not only today but at the time of signing it.

And everyone needs to get off the "he was really good at the start of the season" tip. Lots of guys, both skaters and goalies, have hot starts and fade.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Mike Green and Francois Beauchemin are both UFAs. I would be pushing hard for both if they hit the open market. That would be all we really need.

Mike Green could be useful, but he'll be expensive. I don't know what you would want with 35 year old Beauchemin.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Red Wings Fan Charged With Arson At Lightning Game

 

[RP-29]

He also let Hudler walk. He would've been the leading scorer on the Wings this season if he had the same season he did in Calgary.

I don't know about that money for Howard. Before the lockout year (the season he signed his contract) he had a career .917 sv%. Good, but some ways off from elite and sure as hell not worth $5.3 million to me. He put up a career high .923 in the lockout year but hasn't been higher than .910 in the two seasons since. It's a really, really bad contract, not only today but at the time of signing it.

And everyone needs to get off the "he was really good at the start of the season" tip. Lots of guys, both skaters and goalies, have hot starts and fade.

He let Hudler walk to have enough room for Parise. It didn't work out. Plus, Hudler was a bit of a liability defensively at times in Detroit. Gotta give a ton of credit to Hudler for improving that aspect of his game.

Howard is not elite, but he is a starter. His numbers have not been good recently because of the lousy play around him just as much as from his own accord. Far too many times in the last few years has he had to scramble to stop a puck from an asinine unforced turnover in the defensive zone. Also, there are 17 goalies in the league who make more per year than Howard. He lands right about where he deserves to be in that regard.

 

[RP-29]

Mike Green could be useful, but he'll be expensive. I don't know what you would want with 35 year old Beauchemin.

Yes, Green will be expensive. But after failing to hook a top defenseman the past three years, I've got a feeling Holland is feeling enough pressure to do whatever it takes to hook one this year. Green is exactly what the Wings have lacked... a righty with great offensive talent who can run the #1 power play unit.

Beauchemin still plays solid defense and can chip in offensively as well. Bringing him in on a 2-year deal would give the guys in Grand Rapids a couple more years to develop into his eventual replacement.

Wings need a top-line-capable offensive defenseman to pair with Kronwall and a strong second-line veteran shut-down defenseman to pair with DeKeyser. Putting Ericsson on the 3rd pair with Quincey/Smith/Kindl/Marchenko would go a long way to solidifying their D corps.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

He let Hudler walk to have enough room for Parise. It didn't work out. Plus, Hudler was a bit of a liability defensively at times in Detroit. Gotta give a ton of credit to Hudler for improving that aspect of his game.

Howard is not elite, but he is a starter. His numbers have not been good recently because of the lousy play around him just as much as from his own accord. Far too many times in the last few years has he had to scramble to stop a puck from an asinine unforced turnover in the defensive zone. Also, there are 17 goalies in the league who make more per year than Howard. He lands right about where he deserves to be in that regard.

Howard may be a starter, but let's put it this way: Jonathan Bernier has a .918 save percentage in his two seasons with the Leafs, which is better than what Howard was putting up. He's the same age Howard was when he signed his extension. He's also facing way more shots than Howard was at the time.

Would you give Jonathan Bernier $5.3 million a year for the next five seasons right now?

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Red Wings Fan Charged With Arson At Lightning Game

She looks like a winner.

 

[dash]

More on this story...

A Detroit-area woman set fire to a huge Tampa Bay Lightning flag as it was passed through the sold-out crowd at Wednesday night’s NHL playoff game at Amalie Arena, authorities said.

Lena Sinishtaj, 35, of Sterling Heights, Michigan, was booked on a charge of first-degree arson of an occupied structure. She was being held without bond, according to Hillsborough County Jail records.

About 200 people were under the flag when Sinishtaj held a lit lighter to it, Tampa police said. She was able to cause a small burn to the flag, police said.

Pretty lucky something didn't go horribly wrong, what is with some people?

 

[RP-29]

Howard may be a starter, but let's put it this way: Jonathan Bernier has a .918 save percentage in his two seasons with the Leafs, which is better than what Howard was putting up. He's the same age Howard was when he signed his extension. He's also facing way more shots than Howard was at the time.

Would you give Jonathan Bernier $5.3 million a year for the next five seasons right now?

Next five seasons? No. I might go as high as 3 yr; $15M though considering the alternatives. Unless you're a perennial Vezina candidate, 3 years should be the max for all goalies; they're too fickle.

Like I said before, Howard's contract was too long, especially knowing Mrazek was coming soon. Ideally Howard should've been signed for half of the term he got.

 

[aar000n]

At some juncture the gun is going to have to be pointed at Holland. Yes, they're a young team, but they're a cap team. In Weiss and Howard they had $10 million+ sitting on the bench during a game 7. Take Datsyuk and Zetterberg out of the equation and nobody on the team hit the 60 pt mark. He deserves to be scrutinized right now.

Weiss on the bench is all babcock. Once your in the doghouse its your hoe, See weiss legwand now pulknin,

 

[RP-29]

She looks like a winner.

Every fan base has 'em.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Next five seasons? No. I might go as high as 3 yr; $15M though considering the alternatives. Unless you're a perennial Vezina candidate, 3 years should be the max for all goalies; they're too fickle.

Like I said before, Howard's contract was too long, especially knowing Mrazek was coming soon. Ideally Howard should've been signed for half of the term he got.

If the Leafs give Bernier $5m/yr, Shanahan should just re-hire Nonis because nothing would have changed.