Nev

Yes and no. Hockey is a game of percentages. So it's possible to play bad and still win the game, and it's possible to play good and still lose the game. But over the course of 82 games, those percentages even out. And at this point in the season, the standings don't lie. We're just bad, puck luck be damned.

This is where I normally predict a 14-3 win for Detroit, with Datsyuk getting a goal and 13 assists....

Pretty sure I can list the threads from 1996 "Official Fire Scotty Bowman thread!" Everyone know he only won cups in Pittsburgh and Montreal because he was surrounded with elite talent, elite talent the DeadWings don't have. Where are the Mario's, Jagr's, Francis's, Coffey's, LaFleur's and Robinsons on this team? He's an over-rated, over-paid bum. "Why Ken Holland should be GM" Bowman and Devallano are incapable of building a winning team, all the talent on this team (apart from Yzerman, who fell into their lap and I could have drafted) was drafted and developed by Holland "We need to trade Yzerwoman and rebuild" We'll never win with such a small, soft leader, all the talent on this team and all he does is choke every postseason" "Wings are too soft" Way too many soft euros on this team, you think guys like Lidstrom and Fedorov give a damn about the playoffs? You think they're prepared to do what it takes to win the Stanley Cup?

Very interesting comments from Babcock, very passionate - especially about the next generation. That's basically the challenge going forward - how good will Tatar, Nyquist, Sheahan and Dekeyser be? They are the next generation, the guys that will take over the driving of the bus. Will the continue to be good complimentary players or will they step up to be The Guy?

Wings haven't won 14-3 in a while. So they're due. Tonight is the night. Dats with a goal and 13 assists. Johnson scores all 3 of theirs.

Babcock to the Pens it is. His man-crush for Crosby is no secret, he's been making subtle digs about the lack of high end talent on the Wings for several years. I can't see him turning down the chance to coach Crosby and Malkin whilst they're still in their 20s.

This is beyond amazing.....the look on Princess Babcocks face........

How about someone who doesn't want the team to lose, just so it proves to everyone on a message board that they were right, and the team does in fact suck, Ken Holland sucks, Howard sucks etc. A real fan can say "Howard has sucked since coming back from injury" but isn't happy about it. The fan who gloats "see, I've always said Howard sucks, I told you we should have traded him whilst he had value, I told you we should have tanked", well......

Right now he reminds me of Mario Lemiuex late in his career when Mario was old and slow. You wouldn't notice him at all during the game, but he would still end up with a goal and 2 assists. Z just doesn't have that energy and strength that his game requires anymore - his skill and willpower can only carry him so far, so he can still rack up points, but he is incapable of dominating the play any more Right now the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

We don't "deserve" anything, the team is what it is right now. What a difference a year makes? I think you mean what a difference a month makes? Remember when we came back from that long road trip with all those hard won points against good teams? When we were within touching distance of 1st? I can't explain everything that's happened since then, because some of it is just baffling. Howard coming back from injury and struggling to find his form - it happens, we've seen it before. Our talented rookie backup can't string back to back performances together. Zetterberg is a pale shadow of his former self - no jump, no strength on the puck, its pretty obvious that he's playing injured right now. But why is Kronwall struggling so much? Why has the PK suddenly gone from #1 in the league to "get ready for a goal against"? Injuries to Dats, Franzen, Cole etc OK, they don't help, but they're not the cause of the rest of the team struggling. It's baffling. I've been a fan of this team for 23 years and I've never seen them play this bad for this long. Even more baffling because we were so good up until February. I don't think the players can figure it out, and Babcock seems at a loss to right the ship and time is running out before we become 1st round fodder (assuming we cling to a playoff spot).

Such a legendary post. I still maintain that My Little Pony is Kindl.

Wow, guess we really are getting desperate for things to complain about eh? Who knew that beating the best team in the leaguer on the road wasn't good enough? Because the old Wings team, they never blew leads, let alone lost games. Yes sir, 82-0-0 and a 16-0 run to the cup every playoffs

Its a sign of how much times have changed, that I would take a loss against the Avs tonight, if we get to beat the Pens next week.

Cool, but not recommended viewing for people who suffer from epilepsy or migraines!

I don't think we should underestimate the effect missing training camp and the start of the season can have on a player. Over the years plenty of guys - vets, star players - who get injured in pre-season take months to get back in form when they come back. Imagine you're a kid playing in your first pro season. Mantha gets a semi-mulligan from me for that.

Thing is, he's at that point where all he's going to learn in the AHL now is bad habits - rather like Mantha spending last season in the Q rather than the AHL. He needs to learn how to play his game in the NHL, and the only way he can do that...is in the NHL. There was a moment in the STL game where he skated over the blue line, wound up for a shot, and was instantly surrounded by 3 Blues who stripped the puck and set off the other way on an odd-man rush. He won't get the space in the NHL that he gets in the AHL. He won't get goalies ducking out of the way of his shots like he does in the AHL. He needs to figure out how to play his game at this level. Having said that, we have no room for him right now, so once we're healthy he should go back down.

No excuse not to win. 2 points and we jump ahead of Montreal and are a point back of TB with a game in hand.

And then you watch the Canucks and their BLATANT interference, the Sedins running picks for each other left, right and centre.

But you act like we're the only team this happens to. You think we're the only playoff team to lose to the Sabres or the Panthers or the Leafs? You think we're the only playoff team to go on a hot streak,then a cold streak? And as for struggling lately, we're actually 7-3-0. We've just been on a road trip that many predicted doom and gloom on, and went 4-2. But I'm sure we'll lose a game soon enough that will validate your opinion of us.

I could've sworn we just went 4-2 on a road trip. We are on a par with, or within touching distance of, every good team in the league. We're over halfway through the season, there's only 6 points separating the top-10 teams, and we are in that grouping. We're top-10 in points, PP, PK, Face-offs, SA and GA. 12th and 13th in GF and SF which some will no doubt see as evidence of our weakness, but still places us in the top half. Whichever way you look at it, we're a good team. The Toronto's and Colorado's of this world, every other team in the NHL gets to play them too, and guess what? They haven't managed to separate themselves from us by beating up on this supposed trash that we couldn't beat. And I'm not blaming anything on the SO, but it is a fact that some teams points totals are flattered by it, and others aren't. We are in the latter category.

They have 1 more point than us. We're 1-7 in the skills competetion. If they're a powerhouse, what does that make us?

Nooooo Kip, enough with the serious, anti-fighting rhetoric, you were doing so well dealing with the TRUCULENCE! Jiri Hudler and his 2 PP goals. Duh.

I doubt it. At worst we lose the game and its 2-2 going back to Detroit. We only lost game 5 because Franzen couldn't make an easy clear with a minute left and Fleury had the game of his career. Game 6 was another Wings clinic. The Pens didn't outplay us once that series, we were just way, way better than them. That shift only cemented what was already in everyones heads, that and Doc Emricks "a Conn Smythe shift" comment. Or maybe it was Crosbys "It was a hockey play anyone could have made" comment, I'm not sure

He was very, very good in both post-seasons, but in a different way. 2008 the team in front of him was dominant, and he had to make very few saves. But crucially - and I pointed this out repeatedly in the GDTs at the time - the saves he had to make were usually of the "golden chance" variety. Our high tempo, smothering play style conceded very few chances, but when it broke down it usually left someone all alone in front. Zetterberg was our clear MVP, Osgood is in a group with Lids, Dats step below. Much pretty much everyone on the roster that year was an A. 2009 was a complete different kettle of fish. The team in front of him was battered and broken down, and not playing particularly great. He was easily our best player as we didn't dominate anything like we did in '08