Filppula

[Z and D for the C 712]

Well the way i see it, some of these fan's overexaggeration of Filppula's talent is just as annoying. He is not a upper echolon scorer in this league and will most probably never will be. He is a great overall player and is well worth his money, but I can't help but roll my eyes when people suddenly expect him to produce like an all-star. This year will be a breakout year for Val, and he will easily break 50, probably even 60, but to say that anything less then 70 would be a dissapointment is raising the bar unfairly high.

I'm not saying that under 70 points would be a disappointment, under 60 points would, but I just think that a full year of 2nd line minutes with Franzen and regular PP time, all these of those being new for him this year, he will break 70. He isn't Datsyuk or Zetterberg, but those two should be scoring 90, 70 was an off year for them.

And I'm not basing this off of these past two goals. I'm basing it off his entire career and how well he has played since the 09 playoffs.

[dropkickshanahans 463]

Well the way i see it, some of these fan's overexaggeration of Filppula's talent is just as annoying. He is not a upper echolon scorer in this league and will most probably never will be. He is a great overall player and is well worth his money, but I can't help but roll my eyes when people suddenly expect him to produce like an all-star. This year will be a breakout year for Val, and he will easily break 50, probably even 60, but to say that anything less then 70 would be a dissapointment is raising the bar unfairly high.

And why is that? Sure it may be a tad high, but when he's been increasing his points average every season, to finally looking like he put everything together during our post-olympic stretch and playoffs, I don't think it's unreasonable to think he could net an extra 10-15 points playing on a line with Franzen and Bert.

Stop basing this "overreaction" off 2 gimme goals when in reality it's not out of the question when history backs the potential up.

[eva unit zero 271]

Jesus christ the guy has two gimme goals thanks to Franzen bouncing the puck off him and Turco impersonating Hellan Keller after Flip lost the puck and suddenly hes a top 35 scorer in the league...

Fixed. Admittedly, a goal's a goal, but that was the most effortless two-goal game I've ever seen. Two goals on zero shots.

[cjm502 165]

Mindfly, your position of the boards biggest pessimist is quickly being taken over by the new guy. Im sure everyone knows who im talking about

[eva unit zero 271]

Last year, Flip was the best wing for about month when we were suffering throug massive injures. Babcock said this on a few occasions. He is coming into his own and I cannot understand for the life of me why people continue to dog the guy. He has sweet hands, great speed, fights hard every night and will only get better. He is the SECOND LINE Centre on the deepest team in the NHL...I am thnking there is a reason for that.

He will have 60+ points this year (unless hes injured)and maybe the haters will find someone else to complain about!

I'm sure I'm being counted as one of the "haters" because I've always "incorrectly" thought Hudler outperformed Filppula. It would be great if Flip scored 60+ points, and I don't know about other "Flip haters" but I've always thought that under the right conditions he would be a 60-65 point center in his prime, give or take a little. Those conditions are that he would get top-six ice time, which has gotten that for the past three seasons, and played on the power play - he started as a regular member there last year, with a decent amount of time in 2008-09. He's 26 now, so he should start producing those kind of numbers soon if he doesn't do it this year.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Flipper is going to score 70 touchdowns this year.

[Theophany 110]

Anyone else hear the Chicago announcers refer to him numerous times as "Big" Filppula or "a big body"? I was wondering what the hell he was smoking.

I heard the same thing and was confused.

It lasted the rest of the game, and I'm still confused.

I've met Fil before, and he's smaller than I am. And I'm not that big (6'0, 180).

[Motown4013 350]

Who here is hating on Filppula? I flat out think he at 3 million is a bargain and think he's probably our 4th best forward. I'm sorry that I don't put him on the same offensive production of Datsyuk or Zetterberg last year all while getting 2nd line minutes, so please forgive me for my "hatred".

I did not specify that YOU hated him but there are a lot of people that dog the guy for "being overpaid, not shooting the puck enough"...blah, blah. Go back and look at posts from last year- He gets the gears a lot, so there are a lot of Flip "haters". He deserves some props for bringing it hard every night and wanting to improve his game....some guys are just content after they get a decent contract.

I never said that I thought he was going to be a Dats or an Ovechkin, in terms of scoring presense BUT I do think he is very talented and will have the best year of his career.

Glad to hear you think he is worth the cash he is paid because I think all the small things he brings to this team- the intangibles, will make him a key part of this years Stanley Cup Winning Team!

Now I pretty much completely agree with you.

Agreed!

[VM1138 1,921]

I did not specify that YOU hated him but there are a lot of people that dog the guy for "being overpaid, not shooting the puck enough"...blah, blah. Go back and look at posts from last year- He gets the gears a lot, so there are a lot of Flip "haters". He deserves some props for bringing it hard every night and wanting to improve his game....some guys are just content after they get a decent contract.

I never said that I thought he was going to be a Dats or an Ovechkin, in terms of scoring presense BUT I do think he is very talented and will have the best year of his career.

Glad to hear you think he is worth the cash he is paid because I think all the small things he brings to this team- the intangibles, will make him a key part of this years Stanley Cup Winning Team!

Agreed!

I'm one of the people who doesn't feel Flip will ever be a first liner, but he's definitely a steal for 3 million. He's sort of like Lidstrom. Doesn't do a lot that's overwhelmingly praise worthy or flashy (despite some occasional pretty plays) but he gets the job done, a lot of time without being noticed. But he's not quite star material, I don't think. That being said, he's still a really talented player and gives us exactly what we expect and deserve from him for his contract. Plus, he's a hard worker and you can never have too many of those.

[Buppy 1,720]

I'll say one thing for Flip, he's by far the most hotly debated Wing I can remember.

And it always seems to boil down to around 5-10 points difference in perceived potential. Everyone loves him, but if anyone values his offense 10% higher or lower than you they're a moron. Great stuff.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Buppy

[Nev 1,085]

I see you joined after the Great Hasek/Osgood War of 2008....

[Booster313 138]

Filppula is my 2nd favorite player on the Wings. He always brings his game up to a different level each year in the playoffs. Like someone else stated before he broke his wrist last year he was arguably the best player on our team. He has world class speed, just needs to work on his scoring touch.

He really should get 60 points this year. I think he can be a 70-80 point player when its all said and done.

HUH? Neither of them will be anything more then a 3rd liner. Abdelkader MIGHT be a 2nd liner one day, but i think thats pushing it.

You miss my point, by stars I mean longterm Red Wings that prove to be key to team success much like Draper and Maltby before them. No one would ever draft them as fantasy players but at one time Draper and Maltby were about the best in the business on the PK and PK is a key part of winning. They were also very popular in Detroit. The OP seemed to say he hadn't seen much from Flip, I disagree, Flip is a great player, is he a star in the sense of Dats or Z... no but he is a key forward and star wing in his own right.

[Guest Crymson]

I see you joined after the Great Hasek/Osgood War of 2008....

That whole thing was silly, in retrospect. They were both doing great. We didn't stop to think about the fact that we were lucky as hell in goaltending.

Hasek/Osgood is still my favorite Red Wings tandem ever.

[Nev 1,085]

Oh I agree, IIRC they actually posted near identical stats that season. Hasek played like the multiple Vezina winner that he was, and Osgood played like the All-Star starter that he was.

Goaltending in Detroit eh?

[chrisdetroit 189]

Kris Draper played his ass off every gane to. Did he ever score 70 points? No, he didn't due to the lack of talent. Filppula is the same way. Bookmark this post, I guarantee you he does not score 70 this year. I'm not saying he is a bad player, he is a very good one, but his strengths are not good enough to get 70 this year. He is a very good and responsible 2nd line center who should be good for 55-60, but to say you expect 70 points at the least is retarded.

First, there are gimme goals. Not all goals take the same amount of skill or have no luck involved. If you honestly think that then i don't know what to s ay to you. I doubt you seriously belive that though, and are just trying to make a point. Filppula had a good offensive read to get open for Franzen's pass, and then drove to the net and got lucky. Sorry, but nothing about those goals indicate 70+ points for me, but I seem to be one of the few here who has realistic expectations about our players. I was the one saying Ericsson looks like he can be a solid 4th d guy at best when most of you were spouting Norris talk. Second, he said he was expecting him to put up 70+ points at the very least, making him a top 35 scorer in the league if the scoring is distributed the way it has been the past few years. Just because he didn't flat out say it that way doesn't mean you can't make assumptions off the number he gave. 70+ points puts you in the top 40 in the league for scoring every year at the very least. Sorry I'm not just blatently lieing to the guy and giving him unrealistic expectations. Third, why point out the difference in spelling, somehow I doubt she'd notice and take offense.

Ok. So you are consistantly pessimistic. What is the point of that? I'll bet that you are great fun at parties.

You miss my point, by stars I mean longterm Red Wings that prove to be key to team success much like Draper and Maltby before them. No one would ever draft them as fantasy players but at one time Draper and Maltby were about the best in the business on the PK and PK is a key part of winning. They were also very popular in Detroit. The OP seemed to say he hadn't seen much from Flip, I disagree, Flip is a great player, is he a star in the sense of Dats or Z... no but he is a key forward and star wing in his own right.

Draper won the Selke trophy for best defensive forward in the entire league in 2004.

[Spinner 6]

VF is good but he's no Hudler!

[Drake_Marcus 890]

He's been getting more points every year. I expect 70 points out of him this year at least. If your in a lengthy draft, he is definitely a good option.

lol what?

A jump from his career high 42pts to a minimum of 70pts is freaking huge. That's a massive leap in development. I'll be happy if he breaks 50pts. 50-55pts is a far more realistic goal for him to reach for.

As a point of reference Toews has never scored 70pts in the NHL.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Filppula is going to get you all. You all are in big trouble.

[eva unit zero 271]

another thing that seemed odd, but I remembered him being sound defensively - yet he only has 2 short-handed points in his whole career, and both of those coming last year

was last year the first where he was a main fixture on the kill?

because usually when you've got someone with his speed and defensive awareness, that's a recipe for a good amount of shorthanded points

Ok, I have seen this again and again, and I just have to ask.

What the f*** do shorthanded goals or points have to do with defensive play? Pavel Bure scored a ton of shorthanded goals; was he Mr. Defense?

[Z and D for the C 712]

I'm sorry, but I think there is a problem with the website. What I seem to be reading is that Eva sort of has come to the defense of Filppula.

Should I report it as a bug or......?

[titanium2 867]

Had a nice pass to Mule against COL. Yeah yeah yeah, I know, any average hockey player would have made the same play bla bla bla.

[dropkickshanahans 463]

lol what?

A jump from his career high 42pts to a minimum of 70pts is freaking huge. That's a massive leap in development. I'll be happy if he breaks 50pts. 50-55pts is a far more realistic goal for him to reach for.

As a point of reference Toews has never scored 70pts in the NHL.

I really don't think it's out of the question. As some already know he's increased his PPG average every year. Last year he scored 35 pts in 55 games played, bringing up his average to a career high .64 ppg. Had he played a full season he would've broke 50 pts. In the playoffs, he did even better, stepping up by scoring 9 pts in 12 games for an average of .75 ppg. All of this was mostly playing on the second line with better scorers.

Let's say he picks up from where he left off from the playoffs (which so far, he is), he'll be on pace to break 60 points. So far after watching him, he looks confident and just looks overall much better than years past playing on that second line. Plus being 26, he's starting to enter those prime years which I believe this season we're going to see him break out. Mix that in with being on a line with Franzen and Bertuzzi, which is arguably our best line right now to some, and I think getting to or around 70 pts doesn't seem that far-fetched.

[Z and D for the C 712]

As a point of reference Toews has never scored 70pts in the NHL.

Teows: 3PG, 0G 1A +2

Filppula: 3GP, 2G 2G +3

My point?

Nothing.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Z and D for the C

[Guest mjtm77]

Anything from 55 to 65 is reasonable

Edited October 13, 2010 by mjtm77

[hatrickswayze 0]

Ok, I have seen this again and again, and I just have to ask.

What the f*** do shorthanded goals or points have to do with defensive play? Pavel Bure scored a ton of shorthanded goals; was he Mr. Defense?

Shorthanded points aren't automatically associated with strong defensive play - however, if you have a player with Fil's speed and offensive ability added to his defensive awareness, that will often translate into some shorthanded points.