Jeremy Laura: Detroit vs Chicago - pre game thoughts

they are more entertaining to watch so far.
but, they still need to tank for the next little while here.

they are more entertaining to watch so far.
but, they still need to tank for the next little while here.
- wingz4life

In this division, Detroit will finish bottom 2. The players want to play and get better. The lotto hasn’t favored Detroit, and they may well finish a little higher. Maybe they end at 27 or 28. A prime player won’t make a contender without a culture in place. I want them to play as well as they can.

Great write-up. One thing you might notice is that the young players on the Hawks will stand out more than the vets. Keith has struggled a bit to start the year. Murphy has made a number of boneheaded plays and forwards like Janmark and Carpenter are just kind of there.

Kubalik, Kurashev, Mitchell, Debrincat, and Suter have shown well thus far. The biggest issue is their defensive coverage. The Hawks continually lose their responsibilities which allows for grade A chances. I'd have to agree with Jeremy here that Det takes the series this year unless the Hawks have a notable turnaround.

Good luck!

Taro Hirose made the Taxi Squad

In this division, Detroit will finish bottom 2. The players want to play and get better. The lotto hasn’t favored Detroit, and they may well finish a little higher. Maybe they end at 27 or 28. A prime player won’t make a contender without a culture in place. I want them to play as well as they can.
- Jeremy Laura

Exactly! Bettman favors a Chicago lottery win!

In this division, Detroit will finish bottom 2. The players want to play and get better. The lotto hasn’t favored Detroit, and they may well finish a little higher. Maybe they end at 27 or 28. A prime player won’t make a contender without a culture in place. I want them to play as well as they can.
- Jeremy Laura

It would be nice to finish ahead of Chicago

Firm believer in give it all you got until you ain't got no more. You called is correctly when you mentioned culture. Marquee names will not go to a team that has bullshirt culture. Which is why I'm so high on Ryan; the kid wins even if he loses. That mentaility permeates the team (slowly, admittedly...but it's a growing sentiment.

Stall needs to be a scratch for Lindstrom, Smith in for Nielsen. Regardless of how the Hawk's record looks, they'll be up for these 2 games. We need physical presence and speed. More concise passing, fewer O zone turn-overs, and fewer passes; shoot the biscuit. Draw pentalties the rain havoc down in the O zone; dirty goals, dirty hard shots leading to rebounds, crash the net, get in someone's grill - that means EVERYONE plays like BertBuzzi tonight. We have to improve the PP, it's anemic. PK is ok, but shutting entry into the zone down is crucial; that's not been done all that well this year. Conversely, we need to gain better, more controlled O zone entry on the PP. If we're forced to dump-n-hump, we'll be hurting. What I've seen of the dump is that our guys get there a step too late and we're forced to forecheck the puck away or slap down an errant pass by rhe D PK, not smart playing nor positioning. Which is why I want to see Smith & Lindstrom in; fast, fresh, you, eager with a bag of Better Made chips on their shoulders.....

Gonna miss the 1st period, meeting old workmates for some professional development & mentoring. Will play catch up on the DVR when I get home.

Like what you're doing, J. Love the interaction & discussion that you set up with such insightful posting. Gives us stuff to consider as we develop our feedback. Wicked smaht!!!!

Great write-up. One thing you might notice is that the young players on the Hawks will stand out more than the vets. Keith has struggled a bit to start the year. Murphy has made a number of boneheaded plays and forwards like Janmark and Carpenter are just kind of there.

Kubalik, Kurashev, Mitchell, Debrincat, and Suter have shown well thus far. The biggest issue is their defensive coverage. The Hawks continually lose their responsibilities which allows for grade A chances. I'd have to agree with Jeremy here that Det takes the series this year unless the Hawks have a notable turnaround.

Good luck!
- Chunk

Thanks for chiming in! Honestly, I have a ton of respect for the Hawks. This year should have been better, too many losses of important pieces.

Firm believer in give it all you got until you ain't got no more. You called is correctly when you mentioned culture. Marquee names will not go to a team that has bullshirt culture. Which is why I'm so high on Ryan; the kid wins even if he loses. That mentaility permeates the team (slowly, admittedly...but it's a growing sentiment.

Stall needs to be a scratch for Lindstrom, Smith in for Nielsen. Regardless of how the Hawk's record looks, they'll be up for these 2 games. We need physical presence and speed. More concise passing, fewer O zone turn-overs, and fewer passes; shoot the biscuit. Draw pentalties the rain havoc down in the O zone; dirty goals, dirty hard shots leading to rebounds, crash the net, get in someone's grill - that means EVERYONE plays like BertBuzzi tonight. We have to improve the PP, it's anemic. PK is ok, but shutting entry into the zone down is crucial; that's not been done all that well this year. Conversely, we need to gain better, more controlled O zone entry on the PP. If we're forced to dump-n-hump, we'll be hurting. What I've seen of the dump is that our guys get there a step too late and we're forced to forecheck the puck away or slap down an errant pass by rhe D PK, not smart playing nor positioning. Which is why I want to see Smith & Lindstrom in; fast, fresh, you, eager with a bag of Better Made chips on their shoulders.....

Gonna miss the 1st period, meeting old workmates for some professional development & mentoring. Will play catch up on the DVR when I get home.

Like what you're doing, J. Love the interaction & discussion that you set up with such insightful posting. Gives us stuff to consider as we develop our feedback. Wicked smaht!!!!
- mcmastermike1968

I love it as always MC. thanks for the props and for a solid write up!

A team that still has Kane, with Kubalik and Debrincat supporting, cannot be worse than the Wings, really, at least on paper.
Keith is still better on D than anything Wings have to offer at the moment.
Goalies? Yeah, that's kind of a problem.
I dunno, we shall see, I guess.

I just worry about the Red Wings history of making bad goalies look like Terry Sawchuk. I could see us losing both games. I hope I'm wrong. But the Hawks have the desperation factor. They haven't won yet. So you know they'll want to shove it up Detroit's a$$. Wings might be a little too full of themselves.

We've seen this happen during Blashill's tenure. Lose 9 win 1 and the team acts like they won the Stanley Cup. I see a lazy and uninspired game from Detroit tonight while we make Chicago look like the '85 Oilers.

Sorry. I've seen this too many times from this mentally weak Red Wings team. Vegas has the Hawks favoured for a reason. They're not buying Detroit's 2-2 record either. I know this isn't what anyone wants to hear but this Detroit team has fooled me way too many times.

I need to see more to start believing in this team. I was excited for the 2 wins but I think I saw what I wanted to see. But each time I'm optimistic about this Red Wings team they proceed to $hit the bed and remind me once again they're the worst team in the NHL.

I REALLY REALLY hope I'm wrong about everything I just said. Unfortunately I know I'm not. Greiss deserves some goal support. He's been great and doesn't deserve to be 0-2. Bobby Ryan has been great too. But I'm still expecting for Detroit to be swept this weekend.

I just worry about the Red Wings history of making bad goalies look like Terry Sawchuk. I could see us losing both games. I hope I'm wrong. But the Hawks have the desperation factor. They haven't won yet. So you know they'll want to shove it up Detroit's a$$. Wings might be a little too full of themselves.

We've seen this happen during Blashill's tenure. Lose 9 win 1 and the team acts like they won the Stanley Cup. I see a lazy and uninspired game from Detroit tonight while we make Chicago look like the '85 Oilers.

Sorry. I've seen this too many times from this mentally weak Red Wings team. Vegas has the Hawks favoured for a reason. They're not buying Detroit's 2-2 record either. I know this isn't what anyone wants to hear but this Detroit team has fooled me way too many times.

I need to see more to start believing in this team. I was excited for the 2 wins but I think I saw what I wanted to see. But each time I'm optimistic about this Red Wings team they proceed to $hit the bed and remind me once again they're the worst team in the NHL.

I REALLY REALLY hope I'm wrong about everything I just said. Unfortunately I know I'm not. Greiss deserves some goal support. He's been great and doesn't deserve to be 0-2. Bobby Ryan has been great too. But I'm still expecting for Detroit to be swept this weekend.
- gergeswillems

If (big if) the Wings coaching has prepared tonight’s game plan then Wings should expose the Chicago defense.

Zadina on Covid list now

Detroit – Adam Erne; Robby Fabbri; Sam Gagner; Jon Merrill; Filip Zadina

I just worry about the Red Wings history of making bad goalies look like Terry Sawchuk. I could see us losing both games. I hope I'm wrong. But the Hawks have the desperation factor. They haven't won yet. So you know they'll want to shove it up Detroit's a$$. Wings might be a little too full of themselves.

We've seen this happen during Blashill's tenure. Lose 9 win 1 and the team acts like they won the Stanley Cup. I see a lazy and uninspired game from Detroit tonight while we make Chicago look like the '85 Oilers.

Sorry. I've seen this too many times from this mentally weak Red Wings team. Vegas has the Hawks favoured for a reason. They're not buying Detroit's 2-2 record either. I know this isn't what anyone wants to hear but this Detroit team has fooled me way too many times.

I need to see more to start believing in this team. I was excited for the 2 wins but I think I saw what I wanted to see. But each time I'm optimistic about this Red Wings team they proceed to $hit the bed and remind me once again they're the worst team in the NHL.

I REALLY REALLY hope I'm wrong about everything I just said. Unfortunately I know I'm not. Greiss deserves some goal support. He's been great and doesn't deserve to be 0-2. Bobby Ryan has been great too. But I'm still expecting for Detroit to be swept this weekend.
- gergeswillems

You are.

Every time I match up against Wings players in fantasy, they absolutely kill me. Tonight I face Larkin and Mantha, so... 8-3 Detroit.

I love it as always MC. thanks for the props and for a solid write up!
- Jeremy Laura

Tonight’s line-up:
Namestnikov-Larkin- Zads
Mantha-Ras-Ryan
Brome-Glenny-BertBuzzi
Nielsen-Filp-Helm

Nemeth-Hronek
DK-Djoos
Staal-Stecher

Bernie/Griess

Ras played well & seems to be coming into his own. Interested to see what Djoos brings. Fabs on COVID list with Erne, Gagner, & Merrill

GERGES: I get where you’re coming from. Think we’re all waiting for the other skate to drop because that’s the Pavlovian response based upon the past several years of disappointment. Don’t lose faith, brother. Our guys aren’t the best, youngest, fastest. But there is a palpable change in mentality. The 2-2 record isn’t a fluke; it’s borne out of not giving up and pulling together as a team. That’s something we’ve not seen in many years. Take a breath, hold onto hope, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, dude!!!

Zadina on Covid list now

Detroit – Adam Erne; Robby Fabbri; Sam Gagner; Jon Merrill; Filip Zadina
- StargateSG1

Where did you see that?!?!? I just looked at the RW app, but it had nothing about it....

Tonight’s line-up:
Namestnikov-Larkin- Zads
Mantha-Ras-Ryan
Brome-Glenny-BertBuzzi
Nielsen-Filp-Helm

Nemeth-Hronek
DK-Djoos
Staal-Stecher

Bernie/Griess

Ras played well & seems to be coming into his own. Interested to see what Djoos brings. Fabs on COVID list with Erne, Gagner, & Merrill

GERGES: I get where you’re coming from. Think we’re all waiting for the other skate to drop because that’s the Pavlovian response based upon the past several years of disappointment. Don’t lose faith, brother. Our guys aren’t the best, youngest, fastest. But there is a palpable change in mentality. The 2-2 record isn’t a fluke; it’s borne out of not giving up and pulling together as a team. That’s something we’ve not seen in many years. Take a breath, hold onto hope, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, dude!!!
- mcmastermike1968

I sure hope so. I like what I've seen so far for the most part. Especially not tapping out when things don't go your way. Blashill still worries me. He REALLY is a handicap behind the bench. He's really going to get out the line blender now since he pretended he was Scotty Bowman last game and it worked. Get ready to see Filppula or Nielsen centering the top line soon. It's coming.

Where did you see that?!?!? I just looked at the RW app, but it had nothing about it....
- mcmastermike1968

Well CRAP!!! Found it on another site.... Smith was recalled to to the TS.....maybe he’ll be an emergency call-up to the big club?!?!? This REALLY throws a wrench into the works 🤬🤬

Where did you see that?!?!? I just looked at the RW app, but it had nothing about it....
- mcmastermike1968

Certain Wings site that seems to be blocked here, turns to "nhl.com" reference that doesn't exist

Where did you see that?!?!? I just looked at the RW app, but it had nothing about it....
- mcmastermike1968

I was worried Carolina infected Detroit. It'll be a domino effect now. We likely infected Columbus. Columbus likely infected Tampa Bay.

You are.

Every time I match up against Wings players in fantasy, they absolutely kill me. Tonight I face Larkin and Mantha, so... 8-3 Detroit.
- Wildschwein

You must only play fantasy hockey once a month.

If (big if) the Wings coaching has prepared tonight’s game plan then Wings should expose the Chicago defense.
- Tee56

Blashill and "prepared" don't belong in the same sentence.

I sure hope so. I like what I've seen so far for the most part. Especially not tapping out when things don't go your way. Blashill still worries me. He REALLY is a handicap behind the bench. He's really going to get out the line blender now since he pretended he was Scotty Bowman last game and it worked. Get ready to see Filppula or Nielsen centering the top line soon. It's coming.
- gergeswillems

Oh, believe me, I get it. Blash the blender. When I saw the jumbled lines the other night, I 🤢🤮. Here we go again. I just see a difference, though. Know what I mean? The players are taking a stand. They’re playing confidence not borne of the coach; It’s IN SPITE of the coach, it seems.

Zadina’s on the COVID list, so Katie Bar The Door....Wonder what Blash’s move will be ???

Blashill and "prepared" don't belong in the same sentence.
- gergeswillems

At what point does Bylsma kick Blash in the sack to get him to wake up???