Wings lose another scorer. Filppula out!!!
Wings lose another scorer and look destined to be missing the playoffs this year. Filppula is out for 6-8 weeks with a broken wrist. Horrible defense and goaltending. Scorers dropping like flies. Could be a long season wings fans.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4607925
October 30th, 2009 at 11:29 AM ^
at least they are getting the extra point with all these overtime losses. they need to work on their shoot outs...
October 30th, 2009 at 11:29 AM ^
I doubt they miss the playoffs, but home ice is looking pretty unrealistic.
Also, I'm not sure I'd consider Filppula a huge scoring threat, but to each his own. This injury shouldn't hurt too much, though we'll probably have to poach yet another player from Grand Rapids.
October 30th, 2009 at 1:11 PM ^
I wouldn't call him a huge scoring threat either, but with the injuries combined with already playing lots of young guys, this isn't looking good. One of the things that makes the Wings so good is that they always had experienced players that don't make mistakes in their system. More young guys means more mistakes
October 30th, 2009 at 11:32 AM ^
That is most unfortunate, but 11 games into the season is WAY too early to speculate about the playoffs.
Too bad for Filppula, though. He's a great player.
October 30th, 2009 at 11:45 AM ^
They will be fine!!! Way too early.
October 30th, 2009 at 1:17 PM ^
We're seeing consequences of the salary cap, unfortunately. The Wings have adopted a strategy of paying for lots of top end talented skaters and then staying under the cap by having the cheapest goaltending in the league. The stars fail to dominate, a few players get hurt and the goaltenders play like their salary says they should, and voila, you've got a team in serious danger of not making the playoffs. Lots of guys aren't playing like they did two years ago. The Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk line used to be the most dominant line in the league. Now they are very good, but not like they were a couple of years ago. The talent level of the rest of the league has improved too. Chicago and St. Louis are totally different than they were a couple of years ago and most of their great players are extremely young. On the other side of the league, all of the difference makers on teams like Pittsburgh and Washington are new since the lockout. Scoring is up quite a bit this year (about a half a goal per game since the Wing's Cup year). The Wings might have benefitted from being the only elite team at a time when the talent level was down (ala OSU in the Big Ten).
October 30th, 2009 at 1:42 PM ^
It's unfortunate that it's happening to the Wings (though it was inevitable), but on the broader topic, I think the effects of the salary cap are actually good. MLB needs to institute one ASAP.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:58 PM ^
I'm not a fan of it in any sport. For a few reasons but one of them is because it exaggerates the effects of injury luck. I also don't like that from now on, the Stanely Cup favorites are going to be teams with a short window where they have severely underpaid young stars who signed their contracts when they were still relatively unknown. That was Detroit the last couple of years. Right now, it's Chicago and Pittsburgh.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:01 PM ^
I would disagree.
Go look at Pittsburgh's salary cap. Crosby and Malkin both make 8.7 million. Staal as the 3rd line center makes 4 million. Fleury makes 5 million. These players are NOT underpaid. In fact, does Pittsburgh really have any underpaid superstars?
Also, some teams (i.e. Chicago) might have short windows. In my opinion, they've managed their cap poorly. But don't you think Pittsburgh will be competitive for the next 5-10 years?
The salary cap adds variables, but it can be managed. I think Holland is pretty smart, and while the Wings will likely be down this year I expect some major changes in the off season when we have the cap room.
Can you really say that MLB is better? If the Yankees win this year, it's because they bought half their team this off season. A team like Cincinnati or Kansas City could NEVER do that, and so the likelihood of them being competitive is low. Sure, you always have outliers, but I would rather have an even playing field.
Be honest, would you be saying the same things if you lived in a small sports market instead of Detroit?
October 30th, 2009 at 3:05 PM ^
I think there's a lot more to this story to be told as the season goes on...bad stretch to open the season, but as long as the Wings hang on to a playoff spot until they get some guys back from injury, I think they'll be ok...
The Osgood thing has always dumbfounded me...how can you just flip a switch for the playoffs after sleepwalking your way through the regular season? As a self-respecting professional athlete, why wouldn't you hold yourself to be at your best every single game, postseason or otherwise?
October 30th, 2009 at 3:09 PM ^
Losing a key piece to our offense (which has been above average) just puts more strain on our defense (which has been atrocious).
October 30th, 2009 at 4:06 PM ^
*Shudders*
October 30th, 2009 at 4:36 PM ^
the Olympic Red Wings are saving themselves for the Olympic push. This team will make a great push the 2nd half of the season.
Honestly their schedule is pretty front end loaded with tough teams and road trips. The long Western swing is never easy regardless of the season.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:54 PM ^
you lunatic
October 30th, 2009 at 8:19 PM ^
With all these injuries and goalie/defensive problems you would think they are finished... BUT they are only 4 points back of Chicago and the Wings have played one less game. At this point i just want to get in the playoffs especially as the 7th seed and for once be the underdogs against someone like Chicago :)
October 30th, 2009 at 11:05 PM ^
Why, Angry Red Wing Hating God, WHY?
Dammit, I was hoping Filppula was going to help fill the scoring void. Wishing him a swift recovery. At least he can do conditioning.