You cant just look at what they bring to the table as what you are missing. You also have to account for who replaces them.
On the wings roster currently they have six NHL capable centers.
Zetterberg datsyuk helm andersson weiss legwand
Five of the six. Five of the six of the most important position on the ice besides the goalie is injured.
The center is the first back on the back check.
The busiest player in the defensive zone.
The pivot between wingers.
The deepest player in the offensive zone for the wings behind the net and two man forecheck/boardplay forecheck.
Being the deepest in the offensive zone and the deepest in the defensive zone , the center has to be the most conditioned player on the ice, or at least the most economical with skating and energy use.
Playing at the NHL is next level. Playing center at NHL level is again next level.
When your team is missing five of six NHL ready centers, you are replacing them with AHL talent (jurco, a child) and NHL wingers (franzen).
Sure theyve all had a little time in the middle in their day but you cant honestly expect them to hang with true nhl centermen.
Have you ever switched positions on a team that actually uses real systems? Its not beer league float wherever you feel like hockey.
On top of that Jurco is out.
So now you have wingers and back ups to backups playing center- again the busiest player on the ice.
Helm really is one of the most useful PK players on the team (someone post the video please).
Thats not just something we say as fans when trying to "talk sports". Helm has a role and our PK is exponentially better with him on the ice. If were away and get last change, we dont get worried when he gets matched up against crosby because we know he can at least hang. I dont think buffalo fans would say the same about Cody hodgson or tyler Ennis and they are their number one and number two centers! Number one and number two!
So to say he doesnt bring much to the table is ludicrous and ignorant. He is a role player and one of the best. Hes not number two PK-oh-this-guy-doesnt-get-ice-time-pk-plug. Hes the number one option on PK. You may not see that if you dont watch every wings game so ill cut you a break there.
Losing andersson was important because at the time we had already lost centers 1 2 and 3 (and the fourth option in zetterberg).
Now who do we go to? Oh yea... glendenning. A rookie from the NCAA.
Gustavsson has been good when needed every time. Hes out. So when howard goes down with a groin injury (happened) or the flu (happened) we have to go to AHL #1. But who backs them up? Oh yea, AHL number 2.
Our defensive corps is not as good as its been in recent years. Granted.
We desperately need a puck moving defenseman and a shutdown.
Dekeysser is reliable for both. He quarterbacks the power play for crying out loud.
Zone entry is a skill to be coveted when teams are playing a 0-4 or 1-3 style on the PK.
If you saw the last wings game vs Chicago they couldnt even enter the zone (literally) on the PP because the set play 100% of the time is dekeysser on the breakout skates it up to the offensive blue line and drops it to datsyuk because he will get in every time and create space. Oh but we cant do that because they're out. But im sure anyone is capable of that... sounds easy enough. Thats why Barrett jackman quarterbacked the st louis pp instead of chris pronger right?
While to the normal fan and a biased dummy it may seem otherwise, I assure you NHL teams do not have "plugs".
Every red wing injury- every one of them in this instance is a key role player. The only one who id say isn't big blow to the system is kindl. His role can be filled- sure. But dekeysser, helm, andersson, these guys have very important roles. Truly.
Your view of why each player is important is too general and lacking knowledge.
I can provide video evidence odor every sentence I wrote.
And never mind any typos. Im on my phone. Deal with it.
This post was edited by Stealth on Mar 17 2014 02:09pm