10/5 Lebda, Helm Update:

Posted by on . 5 comments

Based on this Ansar Khan report, it sounds like Chris McCosky’s speculation on Lebda’s sitting on the bench Saturday was correct.

Khan says Derek Meech will be in the lineup Thursday for Brett, and mentions nothing about any injury to Lebda. Instead, he cites Lebs’ performance over the weekend and claims he was benched in the second game. Unless Khan’s leaving something out, it sounds like Brett’s not hurt (except for his pride, presumably).

This gives Meech a chance to prove himself, which won’t be too easy given how little he’s actually played over the last year. He’s sure to get limited use.

As for Lebda, I’m not going to pretend he was stellar this weekend. He wasn’t, not by a long shot. But he’s taking a fall here a bit unfairly. He’s certainly not the reason the penalty kill sucked or the reason the power play was underwhelming.

If today’s practice units are any indication, there won’t be any other lineup changes Thursday. Except, that is, for Chris Osgood, who’ll start in favor of Jimmy Howard. Patrick Eaves is still working in on the fourth line in practice, having apparently found it difficult to beat out Kirk Maltby for a forward spot.

In other news: according to Khan, it looks like Darren Helm is still at least a game away, as he has some recovering yet to do. Abdelkader’s NHL stint will continue, unless Helm has a speedier recovery than expected this week.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Tags: , , , ,

Comments

  1. Ryan says:
    October 5, 2009 at 11:29 am

    Lebda had a brutal start last year, too: -9 through the first 11 games.  Over the other 54 games he played, though, he was +18.  And he did that playing behind the worst offensive forwards the Wings had.  He had a point on half of every ES goal they scored while he was on the ice, which is incredible.  Duncan Keith was the only other defenceman to do that last year.  Most offensive defencemen are somewhere around 30-40%.  I'm pretty sure he won't repeat those numbers again this year, but at least it's a sign that the best may be yet to come.

     

    Helm can't return soon enough.  He'll give Babcock a lot of flexibility with the lines.  After two games, I'm not sold on either Bertuzzi or Holmstrom in the top six, so having some more options there may help.

    Reply
  2. Matt Saler says:
    October 5, 2009 at 12:03 pm

    Ryan,

    Yeah, there's no denying Lebda can play well and be  valuable member of the team. I wonder how much, if any, of his rough start this year can be attributed to Ericsson's play. I didn't watch the games that closely, but it's possible something Jonny was doing caused Lebda to look bad trying to make up for it. Doesn't explain last year (though Lilja might…), however.

    I'm with you on Helm, obviously. He'll help fill things out, though I don't antipate much offense coming from him, unless the Wings have a role for him that differs from all first year players of his skill set in recent years.

    On Bertuzzi and Holmstrom, the jury's still out for me. They both have had mixed results, but that just means they haven't quite veered to one side or the other.

    Reply
  3. Megan Saler says:
    October 5, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    I'm a Lebda fan, so I can't say I'm without bias. I agree that he didn't have great games, in fact he did look rather sloppy at times. But I really don't think he was the worst player on the ice and I don't understand why Babs is so quick to bench him. The Wings looked the worst on the PP and PK, neither of which include Lebda. Why not sit Williams for playing lazily on the PP and full strength, shift the lines up and give Eaves a shot? I guarantee he'll work a lot harder than Willy. Our defense as a whole needs to tighten up a lot. Ozzie's a good goaltender, most of the time, but when he's left out to dry he gives up goals and then he seems to give up really soft goals. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Five hole goals are inexcusable, I'm sorry. Especially those kinds. Given time and defense, I think he'll improve. I also think that Abdelkader has vindicated my opinion that he needs more time in the AHL. My biggest problem with him: he takes dumb penalties at inopportune times. And that's just a sign of immaturity, so in theory, another year in the AHL as the #1 call-up would help his game a lot. 

    Reply
  4. John W. says:
    October 5, 2009 at 2:20 pm

    My biggest problem with Lebda this weekend was I believe on the first goal against in the first game. He was right in the goal scorers back pocket and for some reason failed to tie up his stick. It's one thing to get caught out of position, but quite another to be there and still not do your job.

    That said, no one looked all that good. I thought from the beginning going to Sweden, while nice in theory, wouldn't be good for a team with this many Swedes. It's just too hard not to try too hard when you get your one and only chance to play games in your home country. Coaches and players always say that sometimes it's easier to play road games because you play a more simple game and aren't trying to show off for the home crowd. I gotta imagine that's 10x more true in this situation.

    Let's just hope they can get their defensive play fixed quick, or this week could get really ugly with the next 2 teams coming in. While Huet and Theodore are a bit lacking, Chicago can score, and well, Washington just scares the hell out of me. If St. Louis can score 4.5 a game, I don't wanna think about what Ovechkin/Backstrom/Semin could do against a similar effort.

    Reply

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    *

    You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>