Cholowski's Ceiling

[Winger98]

Nothing but good learning process. Lidström played 3 seasons with Paul Coffey on the off side.

How did that experiment pan out, after he was put back on the left after the Shanny-trade and Murphy aquirement...

Cholowski will get on the left for sure when we will have 3 good righties, don't have to worry about that.

Brad McCrimmon says hi. Also, both McCrimmon and Coffey were seasoned vets who could help give Lidstrom the space and mentorship needed to grow. Go out and get another Brad McCrimmon or Paul Coffey to pair with Cholowski instead of Libor Sulak and maybe we can talk about how such a pairing can mentor a player through the early stages of their career.

At this point, Cholowski will be lucky to have Jonathan Ericsson for a stretch of time, let alone a future HoFer.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Good start for Cholowski. Hopefully he continues to improve the rest of the season.

 

[Henkka]

Brad McCrimmon says hi. Also, both McCrimmon and Coffey were seasoned vets who could help give Lidstrom the space and mentorship needed to grow. Go out and get another Brad McCrimmon or Paul Coffey to pair with Cholowski instead of Libor Sulak and maybe we can talk about how such a pairing can mentor a player through the early stages of their career.

At this point, Cholowski will be lucky to have Jonathan Ericsson for a stretch of time, let alone a future HoFer.

I would pair him with Kronwall, when he is healthy again. Like it was at preseason. What's wrong with that? What's the difference for the McCrimmon Lidström got as a rookie? Our most seasoned, experiend and most successful vet.

 

[Winger98]

I would pair him with Kronwall, when he is healthy again. Like it was at preseason. What's wrong with that? What's the difference for the McCrimmon Lidström got as a rookie? Our most seasoned, experiend and most successful vet.

I think it really limits what we do with Cholowski if we're putting him with Kronwall. Kronwall just can't handle a lot of minutes anymore, and Cholowski is showing he can handle 20 minutes a night against better players. We don't really need to shield him. Kronwall is a guy who should probably be maxing around 17 minutes a night with a lot of o-zone and power play time.

If we were set on him playing an off-side, I'd put him with Ericsson. When he's not, I'd like him with Daley. I'd be tempted to put Hronek with Kronwall because I think his minutes could use similar limitations.

Honestly, though, I'll live with pretty much everything if Cholo and Hronek are kept in the lineup. I think they deserve to play, and it's best for everyone if they do. I'm not sure that happens if the Wings blueline gets entirely healthy, though.

 

[TCNorthstars]

I think it really limits what we do with Cholowski if we're putting him with Kronwall. Kronwall just can't handle a lot of minutes anymore, and Cholowski is showing he can handle 20 minutes a night against better players. We don't really need to shield him. Kronwall is a guy who should probably be maxing around 17 minutes a night with a lot of o-zone and power play time.

If we were set on him playing an off-side, I'd put him with Ericsson. When he's not, I'd like him with Daley. I'd be tempted to put Hronek with Kronwall because I think his minutes could use similar limitations.

Honestly, though, I'll live with pretty much everything if Cholo and Hronek are kept in the lineup. I think they deserve to play, and it's best for everyone if they do. I'm not sure that happens if the Wings blueline gets entirely healthy, though.

Why wouldn't they just play Ericsson on his off-side if paired with Cholowski? Ericsson spent a lot of time playing the right side while paired with Kronwall didn't he?

 

[Winger98]

Why wouldn't they just play Ericsson on his off-side if paired with Cholowski? Ericsson spent a lot of time playing the right side while paired with Kronwall didn't he?

They could, but I'm saying that if we want to put Cholo on his off side, I'd rather do it with Ericsson. It probably doesn't say much good about our blueline, but I think he's the steadiest guy we have on the left side.

 

[Henkka]

Why wouldn't they just play Ericsson on his off-side if paired with Cholowski? Ericsson spent a lot of time playing the right side while paired with Kronwall didn't he?

Ericsson was a big problem on the right side with his hip problems. When he returned to the left, it has been much easier for him.

Cholowski has no problem on the right, let him go there until those old contracts will die/traded out and then the rest of the career he can be LD.

 

[jeffff]

Scratched tonight?

 

[Filppula]

Scratched tonight?

Day-to-day injury.

This game isn't nearly as exciting without him.

 

[Henkka]

Scratched tonight?

I think I heard Daniels saying there's a possiblity for Cholowski to be back on saturday's game against Boston.

So it should be really minor injury.

 

[Ezekial]

I think I heard Daniels saying there's a possiblity for Cholowski to be back on saturday's game against Boston.

So it should be really minor injury.

I heard him say in pregame he could miss a few games.

 

[SCD]

13 games into the season, Cholowski has played 11. Two games missed because of an injury.
2g / 6a for 8 pts
Minus 6
On the ice for 8 of 11 ppg.

During the past two games, his ice time has been significantly decreased. His ice time was 15:24 yesterday, which was about 1/3 less than his season TOI to date.

His play to date has definitely surpassed expectations. He has made defensive positioning mistakes at times, but his offensive upside has been simply astonishing for just coming from juniors. He has been the best defenseman to drive the power play and to push the zone when offense is needed. His weaknesses are that he currently he lacks explosiveness in his skating and upper body strength. This is most apparent in board battles and net front play.

Blashill has sheltered him the last two games when the Wings had a lead late, which has resulted in significant decrease in ice time. But he continues to drive the offense. In the last two games, his assists came on keys goals when he pushed the play.

It will be interesting to see how Blashill uses him going forward. Some of his weaknesses will not be fixed until he physically matures. Hopefully, his development has become one of the priorities of the organization because this kid is special.

Organizationally, I would rank him #2 behind Larkin.

 

[Frk It]

13 games into the season, Cholowski has played 11. Two games missed because of an injury.
2g / 6a for 8 pts
Minus 6
On the ice for 8 of 11 ppg.

During the past two games, his ice time has been significantly decreased. His ice time was 15:24 yesterday, which was about 1/3 less than his season TOI to date.

His play to date has definitely surpassed expectations. He has made defensive positioning mistakes at times, but his offensive upside has been simply astonishing for just coming from juniors. He has been the best defenseman to drive the power play and to push the zone when offense is needed. His weaknesses are that he currently he lacks explosiveness in his skating and upper body strength. This is most apparent in board battles and net front play.

Blashill has sheltered him the last two games when the Wings had a lead late, which has resulted in significant decrease in ice time. But he continues to drive the offense. In the last two games, his assists came on keys goals when he pushed the play.

It will be interesting to see how Blashill uses him going forward. Some of his weaknesses will not be fixed until he physically matures. Hopefully, his development has become one of the priorities of the organization because this kid is special.

Organizationally, I would rank him #2 behind Larkin.

I think his ice time was always going to get cut once some of the vets got healthy. But I think he is making a case to steal minutes back at the same time.

The skating and passing was always apparent, but I really am impressed with how it has all came together and how he has rounded out in a 2 year time frame.

I had a hard time seeing him make the physical gains and seeing the finished product when he was picked. But kudos to him for putting the work in, and kudos to the Wings for seeing the long term possibility with him. He was so raw at 18/19 that it scared me.