Leaderboard

I think we can admit that Finnish wing was right. Ville didnt have any confidence playing with the wings and it showed. Maybe Babcocks constant calling him out just didnt motivate Ville the way it would other guys, probably just made the situation worse actually. I think Ville/Babcock just werent a great Player/coach match .

Talent only matters when you play hard. He never played this hard for the Wings. Don't know if it's the playoff atmosphere that's woken him up, but he was sleepwalking most of his time in our lineup. You really think a "genius" like Holland/Babcock would let him go so easily if they didn't think he was a lazy ass?

Okay, so he was confident all the time, he just SUDDENLY didn't wanna work anymore after he got that HUGE 800k per year deal. What a fukin joke.

It would help to watch the video.

Yeah a clean hit on a star player. I would love him here and I'm sure if he was a wing and did that clean hit to Crosby you would love it.

Fully realize that our season is done...but this is just EPIC!!! Love it

I have always backed him up through the whole season here and even when he was traded. I love to see that he's doing well and I hope he keeps putting up points. Philly really deserves to go all the way now as much as I hate Pronger. I would much rather see the Flyers win than the Blackhawks or the Sharks.

i didnt want to let him go... too bad. hes played great for philly especially tonight as he scored. i find myself rooting for him when hes out there even though i am canadian and should prolly cheer for canadiens... oh well, i dont like anyone other than detroit really. itd be nice if an original 6 team wins i guess.

Another multi-point game for our boy, Ville Leino. I'm glad he's playing so well.

I really don't see Vokoun diving at all. Perry had some speed and got a pretty good piece of him, should of been a penalty.

No evidence to back up that argument.Nothing to back up that either. Same thing. At least he's still playing somewhere. So basically some opinions, with nothing to back them up. You can have your opinions though. Just don't make them look like facts. The fact is that most of the people hate that he's doing well right now and hope that he wouldn't succeed.

really? no opinions?

Osgood didn't get more starts because he didn't earn them. It's the classic chicken or egg discussion. Mike Babcock didn't give him more starts because he didn't think he'd win the games. There were several times during the season that Howard could have used some rest, but at the same time the team needed a win. That's a tough position for the coach. I have no doubt another goalie would have gotten those games. Osgood wasn't up to the task, obviously. Nothing is going to change next year, certainly not the coaching staff's eyesight.

Well said. The only rule I can think of off the top of my head is: No Matt Cooke in the game of hockey. Ever.

Your argument against Ozzie basically proves the argument for most of us in favor of him: Babcock has to play him more. The injuries/tight points race forced Babcock's hand into starting Howard every game. I think there was more to it than that, but we'll go with Babcock's rationale for argument's sake. How can you really even make a fair judgment on Chris Osgood? He started twice in 2010. I think he can without a doubt be a very capable backup provided he gets a start more than once every three months. Hopefully the situation next season will cater more to a favorable balance for both Jimmy and Ozzie to be successful in goal. I agree Jimmy needs rest, but Babcock has to be willing to give Ozzie a chance. This past season can't even be used as a fair barometer for people to say Ozzie can't get the job done anymore.

I'd like these superhuman powers, I'd be able to beat the poop out of people a lot more if I had the power of a Greek god! Osgood barely played. Primarily because Howard did very little to suggest getting taken out on a consistent basis, and a lot less with Osgood's play. Osgood is fine as Howard's backup.

I have an interview with them next week, Panthers are on the rise!!!!

It's funny how fast people changed. At the start of the season, everyone couldn't wait for him to come back, if ever. The guy didn't play hockey for a year and now all of a sudden everyone expects him to be the greatest thing ever. That just doesn't happen. Give the guy a break.

Yay, another May, Norton, Big Snake... Not what we need.

I still see the biggest thing was just a new team and a new start for him. Whether it was Flyers, Trashers or Sharks. Flyers is a good fit yes, as there already is many tougher guys and they have more "room" for skill. Still, I think the biggest change has happened with his confidence like I kinda predicted (Latendress and Jokinen for example even they're higher calibre players, the effect is still the same).

NOBODY I am actually done watching hockey for the year, switching to baseball. If the league is not going to put forth the effort to have competent officials on the ice. I am not going to waste my time watching it.

Lappy is 100% warrior. He has made a career out of doing what nobody else wants to do. He isn't big, isn't a great fighter, isn't all that skilled (though he's no slouch either) but he will do absolutely anything for the team anytime. Fight a guy 50lbs bigger than him? Sure. Block a puck with his head? More than once. Be one of the league's only agitators not afraid of backing up his talk? No problem. 1st line? Sure. 4th line? Sure. Dude just flat plays to the best of his ability every single night. He's a gamer.

It doesn't go like that. You earn a better contract while playing well (also some of it is usually paying for potential). Let's say you play well and earn a three year contract 3M a year and play badly that whole time. So after the three years many teams offer you only under 1M a year because they thing you haven't EARNED a better salary.And I think we can all agree that Leino isn't here for the money, but to actually play hockey on a high level. As said number of times already KHL teams would've paid him much more for the three years than he'll be getting now here in NA (AHL year + 2 years 1,6M). And that raises the question: Is at about being lazy or not being good at back-checking (skating, stamina, strength etc.)?Because basically you are saying that he could do it, but didn't want to because he was lazy. Why didn't he just go to the KHL then if he was only after money. You really think that he didn't want to do well and succeed?

"When you're whining..." gimme a break.Talk about one media comment getting a little too much weight here on LGW. Leino is a 800k guy. He's better in providing offense than shutting down opposite guys. Don't you think it's good for player to know their strength and weaknesses? He just wasn't good enough to be on top6 here. But that kinda player he is. You don't put Teemu Selanne on a checking line to do checking, because that's not what kinda player he is. It was obviously Detroit's mistake if the believed that Leino can be in top6 and provide enough offense which he couldn't. After that trying to move him to the 4th line is just admitting that mistake. There are bunch of players outside NHL who are more skilled than many NHL 3rd liners, but not skilled enough to be in a top6 role and not good enough defensively to be on 3rd or 4th line. It isn't about disrespecting the organization or the fans if you know what kinda player you are, but are frustrated to live up to the expectations. Teemu Selanne suddenly stops providing offense and the coach puts him to 4th line. Is it being lazy and disrespecting the organization if he says that he isn't 4th line type player? As I said, Red Wings gambled on Leino, believing he could provide enough offense. Don't see anything about "insulting Hockeytown" there.

How do you know it was anything about being lazy? I think there's a big difference of being a lazy or having zero self-confidence. Do you think he didn't want to play for this team? Do you think he didn't want to succeed? It just didn't work. But you have no proof that it was anything about being lazy. If he plays with his own strenghts, knows that he maybe doesn't win corner battles, but can make plays.And the organization didn't hand him no "silver platter". He was the Finnish league MVP and there's was bunch of choices he could've gone to. Red Wings wanted him. It was nothing about "giving a chance". He played so good in the AHL the he deserved to start in the NHL. Things happened and he got traded. Life goes on. Better for Red Wings, better for him. I just bet that OKT + the guy we gonna get from that 4th round pick will play less games in this league than Leino.