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a list of things I take more seriously than mindfly: 1. A promise from a politician 2. The artistic musical styling of one Justin Bieber 3. The word of an AD in college football that there will not be a coaching change and they are committed to the current coach, after a couple sub-par seasons 4. Brett Favre's retirement announcements 5. The complaints of a woman wearing a low cut, 2 sizes too small shirt, that guys always stare at her boobs 6. The weather report I could go on...

Gee....ya think? Babcock is delusional about goaltending. It's his blind spot. He seems to think that he can manufacture a Starting Goaltender, by sheer number of Starts alone. He did it with Legace. He tried to do it with Conklin. And now he's doing it with Howard. Babcock needs to learn that what makes a goaltender a #1 Goaltender is NOT the number of Games he starts during the Season. It's what's between his ears. And you can't FORCE that, no matter how many Games you throw 'em out there. Babcock seems pig-headedly stubborn, incapable of learning from past mistakes, and unwilling to admit when he's wrong. Maybe THAT is what kept him from ever being able to make it to the NHL as a Player.

It's pretty simple, VM: If Babcock turns to Osgood now, odds are Ozzie is so fired up and hungry for the #1 spot, that he TAKES it. And never looks back. What does that mean for Mike Babcock? It means he was WRONG about the goaltending. It means that he was WRONG to stick with Howard as the Wings were driven to 7 Games against an inferior opponent, and bounced in 5 Games against a choke Team which was swept in the next Round. It means that he made the WRONG decision to declare Howard the Starter to open this Season, without a hint of competition for the spot. For those who state that "Howard is the Starter. You have to stick with your Starter." Says WHO? What justifies keeping Howard as the Starter, when his "back-up" is outplaying him. Wasn't Osgood the Starter just LAST SEASON....until HIS "back-up" started outplaying HIM. Then a NEW Starter was named, based on merit. When Legace was the Starter in 2005-2006, and Osgood was the back-up, it was: "Manny's the Starter. He's our guy, and we're gonna ride him." When Dom was the Starter from 2006-2008, and Osgood was the back-up, it was: "Dom's the Starter. He's our guy, and we're gonna ride him." When Ozzie was the Starter in 2007-2008, and Conklin was the back-up, it was: "Whoever plays better, plays." When Ozzie was the Starter in 2008-2009, and Howard was the back-up, it was: "We're going with the hot hand." Now that Howard is the Starter, and Osgood is once again the back-up, it's back to: "Howard's the Starter. He's our guy, and we're gonna ride him." Anyone who fails to see the ridiculous double standard here is out of their minds. It's quite simple. Babcock will NOT allow Osgood a shot, not even a shot, to re-take the Starting role. He'll keep throwing Howard out there, for loss after loss, regardless of HOW he's playing, until the TEAM pulls it together, and Howard starts Winning again. THEN he can say: "See. It was just a slump. All is well now." Right up until the Wings are bounced out of the Post Season early, again. He did the same thing in January/February last Season when Howard went 8-5-6, and was giving up 3+ goals per Game consistently. He just kept throwing him out there, Game after Game, after Game.

Are you serious? Please, please, please remind yourself of the stretch run last year. Where Jimmy Howard basically carried us on his back. We wouldn't have made the playoffs without him last year, chew on that. His start this year wasn't bad either...sheez. Put Jimmy on waivers and watch the ensuing GM on GM violence. Pretty sure Leighton goes unclaimed, but either way, pretty much no one will care anyway.

Howard has been badly outplayed by Osgood for a month and a half. This what you don't understand. Howard automatically gets the next start after a bad game to 'sort it out' if you will. The problem is that he has been having a ton of bad games. Osgood, on the other hand, has been playing great and after each great game he gets exiled to the end of the bench for another week or two. Howard has done nothing to earn his starts this season; Osgood has done plenty. Osgood should be starting half or more of the games from here on out until Howard proves otherwise.

A friend of mine posted some Leafs jokes on my facebook, I'll share them here.. What's a common theme with the Toronto Raptors, Blue Jays, Argonauts, and Maple Leafs, aside from all being from Toronto?... None of them know how to play hockey. What do you call 22 millionaires watching the playoffs?... The Maple Leafs. Why doesn't Hamilton have and NHL team?... Then Toronto would want one too. It's a sad fact that most people who witnessed the Leafs win their last cup were in diapers... It's a fun fact that the next time they win, those same people will be in diapers again. Man goes into a bar with his dog to watch the Leafs game. Bartender says it's ok, so long as the dog doesn't cause any trouble... When the Leafs score their first goal, the dog leaps off the bar stool, does a backflip and dances around on its hind legs. The bartender says to the man, "Hey that's pretty sweet! What happens when they win a game?"... The man replies, "I dunno. I've had him for 3 years and we're yet to see it happen!" What do the Leafs and the Titanic have in common?... The both look good until they hit the ice.

GO USA, GO MITCH CALLAHAN

Even Luongo isn't "elite" anymore. The guy used to be, but he's not very "clutch." He's certainly great but like Ken and Mick said the other night, there just aren't any truly dominant goalies in the league. Do Miller, Lundqvist and Luongo really stack up when compared to Hasek, Roy and Brodeur (in his hey-day)? No.

Better then Howard...

good thing we still have one Czech, or else, no funny. Still the best Red Wings commercial, ever:

How is Osgood any better than Roloson? Osgood is a compiler, lucky to play for the Wings - behind one of the best defenses in the league for most of his career. If he hadn't joined Wings, there would be no discussion about HHOF or retiring numbers. It would be a disgrace to retire his number. As for his 3 Cups? The first one - Osgood was no.2 goalie; the second Cup - Wings won despite Osgood's piss poor performance; 3rd Cup - Osgood was great. One great playoff run does not make him HHOFer.

He continually finished outside the top 10 in S% and GAA. Get over it.

Why is McCrimmon getting a pass this season?

Good luck Canada fans! I expect some good bantering, but I hope some posters don't take this game too seriously...

I am not throwing Howard under the bus, I am simply recognizing the fact that there is like 8 points that separates the Wings and 8th place, and if Howard keeps playing like he has been for the past month, the Wings will quickly find themselves at 8th place; especially without Pavs! Quite frankly, I am getting tired of the excuses for Howard every game (The D hung him out to dry, they were unstoppable shots). Guess what, it is the job of the goalie to make key saves at a key time to keep his team in the game and Howard HAS NOT been doing that... that cannot even be argued right now. Ozzy has been fantastic for the Wings, and the Wings play better in front of him; There is NO REASON that Howard should still be given more starts than Ozzy right now. I want it split 50/50 with the better goalie starting more games near the end and into the playoffs... IMO Ozzy looks to be in the form he was a couple years when they won the Cup and the best chance for a Cup this year will have Ozzy in net. Babcock needs to be smacked in the head so he realizes this.

Pcik him up Kenny, can't be worse than howard/osgood atm.

2008 was a complete team effort from goalie, offense and defense. Ozzie had what, a 1.5ish GAA??? We didn't need to score many goals to win. Cleary was terrible and Franzen was out down the stretch with that concussion. It limited our options a bit. But we won this year because every part generally worked. 2009 was a disaster that somehow became a masterpiece despite a game 7 Finals loss. I thought it was a better run because we never should've gone as far as we did with all the injuries we had. Datsyuk didn't play in 6 or 7 games and scored 1 goal. He was beat up bad, as was Hossa. They weren't capable of playing up to their ability and at that point, there's no way Datsyuk can carry a line on his own. That's the problem. Aside from our 5-0 blowout in Game 5, we only scored 6 goals in the last 5 games. We ended struggling with Dats and Z together. Doesn't seem like that's our "best" either, nor a good supporting example. After all, with as many injuries as we had, we never should've gone as far as we did. That was mostly on Osgood who was a win away from a Conn Smythe for playing even better than he did in 2008 with far less help. And in 2010, when were we ever at our "best" in the playoffs? I seem to remember us getting our asses kicked by San Jose in the 2nd round. So how does that work? Think of our top 2 scoring lines being centered by Dats and Z, each with a sniper like Hossa/Franzen as well as another solid winger like Cleary/Hudler (pre-Russia)/Holmstrom/Bertuzzi. Other teams are going to have a hell of a time playing against those lines. Then you throw in a 3rd line centered by a Modano type with probably someone like Bertuzzi (Huds can sign elsewhere in my world) and maybe an Eaves/Miller in the mix. Solid, cheap, capable. Then you've got a great checking line with the Eaves/Miller/Draper/Helm/Abs etc...whoever would be around in such a world. Loose idea of current (if healthy) lines: Holmstrom Datsyuk Zetterberg - $14-15 million Cleary Filppula Franzen - $10 million Hudler Modano Bertuzzi - $7 million Draper Helm Eaves - $3 million Total Salary - $34-35 million or so... Loose idea of lines and salaries of what I'd rather see: Holmstrom Datsyuk Hossa - $13-14 million Cleary Zetterberg Franzen - $13 million Eaves Modano Bertuzzi - $3-4 million Draper Helm Miller - $3 million Total Salary - $32-34 million or so... I like those lines better and there'd still probably be a bit of money to spend up if we would've traded Flip and not signed Hudler. Not only do I feel that there's going to be more balance on the top 2 lines, I also feel like each line is going to be better defensively. The top two lines would be as strong on defense as offense while the 3rd line would benefit from Eaves moving up as he not only can score, he's also a solid guy at both ends of the ice. Plus, the 3rd line would have less pressure on them after teams chase around our top 2 lines. Our checking line is always strong for a checking line and Eaves and Miller would never have to sit out games...WHICH IS A CRIME!!!!!!!!! I just see things being a lot more balanced with our inconsistent, over-priced mid-level players out of the picture. Spend a little extra to keep a guy like Hossa around who's willing to buy into the system on and off the ice and let Kenny and the scouts do the brilliant work they do in bringing in the overlooked and the forgotten vets on the cheap to round out a great offensive group. I think we score more goals and prevent more goals with those lines, and I think we skip unnecessary line-shuffling that occurs when you're waiting on your inconsistent guys to decide to produce. Know where the brunt of your scoring comes from. Know where your support scoring comes from, Never compromise on defense. Everybody has a defined role and a spot that suits them. Simple.

The most common story I've heard for the invention of hockey is it being started by the British, and ice hockey being originated by British soldiers stationed in Canada, so it's not unfounded to say it's British. Other stories involve it starting as a Scottish game, others say theres evidence of it being played in Egypt centuries ago. The origins of hockey aren't just Canadian.

He even turns to show the crowd the winged wheel. I don't know if we should read so deep into it and say it's a sign of "the logo on the front, not the name on the back," but it's possible. He was probably just excited and wanted to grab onto something. We've never heard of him being hard to play with, I just got really excited when he did. We could use somebody who shows emotion.

He's had a hell of a career, but I just don't see his number hanging from the rafters. The very fact that we even have to debate it speaks volumes against his chances. He's good, but he's not on the same level as Yzerman, Howe, and co.

#5 will be there.. Shanahan, Fedorov were great players but you've gotta be someone really really special to hang in the rafters in JLA...this isn't the pepsi center in denver, colorado.

"Free Iran?" "I'll take it!" ::dials phone:: "Saudi Arabia, I have something you may want, muahahaha" sorry... every time I see your signature I feel the need to make that slightly modified Family Guy reference...