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Lets look at this from a different angle for those that want Mrazek playing 70+ games. He is the future of this team no doubt. This team needs Howard to get into games and play well though. They tried to trade him all off season and nobody bit. He has no trade value and there was no guarantee LV would take him. They need him to play in 25+ games and to play well. If he keeps playing like he is then come trade deadline someone will definitely be offering up for him and at the very least he probably gets taken in the expansion draft and the Wings get some cap relief. If they dont play him we will be in this same two goaltender boat next year so everyone needs to really push for him to play well and get in games.

You play the hot hand. Right now Howard is playing better than Mrasek. A month from now that may reverse. But you always play the better guy.

Simple fact is Mrazek hasnt grabbed ahold and claimed the starter as his own and Howard has played strong enough to put his name back into consideration. Regardless of whos in net the other 18 guys in the lineup are not that good and are the real teams issues. Whos #1 and #2 doesn't change the real weakness of the team. I see what your saying HM and I agree with that philosophy but only when you have an establish go to starter. Mrazek has shown flashes of greatness but in two seasons has not shown he can be the heavy workload starter while keeping up a high standard of play. With that scenario you need a timeshare in net. Currently Mrazek is on pace to play in over 2/3rds of the season games. Thats perfectly fine for a young goalie trying to prove himself.

I'd personally rather back the goalie with the better goals against and save percentage, especially when hes leading the league in both categories.

That's how I see it, the only goaltenders in the league that get 65-70 starts per season are the established veterans like Price, Lundqvist, those guy who have many seasons on their resume as #1 starters. Mrazek essentially played 2 months of great hockey last season, he's not cemented in as the clear, undeniable #1 on this team. He needs to get to that point before he starts playing back to backs and 65+ per season. I think it's being handled how it should be right now.

Discuss and debate our goaltending situation here. Should Mrazek be going full on right now, starting all games except back to backs? Is Howard being overused? Or should Howard's early performance be reflected on his playtime and does Mrazek need to earn his spot as the undisputed number one for the Wings?

Source? IMO The likelihood of Ken Holland trading Jimmy Howard to a division rival when Boston has nothing to offer us is very very very very slim. Also, Rask is their ESTABLISHED starter. Don't think they're concerned about their goaltending so much that they'd acquire a 5.3 million dollar backup.

But is Mrazek really the #1? Both were excellent last year for a stretch and both were hot garbage for a stretch. I haven't seen anything to say he's for sure the better goalie right now. Regardless, having your starter play in 50-55 games is ideal. Keeps him busy but doesn't burn him out.

Even if that was true (which I don't recall it being the case), the difference here is that we're a playoff team that wants to get into playoffs every year. They don't have a losing mentality, and management would probably never accept that way of thinking. They would rather win than force an inconsistent goalie to become consistent by playing him 70 games. Remember how Howard lost the starting goalie position? Because he was inconsistent. They played Mrazek instead. Now I don't think Howard all of a sudden becomes a starting goalie, I just think they will continue to treat him as a reliable backup.

Green - DK Kronwall - Sproul Ericsson - Smith XO/Marchenko

^This. AND DEPTH.

That's not the way I remember it at all. Halak played 35games 08-09, and 45 in 09-10 (more than half in his last year in MTL). Then in 10 Halak played through the playoffs though Price had played 3 full season in the league. They just played whoever was winning even though they knew the younger stud goalie would eventually take over. I think that's exactly what we should do. Mrazek will get his 60+ game seasons when he finds consistency, just like Price did.

He played three (NYR, SJS, BOS) plus part of tonight's game. The team in front of him has only played one of those games. So... yeah... GO AVERAGE JIMMY GO! (if only to increase your trade value)

Mods, please delete all the nice comments I made in that Sharks GDT.

Howard always starts the year off good or did we forget lol. Every goalie lets in soft goals even Price, Howard is good but he ain't better than Mrazek he doesn't have the confidence or athleticism, our "defense" is trash and our forwards can't forecheck because they are small, The wings have success when they play a speedy transition game but we don't have the backend to do that on a nightly basis

#FreeMantha

Lol? Theres no panic button. But this is why we don't treat Howard as a complete backup. Mrazek isn't a consistent goalie yet. And neither was Carey Price when he first started fyi.

Is this because Mrazek scores goals? Because the game was lost because the team scored zero goals. And they are now on their way of having scored just 2 in three games. The team has outplayed their opponents twice this season. Mrazek does not fix that.

It's always easiest to blame the goalies (not that everyone here is doing that). The team needs a lot of work, if missing Vanek does this to them.

Except plenty of other goalies have no trouble with it. If at the NHL level you can't handle 3 days off you are not a #1. Mrazek numbers are piss poor right now. You want more games you got to keep the puck out of the net. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

That didn't take long. what no trades available?

Check Please Haters! lol

Minnesota Wild ‏@mnwild 8 Min.Vor 8 Minuten #mnwild has placed Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers.

If it were up to me Ouellet would sit. No way you sit Sproul with the way he has been playing.

http://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2016/10/wings-notes-mantha.html Some news and notes.