VM1138

I think Zetterberg is hurt, for sure. At any rate, I still have lots of faith in the Wings. They do this rough stretch every season and they'll bounce back, hopefully starting tonight.

That's how I felt. I was looking at his stats the other day and it just didn't add up. He didn't seem to stand out more than other players like Syd Howe, Ebbie Goodfellow, etc. I hate passing judgement like that on someone we've never seen play, but that's just how it appears to me.

They are playing well enough to win. Almost every loss could be chalked up to 2 or 3 bad goals given up by Howard. Ozzie lets in soft ones, yeah, all goalies do, but not 2 or 3 a game consistently. Also, Ozzie makes the HUGE saves that Howard hasn't been lately, that give the team energy and make up for soft goals. Ozzie and Howard have similar numbers, but Ozzie's may actually be better than Howard's as of late. His bad starts early in the season are skewing his totals because of the few number of games he's actually started. Howard, on the other hand, was great in the beginning but terrible lately, so his overall numbers aren't as bad as they have been lately. I say give Howard this last chance, but if the team allows 4 goals in under 30 shots, no matter what the reason, Ozzie needs to get the nod for at least two consecutive starts.

No Tatar makes me sad. I'd almost rather him stay up than Mursak, even though Mursak has been fine while he's been up.

Honestly I don't think it matters. Yeah, on one level interest peaks during the Olympics and suddenly everyone in America knows Ryan Miller and Parise and all that, but football is hugely popular and a lot of players have names people can't pronounce. And since plenty of NHL players can speak to the media in clear and concise English I'd hardly say nationality is what is holding people back from being fans.

Interesting question: Why was his number removed from Olympia in the '60s? We talk about Illitch "un-retiring" it, but why was it removed before Illitch came on the scene?

Honestly, it all comes down to cost. We can use sociology and fighting and everything else to justify it, but the fact is, most people of any nationality won't become fans of something they themselves have never experienced or have known someone who played. Up here in Michigan, everyone is a hockey fan because they've either played, had a local team to root for, or have relatives or friends who play. There's a reason the fanbase for hockey doesn't exist in poverty-riddled areas. If you can't afford to play chances are you have no interest in watching unless you have already been introduced to it at an early age, like I was on TV. I never played but I knew people who did and I watched it on TV, therefore, I am a fan. Southern markets without a winning NHL team culture doesn't make southerners want to watch hockey or appreciate it. Make the sport more affordable and it becomes more marketable. But you can't do this when you're telling kids they need to have a $300 stick of a certain kind to be effective.

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.

Howard is slumping. It's a fact. That is not to say he's a terrible goalie. His defenders are just as bad as his ultra-attackers in this case. You don't keep playing a goalie who can't get his act together when you have a perfectly good goalie waiting in the wings. Howard needs a 2-3 game stretch off so he can spend some time with the goalie coach and retool. Then, when he comes back, let the starting position get decided naturally. I don't see what is so shocking and upsetting about this to so many people.

I don't understand what Babcock is doing. I've always supported him, but his handling of the goalie situation last year and this year is just mind boggling. Howard is not playing well. Whether or not you blame him for losses, it's just a fact. Ozzie, on the flip side, is playing very, very well. Why NOT give him a chance? Howard, for the moment, has played himself OUT of a starting position, yet Babcock refuses to go to Ozzie who we know is capable of carrying the load if need be. It's almost like he forgets we have a 400-win goalie as our backup. I understand he doesn't want to shake Howard's confidence, but that boat sailed a while ago. Howard has gotten into terrible habits and needs to retool his game (namely, not dropping to the ice every time the opponent comes into the zone), which he can't do if he's starting every game. If I were Ozzie I'd be even more pissed than last year. Last year Ozzie deserved to not play, and he didn't. This year he deserves to play, and he's not. Wake up Babcock!

This is the trend lately. Goalies are trading teams like they're playing musical chairs. Like Mick said the other night, it's just not a "goalie's league" anymore. They're a dime a dozen and only a very, very, very few are worth multi-year contracts.

Hartnell proves the point I made earlier, Howard is too predictable. I'm tired of seeing him so low on the ice that they score every time over his shoulders or so it takes him forever to get up and over. Howard takes the butterfly just way too far. He needs some retooling to be effective again. In the meantime, put in Ozzie who seems to have gotten his act together and knows how to keep a team in a game.

It comes down to a simple equation. Which of the goalies has been playing better this past month? Ozzie, by a mile. Let's spare ourselves the endless debate over who should is better overall. Howard has gotten into bad habits and needs a break to get rid of them. I'm tired of seeing him so low on the ice every single time. It seems like he's always getting scored on high or because he immediately goes to the ground and can't get up and over for the rebound. Ozzie gives the team a chance to win. At the very least do a 60-40 rotation, if not a 50-50 for now. No predictions for the future, but for right now, we need Ozzie. The team didn't play to their full potential but they played well enough to win. Considering that Howard was clearly the weak link, especially after Ozzie immediately made huge saves coming in. EDIT: On the bright side, the Wings should dominate January with a good schedule. Frankly I don't care if Vancouver takes 1st for now, there's still half a season left and in the end 1st place doesn't really matter anyway. But I'm tired of seeing mindfly talk like this means we're suddenly out of the playoffs because a team TIED us for 1st.

That's screwy. It measures timeslot (5-8pm) during a timeslot when the Winter Classic was not played. Did I miss something?

None of the elite defensemen this year have good +/-. Bizarre. Buff is a +6, which is better than Lidstrom's +1 but still not amazing. Only halfway through the season though. Buff is certainly putting up the offensive numbers, though.

Except for Miller, I hope the Wings never break the bank on an "elite" goalie. They are simply too unpredictable. I like the way they do things, finding two capable goalies. I just wish Ozzie would get more starts, just because we need to have both these guys ready at a moment's notice.

It's as if some owners and GMs intentionally keep their teams terrible.

I'm not saying Howard is a failure who we should give up on, but you play the hot goalie. And Ozzie is the closest thing to a hot goalie as we have right now. Howard has played subpar. The Wings thrive best when they have two goalies playing well. We don't need to rely on Howard and that's my point. The future of the organization or not, the Wings have wanted to have a fairly even goalie rotation and we're not getting that at this point when we very well could be. He should start as much as Howard because right now he's as good, if not better than, Howard. And actually, I'm not arguing for an even 50/50 split, but a few consecutive starts would be nice to get Ozzie going. The team seems to play better in front of him for now. And frankly, if Ozzie continues to play well and gets consecutive starts I'd be he will be our goalie in the playoffs. You go with who can win you games.

I've been scouring the net for old hockey footage and stories and I found a few neat things pertaining to the Canadiens and Toronto, but very little on Detroit. I've read several books on the Wings, but it almost always focuses on recent years or on isolated anecdotes. Aside from stats, does anyone know of any resources for researching these early Cup wins? I'm thinking maybe Detroit papers from the era would give some information, but have any books or articles ever been written on the topic? Just curious, as I own several NHL history books that cover the season briefly, in general, but not Red Wings-specific obviously. If you don't know of any particular books, does anyone know of any interesting stories or storylines that occurred during the seasons or playoffs? I'm really considering the '30s and '40s right now.

It seems that after every high profile game, Crosby ALWAYS has some sort of snide comment to make, like his "I don't know what happened. I was just sitting there and suddenly was down on the ground. It was pretty far behind the play." He ALWAYS says crap like this and it's so passive aggressive it annoys me.

I don't understand why Osgood isn't getting more starts. Right now there is little difference between Howard and Ozzie, except maybe Ozzie is playing a little better. Everyone, including Babcock has wanted to get him going for two years now, and here's the best chance the team will get. Ozzie needs to play more consistently to be of any value down the road.

I don't blame the Pens for not shaking honestly. If Crosby wasn't going to, it'd be a bigger s***storm if they ignored him and went to shake anyways. Do as your captain does, like someone else said. No class.

Tatar hat trick. You heard it here first.

No, if I remember right they did switch during a period because of the wind.

I guess there weren't many options, Roloson wouldn't be my first pick, though.