wings_fanatic

After this period I have come to the conclusion that I have NO FAITH in Howard at all to stop pucks. Honestly every time the opposing team shoots now it has come to the point where i fear that the puck is going in our net because he just isn't what he was last year right now IMO we better hope Ozzie can get back into it when he comes back because we will not be going far in the post-season with Howard in net. The first goal was a stupid rebound that he HAD TO CONTROL. The second goal was not his fault, I am not going to pretend it is... but simply put he let in 2 goals on 9 shots so far today and we still got 2 periods to go (THat and the fact that he lets in close to 3 or 4 goals every game as it is). Sure, the Wings aren't playing great BUT it is the job of a goaltender to make key saves to keep his team in the game and I can honestly say that Howard has not been doing this since early December... Also, Salai and Kindle have been TERRIBLE the past few games. Babcock needs to quiit playing them so damn much... Lidstrom and Kronners will be fine getting a little extra ice time and there is no reason why they don't with that pathetic play of the 3rd pairing. Still 2 periods to go so lets hope Babs can get the troops goin

I assure you Nabby would be taking that starting job from Howard... Howard simply is NOT cutting it this year. Last night was the 2nd time in a long while that he allowed fewer than 3 goals, and the goal he did let in was absolutely terrible. We need Ozzie to come back strong in March because IMO if he can get goin in time he will be starting

I don't mean overpay for Markov but for a fair price he would be a GREAT addition to the Wings. Imagine that lineup if Kenny can convince Nick and Modano to come back for another season (I think both of them will for sure if the Wings do not win the Cup this year) Zetterberg- Datsyuk- Homer Bertuzzi- Filpulla- Hudler Cleary- Modano- Abdelkator Eaves- Helm- Eaves Lidstrom- Markov Kronners- Rafi Ericson Stu That would be a damn sick line-up and could happen if things went right. The only thing I think the Wings will need is Nabby (I think they will get him in the offseason because the Islanders will loser their case and will not be able to keep him). They need Nabby because Howard just is not cutting it and need a verteran like Nabby

I still think Nick is going to keep playing; I mean, lets face it, he has not lost an edge to his game at all, and will likely win the Norris this year. Nick himself says he will play until he feels he is no longer good, and if the team itself is good, so I see Nick playing for another year at least. Now, in saying that, I would like to see the Wings pick up Andre Markov in the off- season because, while no one can replace Nick, Markov would be a pretty good fill in for a couple of years. In fact, even if Nick does not retire, the Wings could still pick Markov up because the cap is going up... but one thing we have to remember is that Kenny will NEVER be able to replace Nick... we can only fill in the spot and have everyone chip in and play hard.

You got to love Pavs and what joy it will bring to my eyes when I see him back playing for the Wings on Feb 2nd because, simply put, I am TIRED of watching games without him in the lineup. Wings will be much stronger with him in the lineup and the games will be much more enjoyable to watch. Go Pavs, go Wings

The alternate Captains take turns, along with Nick, picking the team; that is the way it goes. I don't know about you guys but I really like Pat Kane; his stick handling reminds me a LOT of Pavs (though not as good obvs) and he is improving his defensive game a lot. Also, every interview I see him in, he says all the right things, such as Pavs is the most complete player in the world and is his favorite player and he hopes to try to be as good as him one day, what a classy player Nick is and so on. It seems to me that everyone around here began to hate on Kane with that Cab incident from over a year ago.. but you have to realize it was a mistake and we all make them. Personally, I was happy to read that Kane would be an assistant Captain on Nick's team. Go Team Lidstrom!

I think that has been Kenny's agenda all along. He took the risk of signing Nabby now, knowing other teams could claim him, and if we get him now then great, if not we will get him in the offseason. Kenny, out of all 29 other GM's in the league, took the initiative to go out and sign him and bring him back to the NHL like he wanted, so I foresee Kenny signing Nabby in the off-season if he is no longer ours today ... but here is to hoping he is ours because Jimmy is NOT cutting it in net; With Nabby the Wings will officially be stacked in all aspects of the game

Yah I do not like that either... the team, top line included, plays better when Nick is on the ice to feed them the puck. But, once Pavs and Cleary are back in the line-up we will see Nick's plus/minus go back up so no worries there. We can sit here and blame Kronners all we want, but fact is it is the team that has been playing LOUSY defense for the past month, apart from a few individuals, and every game results in the same thing. "We need to start on time" or "we need to play better without the puck and make better decisions." Well, after a month I am not convinced that Babs's message is getting through to the team... this is unacceptable. Another note, Kronners has been the best dman this year along with Nick almost all season, so to sit here and whine about that bad play is dumb. Fact is, the team is tired, and rightfully so, they have worked their asses off this past month; missing many players and dealing with a really tough schedule so they will get much deserved rest over the all star break and start from scrach in feb with Cleary and Pavs thank god.

Hey guys, it has been a LONG month for me as I HATE watching Wings games without Pavs. I know Pavs could be due back next Saturday against the hawks, and I remember reading an article on Mlive last week that he was going to resume practicing with the team this week once they got home, but I have not since then read any updates to that? So I was wondering if anyone knew or had any updates on Pavs? All I know thus far is if he can play next Saturday he will play that game, and the NJ game, however if not they will keep him out until the first game after the All Star Break... IMO, and I love Pavs, but if the Wings continue to get points in most these games, I think it would be wisest to keep Pavs out until Feb 2nd... but what do you guys think?

Does anyone here know the statistic for how many times the Wings have come back to tie games this year after being down 2 goals? I honestly think they could be setting records because it seems that they come back A LOT when down 2 goals this season...?

Ozzie is coming back in mid- march so I do not think there is much truth to that, especially after the way Larsson trashed the Red Wings organization not too long ago...

I agree... the fact that the Wings are getting all of these points with so many guys out of the lineup is amazing, and it will be a shame if Babs does not get some credit as coach of the year because any other team would be dropping in the standings with all of these guys out.

LOL Pavs is better than Hank... Pavs does all Hank does pretty much except Pavs has slick moves to go along with it and has better all around awareness. Now, with Homer going down, the return of Pavs, in from what I got from Mikey and Ken, returning Feb 2nd it will be a HUGE boost to this team. We can debate all we want about Pavs and Hank and who is better, but all that matters is that when the 2 of them are playing together, they are both at the top of their game, and with these 2 playing great hockey this year, and the excellent depth we have, the whole team should and likely will have a great post- season run.

This was an odd game for sure... but I am not going to sit here and complain about the Wings not starting on time because, simply put, they have been working their asses off these past couple of weeks. They are injured terribly, and despite missing big guys on and off, they continue to grind out W's and points for us fans and it would be shameful to sit here and complain about them tonight because, simply put, they were and are tired. Couple days off now and the Wings will get a WELL DESERVED rest before Friday. Go Wings! - Great game again by Hank and Nick whom stood out to me again. - Howard has to be better though... this 4 goals is getting old. The 2nd goal was downright terrible and the 3rd goal he was laying on his stomach again... someone might want to let him know is he NOT the Dominator... - Hopefully our boys regroup and get ready to go... only 6ish games to go without Pavs!

Another great character victory for the Wings... with all the injuries they already had, and then Stu going down on the terrible hit, they STILL found a win to get 2 points. For the way things are going, I have no complaints about anyone's play tonight because we should just be happy with the hard work the boys did tonight. When I say anyone, I mean the players, Howard however has been pulling my hair. 4 goals against, again, is not acceptable. 3 of the 4 goals were not good goals to let in, and were at a very bad time... it is goals like that that kills momentum for teams. Sure, he had a good finish to the game, but we cannot continue to play him in all of these games because this Wings team, with all of these injuries, cannot score all these goals a game... especially with Stu being out for a long while with a broken jaw now. I would like to see Ozzie play tomorrow night and if he plays solid again I want to see him spliting time evenly with Howard.

Also possible that Babs looked over Howard's performance the past month and realized he better start Ozzy some more here... just saying.

I am now getting really annoyed with Babcock's refusing to play Ozzy; he better play Friday against the Flames. Also good to hear Stu is okay. I too would like to see the Defense problem talked about in the dressing room, but maybe Babs needs to fix the D combos... Lidstrom is always a high plus/ minus except for this year playing with Stuart who is just too slow at puck movement. I think the team played better with Nick and Rafi playing together the other night so Babs should try that out again because some sort of changes need to be made.

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.

You gotta think Ozzie earned the nod for the next couple of games. This game was simple... the team is not playing confident right now in front of Howard, and he isn't confident enough either. Ozzie came in for period 3 and turned the game into something, making 3 huge saves in the first 30 seconds and next shift Wings score. That is goaltending, providing the teams with timely, necessary saves and Ozzie showed he is able to do that right now. I would like to see Ozzie play Tuesday in Edmonton and Friday in Calgary, with Howard getting the nod in Vancouver on the back to back as Ozzie clearly deserves some credit here by Babs and it will be a shame if Babs does not give it to him. On another note, I think Lidstrom and Rafi together, with Stu gone, really lifted the team up and get them moving faster... I would like those 2 to stay together even if Stu is okay, which i sure hope he is.

Horrible period from the Wings ... the absence of Pavs is finally starting to show, along with there being no Cleary. However, this goes back to my point from before where Howard is just letting in too many goals this past month or so. Granted, the first 2 goals were unlucky but the 3rd one I still think he could have had. On the 2nd goal, Howard was laying down on his stomach... I would like to know why he would do that on a shot from the point... you are supposed to make yourself big so that is a clear sign he has no confidence. IMO this is a clear sign that Ozzy needs some starts here... I would even like Ozzy to come in period 3 here to shake the team up and try to get them going-- but for sure next game

You know I am getting a little tired of Babcock cutting Jimmy Howard all the slack in the world. No, the loss was not per say all Howard's fault, but the job of a goalie is to stop a puck, even during times when the team defense is not at its best. Obviously goalies are not going to be perfect when the defense is weak, but Howard is just letting in too many goals the past month and a half or so; it seems to be a trend for him to let in 4 goals these days. My problem is that Ozzy has been looking REALLY solid in net, but then gets the bench for Howard, who is playing average at best. I see that Howard is getting the nod again tomorrow against Philly which makes me mad because I think Ozzy deserves some games here. All biased aside, I know there are Ozzy fans and Howie fans, but I think Babs should be rotating them and, as the year progresses, give the better goalie more starts, and then use that to determine the goalie for the playoffs. At this rate, I feel every time the other team shoots it is going to go in on Howie (that is what I felt with Ozzy last year) so unless Howie starts outperforming Ozzy, Id say he should be the go to guy somewhere down the line

Glad Howard is starting because I am going to the game Friday and really want Ozzy to play so this somewhat betters the chance Anyways hopefully Babs has the boys ready to play unlike in Colorado because Ozzy isn't in net to play out of his mind tonight, and Dallas seems to play us well lately. I think it is going to be a low- scoring game compared to the other night. 3-2 Wings win (Franzen, Homer, Lidstrom)

Well something I have noticed, Nick does not seem to play nearly as much this year at the same time as Pavs and Hank... and for the past month or so it has been that line that has been getting most of the scoring done... so since Nick is mostly with the other lines that were slumping, it hurt his plus/minus. Another note, I hate the pairing of Nick and Stu... I would like to see Nick and Kronners because Stu is too slow to play with Nick imo...

I do not understand why we are arguing about our 2 best forwards; both are great players who get it done when it all comes down. Yes Datsyuk has been the best player for the Wings all season without a doubt, but Hank has still been very solid and important for the Wings too. Datsyuk is playing better because he puts up more points, he hussels back on the backcheck faster than anyone and he is the one player on the Wings who we could count on to show up every night to give 100% effort. Hank has had quite a few off nights this season. For example, he would go 2 or 3 games without a point and then rack up 3 or 4 points in game where the wings are dominating. Pavs points have been much more consistant throughout the season, which goes back to my point that he is the one player who shows up every game. But to say Hank has not been good is not fair, and obvsiouly not true. Take the Calgary game, Wings were down a goal and Pavs deked through 3 guys, got the puck to Hank who buried it to tie the game (yah Pavs made it happen but so did Hank with the finish) Bottom line, Pavs will undoubtebly be missed but this team has enough depth that they should be able to win 65% of their games without Pavs. The only concern I have right now is Babcock insisting to keep these D pairings... does he not seee the terrible GA lately?? These pairings suck big time and for success Babs has to change them up. Also, Ozzie and Howie need to start a constant rotation for them to kind of compete with one another kind of like Dom and Ozzie did in 2007/08

The difference is Pavs elevated his game last year while Hank was out and started clickign with Bert... Pavs can carry the team while Z is injured, as he has quite a few times the past couple years, but I am not sure if Hank can do the same consistantly as he did tonight. The diffference tho is that Pavs had NO ONE to work with last year while Hank has Fil, Franzen, Bertuzzi, Cleary, Hudler, Homer... so the team should be able to dig their way through the month until Pavs comes back.