Doc Holiday

And no one is saying Howard needs to be Martin Brodeur. He needs to be competent, as does Leino. And Leino is showing he is more than just competent. Howard isn't even close yet. Ericsson is not playing like crap. He is showing that he has a lot of talent but he is making rookie mistakes. Howard isn't just making rookie mistakes, he is playing poorly and not showing Detroit that he has the skills necessary to make it in this league. And no, the pressure has been thrust on Howard since he was considered to be a backup for the Wings. It has nothing to do with Osgood's performance (which you are wrong on). They couldn't afford Conklin. They don't want and don't expect Howard to be a 1b goaltender. They expect him to be a COMPETENT NUMBER TWO GOALTENDER as I have stated numerous times. NO ONE IS EXPECTING HIM TO PLAY LIKE A STARTER. THEY ARE EXPECTING HIM TO PLAY LIKE A GOALIE WHO CAN MAKE SAVES. Well Ericsson showed Detroit he had skills very shortly after playing for the Wings, and Quincey had one good playoff run then proceeded to get outplayed by some of Detroit's worst defenseman. What's your point? Once again, Osgood earned his patience. Howard hasn't earned anything yet.

So the previous years performances and the fact he wasn't "home" isn't any kind of indicator? Nor the preseason? I'm not saying Howard should be traded now or that he is useless, but he has shown nothing to Detroit so far. He needs to show he can be a legit number two RIGHT now or I don't see why he should be on the roster.

Crap. How long are we going to give him? Chris Osgood won a ******* cup at 24 and for his entire career has had his ability questioned. Howard is 25 and hasn't won a single NHL game, and has not been able to show Detroit that he can play. Only in your world is anyone saying that. People want Howard to be competent in net. He hasn't gotten even close. How many is it going to take? Half the season? The whole season? Two? When is it going to be okay to say that Howard is not an NHL goaltender without people saying "but he hasn't had enough games!" ?

Ovechkin has had one hit which was cheap, and that was on Briere. His knee on knee with Gonchar was not malicious, and I don't remember seeing any other plays that people would want to suspend him for.

I find it funny how it is okay for one of Detroit's top front office guys to say that a team that has been "cup or nothing" for the past 18 years is not (not even a year removed from going to game seven in the cup finals) going to be that way any longer. No fan wants to hear that, and saying that isn't going to bring butts in the seats or make people excited to watch the team. Nope, I'm not going to go along with some people in this thread and talk about how this was a good idea.

Well, she is a porn star. Kinda comes with the program.

I don't see how that wasn't "that bad". Tucker's back is to Ruutu the entire time. That was careless and he should be suspended for it. You DON'T hit someone when their back is to you on the boards like that.

And Yzerman has done it without any kind of discipline.

A broken nose doesn't count as an injury.

Stupidest idea I've heard yet.

I don't see why Richards should be required to give the media a pass to bash his team's work ethic simply because he is a captain. Richards is trying to make a point. Get off the "our team parties too much" and focus on the play on the ice.

I think we got that. Thank you for your thorough analysis though.

If you are here to just give your opinion without anyone disagreeing, then why don't you start a blog, or write a diary? I guarantee you nobody is going to oppose you there. The entire point of an internet forum is to discuss opposing viewpoints on specific issues and topics. If you don't want to do that then just walk away from the discussion. And with the GAA, you missed my point. 3-4 GAA is borderline abysmal. Osgood had a sub 3 GAA and made some great saves in the first period, also getting screwed by a borderline goal call from the ref and his own players pushing him into the net. Osgood did not have an abysmal game.

If you take a run at a star player, for any reason, in most cases someone is going to be much more aggressive towards you during the game. Doesn't mean you should go directly after them once he makes that run. I'd love to see how Lidstrom was protected considering he didn't play the rest of the game.

Of course, if you only watch the highlights and focus on the saves he didn't make, he is going to look bad no matter what. However before Phoenix's powerplay goal, the Wings were penned in their own zone for at least five minutes, forcing Osgood to take the brunt of the responsibility. Sure he shouldn't have let that OT goal in, but the problem is he was let down by the team in front of him. Lebda in particular. And absolute s***? He let in 3 goals in 60+ minutes of play. One which was debatable. Also Chicago, LA, and Washington HAVE been great games for him, especially considering the kind of saves he made in that Washington game.

Wait, so you mean to tell me regular season play isn't a necessary indicator of postseason success? BY GEORGE I THINK HE'S GOT THE POINT! Does anyone forget that Manny Legace was the best goaltender in October of 05? Or the Wings losing 6 straight games in February of 08? Or the Penguins 10th place rank in the conference early in 09? All it takes is for one little change and the team can do well.

Last time I checked Osgood did that for the last two. Before letting in some stinkers. You can't rely on a goalie being paid 1.6 mil to continuously bail out a defensive team that is being paid as much as they are. That is inexcusable. Also Lebda isn't just a bottom six defender. He is an ABYSMAL bottom six defender, and he has been causing way too much time in the Wings zone. At least Osgood has been making some key saves while his defense has been sleeping.

I don't see Downey going after Lappy immediately after the hit. Isn't that what we are talking about?

Slew foots can also lead to injury. Just because a player ends up on the ice doesn't mean someone should seek retribution. Why can't players respect the hit and if they can't see it then don't get into a situation you know nothing about. In real time, after watching it once I could tell it was clean. Suck it up and get revenge by physically dominating them or outplaying them. Don't throw a hissy fit simply because your own player got rocked.

How about be a big boy and just say the word if you are so compelled to?

Probably just a way to sell his book. I don't know how Yzerman would condone a situation like that, assuming the author wasn't just making something out of nothing (maybe the shots were just off target that day?)

Sarcastic? I would make that hit every day of the year. 100%, all the time.

1. I appreciate the amount of effort you put into trying to prove me wrong. 2. None of those prove that I am anti-enforcer. They only show that I don't find the same importance of having an enforcer as others do. They are entertaining. They are not necessarily a game-breaker. They do not necessarily prevent cheap shots. They don't necessarily bring "justice". Would you care to provide a quote where I say that I do not like enforcers, hitting, or any kind of violence in hockey? Because I have yet to see that. And actually you have purposely cherry picked my quotes and left out the statements I've made where I've said that fighting is entertaining and fun to watch. Around and around we go....

You agree with a statement I never made? Okay then. Btw, this is an English speaking board. It would benefit you to act accordingly.

I am going to talk about each point that he makes in this article and try to give my most unbiased viewpoint. No, they are not. Zetterberg was also in his late twenties when he won the Conn Smythe, Lidstrom was over 30 when he won his last Norris, and Datsyuk was over 30 when he was the top three in hart voting. Yes, the younger players are the sexier picks, but there are still older talents that can make a big impact on a team. Possibly. However this is only a prediction, and it has been shown Detroit has a good number of players who have hit their prime at much older ages than the "younger talents" in the NHL. Sure they may be an anomaly, but so is Detroit's team. Their leading scorer is Thomas Holmstrom. Valterri Filpulla has been their best player. They have had to rely on role players and second tier scorers to win games for them from the get go, because Datsyuk has been off his game/injured, and Zetterberg has just started to get in his game. I don't understand where you get the "living off power players" idea from. It has been the exact opposite. Penalty killing has also not been too bad compared to last year, and the goaltending has been spotty, but we are also seven games into the season. Osgood has at least shown he can win a game for the team, which wasn't the case last regular season, and that is all Detroit should ask from a goaltender of that salary. Championship good remains to be seen. Detroit's 07 team was 3-4-1 to start the season, and last year Detroit had struggles all year (just not in the division). Pittsburgh last year was looking at tenth place in February last season. There is a long way to go, so there is no reason to count out Detroit yet. The same Detroit team that has been to the conference finals three years in a row and the Stanley Cup Finals twice in a row. Of course, eventually the predictions of doom and gloom will be correct, but it won't be because someone had clear insight. It is just because the "analysts" playing the odds finally paid off.