Ms_Hockey

Is that why Babcock continues to put Osgood in net over Conklin? Because he's the best guy to have on the ice? Absolutely not. He plays the players who are falling short as much as possible when he has enough depth to cover for any mistakes. Why? To give that player extra conditioning - extra time to get on the ball. It's what coaches do. You do everything in your power help the players reach their potential. Flip would never tap into his potential sitting on the bench for 95% of the game.. and Babs knows that.

I stopped reading after you rudely decided to label everyone "uneducated" for not agreeing with you. I, personally, am not ready to give up on Flip. I want to see how he produces come playoff time and base my decision from there. At this moment, I'm not seeing a $3m forward - I'm just not. And I really don't understand how anybody can say that basing their opinions off of stats - cold hard math - is wrong. I like Flip - I really do. I'm rooting for him to show everybody wrong.. and I'm still waiting. Maybe it's because of the line he plays on. Maybe it's because he's saving his energy for the playoffs. Whatever it is, to say he's producing to the capacity that he's capable of is plain wrong. He has more potential than 60% of this team - and he's proved it. I don't hate him.. I just want him to tap into it again. That's all.

People are only bring up Sawchuk because Osgood is about to tie his regular season win record. Whether or not that's well deserved can be argued.. but the numbers are what they are.

I've gotta be honest - I've been far more impressed by Sammy than by Flip this season.

I agree that it's unfair - but I'm not the one who made the comparison. There are a lot of people who are offended that Crosby is the poster boy of the NHL.. simply because there's plenty of other players in the league who have given their heart and soul to the NHL and they feel like they're being pushed aside for it. But let's face it - part of this strategy is to attract newcomers to the NHL, is it not? When someone directly compares Crosby to Gretzky, what do you think those projected newcomers are going to expect from him?

I laughed so many times while reading this. Especially when he answered the "Do you think there's an NHL conspiracy against the Red Wings?" question. Ohhh, Pavel.

I think people expect more out of Crosby simply because he's the face of the NHL. He's been compared to the Great One, for pete's sake. That doesn't mean I agree with these attitudes.. just that when someone is publicized that much, I can understand where more would be expected of him.

I think Crosby tries to be a little more physical than he should be. He's a far better finesse player, in my opinion. He should leave the glove dropping to other people on the team. That said, I'm interested to see where the new coach takes the Pens. I feel about the Pens the way I felt about the Sharks years ago. Tons of potential - poor management and utilization of that potential.

I doubt he's lying. Again.. that's Osgood. If he says he feels confident and he's thinks he's going in the right direction - then he probably really does feel that way. He's the only goalie that I know of who can make mistakes, recognize them, and still be confident in his ability to turn himself around. I don't think he lied at all.

Osgood has always been that way - it really shouldn't surprise you. That's just how he is. If he were to turn around and begin to beat himself up over it, it'd be extremely counter-productive because that's just NOT Osgood. He's not an idiot - he knows when he makes a mistake. He just doesn't see a point in dwelling on it and putting himself down over it. There's nothing wrong with that. He recognizes his mistakes and his works his butt off to change them - but he won't cry himself to sleep if he messes up.

If the intentions are as well-known as you say, then I certainly wasn't a part of it. I don't hate Crosby. I don't want him to get into a horrible accident and become hideously disfigured. I think he's a 20 year old kid, with a lot of talent, who's been given the ridiculous burden of carrying the NHL on his shoulders. Anything I said wasn't meant to bash Crosby in the slightest.

There's no doubt in my mind that if Crosby were on a better team, he'd be hailed as a better player. By the same token, though - Malkin plays with the same team and somehow manages to produce like wildfire for them.

I didn't bash him because he wasn't scoring as much. I just stated a fact - he's not producing the way he's hyped up to. Me mentioning Sidney Crosby in this thread had nothing to do with bashing him or me not liking him. In fact, he has undeniable skill as a hockey player - and I've said that time and time again. Take a chill pill. This isn't the "bash Crosby" thread that you're making it out to be.

I don't think so. If the game was tied at 6-6 at the end of regulation, the shoot out would be 7-6. Our results were 6-5 against the Avs.

I love it when the little guys put their heart and soul into their games. It shows that they really do belong in the league - no matter what anybody thinks.

Haha, sorry, looks like I'm too quick. He hasn't been producing for quite some time. Malkin is considerably better than he is in that department this season.

He doesn't need to be. The Pittsburgh Penguins do. He's the face of the NHL. That team in featured in more NHL commercials than we are, that's for certain. Gary Bettman wants to promote him & his team as much as possible. Which is why being congratulated on their loss doesn't surprise me one bit.

It's cute how some of them are so reluctant to admit that it was a good move. Instead, it's the coach's fault. Hahaha.

Two words: Sidney Crosby.

There'd be nobody to dump him on anymore.

Hmmm, nope. Can't say I do. Everyone always thinks my relatives are hilarious. Never had anybody think they were weird. I have one aunt who people think is nuts - but I agree with them. I met her when I was 16 and she tried converting me to her Baptist church, telling me I needed to be saved. She wasn't invited to anymore family gatherings after that. TPBM hates those automated phone systems they have to go through when calling a company - taking forever to speak to an actual human.

What are their standings?

I really don't have an explanation other than "That's just how Detroit is." That's how they've been for awhile. As I said in another reply, whether that's the right way to do things could be argued.. but Detroit is very much a loyalty system.

If Kenny even has it in his mind to do this (which I'm not convinced he will considering that Babs is still pushing for Osgood to show), he'd better jump and do it - fast. The Flyers and the Avs boards have both picked up on this.. though I'm not sure how reality vs. fantasy that actually is. Looks like we'd have to get in there and stake our claim pretty quickly.

The Wings also have a ridiculous amount of depth on their roster. As I've stated before, we've got guys on our 3rd line who would easily make 1st liners on other teams. When it comes to the depth - the Wings have the upper hand on any team in the NHL. We also have consistently had one of the best defensive units in the league. As such, the philosophy has become on of putting money on D and relaxing between the pipes. It's the idea that if you have a great defense, you don't need a great goalie - and it's worked time and time again. The major flaw in that plan is that when your defense begins to show wear and tear, your goalie isn't as reliable as he COULD be.. but that's all part of the risk of building your team from the defense out. The Wings put the majority of their effort into their defense.. by making sure we have great players on the ice to making sure we have enough great backups should someone get injured. Will it be like this forever? Probably not. But this is the first year in awhile that we've really had a problem with it... so I doubt management is going to consider switching everything up after one season. Kenny has always made it a point that Lidstrom should be the most paid player on the team. IF he were to re-sign (which I'm not convinced he will), I can't say for sure how much a discount we'd get from his pay. As long as Lidstrom is on this team and is captain of this team, he'll automatically get the highest paycheck - simply out of respect from the Red Wings organization. So it really depends what the other players are getting paid around that time. I honestly don't have a clue what's going on with Howard. It seems like he's been in the background for awhile now - but from what I've been hearing, he's really not doing very well for himself in net. (I'm sure someone else can elaborate much better than I can on that topic.) As for Lidstrom being passed his prime, I wouldn't count him out just yet. He has a pained elbow - but if he didn't, I'm not convinced his play would be lacking as much as it is. For his age, Lidstrom is far healthier than I think anybody would've expected. Don't toss him out, yet. Wait until he's healthy and see if he's lacking then. You're right about one thing - eventually, we WILL need a new goalie. But for right now.. we're stuck until we can re-arrange the team and/or the salaries of the players on the team. I just can't find any viable loopholes to squeeze someone in through.