Ms_Hockey

I think if Calgary keeps going on their uphill stride, they might surprise us all.

Nobody said it was up for debate. If this were the playoffs, I'm sure Babs would be reacting much differently. As it is, it's not the playoffs. It's the regular season.. and all we're fighting for is making it into the playoffs - which we will. So Babs probably wanted to see if Ozzie could handle the pressure. He also probably wants to give him time, throughout the rest of the regular season, to try to get in touch with his game again.. so I'm sure he'll continue to rotate.

Wasn't there more that went into it? From my understanding, he had let in a more than easy goal from the blue line - with nobody standing anywhere near him - and nobody could believe it actually went in. Ozzie used to play like Hasek. He would almost always go down on the ice. Worked out for Hasek.. but not as well for Ozzie. After he was traded, he was sent to some goalie training camp to learn how to butterfly before we took him back. I could be wrong.. but I think his performance had to do with him being traded as well.

As long as the puck crosses the blue line before both of his feet do, he's fine. His stick doesn't have to be touching the puck.

Yeah, that's why everyone cheers and jumps to their feet when a fight breaks out, right? That guy is an idiot.

The fourth line needs re-working, but I see no need for an enforcer. We either hold our own or we skate away. The Red Wings have always been more of a finesse team. At the end of the day, shoving someone down on the ice & slamming their face into the boards isn't what scores goals. We just not an overly physical team, and it comes through in the stats - being the least penalized team in the NHL. So no, I disagree. We don't need guys out there just to bang bodies around. In 2007, the Ducks won the cup on muscle. In 2008, the Wings won it on finesse. Two different ways of play - both equally respectable.

Agreed, our defense has a lot of shaping up to do. I'm confident that these losses will wake us up come playoffs. As for getting pinned in our zone... the Wings like to dump and chase. And when they do that against a team like SJ, who is faster than us, SJ gets the puck.. takes it into our zone.. and our sub-par defense is left to scramble to get it back. As far as I recall, the Wings have always had trouble with the Sharks in the shark tank. Next game at the Joe, I don't think we'll have as big of a problem as we did last night. (Granted Ozzie finds his game and/or Conklin is in net.)

I agree 110%.

We've already traded Ozzie away and taken him back. That's about as big of a message as he could've gotten. Benching him won't really help.

And with that - I go to bed. Smiling and excited for the playoffs.

I just don't want any wires to get crossed here, so let me clarify what's setting me off. People singling out Osgood as if he was the largest/only reason we lost. I've said before that he should NOT have been in net tonight. But, when you consider how this team is built, the defense should be the far bigger concern. That is what's tugging my strings.

This has nothing to do with my "confidence" in Osgood. It has to do with people blaming this entire loss on him. The Wings have functioned this way for years. Don't like it? Then watch another team. He contributed to this loss, but he was definitely NOT the main factor. Blame him all you like - but it's foolish when you consider the way the team is organized and set up - purposely so. Also, I don't drink. I'm not a child, though - so keep the insults to a minimum.

Hey, they're still stats.. no matter how "horrible and misleading" you might think they are.

Osgood has never been an all star goalie.. and I don't expect it out of him. Which is why it confused me that Babs put him in net to begin with. BUT.. if our D hadn't broken down, there (most likely) would've been no break-aways for Ozzie to stop. The bigger problem is our D - not our goaltending. The Red Wings place their money and most of their talent on the defense and work their way out. Goaltending is down there on the priority list. The idea being... if the rest of the team does their jobs, Ozzie won't have to make astounding saves, saving the Wings money between the pipes. It's worked for us for a long time. He had a bad game. He DOES that. But our defense DOESN'T.

Oh, give me a break. What about the Ducks game when he made the glove stop and was sliding into the goal, pushing his arm out to keep it over the line? Or the goal at the end where he knocked it out of the air as he was already down. Osgood has the highest win percentage of any goalie this year. He has an overall record of 15-2-5. Don't even give me that BS. Because that's exactly what it is... BS.

I agree that Conks should've been in net but the bold line just baffles me. Osgood has not been playing like he did tonight all season. Any Wings fan knows that some days he shows up & plays great, others - not so much. He's made some jaw-dropping stops this year and played some awesome games, and he's also had disappointments. So please do not act like this is a season-long bad play streak. That's just pathetic.

Everybody knows that Ozzie has on games and off games. But to come onto the forums and trash-talk him as if he was the only one who figured into us losing is complete insanity. It's easy to blame the goalie. TOO easy. The bigger problem was our defense breaking down. His away record is outstanding. He has the highest win percentage of any goalie this year. Get off his case. You should know by now that he's not dynamite all the time - but that's one of the attributes about Ozzie that Wings fans learn to accept. So if you want to blame the whole thing on Ozzie and talk about how much he sucks - be my guest. But to those of us who actually stand by the team and don't place the entire loss over Osgood's head, you look AND sound foolish. It was an excellent game. Ozzie was off - but so was the D. We just had a hell of an away run. And we're a hell of a team. If anybody can come back from downfalls such as this, it's Detroit. Remember that before you get your panties in a twist.

One game. Calm yourself. I'm pretty sure our defenseman will watch the tape and realize how badly they screwed up on those break-aways. We'll be perfectly fine.

First of all, trade Franzen? No freakin' way. Secondly, even though that goal was offsides - our D completely broke down. Poor play on Detroit's part.

Sorry, guys. Tried to make it for the puck drop. Got to about Hall Road & Garfield before my dad decided the roads were too bad. I really wanted to make it out there. Next time, for sure - if weather permits.

Is this still happening? If so, I'd like to bring my dad and go. (I'm only 20. No husband to bring. Haha.)

Unfortunately, you're right. This will fade away with time like all other news.

I wouldn't think Conklin would make that much of an impact on their standings. Roberts, yes. Ruutu, yes. Hossa, definitely. I realized they would fall, I guess I didn't realize how much.

What happened to the Pens this season? I'm kind of surprised at their current standings.

LOL. Cleary. "It's gross - there's nothing you can do about it."