Opie

Ozzie looking very good! That pk save was huge!

Ozzie looking pretty good!

I will indeed have a beer or two in his honor when Malts hangs them up, but I am hoping this is his last year.

Lets go Ozzie clap clap clap clap clap clap Lets go Ozzie clap clap clap clap clap clap

:beerbuddy: Would this do?

I had very lofty hopes for Howard going into this season, his has exeeded every one of them!

For clarification, I hope Ozzie kicks ass tonight!

This team is fighting for the playoffs, what in the hell good would risk losing a few games do, if you are risking it so Ozzie will be ready for a post season he may miss? Do I think if this team was in first or top 4 that the theory babs is using now is risky and stupid, YES!. But he can't plan for the playoffs, or next month, he has to make a roster to get points each and every game, he has to go with what gives him the best chance at points, he sees these two every day, practice, games, morning skates, hotels, planes and even eats with them. You mean to tell me that you think anyone's guess work on here (mine included) is remotely close to what Babs knows and sees. You don't think he would see Jimmy get tired? Babs is in a no win situation, if he plays Howard and they miss the playoffs he gets criticized big time, he plays Howard they make the playoffs he snubbed his Vet, if he plays Ozzie and they miss the playoffs he should have stayed with the hot rookie, he plays Ozzie and they make the playoffs is the only win. So I was wrong there is one win. There will always be the group on here that makes a goalie debate when there isn't one, why is it so hard to notice that Babs theory has the team fighting for the playoffs, not missing it, not well into, but in the heat of the playoffs. With this roster, I am very happy to be there, and the fact a rookie netminder has shouldered most of the burden is great. And is not very different from Ozzie's own past and he should respect that and the team and shut up and play well. Either ***** when you don't start and then perform when you do start or don't *****. Don't ***** when you are sitting and then when you are starting!

hahahahahaha are you serious with this post! At no point in time, À aucun moment dans le temps, Zu keinem Zeitpunkt, En ningún momento en el tiempo did the wings resemble anything that looked like the 85 Oiler's Jock! And your next post will be a series of comparative stats you made up to compare two eras that are virtually impossible to compare! I ask all of you conspiracy theorist including you Eva, when and where has Babs said anything negative about Ozzie. If babs saying "Howard gives us a better chance to win" hits your tinfoil hat and you hear, "I don't trust Ozzie" you need to have your posting privileges revoked. Mind you I am some one who is a huge fan of J-Ho! However; imo this team goes no where without Ozzie in the post season. Problem being Babs needs to get them to the post season first. And he needs Ozzie to be hot going in to the playoffs. I love your excuses though, Ozzie had the flu and you make it seem like he fell on his sword by playing through it, then when Howard has similar success, it is because the team is the 85 Oilers. You used to be a poster I respected, when I first came on here I learned a lot from you (and others) about the game, now you just spout off and throw your own skewed impartial stats around like they are in the Guinness book of records.

I am not saying Osgood is not a great Red Wing, one of the greatest netminders to ever don the uni, however in the last decade he pales in comparison to guys like Lids, Datyuk, Zetterberg, Draper, and Maltby in being the one guy who exemplifies what it means to be a Red Wing. That was my only statement.

Seriously explain what I missed and if I was that far off I will admit it. But so I understand you are telling me that Osgood is the one player this decade that most exemplifies what it means to be a wing?

You are right because what happened before the Ilitches took over and in the 30s is exactly how things happen today! /sarcasm Are you really that out of it right now that you cannot see how talking about being a Wing post Yzerman has changed, or do you think Howe had the same class as Yzerman and Lids? Do you really think I was talking about people already in the rafters? But then again Ilitch has set a precedent of ripping numbers down so maybe he should rip those down too? /sarcasm We are talking about Ozzie, a poster stated that Ozzie was the epitome of what being a Red Wing is, he is not. "Being a Red Wing" without a doubt is 100% different post Yzerman/Ilitch when people talk about the class of the org, do you jump in and say, oh well the Norris family was not classy when they ditched all of the talent from the cups. No because obviously that is not the topic, things have changed drastically since the Ilitches took over and since Stevie Y joined the team. When was the last life long Wing to say anything negative about the coaching decisions or personnel decisions?

When on the ice, what a great 2 way forward!!!!

ummm Lids? Ummm Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Draper, Maltby you know guys who have been a Red Wing for the last Decade not a Wing, Blue, Islander. I mean that seems to make the most sense to me, if you are going to use the decade as a measuring stick shouldn't it be someone who was here for said decade? Ozzie was gone for 3 of the 10 years you are talking about, see my sig about Yzerman and having the winged wheel on his chest. Say what you want about why Ozzie left/was sent packing/went to NYI, being a Wing means never leaving, if you are talking about the ONE SINGLE PLAYER who exemplifies what it means to be a wing, that means being a wing no matter what. Whether that means sitting the pine (Ozzie) or playing the 4th line (Yzerman). Epitomizing being a wing is not something a player does on Thursdays only, or only when they are the starter, or the MAN, or whatever else, or for the years they are on the roster. Example, if Yzerman gets traded to Vancouver, who hear is still saying Yzerman epitomizes what it means to be a wing? Does his number end up in the rafters? Epitomizing being a wing is sacrificing for the team and saying 0 about it! Being a Red Wing like Yzerman means you wear one crest, and only one crest! By the way this is not the first Osgood has said on this "Goaltender Situation", he has made multiple comments about Babs handling of the starting minutes!

See sometimes your sarcasm is pure gold, like this one, how many people do you think actually read this first time through and saw the utter hilarity that exists here! Other times it comes off as baiting/trolling, but this s*** right here, Reggie Noble would call you PIMP NUTZ! (Hint: Reggie Noble is otherwise known as Redman!)

MMM coincidence that you just created your account today? You call Howard a so-so goaltender that right there (hey I bolded it for you if you can't find it) tells me all I need to know about you and this situation! Don't be so butt hurt, every goaltender is eventually replaced by a newer younger model! The real bottom line, the team wins more often with Howard in front of them and Mike Babcock thinks the team has a better chance of winning with Howard in net, and so doesn't most of the team (as in the org, Holland etc)!

What if he is trying to protect the ego of a rookie and not worry about the mental state of a vet? What if Ozzie blanks the Caps, what does that do for him mentally? All these Babs v Ozzie, and Ozzie v Howard, and Ozzie v the World threads are all predicting gloom and doom before anything has a chance to happen. Maybe Babs sees this as motivator for Ozzie, he has needed those recently in the regular season. An angry Ozzie goes out and plays out of his mind, do you honestly think Babs doesn't give him another shot. Follow my logic for a second this may be a long one; Babs has a rookie in net, one who started the year with not a lot of confidence, he has one of the mentally toughest guys in the game in Ozzie, not just in the net but in the league. Why on earth would he want to throw that away (especially when it is one of the cheapest contracts in net in the NHL)? Why wouldn't Babs (whose job relies on Det winning) want the best and cheapest(coincidence not on purpose) option to mentor his future goalie? I love how the tinfoil hat crowd finds a way in every Ozzie thread to make the starting of Howard personal!

Odd how an article one day has Ozzie being the best mentor to Howard he can be (as stated by Holland) and then a couple of days later this crap comes out. Hard to believe both sides of the story.

First off all the problem started about 12 shooters before Ott (really after the lockout) A skills competition is the worst way to decide a game with PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS! I hate the shoot out, play 10 min 4-4, no goal 10 min 3-3, still no goal untimed 3-3 until it is over! Something anything has to be better than the shootout. 3 point system needs to go away, instigator needs to go, Trapezoid needs to go, intent to blow the whistle needs to go away, they need to put mini cams in the pipes and cross bars, replay needs to be tweaked, any rule that ends with Referee discration needs to be re-evaluated until the refs can efficiently and effectively follow the game and officiate it, the Refs need a summer camp every year to get better and more on the same page as to what is a hook, trip, goaltender interference, etc... This league needs some serious tweaking in the off season, or fellow fans we are headed for another lockout or the end of the league. These bulls*** rules that are hitting every team in the league are alienating long time die hard fans, and nothing that I can see is really helping the league get new fans.

There is no third party corroboration just hearsay from a third party, completely different beasts. One means someone else was there and heard what Auger said, the other means Burrows told someone what He heard!. This is no more conclusive than before. He needs one of the Sedins to step up about the second period incident where apparently when he went out to skate with "Daniel and Hank to keep our legs fresh, he (Auger) told me to get back on the bench." (That was as close to the quote as I could remember. If one of the Sedins stepped up and said they heard the words come out of Auger's pie hole then the league would have to at least re-look at it!

What a puss, both ericsson and bert where ready to go an Ott takes out Dats!

Howard's play of late does beg one question, how long can a grown man go by the name of Jimmy.

Great Replay work!

Got to press now, short bench! Some one take Ott out for 5 minutes and they will be even more tired!

Agreed, he wants to fight, he is trying to start s***, Abbie or May, go F*&k this dude up!