Opie

Why is it that I don't find this to be a joke and I think that this is how it would REALLY turn out!

And Jimmy Howard was one of the best Goaltenders in NCAA for 2 years, Maf fell on his face in the NHL his first year, Hasek was a no one in the NHL until year what 6-7 of his career. My point was no matter what the history of the player, a rookie is going to struggle, some of the all time greats have fell on their face for the first 2-3 years of their career, especially in net where any mistake is a glaring mistake. The original poster said definitively what Howard would and would not be in the future based on 25 or so games in the NHL. Really? Hmm meet michel nostradamus 2.0! I am not saying I know, in fact I am saying I do not know what Howard will be. That is my point none of us do, yet some of us parade around like we do know what will happen. I like Doc as a poster, but seriously it is the easy way out to say Howard won't be great! Why? Because the odds are in his favor, the chances of Jimmy being as good as Ozzie are slim to none let alone him being the next Mike Richter. But instead of focusing on what he is doing now, posters feel the need to say, he won't be s*** in 3 years (not a direct quote or a paraphrase of anyone mentioned in this post/thread/board). Fine but what in the hell does your opinion of him in 3 years have to do with what is being talked about now, and that is the state of his play currently this season! Outsider: you are not the OP so my (YOU) in this next blurb is not intended at you. Not next year, not 4 years down the road. Right now. And as I have said in other threads, these threads never work out the way the op (or I) intend them. You want the lunatic fringe to read or post in it so you can have you, I was right moment, however none of them are here, the Wings are winning, J-ho is playing much better and showing improvement (not vast but some) on his rebound control. The next goal scored on a J-Ho rebound, whether the Wings win 5-1 or 700-1, or lose 84-1 and he was only in for one goal the fringe will be back.

Not to start a war with you but RE: the bolded: Wrong! Babcock has one thing and one thing only to worry about, make the playoffs. And the best way to do that play the hot goalie. He needs wins and needs to get them at a very steady clip. My only argument against Ozzie is this: The team needs wins to make it to the playoffs, there is no coasting this year, no time to monkey around with things and lose a game or two here trying to get Ozzie back on his game. Last year Ozzie needed time away, maybe this year his motivation is sitting the pine for a little while. But until he comes out and puts up GREAT numbers, you have to stay with J-Ho. The team seems to play better team D around him, maybe they trust Ozzie too much and get complacent when he is in net? I don't know what the cause of it is, but for some reason this team has been struggling to win with him in net. And I don't just mean on the scoreboard, I mean that NJ game was not pretty, not that NYR was any prettier. But the play in the Wings zone seemed more responsible with J-Ho in net. Having said all of that, and adding that I am a huge J-ho fan, wings need Ozzie in the post season IMO. I really don't want to be riding a Rookie in the playoffs!

ACL is all about balance, not power, power comes from your muscles, Franzens ability to stride and hit come from his thighs (like most skaters) the problem there is atrophy sets in from not using the muscles around the leg, depending on how long the leg is inactive atrophy obviously gets worse. But as far as balance and stride like stevkrause above me said, it is huge for all skaters, speedster or clunker, Darren Helm or Tomas Holmstrom. I have been 2 years with a knee injury (far worse than ACL), and my knee will never be the same. Hiking sucks balls, because every step down the mountain hurts, twisting my knee between rocks and roots, and makes me more timid and more annoying to the group I am in. But I can push as hard as I want with my legs against anything I want, no pain. unless I lock my knee which is how I broke it to begin with. By no means am I a knee injury expert, but knee injuries (especially ACL) are so common in sports that the understanding needed is there. An ACL injury is hard to come back from after an off season, let alone to come back during the same season? Mule may not be mule until next playoffs.

Ye of short memory, what did MAF's rookie campaign look like? Hasek? I am not saying Howard won't be the next Stephan Liv, but there is nothing saying he will or won't be the next Mike Richter either. The guy has what 25 games under his belt and you know for a fact what his end result is. You must win the lotto a lot!

Great hit, and not to be rude to the handicapped, but Hellen Keller could have seen Stu coming with her head up, he telegraphed that hit, he stopped striding like 2 seconds before he hit him. That is the type of that when tried on Datsyuk would have left Stuart wondering wher Dats went and why he is upside down in the bench and needing an ice bag.

The problem with threads like these (I have made them too, how else would I know what I am about to say) is that you never get the satisfaction you are looking for. The Wings are winning/playing well right now. The lunatic fringe is nowhere to be found, only logical sensible posters are around. Until the next blowout or losing streak the people you want to read this probably won't and even if they do they will never post in it. You are right though, the team is building an identity and playing better. Getting big contributions from unexpected places. Where would they be without Howard, Abbie, Miller, Eaves, May, Ericsson, Stuart and the likes. Last year when the D struggled the superlative laden offense stepped up. This year team D and goaltending will be huge, the O needs to step up a little more but I can easily see this team making the post season. With the work effort they are learning early on, which hopefully continues, and the skill that will come back this team could be a potent foe in the post season. It is all about getting healthy and hot at the right time, I would like to see the Wings go into a post season working for it instead of coasting into it. I think the former is a much better mode to be in for the last couple of weeks. Coasting leads to bad habits.

Good for Drapes, better for the Wings. I think the guys that need to listen to him though are not the young guys. Very few players on this team are playing harder than Miller, Abbie, Helm, Eaves. BTW side track, I really like Miller on the Wings, he seems inspired? motivated? not sure what is the word but he is playing really hard out there and it is nice to see. I wonder what happens when the MASH unit comes back. A lot of guys have earned more minutes and showed they deserve to be up with the big club. Abbie I assume goes back, Leino? Miller? May/Eaves/Maltby?

Now I wish the Wings were in Boston this year. I could break out my "Fire Bettman, Hire Chelios" sign again and just change it to Shanny!

Was it malicious, no, was it avoidable yes, I compare this to a high stick (like some one above me) my problem with the suspension is this: 1. It comes when he can not play anyway, he is suspended when he is too unhealthy to play. WEAK! To me that is like suspending a Pitcher in baseball for 4 games. WTF is the point! 2. It was for the wrong hit. As I said I think of this one as similar to a high stick, it was a careless hit. He got his leg out before Gleason moved, and never took it back. That to me is more like having your stick in the air and not seeing the guy coming around the net and pop you smack him with your blade right on the chin. Intentional or not it is 2 min 4 if blood. Now the potential for serious injury is greater in this instance than the high stick, but depth of injury is not a reason for higher penalty in the NHL unless it is blood on a high stick. Was there intent to hurt Gleason? I don't think so, so therefore for this hit the on ice call was enough penalty to me. The boarding hit last week, now I thought he should have been suspended for. That was far more of an egregious act than the knee on knee hit.

They also have a contact us link, which I just used to send them a question about a Jersey. Ahhh, the wonders of the Interwebs!

You are correct, I got that one in reverse!

While a necessary and good signing for the B's I would not say that it was a cheap one, as mentioned above, he will be 40 when the contract expires and he is under 35 right now, so they eat all of it. If he retires in year 4 it is 4.2 for the next 3. Or if he slows down considerably, he is a high priced Vet that will be hard to get rid of in the cap era. Unless Nashville is looking to make the floor. But the second best set up man in the league next to Datsyuk, and I didn't see that until he moved to Boston, the B's fans love him. He plays with a fire, they like that in their players. They loved PJ Stock to no end, the reason Lucic and Savard are so loved here is that they will make a beauty offensive play on one end and absolutely take some one out on the other end. Although not often Savard will be dirty and cheap, Gordie Howe dirty and cheap, not Pronger! The next home game he will get a huge ovation for this contract! I still wonder what Atlanta was thinking splitting him and Kovie up!(they let him go rather via FA)

Ever run backwards through a corn field, NAKED!

I am probably J-Ho's biggest fan on this board. I would love nothing better than a UMainer to get drafted and rise through the ranks of the Wings org!!! Especially in Net! But People, lets give him the season, every season has ebbs and flows, the team plays great then not so great, A goalie players great than not so great. The real test will be when he hits a rough spot, how quickly can he pull himself out of it. If he hits a rough spot and Ozzie comes in on a tear and wins 6-7-8 in a row, how does J-Ho respond after that, how quickly/easily can he go from on top to under the bus. How does he respond if he gives up a couple of bad goals in another wise easy Wings victory that they then lose. I have high hopes for the kid but even I say it is way to early to pass any kind of judgment, lest it be against those that said he would never make a save or win a game, you know the lunatic fringe.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore?gid=2009112523 Washington boarding - 5 min 3:38, A. Ovechkin served by C. Clark Washington game misconduct - 10 min 3:38, A. Ovechkin Anybody see it?

I hate a novelty deciding a game and I hate the point for OT loss! Loss is a loss is a loss, 0 points. And the Shoot out is by far worse than a tie. That is right worse than a tie. They should try the shooting targets, that would be better, the more accurate three from each team wins? ohh how about the 3 on 0 thing they have been doing at the all star game!

You are right it is derailed enough. I change my original statement to the following: If league were to come out and admit the were in the wrong from the start, people would be less likely to treat the sport as second tier. Better?

Maybe the good thing about Howard's rebound control, or struggles with, will help the guys get back and help out Ozzie a little more.

The only reason I brought the Yankee thing was that I agree with the treatment of Andy Pettitte (sorry I spelled it wrong), he admitted wrong and has been allowed to move on un-harassed. While Arod, Bonds, and Clemens are still persecuted. You agree correct Arod is not given the Pettitte treatment, he is still harassed? I was merely (yet poorly) trying to state that if they had taken the correct path, that which Andy took (and Arod tried to take) that perhaps they would be given more leeway. I was not trying to say he deserved more criticism, I blame all of Baseball for Steroids, the players who used and didn't use, managers, gm's commish, all of Baseball. I only brought up my dislike for the Yankees (is it horrible to hate the rival, didn't we all hate the Avs?) to make it apparent that I wasn't biased. And that if the league had stated they have the wrong rule in place and need to change it. Instead of look into it, they may actually get a different reaction from the public. But I am glad you grabbed one part of my post, the irrelevant part at that, and took off with.

You know this almost falls under my new Andy Petite rule: Andy (I hate the yankees btw, Red Sox fan!) admitted using steriods, said I f-ed up, and most of the baseball world either forgave him or has gone a hell of a lot easier on him than say, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, or A-Rod. here is the point to bringing this up: If they just said we made a mistake and are trying to change it. Right away, not the "We do not want replay officiating the game" answer the fan reaction would be different. I mean come on, one set of announcers is in complete befuddlement over the call (DET) and the other (DAL) the announcers can not stop laughing at the call. The goalie threw the puck out and made a face like "Oh s***, that's a goal" the replay shows it in the net off of the shot, no penalties, no nothing to be called. Yet Toronto cannot say, that is a goal because there is no way you were blowing the whistle.

Other sports have nationally broadcast games for free, if not nightly, multiple nights an evening. NHL on Versus which is missing in how many households? So I buy CenterIce, and the NHLnetwork is covering the game, what next? Or it is on Versus? The NBA is on TNT, ESPN weekly, MLB is on ESPN nightly (I know baseball is a different beast 162 games), every weekend I see the NFL for free on at least 3 channels on at least 2 nights. All for free, and lots of times there are double headers. I travel for my job from time to time. I cannot login to CenterIce from the hotel, but I can get Hockeystreams on my laptop or any computer for that matter. Hockeystreams is a third of the price of CenterIce and has archiving, and 0 blackouts. No way I pay for CenterIce. And I could afford the CenterIce if I could guaranty that I am at my TV and not watching something else every night the Wings are on, and I am pretty sure the Fiancee would have a little something to say about that.

No he was just the one caught. Listen I am as big of an MJ fan as a white kid who can not throw a balled up piece of paper into a dumpster can be. But the refs won many, many games for him. And the lakers game that Donaghey constantly uses as an example of other ref collusion, is a horrible horrible scandal of refs being involved with Gambling and I would not be surprised to see it come out in every sport! Someone just needs to get caught. Like Steriods.

When does he stop getting credit for the economy being good. A lot of people who defend him state that under him the league has been the most profitable, but the economy that just abruptly ended on a lot of us was by far the best the economy had ever been, and due to that EVERY major sports organization lived through its most profitable time. Including the MLS. What has Bettman done so well not to get booed? Has he found a better tv package, no but in the meantime the UFC, a sport considered to be too violent for most homes, is on nightly and the resurgence of the sport can be pin pointed to one event shown free on a no name network that is now very big thanks to the UFC. Has he cracked down and shown an Iron fist like Goodell and NFL, nope instead his league has shown a propensity to let big names get away with things. Has he followed the rest of the sports with integrating Replay, sure in an ineffective manor while other sports (including MLB) think of ways to retool it and make it better, during the season! A ref can overrule a video replay as easily as last night? Has he completely make a mockery of the situation in Pho? You may say well all of those Hes should be Theys as he doesn't do it alone, yeah and Bush and Obama didn't / don't take heat for things done in their cabinets or by the senate or congress. He is the head of this ship and he needs to right it or former players need to step in and help the game they help make awesome! Again, why should I like the guy or stop booing him?

I got half way through that and had to turn it off, what a joke: "That puck is unquestionably in the net" "Directly off of the shot" I agree Mick! I agree!