puckloo39

Dom seems OK... looked like he got a skate to the melon when he was down on the ice making a save.

Dotsook and Leeeelya are both out there tonight.

there's a Finn on the other team, too, to watch out for.

wow. I was simply paraphrasing an article from mlive a couple of days ago, where it was reported that Hasek and Babs had a private meeting about the media running mad with Babcock's expression of frustration over Dom's attempt to get a call in Calgary. I sure as **** never said I was there, and I don't know what makes you think it's necessary to be nasty about it. Here is the article I was referencing: http://www.mlive.com/redwings/stories/inde....xml&coll=1 I do respect you, NN, but you can keep your sarcasm and snarky comments. Thanks! Fine distinction. Babcock aired a grievance to the media about a player's actions. He should have known, and he does now, that if it's Hasek or another high profile player, the press will make up their own version of what was said.

It was nothing. He and Dom talked last week to clear the air about Babcock calling Dom out to the media as the reason for the loss vs. Calgary. Babcock was frustrated and the media ran with the mention he made of Dom's gaffe, rather than saying what he really said -- none of the Wings played up to speed. The media pounced on Dom's actions and ignored the rest. Babcock and Dom are fine. And no, Dom isn't making demands or anything else like that. I love how people look for the worst from a player who's done nothing but his best for this hockey club this season.

anyone know who's in goal? Not that it's mattered lately. Wings better show up tonight, the Ducks are not doing so well either, so now's our chance to win one.

Funny that people believe Dom isn't a good mentor and teacher. Biron, Roloson and Emery among others would probably all disagree with you. Emery called him "my buddy," and said Dom was great about working with him. Legace reportedly adored Dom, even had Dom's number added to his tribute helmet when Dom retired in 2002. Joey McDonald reported that Hasek sent him a text message when Joey was sent to GR earlier in the season for a couple of games, saying win a couple of games and hurry back, that he (Dom) would be glad to see him. McDonald was thrilled and said it meant the world to him that Dom did that. Sounds like something a nice guy might do, to notice the third string backup like that. Maybe you read too much into the media's opinion of Hasek, which is skewed, to put it lightly. No doubt at all that Ozzie is a great guy and a gentleman. Hasek wasn't hired to be a mentor, by the way, even if he does that anyway. Dom: Will probably return (just my gut feeling) barring injury. He never says what he's going to do before the season is over, just one of his little quirks. He works cheap and is consistently in the top 3-5 goalies in every stat. I could live with another season of Dom and Ozzie, the sexy tandem. Lang: Oh, Bobbert. I love ya, man, but you won't be a Wing next season. What is your problem? Don't like playing for the coolest team in the NHL? Maltby: gone. He makes too much money to be invisible. I think the Grind Line made him look better than he is, or at least, is now. Schneider: Recent slack play aside, I still like Schneids. If he steps it up in the playoffs, I would love to see him stay. Draper: Wing for life, I hope. Ozzie: Wing for life, I hope, as well.

You are not totally surprised, are you? Only the Wings make other teams' average goalies look like geniuses, and score minimal offense for their own goalies. It's a season-long trend that I do hope they try to reverse, you know... soon?

I fear you did! j/k I ain't skeered... good on ya, HC! I love your optimism... it's contagious!

I understand what you're saying. Dallas knows it. They'll just play Smith instead. Turco's more than capable of raising his game in the playoffs, especially if the rest of the Stars rally in front of him the way they did last night. Team-work and passion, Red Wings hockey if you will, is what I am looking for and not seeing, and it's very frustrating. Dallas would have taken "today's edition" of the Wings to school last night, without a doubt, no matter who was in goal on either side. The team worries me, not the goalies.

Turco isn't a big favorite of mine, but he was amazing last night. So was Cujo. Goaltending was not the deciding element of that game. It was the players in front of the goalies, their focus on the ice, quality of plays and shots, and coaching choices which made the difference in that game. Dallas wanted it more, and were not going to be denied. I want to see that again from the Wings.

Hasek wasn't benched. If Hasek is tired, there's good reason. He's probably wondering what else he's supposed to do to win with 1-2 goals per game. Good lord, poor Dom and Ozzie. They were absolutely awesome last night. But I think the Wings are more than capable of dialing it up and turning in the same performance. Maybe they are saving it for the playoffs, but I always expect them to play harder heading into the post-season, and they rarely do. Sometimes that works and sometimes... it doesn't.

I agree, Hasek's fine, it's just that he's never going to be good enough for some people. Neither is Ozzie, depending on who you ask. They are not our problem, I fear, and blaming the goalies - pick your poison which one you think will win or lose for us - won't fix it. I am becoming more convinced that it won't matter which man is in goal for the playoffs. Granted there are injuries, like Hank and now Lebda, and new players like Bert. Both of those situations are opportunities to step it up and play better -- not a reason to get outplayed in our own barn during a relatively easy home schedule in the stretch. If Bacashua had the motivation to try and beat the Wings, they should have had equal motivation to not let him do it. I am starting to think there are coaching issues, not that it excuses the Wings of playing through them, if so. I like Babs, by the way, but I can't think what else is going on here. I hear tell they're supposedly in a late season slump. Whatever. I don't buy the fear of first or jockeying for a certain position in the rankings. I watched Dallas turn a terrible game (playing through injuries, lost a player to injury during the game, etc.) into a thriller on the road (in Phoenix), third period come-back, shoot out winner last night... and wished I saw the same passion, will-to-win, and energy in my Wings. I hope they find it again soon.

You're probably right. I never believe it was a valid theory or assumption, anyway. I should have put another in there, I guess.

Just skimmed the game in FF on DVR. What a disapppointment. I am worried about my Wings and hope poor Lebda is OK. Niemminen isn't smiling, by the way, he's just ugly. 1. I *heart* Todd Bertuzzi, thank God for him out there - he's only going to get better 2. Huddles looked like the best Wing out there today 3. This game is living proof that the refs and TO officials hate us and, 4. The Wings play do not play like crap only in front of Osgood. They play just the same way for Dom. Oh well, Bachasua for Vezina, so what else is new? oy...

Besides the Wings, I like Buffalo, I've followed them for many years. In the West, San Jose and probably Dallas as a third team, since I live closest to them I get more information on them than other teams. Which is not that much. Texas is all about football and basketball. We have to work hard to be hockey fans here.

A bunch of different items w/ Dom's signature (surprise!). Some he signed for me, like my jersey; others were gifts from friends and charity items he signed for children's hospitals, etc., so I bought them. Mac and Brett, when they were Wings (long story on those); Igor, Scotty Bowman, Shanny, Avery (woo!) Dandenault, Drapes, Maltby, Cheli, Manny, and Yzerman (all signed in a book about Yzerman, Cheli and Dom - called "Of Ice and Men," if you're interested I think it's still in print), from 2002. Several items with Teemu Selanne's sig, including a pic of me with him and Marco Sturm (when they were Sharks) 10 Sharks' signatures on a San Jose practice jersey, including Nabby, Adam Graves, Sturm, Selanne, Ricci, Hannan, and others on the 2002 team. I could eBay that puppy for a pretty penny to a San Jose fan, I bet. I asked Teemu to sign it on the "fin" of the Shark. Get it? Finn? He laughed even though I bet he heard that a million times in SJ. Lame looo... Stars: Modano, Turco, Zubov!!! (my favorite Star) and Boucher. Very nice guys, by the way. Esp. Modano, which surprised me but I don't know why, really. I also have a signed pic of Theodore from a friend who knows I like goalies in general. Where is he now, anyway?

I honest to goodness think it just appears that they play differently in front of Ozzie vs. Dom. I do believe there are reasons why they might be sloppier on D (tired, back to back, etc.) but I don't think they intentionally do anything different. There haven't been that many games for Ozzie this season to make a decent regular season sample, either, but as Crymson pointed out, statistically the games were not skewed against Ozzie in any significant manner. They played well in front of Ozzie, too. I am much more worried about Zetterberg-Addiction at this point, since everyone seized up and stopped scoring except Datsyuk, without Hank in the room. It seems to be getting worse, although I don't know exactly how 1 goal per game can get much worse. Wait, yes I do. No scoring means no Cup, IMO. This has been an issue all season, 2 goals per game, with an occasional burst of 4-6 or a blowout where the other goalie was not Vezina material for a change. Even a shutout every night won't help, since there are no shootouts in the playoffs. So, someone is going to have to put the puck in the net at least twice a game, or it won't matter who's in goal. Maybe Ozzie and Dom can work on that, eh?

That's not what I meant at all, and that isn't what I would assume -- I am sick of people who bash Dom to make Chris look "better" and the other way around. There's a difference in style, neither good or bad, just the way it is. Ozzie is more conservative. Dom is a nutcase. Both are effective, in their own way. I really don't see that much difference, anyway, in how they look on a given night in front of either goalie.

Chris did "deserve" a win last night, HC... the guys even said they wished they could have pulled it off for him (Bertuzzi said it, at least). I honestly don't think the Wings play differently in front of Dom because of anything Dom says or does, and the same for Ozzie. They seem to like both guys equally. It's possible that they looked a bit worse because several of the few games Ozzie has gotten this season due to scheduling and injury were back to backs. Not an excuse, but I suppose the Wings could have been tired or distracted on the second game night. I don't know... I have seen them play like crap in front of Dom, too... the turnovers are about the same, the deflection goals have happened to both goalies, they've kicked or redirected (Cheli, Lang) goals in on Dom often enough that I've actually noticed it as a mini-trend this season -- and I am sure it's all just coincidence. Dom's had to play his *** off in more than one game, where the Wings let him down, too (most recently, Vancouver game - 1 goal? 18 SOG in the first period alone?). It's just expected of him. The Wings don't "protect" Hasek because he wants them to -- he says he hates the low shot games, and they're actually harder to win than the rare games where he's gotten more than 30 shots. Hasek loves that kind of work, crazy nut that he is. Ozzie would probably say the same about sub-20 SOG games. Big numbers are just numbers, especially when it's the Red Wings and their billions of squishy perimeter shots on the other team. I know there are nights when Dom and Ozzie wish they could get a game like that, where the other team throws marshmallows at them to jack their sv%s up! As for the commentators, they are likely to say just about anything. The sad part is, right or wrong, people latch onto stuff they say, and quote it for truth. It's just their opinion, they happen to get paid for saying it, that's the only difference. EDIT: PS - I read today that Babs has scheduled out the last 8 games and decided who gets which one. They didn't say who gets which one, but I sense the schedule is split between Dom and Oz. If so, we have a very small representative sample within which to judge if the Wings are biased against Ozzie or not.

right up there with Legace's in 2002. How many goalies have their names on a Cup next Brodeur's who did basically nothing to get it there? I want that kinda job, for sure.

I've always called Feds the most talented under-achiever in the NHL. He's very Jagr-ish in that way. They play out of their minds- otherworldly, in fact - when they feel like it. Maddening trait, that! I was and am still a Fedorov fan, just not when he skunks Ozzie for the GWG in a shoot out... If Sergei came back to Detroit, it would make me very happy, but I don't expect him to cross that bridge. Lint, your signature is hysterical. I can't stop staring at it. good job!

The point of this thread was....? When Hasek is back in number one spot again, where he's been all but two weeks of the entire season, I swear I am going to start a thread to announce it. By the way, Dom's tied for third in the NHL for shutouts and is in the top 5 goalies for wins. Broduer has played 20 more games than Dom and has only 7 more wins (42) than Dom (35 wins in 51 games) . Kipper 16 more games (36 wins) and Luongo 18 more games (43 wins). I prefer the "W" thing to the GAA anyway.

fun thread! I only have a few Wings jerseys. Red Fedorov White Hasek, retired, since he signed it for me. White personalized "permanent" jersey with STANLEY for the player name, and "10" for the number. I will gladly have the number changed to "11." I mostly go to Wings games at arenas other than the Joe, unfortunately. Home team fans often don't get the reference to STANLEY/10, but local Red Wings fans do. I've gotten lots of comments and "I'm gonna copy your idea."

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/stories/inde....xml&coll=1 “We explained to each other what we feel about it,†Hasek said. “I don’t agree with him that I embellished or whatever he said, but we were talking about it and I don’t have any problems with the coach. He called the meeting and he explained to me everything. No problems, no bad feelings from him to me or me to him.†Babcock said after the game that Hasek embellished a bump from Calgary’s Jarome Iginla when he flopped to the ice and was out of position when Kristian Huselius scored at 17:34 of the second period. Hasek insists he wasn’t trying to draw a penalty. “No, not at all, I was elbowed by Iginla and before I got up they scored the goal,†Hasek said. “Mike probably couldn’t see from the bench and he was frustrated as everyone was in that game . We got a lot of penalties, we didn’t score too many goals, so it was probably frustration on his side. I think the way he explained it to me was he felt sort of disappointed the way the media were taking it. So he said sorry how the media took it.†Babcock’s comments were aired over and over on Canadian television. He felt too much was made out of it. “It wasn’t about Dom, it was about our team,†Babcock said. “You can get mad at the officials, but don’t ref the games, play the games. That was the intent. I think what we’re doing here is making it into a one-on-one thing, that’s not how it is at all.†*** Yet another situation where too much was made of a situation that should have been handled privately, but that's life, I guess. Precisely what I said when the media picked this up and made a big deal: Babcock was frustrated and took his anger out on Hasek.