Evans_18

Its going to be weird seeing Lilja in a different jersey.

I remember a few times last night where are defense was there to bail Howard out. He was phenomenal last night I am happy for him. My main concern though last night were the many situations that I recall seeing Howard lay on his back and our defense go into a mad scramble to clear the zone. I think he just needs to not remind us of Hasek so much in some aspects of the game, and pretty much I mean no snow angels. Because Hasek always scared the hell out of me, and I have hope for Howard.

You are using it as a point to why you do not want him to play though so there for I am bringing in reasoning to his way of playing.

I dont see it as playing scared. If you look at it like this is kind of makes sense. With Howard being more aggressive on the PK it is also leaving him and the team in a more vulnerable position if that cross ice pass gets through and is usually deemed to be an easy goal. With Ozzie's not so aggressive style it takes away more of a chance that that cross ice pass is in the back of the net because it leaves him with the opportunity to be able to get into position in time to make the save. And now that our PK is blocking more shots I believe our PK would be just fine with Ozzie in net. So I would not say that he is playing scared but I think he is using more of his experience in the situation. He challenges enough and does not really leave himself in that vulnerable situation.

Ozzie has in no way deserved to be benched when looking at his number he has put up. Its not right to judge his play based on 17 games this season at times when our team was failing to click both offensive and defensively. And yes we will see how Howard does tonight, and I am hoping he has a good outing but we will see considering the Kings will put up more of a challenge then the Ducks I am expecting. But no matter what the outcome it will probably all be beneficial to our team. If Howard does win then that's good for us because we get 2 points, hell I will be happy with even one point right now. But if he messes up then maybe it will be time for Ozzie to come in and shine and show everyone why he has been in the league so long and has been successful, considering that he has not once had a losing season even when he was on a miserable Islanders team at the time.

Im not saying that his confidence is shot at all. You are now taking things out of context, wonderful move to put your point across but no. I am stating that with a not so great game in Anaheim, a short handed goal off of someones own rebound never should have happened, and a now potential disaster for Howard against the Kings, that is taking into consideration that they make Howard look as bad as they made Nabakov look the other night. What I am trying to get across is the fact that we might be setting Howard up for a slump in his rookie season. I have no clue how a slump will affect him considering even all star caliber goalies have there slumps. But also its something to worry about because look how many goalies have came into this league, had a great season, and then the next year were nothing more but a mediocre back up and forgotten. There is a chance of this happening and there is a chance that it does not. Howard still has a lot to learn about being in the NHL and yes for him to be on the ice and playing is a fantastic way to get used to it, also taking some time on the bench and watching Ozzie play so he can see what he does and does not do well and take those things and factor them into his own play. Osgood is his mentor and that is good for him because we know that if Howard does slump or have a loss of confidence that Ozzie will be there for him and no one is better at dealing with adversity then he is.

Have you even taken into consideration of the huge improvement on defense this year? No one can deny that in the early part of the season our defense was atrocious. And with that fact people need to realize that when defense was struggling that it was also the point in time when Ozzie was getting his starts and yet he still has decent statistics on the year. So besides for the fact that Outsider pointed out, we are blocking more shots, but our vast improvement on defense since the beginning of the year is also credited to the improvement of the penalty kill.

It's about a goalies ability to rebound from a bad outing. He is a rookie and this is a time when confidence is important. Babcock is going by the "Hot hand" and usually for a goalie to be "hot" that requires confidence in himself to perform well. And we know Ozzie has the ability to rebound from a bad performance so in no way would I think that even a lose to the Kings with Ozzie in net and we know he will be just fine. And I am going to go out on a limb here because I am pretty sure I will be correct in this statement. I am going to say right now that you have never played the position of goalie have you Broken. It is a high pressure role on a team due to the fact that people can place blame easily on you. and that is what makes confidence so important especially for a rookie goalie in the league. I am in no way saying that Howard is " a fragile little flower" But I am saying multiple bad outings in a row can cause him to question his ability as a goaltender and there for cause worse play from him.

This has been getting a bit crazy. I am sure everyone here will agree that yes Ozzie has let in soft goals. But what about the fact that Ozzie has also been there to bails us out with key saves when we need them. And do not get my wrong Howard has been excellent especially due to the fact that he is technically a rookie net minder and he has impressed me compared to the little glimpses we have seen of him before this season. Ozzie has his weakness of that soft goal situation but look at all those nice juicy rebounds that Howard lets out consistently. And another thing people can not deny is some of the bad judgment calls he has made on playing the puck a few times which have resulted in a goal or a teammate bailing him out like Helm did. For it being Howard's rookie year I think we need to not ride him so hard. Yes the best way to get experience is to do something firsthand but it is also best to pick your battles. After an outing in Anaheim that did not go his way I have to ask. Is it really a good idea to throw Howard back in 2 days later against L.A., who have been exceptional when you look at how they have been in the standings the past few years? And also due to the fact that Kopitar has been hot this year. I mean come on look how bad L.A. made the Sharks look. If we have an outing against the Kings like the Sharks did then that can be a major blow to Howard's confidence.

For people that have not looked around for a stream and need one tonight it will be on Yahoo Sports.

I personally like Halak a lot. I think he would be a good fit here but then we also have Howard how is doing good for us for now. They are both great young goalies, even is Howard still makes me a little nervous some times like when he is pulling Hasek moves laying down, I am just going to have to agree with everyone on the fact that this wont happen.

So far seems pretty cool, if you guys are not checking it out I would say you should.

Yea the D did save him 2 times, that one by Stuart was a game saver for sure. but still on the PK Ozzie was coming up big and is starting to look more like the Ozzie we know in the playoffs.

I think he is playing fine with what help our team is giving him. Just look at some of those save against the Devils. I dont think there is much to worry about with him.

So wait... according to Carman Ozzie is to blame for our deficiency in defense this year?

I think I might be able to find it ill look now. http://www.justin.tv/nhl_live/archive Click on the clock in the video player, set the date to Dec. 4th and time to 6:00 PM

Yea that was cool with his old school mask sitting on top the net.

Yea Its always great seeing a Wings jersey anywhere, especially something as big as this for another team. And from what I hear it was a great game, and what the scores says haha Montreal killed Thomas last night.

God its nice to see someone else who wants Ville and Pavs on the same line.

Agreed with Drake. Plus its safe to say that no matter what CROSBY IS A *****! I mean come on have you see his so called fights. Its quite sad how Crosby has be hyped up to be the face of hockey, I dont see why when you look around the league there are plenty of players better than him. Hell Crosby wouldnt even be as good as he is right now without someone like Malkin to make him look good. And have any of you seen some of the bulls*** he gets away with? I mean I watched an OT game winner by him batted out of the air over the crossbar and it wasnt even reviewed. All I can say is he is over rated serverly for someone who is supposed to be "The next Wayne Gretzky" but you know thats not hard to sit around and wait for the puck is it.

Yes but our whole team has to be responsible in our own end with or with out injuries.

Lets hope Turco plays tonight. Well all know how bad statistically he is at the Joe in his NHL career.

I personally dont mind how Ozzie is playing its the people around him in our zone but I know he can do better. And Im hoping Leino puts one up tonight.

Hopefully playing Howard will cause Ozzie to work on his game. Kinda like what we did last year when Conks at around this point in the season... well more towards January but still.

Yea we cant go and immediately blame goaltending when our offense is not putting it in the net, or our D is just letting them do what ever the hell they want in front of the net.