Doc Holliday

It's more like proof that posts can be easily dismissed by some people.

Just for clarification Conklin didn't play in the playoffs because he choked down the stretch when Babcock challeneged him and Osgood to step up to take the starting job for the playoffs. Not simply because he had little playoff experience. But I agree that Howard should start. He is our #1 and we just gotta hope he gets into form. Nightfall: You are really reaching when it comes to Howard "haters". It is more people who think Howard is not playing well who are arguing with people who think Howard is playing well. However since this is LGW people have to take things to their extremes and say "ZOMG YOU ARE A HOMER/HATER GTFO STUPID!"

Do you even spend enough time here to know that?

Are we going to say Holmstrom is a better option at even strength? Honestly?

Did Franzen tell you that himself? Jeez, people love to spread rumors, don't they?

Normally it's been a standard cycle of announcers and color commentators. This season they have really been experimenting. The Hawks PBP guy did the Wings/Wild game earlier in the season. Very cool to hear Kenny on the broadcast.

Apparently Mursak has been called up. That is something. http://redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=553979

I blame the schools.

Anyway, Howard needs to play well against Vancouver. Detroit is not going to have a full deck and the Canucks are deep. This could be a huge win for him if he can pull it off like he did in Vancouver earlier in the season.

Oppressed? I stated that my negativity was being somehow considered hate towards Howard.

I am ready to not be confident in the Wings in the playoffs for numerous reasons. Howard's slump this season is but one facet of that lack of confidence. Another would be the overall play of the team since New Years. I'm not asking for Howard to dominate games. I'm asking him to be consistent and tighten up a bit. He hasn't done that and it has shown in his stats. Well the defense playing better in an of itself is not going to save the Wings playoff chances. I'm not hating on Howard. I'm giving my analysis of his play. Didn't know negativity meant you were hating on the guy, but this is LGW.

Throw him under the bus? He is slumping. He is playing inconsistently (compared to last year especially). The defense isn't doing him any favors but he is letting in goals that he wouldn't have last year. And to top it all off he did not have that great of a post-season run last year, even after a great performance in the regular season. Will he get better with experience? Maybe. But I'm not going to have a blind assumption that Howard and the team will do well in the playoffs just because the contrary would make me seem a pessimist to some posters. Once again, team defense isn't the only thing that is the issue here. Howard HAS NOT BEEN DOING AS WELL AS HE CAN AND SHOULD BE DOING. Tell me what I made up. You are ignoring Howard's struggles and saying "but the defense!" over and over again. That is a misinterpretation of the facts. I have stated multiple times this season the issues of the defense. But the defense is not the only reason Howard's numbers are so mediocre. Howard is another reason.

Sure I do. You are deflecting blame from a goaltender who has not shown how to perform consistently in the post-season. A goaltender who has been sub-par this season, with spurts of amazing play followed by inconsistency and soft goals allowed. To simply brush off his performance by pointing to the defense is a misinterpretation of the facts. The defense has been an issue, but Howard himself has been a contributer of the problem this season. Not every game (such as the last few he has played in), but overall he hasn't been up to par. Of course it is silly to point out Howard as an issue going into the playoffs in a "Jimmy Howard Watch" thread.

Strange, that seems to be what you have been doing.

Detroit has 9 points on the Hawks. The only way they take less than third is if the Hawks take the Central, which they won't.

Hooray for deflecting blame.

You actually want your blood to boil?

Howard is laying eggs in front of the net and the Wings are freaking out as if it was the first time. Awful game so far.

Did Franzen tell you himself?

Doesn't matter. Maguire went after Yzerman knowing Probert would be on him. A Wings goaltender was deliberately run despite the instigator not being in place. You ignored the factors I added. You just made a conclusion out of the blue. Your personal experience has no bearing on sports at the professional level. Neither does mine. What matters is what has changed compared to years past and how those things relate. It isn't just "oh they don't respect each other anymore." Howe and Messier to my best knowledge did some pretty terrible things. Did they do it out of respect for their opponent?

Honestly, you show an instance of lack of respect from this era and you can find another just as bad from the past. MaGuire on Yzerman and the run at the Detroit goaltender (I wasn't alive during this era, sue me) The issue now is the focus on muscle growth, the increasing size of players, the speed of the game, and the current padding (even if softer it still is much harder than it was back when Howe or Yzerman played in their heyday. Hell, look at how much the research on head injuries has changed since the 90s.

In today's game Moore would probably get a fine. He saw a vulnerable player and took advantage, but Naslund shouldn't have stuck his face out like that at the same time. Also, I don't know where this "lack of respect" thing came from. When have hockey players ever had "respect" that kept them from beating the Christ out of each other? Eddie Shore? Old time hockey?

Lidstrom is a +1. Rafalski is a +14. What do you expect to learn from +/- by itself? And hey, I would like the player who people around here anoint as one of the tougher players on the team to act like it. This thread isn't about Eaves. Don't deflect. If Abdelkader is going to get praise for taking boxing lessons in the offseason, maybe he should do something with that skill. Also you don't have to be the enforcer to fight other players. When it comes to Abdelkader specifically, I would think he would try to give hell to the opposition if he was getting stepped on. He didn't do that last night.