kickazz

Crawford sucks

I do agree, his slap used to be very accurate, this season it was atrocious though.. Pavs the opposite. He's got a terrible slap shot accuracy but an amazing wrist shot. Don't blame him, he's not much of a shooter and wrist shot usually complements you're stick handling ability, which makes sense in Pavs case. As for Z, I do believe it's confidence and speed, if he can get in the groove of shooting some mean shots, he can definitely achieve 30+ goals. I like our first line and I think next season can be a good one for both Pav and Z's point production. It already improved this season hopefully they maintain next season.

I agree, I was watching some of him and Pavs 07 and 08 plays and it seems as though Z just knows where to be at the right place at the right time. He definitely has the goal scoring hockey IQ, it seems as though due to his lack of speed as of last few years, he's been forced to make the pass rather than crash the net. The past three seasons where he's hovered around 20+ goals were mostly not playing with Pav. I believe last year most of the year he played with Filp and the year before that (10-11) he played with Cleary towards the middle and end (I think). I believe the injuries set in during and after 09 season which was the last time he scored 30+ goals. At this point i'd say his back is better and the way he played this season I do believe he has his strength enough to score 30+ is he plays with Pav. Abdelkader has reprised his role as the somewhat new holmstrom so I can see more opportunity for both Pav and Z next season. Of course, those 30+ won't come unless he plays with Pav.

Never thought of him as scary back in his young days. He got scarier as he got older.

Don't think we'll be seeing him as a 30+ goal scorer unless they add more playmakers to the team. Who knows

Only one I can find that was rated as one of the "filthiest slap shots in NHL history" from bleacher report. Still though, compare that shot the most of what he does now...

Yeah that was when Holmstrom gave them the nick name Sasha and Pasha. Those were a good couple years.

Makes sense, that's what happened to Ovie as well, until this season. Fortunately for Ovie he's still young and able to change his game up more. I feel like Z doesn't have a choice but to become more of an "assist" guy now. But man the two goals from last nights game were incredible, not many players have that good of a shot especially on the our roster. I think if the wings could get themselves, either goal scorers or even players who can set up good plays, we can have D and Z shoot more often. (In Z's case it would be shoot more quality shots rather than weak shots). Z's slapshot is incredible while Datsyuks wrist shot is also incredible. Too bad we don't get to see as much.

What were Z and Getzlaf arguing about?

Who cares? Z still showed up and played clutch. That's the point of these posts. How people bring in extraneous crap into forums amazes me.

The reality of it is, if they don't resign Filpula, we're stuck with Zetterberg being a center for the 2nd line which is no good. Z has been terrible as a center these past few years, his faceoff percent is dwindling. Z is a natural winger and should stay as one. Another option is for Mule to center the second line if we didn't resign Filpula, but would Babs really go through with that? Probably not. He's tried mule as center and mule's actually a good center but not sure if Babs wants it to be a permanent thing. Hopefully Helm can be 100% by next season and center the second line. Can you imagine that? Our second line would be sooo fast and dominant against opposing teams. You would have a lot of finesse and shooting with Pav and Z on first line and a lot of speed on the second line. That's a great combo for a team if you ask me.

You know you've learned from Steve Yzerman when you go straight to your goalie after the OT winner while everyone rushes to Brunner. Atta boy Z way to be a leader.

Whats the line up break down for tonight?

So what's the exact lineup tonight?

No blame on Howard yet. But he does need to bail out defense more often than that. It seems as though as soon as he gives up a couple of goals, everything goes down hill. It may be a confidence problem with the young defense and somewhat with Howard as well. Notice how with Lidstrom, giving up 2 goals still guaranteed you a comeback. Unfortunately Howard doesn't have that aura in front of him anymore and he's got to do it on his own. It's hard but he can do it. Apparently Babcock doesn't realize that Cleary and Samuelsson aren't 2008 players anymore where they were somewhat decent and young. 5 years later.....

Doesn't matter Roy still won the Conn smyth 3 times and won the stanely cup 4. He's rated number 1/2 goalie on countless books and magazines, polls and shows. Howard is still young and has a long way to go before you can jump the on his *... Still didn't make his career until the mid 90s when he led them through 2 stanely cups along with countless clutch plays including the OT winner. Yzerman became a world known captain in the mid to late 90s, I know this because I spent some time overseas during that period and he was a media frenzy then. Point being, Yzerman wouldn't have made hall of fame without a good track record as he had. Jimmy Howard has yet to create his own legacy.

Good job Howard way to keep it classy.

Both defense and Howard have an issue of containing the other teams momentum. Game 2, Anaheim has 4 unanswered goals, this game there's 3 unanswered including a short handed goal. This a game of Boys vs. Men. Ducks being the men.

They are all to blame including Howard. Momentum got the best of everyone.

Actually most of those numbers aren't that bad compared to 4 goals on 19 shots. The only one that's really bad is Niemi against LA. As far as Bobrovsky, as I've said before, he played with a subpar actually below average roster, whereas Howard played with a decent above average roster/defense. Here's something to put into perspective for you. Patrick Roy and his failed statue of liberty attempt. One of the funniest things he's done and laughed at. The same Patrick Roy also won a Conn Smyth trophy, 3 stanely cups and is in the hall of fame. He is elite. Howard has not won any awards yet, he hasn't even been to a cup finals. He's STILL young and has a LONG way to go in his career. He is NOT elite YET. Right now, he's GREAT goalie establishing a good track record. All you can do is hope he continues to excel and earn the elite status. Let's not give Howard more credit than he deserves. Not yet at least. Postseason is yet to start tonight.

Exactly my point. People here are acting as though Howard is ELITE. He's not. And it's far too early to judge him in his career. Howard is a great goalie. He still has things to prove to us. I'm not going to sit back and act as though he's all set and his super duper eliteness is going to lead the way to the cup. For instance, I've been a huge Datsyuk and Zetterberg fan since 03 season when they played with Brett Hull. Did I consider them elite players 3-4 years into their career? Hell no! My respect for Datsyuk and Zetterberg only increased after many many years of their work ethic and devotion being shown to the team. I was further inclined to accept them as somewhat elite players by the time they won the cup in 08 with pure effort as well as Datsyuk's multiple Selke trophies these past few years. It took me a DECADE to consider them SOMEWHAT elite. Even to this day I STILL think Datsyuk and Zetterberg have more to prove to me and to fans. Zetterberg is a new captain and he especially has more to prove. The point is, Howard did a great job. Let's not get carried away and treat him and any one else on the team like hall of famers until we see the cup in Detroit again. Remember folks, Steve Yzerman became famous when he scored the double OT winner against St Louis. That wasn't till almost over 10 seasons after he was in the league.

I posted my comment in response to that fellow Crymson who magnified Howard as the best thing ever. I was playing the devil's advocate as anyone would when someone takes such a biased approach in discussions. Of course people know elite goalies have they're fair share of mishaps. Remember Patrick Roy's statue of liberty fail? Anyways, goalies they don't go down in the hall of fame unless they have a consistent track record after many many many years of playing. I myself actually considered Howard elite this past week and this past week only. The past 2 months I considered him great. It's FAR too early to judge Howard in his career. There's a lot of folks on these forums that tend to give players too much credit than they deserve. I like taking a neutral standpoint and approaching cautiously and not judge someone too fast. I'm no Howard hater, as I don't believe most Wings fan are. But I'm not going to give all my hopes to someone who has yet to play in the playoffs and perform well. Playoffs haven't even started and people are giving Howard hall of fame treatment. Think with an open mind before judgments are made.

Stats don't matter when you get pulled, scored on 4 times on 19 shots, and put it in your own net 2 times in one game. Stats do matter when you do none of that , which he did exactly last week. Last week he didn't mess up and played like he's a future hall of famer. ELITE status doesn't comprise putting puck into your own net and getting pulled.

You mean the game in Calgary with 2 fluke shots ? or the game on march 31 against chicago where he got pulled? Or maybe the game against Minnesota on March 20th where he let in 4 goals on 19 shots? Is that your description him "standing on his head for the past 30 games?" Now, don't think I'm a Howard hater. I love Jimmy, but I'm more realistic about things than some of extreme fanatics out there. By no means was Howard the ONLY guy and the ONLY reason the red wings made it. Trust me I recognize the fact that Howard did an ELITE job this past week and a GREAT job the past month. Not an elite job, a great job in the past month. Someone pointed out a fact on the other thread that the Wings were 18-0-2 when they scored 3/4 or more goals. Where do those stats come from? Obviously the offense right? It's silly to keep acting like Howard carried the team when the contributions were from everyone stepping up. If Howard really did "carry" the team. He will get the Vezina. If he doesn't, none of the fanatics are right. My money's on Sergei Bobrovsky because he actually DID carry the team with a subpar roster and literally no superstar on that team.

Actually I perfectly understand the concept and the man corrected himself. It means to do MOST of the work. Which isn't true. Not even close. The statement was extreme and I pointed out the fact, as Mike Babcock, Howard HIMSELF, and dats and Z have said, is that this past week EVERYONE has stepped up. I wouldn't describe Howards performance as "carrying the team". That implies most players aren't performing as well and it was upto him to carry them on his shoulders (as the more formal use of the phrase which has its roots from a parent carrying a child on their shoulders when making a long journey). Historical fact of English phrases for you. The past weeks performance would be stated "Howard, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen and the rest of the squad did an excellent job and helped their team uplift the redwings franchise towards their 22nd consecutive playoff appearance.". Not "howard carried the team"