chaps80

dammit. Rebound kicked right out front. Not much he could have done there..team needs to clear those.

This right here.

As expected. He has given Tampa fits in the past. Hopefully it's a diiferent outcome than the first game of the season though.

At least Blashill isn't tr to use Kronwall for 26 minutes every night like I thought he would when he returned. Kinda using him as a third pair/spare and giving him rest. He shouldn't be playing at all, but that's the Red Wings way.

Haha oh man. Why not put Mantha or Bertuzzi there? Least I got two good things out of that article. Kronwall isn't playing tomorrow, and Vanek should be back on the weekend.

This team is 8-7-1. Tampa is 8-6-1. Both have 17 points. If you had told me Detroit would be tied with Tampa by the middle of November this summer, I would have laughed. Granted, many of the wins came because of great goaltending and not blowing out teams with scoring, but they are wins. Whatever way this team has to get it done doesn't matter to me. I don't care if any of the players are winning scoring titles and I don't think it matters to many others. Just outscore the other team they are playing by 1 and take it game by game. All you can ask for with the team they have. I don't think many fans will be dissapointed if they don't make the playoffs this season anyways. They aren't going to do any damage, and they need a high draft pick to help out this rebuild on the fly, or whatever the hell Holland is tryin to do.

Well that's why the Habs are 13-1-1 and the Wings are 8-7-1. They are in another league compared to the Wings. Better coached, Faster, more skilled, stronger, way better defence and better goaltending, etc. Kronwall needs to just stay on LTIR and sit around and collect his money. He can't do much of anything anymore, and he's taking a spot that Sproul could have permanently. Just hang em up Kronner, thanks for the hits.

Don't tell me your saying that Howard is "proven"? LOL

Yep he'll get blamed. Just like Mrazek was for the goals that weren't his fault. We all knew Jimmy couldn't sustain 2 GA and under per game forever. As a goalie on this team, once you have an off night, you're gonna end up with 5 behind you.

Was Jimmy that bad tonight? I know it was 5-0, but did he look alright and just had no D help, or was he Jittery Jimmy lettin in stinkers again?

Ya that's usually how it works man...

Wings are down 3-0? Ouch! What happened?

Yeah, it's hard to argue with Howard's numbers now. At first I took it as the sheltered backup role was the reason he was doing so well, but he's kept them up even with incresed workload. At this point I figure they'll keep goin with Jimmy as long as they're winning games. Mrazek would have gotten a start by now if that wasn't the intention and he probly won't get a start until there's a loss. Even then he might not get one right away. They are either simply sticking with the hot goalie, or they also really want to impress upon him that nothing is simply handed to you, and he has to come back ready to play his best every night, and if he doesn't, he will sit for as long as it takes to sink in. So anyways, how's the game going? Too busy to watch tonight sadly. Sucks even more than usual cause Mantha and Bert are playing.

Lookin forward to seeing Mantha and Bert tonight, since I can finally watch a game. Stay solid Jimmy!

Oh i'm sure Holland won't. He'll be resigned to a long term deal in the offseason, no worries.

He's had time with better linemates.

Lundqvist was an example. I could have used other starters as examples. The point was the starter designation. You don't just give the job away because your backup has suddenly learned how to play to the best of his ability again after 2-3 years of forgetting how to. Either way, it seems only one person gets what i'm trying to say here. Forget it. Lol As expected.

I agree totally. But at what point does he get a start? He's started 9 games, and some were great. Then some he allowed 4 goals in, but they weren't necessarily bad games. Some of those goals were def stoppable, but some he had no chance on. When your teammates can't clear the puck after you make three saves in a row on a play, or allow breakaways that start before the opposing player even crosses the blue line, you can't blame those on your goalie. I don't think that's enough games played to lose his starting job, even if Howard is playing better. Sure, let him sit for a bit, give Howard some starts, let him see what happens when you don't play your best. But regardless of how Howard is doing, you gotta get him back in eventually for another go at it.

That makes a lot of sense when Howard is the backup (supposedly). If they were just going to go with who was playing better, then why designate a starter and backup going into the season? The starter should play, and be given chances to, regardless of how his backup is doing. Cam Talbot was doing better than Lundqvist at one point (not comparing Mrazek to Lundqvist, just an example). Should he have taken over? Hell no.

No room for him anyways. I'd take Miller or Ott over him. All the potential had never materialized at the NHL level. Team needs to cut ties already, give him a chance elsewhere. Maybe get a pick for him, something the team def needs..

Jimmy has been great, but you can't let your starter sit for too long. Mrazek needs to play. Unless management saying they were headin in with Mrazek as the guy was only sort of a tentative thing and they intended to play the better goalie, then cool. Have at er Jimmy. But if Mrazek is indeed supposed to be the #1 goalie right now, then they have to show their confidence in him and play him. You always need to get your starter back in sooner than later. Can't hand the backup the reigns for a good period of time while the starter is healthy and ready to go just because he's playing better without giving the starter a good chance to come back, like Jimmy got many times the past couple years. I think seeing Howard rise up will prove to be a good thing for Mrazek in a few ways and he'll come back more than ready to go. As for Howard to Calgary rumours, why would they wan him when they just traded for Elliott this summer? Elliott is the better, more consistent goalie.

Who cares?

AA injured now? What the hell! The injury curse continues. Least it's not bad though and we get to see Mantha.

I agree with this, Howard is playing the best he has in years, Mrazek so far, not close to as good as he can be. BUT, you have to give Mrazek a start soon either way. If he is indeed the number 1 guy (but it seems to me now that that was more of a tentative thing, because you don't let your starter sit for three games in the regular season no matter how good his backup is playing), then you have to get him back to playing like he is. I'm sure watching Howard start three in a row and playing excellent has got him fired up to come back strong. He's got a lot of pride and confidence in himself, always has. So i'm sure it's sucked for him to see his job taken and he wants it back badly. That's what he needed though, a kick in the ass to not get complacent and play his best every night. This team clearly relys on strong goaltending above all.

Yep. But it doesn't make it less true. I wonder how many of the people around here that wanted Howard gone in the off season saying he sucked, he inspired no confidence, he was finished, he was overpaid and his contract was an albatross and would have been happy to trade him for a three pack of Canadian Tire hockey pucks are the ones posting backing him up now? Willing to bet there's quite a few. Wings fans are so fickle when it come to their goalies. Lol