sliverck

I think my sarcasm was obvious enough. This post is the reason people might run Howard out of town, how can someone serious blame what's happening on Howard unless they don't watch the games? Sure he has been shaky at times and he needs to invest in pads that don't catapult pucks off of them but I guarantee that if Osgood was in goal for this last game the Wings get destroyed. I just don't see enough heart in the team right now and I don't think there is a way to coach around that.

You know what, I like his thinking here. Putting Osgood in net now would lessen the likely of Howard getting railroaded out of town when they get swept by the Sharks. There are a few reasons the Wings lost this one. They can't win a face off to save their lives, they can't stay out of the penalty box and these fancy sticks break when somebody looks at them funny. Notice that Howard is not one of the reasons, not even close.

The best TEAM won that game, not the team with the best individuals. Still, I haven't been happy with Babcock's coaching all year and he's not doing any favors for Team Canada. I just hope the USA doesn't let this go to their heads, not that I'm not happy to see Canada knocked off their pedestal in their "own" game. That being said, I do feel sorry for Germany.

Howard stood on his head for the past two games. Doubt he'll be able to pull that off tonight, Wings are gonna need to win this one for Howie.

I agree 100%. Things were supposed to get better with players coming back, not worse. Maybe Howard hasn't been as good as he was earlier, and Osgood certainly isn't showing any reason for the team to have confidence in him. But where did the defense go? I have no idea what is going on with this team. They seem to try and coast through third periods except last night where they clearly didn't show up at all. I don't think it's fair to blame the goalies, but I also am not getting a good feeling about Osgood.

Ozzie can be labeled a scapegoat for one reason, because he's a goalie. When a forward or defenseman has a bad game it's up to the other players to pickup the slack. But a goalie is on their own out there, much easier to label them. Howard could get you 5 great wins in a row, but as soon as he screws up or the team has a bad game it's under the bus for him. No goalie is going to go out there every game and be perfect all the time. So almost by definition the position of goaltender is inconsistent, that's just how it is. At least in Detroit.

I don't see Howard winning this. I'd love it if he did, we all know the Wings star rookies have been screwed out of the Calder for years. Even Yzerman lost out to freaking Tom Barasso.

While I kind of agree with what Osgood is saying, he shouldn't be staying it to the press. Maybe he has talked to Babcock about it but it didn't go anywhere so he felt the need to take it up a level. But it makes him look like he's whining about suddenly being a backup goalie, I agree he needs shut his mouth and shut his 5 hole. That being said, he shouldn't be sitting for a month and then thrown into a game against one of the leagues top offenses. I'm not liking the way Babcock is handling this, Ozzie should have played one of the weaker teams so that Howard would have been in for this game.

I've seen it twice. The first time was back in maybe 1994 or 95 at Westland mall. I remember some kid in an Avalanche jersey walking past the line of people waiting to have their picture taken with it. You can imagine at the time he almost incited a riot. The second time was when Carolina won it. Chad LaRose brought it to the Compuware Sports Arena, that time I actually got up enough courage to touch it.

I don't see how they can not start Howard, but really the guy needs a rest. The Wings are getting better but they aren't quite there yet. Sorry, but I'd have to say the Caps win this no matter who's in goal.

Ok, everybody needs to settle down about Howard. No rookie goalie can win a Stanley Cup. Just ask Key Dryden, Patrick Roy and Cam Ward. Oh, wait...

See, I wouldn't say Howard had a bad game against the Ducks. He had a bad start and reverted back to the shakiness he had at the beginning of the season, but the whole team had a bad start. He played well enough the rest of the game, and that is a good aspect in a goalie. Had that been Osgood I feel like he would have been down on himself the rest of the game.

Right now that was Chris Osgood, are you sure it still is? Like I said, I'm not ready to pull Osgood from being the playoff goalie just yet, but if you were Babcock what do you do if Howard remains hot? Do you start Osgood and if he blows the first couple games switch to Howard, that doesn't always work so well. Of course the Wings have to make the playoffs first.

Why does that matter? If he continues to improve and Osgood continues to fumble his starts I don't see a reason to keep Howard out of the playoffs because he's a rookie. He's gotta get playoff experience at some point and from what I can see this team does not have a very good chance at winning a cup this year. Howard gives the team the best chance at winning right now. I'll take a nervous rookie goaltender this year if it increases his chance at winning us a cup in another couple years.

I said that Howard would eventually steal a game for this team and that it was only a matter of time. And there you go. He just seems to get better in almost every game he plays, sure he makes a boneheaded play every once in awhile but as long as he's winning I couldn't care less. He has to be strongly considered for the Calder at this point, he just needs to keep it up. I still lean towards Osgood if we make the playoffs but I'm not so sure of that anymore.

Can we agree that goaltending is the least of the Wings problems? I have been quite surprised by Howard, I thought he would be good but I wasn't expecting this. And he seemes to improve just about every game, sure he takes a stumble every once in awhile but he comes back the next game like it didn't happen. He will steal games for this team, it's only a matter of time and experience.

The fan reactions to a Red Wings goalie never ceases to amaze me. Apparently you're not a great goalie in a Detroit uniform unless you get a shutout every night. This team is very lucky to be anywhere near a playoff spot, and I can see only one person to thank for that. Well, maybe two if you count Bertuzzi. Sure, maybe Howard hasn't technically stolen any games. But this team is just good enough to lose by a goal or two every game, Howard is keeping just enough of those goals out for this team to get a few wins and that says a lot to me. Just keep in mind it's hard to steal a win when you're team can't score.

There is no way I'm looking close at that pic, but I do have a strange desire for some 7-Up.

The Wings need to stick with what's working and right now that is Howard. It doesn't matter if he lets in an absurd goal every so often, the fact is with him in net the team has a much better shot at winning. All these injuries we have is completely and utterly ridiculous and so is the idea of bringing in another goalie. Come playoff time, if we make it, I would still go with Ozzie. But if he falls on his face at all I would not hesitate to bring in Howard. He's gotta learn to handle playoff pressure at some point if he wants to stay an NHL goalie and I don't see why he couldn't.

I don't think I said that Howard was the greatest, bestest, awesomest goalie in the world. I'm saying he is showing that he has potential, he's improved a ton since early in the season and you have to keep in mind he is still a rookie. Datsyuk wasn't all that great in his first season, he seemed to get knocked down on every shift. But you probably wanted him out then anyway. I'm giving it to Howard for keeping this season afloat. He's in the middle of the pack when it comes to goalie stats, just go look at Osgood's stats and you tell me where this team would be right now without Howard.

Take note all you NHL goalies. This is why you should run, not walk away from any contract the Wings may offer you. No matter how good you've been, no matter how much you've improved, you will never be good enough and you'll be railroaded out of town. The best Wings goalie is always the one that's not playing. On a side note. Jimmy is playing great, his rebound control has improved a lot and he is able to come up with some big saves. Occassionally he lets in a soft one but he doesn't let it get to him and that reminds me of another Wings goalie, who's won a few Stanley Cups for over the years.

Go back and look at the comments about Howard early in the season. The majority of this board was bashing him, oblivious to the fact he'd only played in 8 NHL games since being assigned to Grand Rapids after college. Good thing this board doesn't run the Red Wings. How does crow taste?

This was a joke call in a joke league. And just to rub it in Alex Auld was one of the three stars of the night on NHL.com. The force is strong with this one. "No goal referee, you intended to blow the whistle while the puck was in mid flight."

I thought the discusion was about the goaltending future of the Wings, not immaturely attacking posters. You are obviously superior to me in your posting prowess because I clearly do not have as much time on my hands as you do. Good day sir.

90% of all NHL goalies came from Grand Rapids, that's crazy, and we pick Howard out of all of them. Aside from the asinine comment, my point was how is Howard supposed to progress anymore than he already did in GR? Get shutouts every night? Not on that team. Let's face it, the future of the Wings is in trouble. They don't seem to have a good young goalie to fall back on and what about forwards? Filppula and Leino don't appear to be our offensive force of the future. Better hope they raise the salary cap.