gcom007

I recall, as has become the norm around here, getting railed on by many when I suggested that it was not sensible to expect so much out of Leino this year as it's his ROOKIE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Howards played well and I'm happy with him, but I'd say that we'd do well to sit him a bit more. I wouldn't have started him last Thursday. He had three solid games. Great. You say, "Thanks for your hard work. Now it's Osgood's turn, but be proud of what you've done." Personally, I'd rather have Howard sitting on the up then possibly on the down, and down games will come. He's a rookie and this teams capable of playing just terrible this year. I just wouldn't chance it too much considering Osgood's healthy and playing fairly well.

People are missing the point here. As far as Osgood, the article, and the management go, no one's saying that Osgood's playing bad. Last regular season he played bad. He's playing all right this year. What Osgood's saying and what the article is getting at is that this team is a mess right now and it's going to be a tough road just to make the playoffs. Osgood needs to get his game to the playoff level now and steal some games and get his play a bit closer to superstar goalie level. He absolutely IS capable of it as all have clearly seen in the last two post-seasons. We're not losing games because of Osgood. We're losing games because everybody's gotten better and half our team is injured. We're also not winning games because of Osgood. Half our team was injured in the playoffs too. Osgood in large part carried this team as far as they went in the playoffs last year by exceeding his stellar play from the Cup-winning year. We don't need it every game, but we definitely need to see a bit more at this point. He'll get there.

Nice...a break in the cold streak...about time...

True. He's a good kid. The giveaways can be rough but yeah, he's a rookie, he'll learn.

Nice Jimmy Howard, nice! No comment on old 52's brilliant giveaway....daslkfasdlfkjasd;jasdklfj

:thumbup: :thumbup:

I got yelled at for calling that one a few weeks ago. Holmstrom great at starting fast and slipping faster. This isn't the first time he's had a great start only to succumb to the grind of it all. There are other factors, but the more abuse he takes as the season goes on, the worse he'll be. His body just can't handle it anymore.

Well, I've never been a fan of the Datsyuk, Bertuzzi, Holmstrom line from the first game they were put together. They need another guy who can actually skate on that line. Then maybe they can get open for Datsyuk's passes.

Well, if you want to count the shootouts as losses...we got a point out of them so it's not quite the same as losing in regulation or in the 5 minute overtime. None the less, I'm really, truly, not worried. I think we'll be fine. I'm not convinced we'll win our division, but we'll make the playoffs and at that point all bets are off for everybody.

Has Bert been great? No. Bert's older now and we signed him for $1.5 million. When you put it in that context, he doesn't seem so bad. And like you said, he's actually getting chances out there almost every night. I don't know if it's his timing or getting used to playing big and tough again or what, but I think sooner or later he's bound to start capitalizing on those chances. He's way too skilled to keep coming up empty when he's actually getting chances. I think he could really come alive either right before or after the Olympic break...Februaryish...I think he'll still struggle for awhile but as we get more guys back and he gets his timing and game together, he'll start scoring goals.

I don't get how people can be too upset about these games lately. We're still winning more often than not and we're not getting blown out and that's with a roster that looks ready to play a pre-season game. This is half-Red Wings and they're playing pretty well all things considered. Short summer, lots of new guys, lots of young guys and lots of injuries. I'm not worried, not concerned, not down. If anything I'm encouraged because we should be looking a lot worse when you consider all that we're up against right now.

No matter what the reality of the, umm, thought, was, this analysis is priceless. Succinct.

I guess Osgood couldn't fight fate there...

Snap Leino! Snap!

It's really, really strange looking at the roster tonight. If I didn't know any better I'd think it was a preseason game with all the regulars missing... But I'm cool with it.

I don't think they were ever gone. It was October for crying out loud. It's not like we went through 3 years of missing the playoffs and putting up a sub-.500 record. We had 3-4 weeks of crap most likely due to the fact that so many new guys came in and things weren't quite gelling right off the bat. So what? It's October. The were never gone.

Yep. I've got plenty of questions about Howard going back awhile, but none the less, you've got to give the guy a legitimate shot to see what he can do in the NHL as a full-time guy. That's why I think this Osgood illness is good timing. I mean, we're winning games with Howard and plenty of other injuries. Say what you want about his play here and there (I'm fine with it and I've been impressed more than a few times) but it's good that we're still winning with Howard AND all the injuries. That's a real good sign that he'll at the very least pan out as a backup. Obviously it's still early, but I've really got no complaints at this point and still say keep giving him the opportunity to answer all of our questions. He's earned it so far.

I'm not saying this to bash Osgood as that's not what I do, but all things considered, I'm glad Howard's getting a chance early on to carry the team for awhile and win some games. The more he plays, the better in my mind if only to see if he'll be able to handle the backup role at the NHL level.

Lilja did something to change his game for certain. He was strong in the '07 playoffs despite some glaring mistakes but really came on in 2008. And more in regards to what Crymson said, we're not talking Lidstrom-like impact here...I don't think anyone expects a HUGE impact when he returns, but you completely missed the player he became if you think he's going to come back and only play as well as Lebda.

Unfortunately, I doubt this will stop countless overzealous fans from making new threads about all the wonderful trade ideas they conjure up in their free time... On that note, can we sticky this??? Pretty please...???

Well, Illitch should probably sell the team. Trade Lidstrom for Avery. Bring back Probert, Kocur, Grimson, McCarty. Sign up Simon and Domi. Trade Osgood and bring in Belfour. ThAt's a good start. It's November 8.

Lilja's not necessarily out for the year. He's made a lot of progress lately and is going to start pushing harder and taking some hits. The headaches have subsided. I'm not an expert at all, but if he's over the worst of it and can handle full practices in the next couple of weeks, I like to think that he might be back sometime in December. I sure as hell hope so. The sooner, the better.

They aren't saying much and they won't do much because they're in a bind with the cap and the Lilja situation. They can't just whimsically make moves until they figure out if Lilja will be back. They're making progress there. Once Lilja returns, I believe either Meech or Lebda will have to be dealt as was discussed over the summer. They said on multiple occasions that once the lineup was back and healthy, they'd have to move a defenseman. But until then, it doesn't make sense to do so and thus, it doesn't make too much sense to s*** all over these guys in the press either. Lebda's not stupid and don't doubt that Babcock's had some nice "heart to hearts" with him. They're not required to login to LGW and tell us about it. I know it's tough, and I can't stand the guy either, but getting so worked up and spending time conjuring up all sorts of trade ideas is just a waste of time and energy. It'll get worked out soon enough. Lilja will probably be back and someone will be moved. It very well might not be Lebda though, but rest assured, Lebda won't be playing too much so long as we stay healthy once Lilja returns. And he won't be signed up after this season. I'm sorry it's not more exciting than that, but this is probably how it's going to go. You might as well just get over it.

Yeah, honestly, I didn't really mind seeing the Leafs win. I kinda hate to see the Leafs play so poorly. It's a strange thing, but I just feel like some of these old teams, especially the Canadian ones, "need" to be among the better teams in the league. So I'll take the loss. We've played better lately. We didn't tonight. Oh well. I think we missed Eaves energy a bit. Not saying he was the difference, but it'll be good to get him back in the lineup. And I like being able to say that. I think he's going to keep getting better and better as this season goes on especially now that he's got such a wide open opportunity. He's got the skills to make it happen and there's never been a better time or a better place to overcome the past few years it seems. I'm really rooting for him.