gcom007

Anyone know Osgood's lifetime winning percentage? I'm about to jet so I'm not going to figure it out now. I bet even the Islanders/Blues years will be consistent and show strongly for Osgood. And I bet he'll smoke 90% of the active goalies right now in the area as well. I like that stat. What active goalie has the most Cups? Brodeur? Who's next?

Furthermore, Dats battled injuries in the playoffs for a couple of years. And he just keeps getting better every year in every way. He's shooting more and scoring more but getting even more assists along the way too. I don't even think we've seen the end of it. I think we've got a 2-3 solid years of Dats continuing to elevate his game to a higher level. I don't see that happening with Z, especially if he continues to struggle with the minor back issues. They won't devestate his play by any means, but they're not going to help it.

I don't know how Chelios will hold up in the playoffs, but if he can play smart and compensate for any potential liablities he brings consistently, he's the 6th guy you want out there. I think Lebda needs to go. He's just not going to cut it after this year. Not a smart player and way too inconsistent.

I've been saying this for a long, long while now. Hell, I would've given him the Conn Smythe last year. For me it was Dats, Osgood and then Zetterberg. He's just outstanding in every way. Z is great, no doubt about it, but Dats is the better player and certainly the more consistent and independently great player.

And deep down though, I'm thinking Hossa signs and buys into the system at a great price and Franzen walks. Hudler and Sammy stay. More young guys come up. It would hurt us to lose Franzen, but we've got some young guys that can play and they'll only get better and the reality is Hossa is a better all-around player than Franzen. Hossa's complete. He's as good on D as he is scoring goals and I'm still convinced he works harder than anyone out there. It's great for the young guys to see a star hustle like he does and on a cheap contract at that.

I didn't read to see if it's been said, but given the nature of the situation, waiting 'til June seems wise to me. I half-wonder if this is just a purposeful stall. I wouldn't be shocked if contracts were already in place and agreed upon. The thing is, if they sign both guys, and I'm thinking they will, some guys know they're out. I don't think anyone wants that distraction in the playoffs. Letting the team just focus on the playoffs moving forward is the best move if you ask me. No distractions. Save the rest for the post-season.

Like I said, Osgood is fine and in good form. He stunk it up a couple nights ago, but he's been looking more like the goalie that has won Cups for us for awhile now. One game doesn't throw that off, nor does this season in general. I've thought all along that he'll be fine when it really counts and I stand by that. You can quote me on it in June. Osgood's never been as great as some, but he's never been that bad either historically. He's been a fairly consistent goalie. He's never been a stand on your head guy. He's never needed to be here though. He's steady and gives teams a chance to win and can come up with a great game when you need it most. Again, let's not forget what he did on the dreadful Islanders back in the day. He took a crap team and carried them to the playoffs. He knows how to win. And everyone talks about the overtime goal in the semi's in '98 but no one talks about the shutout the next game to win the series. I've read and heard more Osgood bashing through the years than I care to recall, but at the end of the day, we've never lost a round in the playoffs because of him. There's never been a playoff series that we lost because Chris Osgood sucked. We've only lost when the team as a whole breaks down and we fail to put up more than a goal (if that) a game. The only goalie in the last 15 years on the Wings who made a major contribution to a playoff series loss was none other than everyone's favorite lifetime-backup Manny Legace. That's it. Every other goalie we've had in net has given us a chance to win, some more than others, like Cujo before the lockout when he was our best player after Manny flaked out after a horrendous season which found him shunned to the minors earlier in the season when Hasek unretired. Bottom line: 95% of the fans that run their mouths can't pick a goalie to save their lives. The only logical conclusion to me is that about 50-60% of the fans don't have a deep enough understanding of the game nor of the recent history of the team to understand what it takes for us to win and lose when it counts. The other 35% just need something to complain about for the sake of banter. And 5% see the situation for what it is and get frustrated at the other fickle fans. In any event, I'm not worried. We'll be fine. Save it for June.

Something like: Did Conklin's game tonight muddy the waters at all with the goaltending? Babcock: No, I don't think so one bit. I'm gonna go right back with Ozzie against the Islanders.

Yawn.

This is the kinda thing scaring me lately. This is probably irrational as I know we've scored a few goals here and there lately, but I feel like we're having more than a few games where we're struggling to put the puck in the net despite the fact that we have the best offense in the league. Troubling...

Even if we don't win I'm quite confident that it won't have anything to do with Osgood. We'll lose if our D breaks down or if we forget how to score. We will not lose because our goalie is letting in too many goals. No way. Plus, I think Osgood's got his game back and will only be better come playoff time. Last night looked fluky to me in every way. They were all on him and they were soft, but they were odd goals. They weren't like earlier in the season when he was just playing tentative and out of position. I don't know what was up, but I'm not worried about it at all. He's been looking more like himself for awhile now and that goalie has won 2 Cups on his own and has won a lot of games. I've been watching Osgood every season since his rookie year. I've seen every bit with the Wings and followed him a bit even on the Islanders and the Blues. I've seen him start hundreds of games. I've heard it all and seen it all and one thing is wholly and completely clear to me: when it counts, Osgood will not be the liability. It hasn't happened yet and I don't think it will anytime soon. I'm not worried at all about Osgood, the playoff starter.

Yikes.

Some of y'all are just ridiculous. Ozzie's fine and will be fine. You can quote me on that in June.

And then Osgood again at home after that...

Murph said it best right there. Loosy goosy in the 3rd but it happens in games like this. The fact that it was a "game like this" where we just totally outplayed them for a win in 2 periods is nice though. Can't really complain. I'm really happy with a lot of the things happening in this game. Great Hudler goal that I'm sure will get him going again at a good time. Osgood was great. Hossa looked like he's all the way back and once again hustled his ass off. D was pretty tight. Solid game. Bring on the playoffs!

Nothing to be pissed about, but they looked a bit lax in general in the 3rd at times. It was like they were playing for the shutout and when it broke, they just got lazy and said oh well, still gonna win...whatever. I'm not worried. The D and Osgood looked great when it mattered tonight and we put in 6 goals. Nothing to worry about from this one. Hossa hustles.

Oh Sammy...it seemed to me like both he and Babcock were trying their best not to crack up there...

I'm a little worried about this one. I feel like this is a game they don't show up for if they're still at all suffering from that headspace...if so, it could be ugly. But hopefully they're over that and do what's necessary to get the W.

I'm certainly not surprised, not only with the fact that he's lined up to be the guy but that he's getting back to his game. There were just no other reasons besides sloppy D and focus issues. You don't lose your game that fast and Osgood's style in general is not one that will be affected by age so much as the more acrobatic Hasek was. Osgood never moves a ton or plays with a lot of flash. He's got the mental game down cold though and tends to be in the right place. So there's just no way his game disappears because of age or whatever else people threw out. He just needed to deal with a few things and the D had to start giving him a hand. Low and behold, he's looking solid again. And again, I'm not surprised. I've been saying it for months. No goalie wins as much as he's won by accident; even on stacked teams. We're going to be in good shape heading into the playoffs so long as we stay relatively healthy.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, since Osgood's mental breather, when he's had half a team in front of him he's been fine. Those 8 goal games he and Conks dealt with were not games that you can blame on the goalies. Sorry. You just can't. Osgood's looked better in a lot of ways in every game back that he's had a fighting chance in. And there's no better time for this to be happening. You kinda hate to see Conks struggling a bit lately after a season like this, but Osgood's the starter and him playing well and eliminating doubt over who's the clear starter is the best mental situation for all parties involved, including us, and we'd do damn well to get behind the guy now. If you don't think it helps when you know the team AND the city has your back, you're kidding yourself. These guys are still human. Here's an interesting read that I think holds some relevance to this situation. My take from it: support the starter no matter who it is!!!!!!!! Right now it's Osgood. He's on the up. Get behind him. Malcom Gladwell: The Art of Failure http://www.gladwell.com/2000/2000_08_21_a_choking.htm

Goalies goalies goalies. Y'all still crying about goalies are mother*ucking crazy. This TEAM, including 18 other guys without pads especially 6 called defensemen have no idea how to win a game. They are so bad. Get the hell over this goalie s***. As average-mediocre as our goalies have been with like tiny ass salaries and all, the SKATERS have been far worse and it doesn't matter who we have in net if they don't get their s*** together. Get a clue. This is just pathetic. None of the scores in these games would be changed if we had Luongo. Maybe different goals scored at different times, but the scores the same. You can't play so sloppy and expect to win. No way. This loss is more embarrassing than the last 2 Saturday nights. And I love my Blackberry. I can rant on a message board anywhere!

They deserved to lose this. Letting them back in in the last 3 minutes?!?!?! Insane. Everyone at Dragonmead probably thinks I'm insane right now.

I'm half-thinking Zetterberg and/or Datsyuk are hurting a bit. They just seem uncharacteristically weak lately and we know those guys aren't slackers. I'm really glad Ericcson having some success. I hope he earns a spot on the roster for the playoffs. It'd be nice to have another big body out there who worked his ass off for a spot. I'm sure Lids is hurting more than he's letting on and even though he's still mostly fine, I think he'll be as great as ever in playoffs when it counts like Yzerman always was. And generally, if our defense can't learn to cycle and control the puck again, it will be tough to get things going in their zone. I didn't watch the game, but even if we won this one 5-0 like last week against St. Louis, I feel like they're talking this up too much. Phoenix??? Depleted Phoenix at that. No playoff chance pathetic Phoenix and they have to go to OT to get a 3-2 win? I ain't trying to be a downer at all about a win, but it seems premature to talking anything too far up either.

Watching the recap now. Nice early goal. Way to build on it. Defense looked cluster-effed as usual on the first goal. Ericcson decided to be the goalie and the defense tonight in the 3rd? At least we got someone defending our net........ Good thing Refalski scored that. He owes a few after that last game. 2nd goal looked weird. They only showed 1 angle and it got deflected and power play. But did the D look as aloof on the play as they did in the clip? And Conklin seemed a little, surprised maybe? Don't know what to say. While most default to blaming the goalie or Osgood, somehow I'm betting the defense did something to lead up to the play the way this seasons gone... But hey, nice Franzen goal!!!

From what I'm reading, sounds like another crappy game. Didn't the Coyotes trade away half their roster a week ago too? I saw the score on the Blackberry update and I was thinking, "hmmm, not much of a comeback game against a team like Phoenix..."