gcom007

I'd love to see him work his ass off like mad and come in like a Joe Kocur for us. He brings a lot to the table and the momentum of having him back in the room on the ice would be big for some of the guys and especially the fans, and given how lackluster that arena has been this year, the boys could use the noise. It means more than the stat-munchers are willing to admit. I was never a fan of his when he was here, but I've missed him since he's been gone. Odd how that works. Again, I would absolutely love to see him leave it all on the ice and earn a spot on the squad and make a difference. This is the kind of thing that makes championship years memorable...

True story.

I thought I'd say, I thought we might lose this game beforehand for no reason other than that we were more or less due for a loss, Osgood definitely was due for a loss and the Blues were due for a win plus the game a night before...so I wasn't surprised.

I think the brass raising a fuss about it is more about trying to minimize this kind of crap in the future. I think they just want a level playing field. There's no way the NHL can ignore there point on that one and it did cause a loss to some extent so I think they're just trying to raise noise so some calls are made to keep it fair. Good call on their part. "Other factors" will certainly apply and that's fine. I've got no beef with it. I'd love to see Ozzy go in the playoffs, but I wouldn't want anything to change rotation-wise to accommodate that until at least the trade deadline so for now, keep it simple and run the working rotation. Give Hasek his shot and keep them both fresh and ready. There's nothing to lose when the team in front of both of them plays so well.

Osgood played well last game. Nothing to make up really. You can't win them all. He'll get his chance when it's his turn. Again, I'm all for a straight rotation for the most part. Is it me, or have the tables turned? I thought I was supposed to be the one saying start Osgood?

I'm full of it? I didn't say Osgood was amazing last night. I frankly said that I don't think he was. I thought he played well enough to win and quite good, but amazing would be him letting in one goal and stealing the game. He's had plenty of games this year where he racked up great numbers because he had very little to do. I have readily stated that and will continue to. However, in the same breath, he's played great under a lot of adversity, stolen games and consistently put up really great numbers no matter when he plays, who he plays and how the team in front of him plays. He hasn't had any semblance of a weak game yet. I thought his weakest moment came last night after the 3rd goal and you still can't say he played anything but a solid game. Hasek on the other hand hasn't been so consistent. He let in 3 goals in those first 3 games back but 2 especially were completely bunk games. I'm not saying it was bad, but his play wasn't quite as hot considering what he had to face after that wasn't much tougher. He's let in quite a few soft goals that he should stop. The reality of the matter is that just about any goalie should be putting up great numbers when you've got the Red Wings skaters in front of you. While this does neutralize Osgood's stats somewhat, it also doesn't say much for the fact that Hasek has put up descent/average numbers and efforts at best since he "returned." I'm not saying Osgood has been "uber lollerz like amazing whoa roflmao!" I'm not Mickey Redmond. Look back in these threads and you'll see that I rarely if ever make comments like "great save Osgood!" even when he makes great saves. Again, I'll say it, he should. That's his job and this team makes it easier on the goalies than any other team in the league more often than not. More often than not he's just done his job, but there's been more than a few occasions where his play was nothing short of outstanding and he stole games. All the while, no bad games. You simply cannot say that about Hasek. You can say he's improved. He has. But you have to admit he's played some bad games whether his team hung him out to dry or not. You should be saying he played as bad as the rest of the team on those nights because he didn't do anything to help matters whereas on similar nights Osgood has stolen games and kept us in. In fact, I don't think you can say that Hasek has played one outstanding game yet. I'm not saying it's been all bad, but he hasn't been a standout in any game and again, in those games when he could be a standout, he played as mediocre as everyone else on the Wings. Again, to be far too redundant, I'm not saying he sucks. He doesn't. He's improved. But you can't in your right mind say he's played great for anything more than brief moments this year...just flashes of brilliance between average and sometimes even mediocre play. You don't have to like Osgood and you're correct in recognizing that his numbers are somewhat padded by the team he's on, but so are Hasek's this year which aren't remotely as good. Not to mention the countless other great goalies on great teams in the past. The fact is, game in and game out, Osgood's gotten it done. No bad games. Great stats. Stolen games. Osgood has done his job about as flawlessly as one reasonably can this year. Hasek hasn't. Osgood's play is not always as brilliant as some make it out to be, but it hasn't had to be. He gets the job done, again, about as flawlessly as possible. And again, Hasek has not. Anything but. Bottom line. Time out on the goalies for a second, I think the biggest thing we learned from this game is that if you play us physical, we have the potential of losing our composure like last night. That's worrisome. Granted, Maltby and Downey weren't in the lineup and they add some more grit to the equation, last's night game raises some eyebrows about what we might need to add come the trade deadline.

What worries me more is that you seem to be taking a sarcastic comment made by someone seriously.

Except Holmstrom doesn't actually interfere with anyone.

I did say that I think Hasek would've played worse and I do believe it to some extent, but I never would've said it if an equally absurd statement hadn't been said first. Hasek has to take one for the team on that one. That's one of those "balancing act" statements used only to, you guessed it, "raise feathers." Like I said, there's an element of truth to it in my mind, but not a truth I would contemplate much let alone post if something stupid wasn't said to start.

I think they realize how ridiculous they are. I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me when I and others just make stupid comments to raise some feathers. It happens a lot with the goalies because it's an easy target. Posts and reality are two different things and (at least I hope...) that many of the people from both sides of the goalie camp are just, well, flamboyant about it on the boards... and my name is Elliot, but it's cool to be called 007...just what I've always wanted.....

No, I would've said the same things I said about Osgood. edit: but I bet if I said Hasek looked frazzled you would've said I was just hating!

The first 3 of those games barely qualify as games though. He didn't even have to be mediocre to put up great numbers in those games. Again, stats don't tell the whole story. I ain't knocking either, just saying, I don't think Hasek has played any better than average at all this season. You see that in looking at the goals he gives up, how he plays against what teams, the intensity of the games, etc. You don't see that just looking at stats, but coincidentally, the stats tend to line up with the statement. He's struggled to stay above a .900 sv% in most of the games he's played even since he's "returned." He's getting wins and playing descent, but look at the team in front of him and the teams he's facing and how colossally shut down some of those teams have been before you put too much stock in your first statement. As for Dom playing, I don't really argue with that. I've been a staunch supporter of the alternating rotation with 2 in a row for each goalie here and there. I'm all for giving Dom every opportunity to prove himself. For the sake of discussion though, it'd be nice if people looked at the situation objectively though. Like someone else said, the bar's been set so low for him that "average" and "descent" seem to translate to "great" and "Dominator." I'm sorry, but there's just no way you can reasonably say that yet at all and I honestly don't think you'll be able to ever again either. I hope I'm wrong because he can be the best, but I don't think the less than stellar play is a fluke or a slump unfortunately...and age is real. The hype train.

Sitting Osgood wasn't the issue and he hasn't cooled off. He still played a solid game. None of the goals scored against him were soft at all and if they called back the one goal like it should've been, it's 2 GA on 24 shots and everyone who can't get past stats thinks he's the best ever again. I mean, stats are a big part of it, more than some admit here, but not the whole. I'm just saying, I don't think there's anything to worry about with Osgood, you can't blame him for the loss and I definitely don't think it had jack squat to do with him sitting 2 games in a row. He sat 3 in a row and came back and played one of his best games of the season last week.

I think my watch must be broken. Is it still 2001? Oh wait. Stats don't tell the whole story. I'm not saying he played amazing, but he kept us in the game with some big saves early and the whole way through for that matter and he got some bunk plays. You can't really fault him tonight. There's a reason why everyone was giving him plenty of praise. My only critique was how frazzled he got after that 3rd goal. Granted, it was a bulls*** call, I don't like seeing him lose composure like that seeing as he's usually so steady. But hey, if you want to trade him, that's cool. Have fun with Hasek. He could've played his best game of the year and if it was at all similar to his previous games thus far, they probably would've had 5-6 goals against us. That's why there's no way in hell they're getting rid of Osgood and why he'll probably be re-signed to a multi-year deal as the starter before the regular season ends.

Ugh...on so many levels...

Yeah, I'm not happy with our composure in this game. It's cause for concern giving the physical nature of the game, but as a team, they just haven't kept their cool amidst some stupid plays and bulls*** calls. Even Osgood has looked frazzled...

These refs suck ass like mad. Preach it Mickey. ******* bulls***.

What the crap is going on? I'm really just not happy at all with this game. Slop. Let's hope we can make a pretty play here to send this to OT. I hate losing let alone against Legace...then some dumbf*** interview will pop up where he tries to throw it in our faces...gag me.

What was it? Two goals in the beginning of the season called back when he wasn't even in the crease/interfering at all? Then they let blatant examples go against us. I mean, how cool are these refs? It takes balls to be ****** bags of that magnitude. Bulls***.

I love how consistently objective the interference calls are...that's two in the last few games that I can recall that shouldn't have been goals. Bulls***.

Derek Meech reading Grinch gave me fuzzies but not really.

anytime would be a good time to break this...I don't want to have to do the OT thing again...

Good penalty. and s***. bad penalty. I changed my mind.

I've just had 10 minutes of pure enjoyment watching Gretz get beaten in various manners...I don't really hate the guy or anything like some, but he's such a ***** about things sometimes and a bit of a prick, so it's just humorous. It's so funny how everyone responds too, as in, whoa, someone actually had the audacity to hit the Great One?!?!?!

Flip's looking better and better these days. His confidence is really starting to show and he's starting to step out and take some chances. This is, umm, good? Yes. Great. Loving it.