gcom007

I have no words that accurately reflect my frustration with this team at this point. Unbelievable.

I wouldn't blame him, but I think he'll finish out his contract and retire. This rumor comes around every year. I seem to remember him not addressing it the last few times either. This year or next though, the sad reality is that time is ticking for us to witness the great talent that is Pavel Datsyuk wearing the winged wheel, and that is the saddest hockey thought I've had since it was near the end of Stevie's career. I don't say that to slight Lidstrom, but it's just a different sort of magic Pavel could conjure that no one will soon be able to do again.

What's sad is how many times I've seriously considered how true that statement is. People actually think that? All of the lolz abound. Like the guy or not, that's the silliest thought ever in the context of the Detroit Red Wings.

Ha. I was just thinking yesterday that it feels like that birthday hangover never ended. But neither goalie has gotten help from this abysmal defense we employ.

Mrazek will be an RFA, not UFA, so our likelihood of losing him is slim to none. I do think Howard is gone in the off-season, especially if the cap goes down. I don't see any way we can carry $9 million in goalies if the cap goes down, all the more so when you consider that Mrazek generally has been getting the brunt of the starts. You can't pay a guy $5 million to start maybe 20 games next year. And do we really think Howard will be content to stay as a backup at this point? If he is, then I don't know what that says about his confidence as a starter. If he believes he should be starting and Mrazek remains on this team, he's going to want out.

Mrazek is definitely off lately and Howard has looked better last few games, so he should and likely will get some more starts right now. Given that Mrazek is such an athletic goalie, I wouldn't be shocked at all if his groin tweak isn't affecting him right now. You've got to fully trust your body to play like he does, and if he's not 100% on that front right now, it's hard to imagine it not affecting his game. Give him a bit more rest right now to get it straight and get him going down the final stretch and I think he'll be fine come playoff time.

The better Howard finishes, the easier he'll be to move this summer. Even those who don't like him should be cheering for him right now.

One more game off won't hurt and Howard's had two great starts in a row. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

DATSYUK!!! I think Nyquist dove, but I'll take it. Really, really not a fan of Nyquist's embellishment. Howard was fantastic tonight. Good to see him string a couple of solid starts together. Something good to build on.

Holy rebounds batman.

Didn't Howard play well in his last outing? Hopefully he can build on that. And hopefully this is just playing it safe with Mrazek. Our only hope of making noise in the playoffs is if we have Mrazek playing like he's been playing for most of 2016 thus far.

Yeah, I really hope we can work out a way for those of us that have fled from the D to watch this.

Why is tomorrow's game so early?

I really miss Eaves. I tend to think he could've been a lot better here if not for the injury issues.

Petr sitting on top of save % and GAA this morning. No way he's not in the Vezina conversation if he keeps this up.

I don't know how anyone can not be cheering for this guy right now. I'm absolutely thrilled this went so well for him given everything that's happened. It may have been a silly situation, but he made the best of it, and in the end, it couldn't have ended more perfectly.

I really have a sneaking suspicion that he'll end up in Buffalo at some point. It's one of the few places that seems to make sense for both parties. Be that as it may, it'll likely end up being something none of us even considered...

I expect he'll get around 4. But I don't think there's a chance we'll go into next season with over $9 million on the books just for goalie, especially considering one of those goalies seems to barely even play anymore.

He'll get traded, but a decent return might be a 3rd round pick and us retaining some salary.

Holland's not going to have a problem signing Mrazek. He's going to get paid, as he should. Howard's contract is going to have nothing to do with it. At this point, I'm betting they move Howard the first decent chance they get. Might not the deadline, but I don't think Holland will hang onto Howard because of his value to this team at this point. He's gotta shed $5 million in goalie money and hopefully get something halfway decent back. Whenever he can do that, I think he will.

Who knows the truth on this, but in any event, that was such a bummer. I would've loved to have seen Feds finish his career as a Wing.

The nature of this thread needs to change. The battle with Howard is over. Mrazek's now battling for something else. His numbers are climbing every game, and he is playing about as close to lights out goal as you can. If he keeps this up, he's going to be leading the league in save percentage soon, and he stands to creep up on Holtby and Bishop in GAA soon as well. If he keeps up this play and keeps getting the majority of the starts, he stands to be neck and neck with Holtby for Vezina by the end of the season. We are the luckiest.

Despicable. Joke or not, whether he "belongs" or not, the way that the NHL, Phoenix, and Montreal handled this situation is nothing short of despicable. I will go out of my way to not watch the game at this point.

If there's one thing I think Holland has absolutely excelled at over the years, it's finding good backup goalies. Whenever he has to swing it, I imagine we'll be in good shape.

Mrazek's done a bit more than win three games...