gcom007

This will only be possible if Mrazek is night and day better than Howard, which is very unlikely. I think it's far more likely that it'll happen in the following season, or perhaps over the summer if the deal is good enough. Mrazek would have to be playing Vezina-level though next year to make a case for trading Howard before next years deadline. I just don't see that happening.

Mrazek is not getting traded. If anyone goes, it'll be Howard in the next couple years if Mrazek proves capable of becoming the starter. And even that has more to do with cap implications than anything and the fact the Howard would be our best trade asset we've had in awhile. But for now, come on, yes, absolutely Howard is our playoff goalie. He still has something to prove in the playoffs for sure, but it's kneejerk as ever to think he's not capable of rising to the challenge this year.

Good read. Some interesting thoughts on Datsyuk and so-called "four or five Datsyuks" in the KHL that never got their shot. In any event though, I'm always fascinated to read more about those old Red Army teams.

I just want to say I don't care if it's another loss against a top team. That was a close ******* game. I'm still happy with this team. Howard, in just his second game back from injury, held a top team to no goals for over 57 minutes. This was a close game that could've easily gone either way. I'm not worried about this team and am still thoroughly excited about this team's chances in the playoffs.

I thought at one point there was maybe a 10-20% chance he'd leave, maybe 50-50 if I was being really, really, really generous to pessimism, but at this point, I think it's 100% that Babcock is staying.

Nice little hockey game. Good to see Petr bouncing back from a rough patch of games. The kid's looking like he's capable of being a real good goalie. A bit more growth, some work on them rebounds, and general mental toughness, and it'll be exciting times indeed.

Wings can't beat any good Eastern teams. Mrazek is the worst.

Did you miss the part where I said "I'll give all the credit in the world to Holland and his team for great drafting and development"? But yes, I would say that our current success on many levels boils down to luck, though by my definition, on many levels, you make your own luck. We help our chances of getting lucky by having good drafting and more importantly, good development. But if we're being reasonable, we have to admit that the kids are playing a lot better than what could reasonably have been expected of them. It wasn't expected that they'd be this good, not just by outsiders, but even internally in many cases. Hence, why Holland has tried so hard for some time now to change the look of this team in the off-season. Again, my point is that if Holland had accomplished some of the things he's set out to do the last few years, this team would not look like they do right now. This team is not part of Holland's master plan. When Holland has been successful at accomplishing more to directly shape the look of this team lately, it has not gone well at all. I'm not trying to s*** on him, and again, all credit in the world to he and his team when it comes to drafting and development, but I'm not about to start praising him after five years of his continually dropping the ball in free agency. If anyone's truly lucky, it's him. Had these kids not turned out as well as they seem to be, which was absolutely a very real possibility, this team would be in a lot of trouble. And to be fair, even our current luck with the kids is a tenuous situation; we've seen guys start out great and disappear before. If the team flounders again in the playoffs and some of our kids don't get off to such a great start next year, will you still be so peachy on the whole situation? I don't think so. I'm not saying I want that or even think it's going to happen, and if you've followed any of my posts this year, you'd know I'm pretty high on this team right now and optimistic about the future. But I've been around long enough to know that when it comes to young players, a lot can change in a short time.

I don't necessarily agree with the idea of trading certain people, but I am always amused by how easily people forget what Holland has tried to do again and again over the last several years. When he fails to do what he is attempting to do, we ended up signing a lot of s***. Then when the s*** breaks down, our prospects get called up and prove themselves. Suddenly Holland is a genius who knew what he had in Grand Rapids and that's why he stood pat. Wait, what? If Holland had accomplished some of the things he's tried to accomplish over the last few years in free agency, this team would look very different. Based on what he did accomplish in free agency, it's reasonable to say we're probably lucky Holland struck out more often than not. The kids are legit, and I'll give all the credit in the world to Holland and his team for great drafting and development. But Holland tried hard to do something that would give this team a very, very different look than they have now. Maybe it would've worked out, and maybe not, but it is absurd to suggest that this was the plan all along and Holland knew what he was doing.

Mind-blowing to me how people could get worked up about this team based on a game when your AHL goalie has a meltdown night and plays terrible. Also mind-blowing how much flack Mrazek is getting for it. This is what I hate about call ups, especially extended ones. There's the upside of them getting some real experience, but it has a tendency of coloring people's perceptions of a player unfairly. I still expect Mrazek to be with the Wings full time next season and to come out of camp in a backup role looking great. And I'm most certainly not scared of literally any team in this league because of a silly game like this.

Has anything from actual sources suggested his career could be cut short or is it just speculation from fans? I haven't followed this closely, but I also haven't heard anything remotely official about this, and I would've thought that'd be a little bit bigger news around here if true.

We've gotten points in a lot of those games, so I wouldn't say we're as mismatched as you are trying to suggest. We played a terrible game against Boston the end of December, but other than that, it's been tight. A win and another shootout loss. Islanders beat us once in a 2-1 game. We've been beat by Montreal once good and went to a shootout and lost another time. Tampa Bay tore us up tonight because Mrazek frizted out; the previous game was another shootout loss. While I'd like to win shootouts, I don't judge the team on their overall hockey game when they lose them. They were tight matches against good teams and we lost in a talent show. Silliness. We were in this game tonight until Mrazek, a goalie that's supposed to be solidifying his pro-game in the AHL before coming up next year to play in the backup role, lost his ability to stop a shot. It's no big thing to sweat. Mrazek will bounce back and grow from this and the Wings will be fine. I'd like to see some more wins against better teams as the year goes on, but based on what we've seen this team do, I believe without a doubt that we'll rack up some important wins down the stretch.

I think Mrazek could use a game off to think, and McCollum has been good when coming in. It'll be interesting to see what they do. My gut tells me Mrazek will get the go though. He was almost so bad tonight that you have to give him another shot soon. He hasn't been great the last few games, but tonight was a total mental collapse. You'd think it has to go up from here, but he might need a game to sit and think about it.

I think he's clearly letting his head get in the way. Sometimes goals sneak through on even NHL starters, but the guy has had a few rough starts in a row, gets scored on early tonight, and then gives up another weaker goal, and then he really crumbled. It's senseless trying to defend him on the goals; he should be making those saves. But what's more important to me is that we know he's definitely capable of making those saves. This is a tough test for a 22 year old AHL goalie to be going through, and I think tonight we really saw him hit a low point where everything has clearly gotten to his head and affected his ability to perform. I think last few games, while certainly not great, were significantly better efforts than what we saw from him tonight. Tonight, he fell apart. Hopefully this is the low point and he starts bouncing back. The coaches and team will be on it, so I'm hoping and expecting him to start picking it up again after tonight.

Oh no, one bad game against another top team and it's time to lose our s*** again! Come on... Not saying the team has been great, but Mrazek has been utterly lousy tonight. That's why this game is so lopsided. What can you do? We've seen this team play great and find ways to win consistently enough this season to justify the belief that they're a top team this year. They've even found ways to win games where their AHL goalie, who's playing because their 1 and 2 goalies are injured, started skidding out on the learning curve. So we're really going to s*** on them tonight? Last few years, I'd get it. It was true. This year, it's not. I know it's been awhile since we've been a legitimate top team, but it's time to learn to roll with a few punches again. Games like this happen to the best of teams once in awhile, even with their starting goalie. We'll be fine.

He never played consistently last season so it's really tough to compare the two. Guys come up and have a solid game running on adrenaline, but it's almost always a flash in the pan. You can't get too up or down on a guy based on what he does on a random call up. And I'm not going to suggest that Mrazek has been good the last four games because he hasn't, but I'm not going to hold it against him. He shouldn't be here right now. He should be in the AHL. But as said, I think it's good that he's getting this experience because it's going to push him all the harder. Next year he's likely going to come in and play backup, and he'll get a lot of opportunities to prove himself. If he keeps growing and keeps pushing and cleans up some of the problem areas in his game, he'll do well in that role. He's got the skill set and potential to go toe and toe with Howard in the next couple years. A rough stretch on this extended call up is not going to change my mind about that.

It's annoying as hell to me that Mrazek is going through this, but as I've said before, long-run, this is a good thing. Like many others, I believe Mrazek has a ton of potential to be a great NHL goalie, but as I've said time and time again about young prospects, your ability to be successful in this league will boil down to your ability to continue growing and continue pushing yourself to work harder and harder, even if you're already playing in the NHL. Mrazek is young and clearly still has some issues to sort out in his game, but the sooner he sees how hard he's going to have to work and how good he is going to have to be on a consistent basis to be an NHL regular, the better. Mrazek is a confident guy who loves to play, so I believe he'll do what it takes to elevate his game. This is the kind of opportunity and test that's likely to inspire him to work harder than he would've otherwise this offseason to come into training camp an NHL-level goalie. Rough as it is to watch, I think this is a blessing in disguise for Mrazek. And thankfully, we've found ways to win despite his struggles. This game's not over yet...

Very fair points.

Seriously. It doesn't even register that he's missing. I'm not trying to be an over the top ass in saying that. I mean that in the most general way possible. It doesn't even occur to me that he's missing watching the games lately. Barely make the playoffs? We weren't expected to make the playoffs by most if my memory serves me correctly. But to be fair, we are operating in best case scenario mode right now when it comes to how our young guys are playing. It easily could've gone the other way, and even in the coming years, some of the guys that look like studs now could drop off fast. It's really tough to tell with young players adjusting to the NHL. But thus far, it's been golden, and they're giving us reason to believe they're the real deal and won't drop off, so I'm pretty ******* excited about this team. I don't disagree, but good teams find ways to win even when they aren't firing on all cylinders. That's what I like most about this team this year. Last year we found ways to lose games like the last few all the time. It was terrible and that's why we barely made the playoffs. The team this year has not always looked stellar, but again, they're still finding ways to win games, and that's the mark of a good team.

Wow, guy, wow.

A little too much transition trouble this season. Nothing to worry about long run, but I'm expecting his Detroit debut to come next year.

I genuinely forget that he's on the team whether he's playing or not half the time. It's kinda sad. Have they said anything about this injury other than "upper body injury"?

I largely agree about the general level of quality of their play, but Howard's still got something to prove in the playoffs. At 25, Osgood was the starter for a Cup winning team and had racked up more playoff wins than Howard has at 30. Howard didn't even make the team until he was 25. I'm generally a supporter of Jimmy Howard and like him and his attitude a lot, but he still has something to prove in the playoffs. He's been spotty thus far; at times he's been excellent, and at times he has looked average at best. This wouldn't be such a big deal to me at least except for the fact that we have all seen what he's capable of at his best. Even in his best playoff runs thus far, I don't think he's approached the level of play we've seen from him numerous times in the regular season. Again, we've seen what he can do. He's obviously capable of being a great goalie based on what he's shown during stretches of the regular season. But he's got to find a way to elevate his game to his regular season level at the right moment. That's what great goalies do. He was mostly great in 2013, but team wasn't ready and the defense didn't help him enough. These next couple of years though, he's going to have a team in front of him that has what it takes to make some serious playoff noise. There's never been a better time for him to find his A-Game when it matters most. If Howard plays like we know he's capable of and the team around him doesn't shut down, we will absolutely be in the hunt for a Cup this year or next, I have no doubt about it.

I don't think as many people are s***ting on Jimmy as you suggest. I think Mrazek has the potential to take over the starting job in the next couple years, but it doesn't mean I think Jimmy as anything short of a very good and at times great goalie, and most certainly well above average at just about all times. I do think he has flaws working against him, like any player does, though one of his is playoff performance. Thus far, he's yet to play as well in the playoffs as we've seen him play in the regular season, and while not all bad, there have been some rough outings for him in the big show. If he loses the job to Mrazek, my guess is that's going to be why. But he could also solidify his status by having playoff success this year or next. He and the team are capable of it at this point, and thankfully, there are no shootouts in the playoffs. Don't think for a second that I won't be rooting for him. But also in Mrazek's defense, we've seen a lot more of him at a earlier point in time in his development than we saw of Jimmy. Jimmy was not exactly in the best of shape earlier on, and didn't make the team as a backup until they were out of options for him. And even at that point, three years older than where Mrazek is at now, he had quite a few glaring flaws in his game he still had to work out. And he's never fully worked out his mediocre and at times piss-poor puck handling. And to be fair, Howard, even much further into his career than Mrazek, had a season where 3rd period meltdowns became a semi-regular occurrence just last year. Mrazek clearly has a lot of room for growth and improvement, but there's a lot of potential there and he seems to have the right attitude about it all. Again, I do think at some point in the near future there will be a battle for that number one spot between Mrazek and Howard, but it's a very good problem to have, as Howard is at the very least a very good goalie, so if Mrazek ends up being better, then we are in a great spot indeed.

I've got no problem with Mrazek having some troubles early on like this. The kid needs to know how hard he still has to work to be a day in and day out goalie in the NHL. I'd rather him have an up and down start than a great start where the growing pains come later. It's just a huge plus that in the couple rougher outings thus far, we've still manage to walk away with wins one way or another.