gcom007

Nice save there. Helm's getting too many penalties lately, deserved or not...

I have no bias towards Osgood or Howard as people or players and I happen to like them both a lot. I've defended both and I've been critical of both and I've got no problem calling either out or anybody for that matter when they're slacking. That said, I don't think you can get on Osgood for any of those goals. Only thing that stops those goals for any goalies is pure luck; there was nothing soft about them.

No, that is absolutely not true. Osgood's job is to be the starter, and he will be the starter down the stretch. Make no mistake of that. And besides that, back-ups play more than Osgood has! But there's a big difference between back-ups and starters. Osgood has been in more of a back-up role this season obviously, but he's a starter and starter's rely on being in a groove and playing with some semblance of consistency. It's the way they're wired. It's why some guys excel in a back-up role and flounder in starting roles. It's a very different mentality and goalie is a position that's almost more mental than it is physical. Gametime...

Then can you explain to me how he's been able to be the best playoff goalie the last couple years?

I still don't think this is relevant until he's gotten the chance to play a couple games in a row. I don't care if it's Osgood or Brodeur, it takes awhile to get going after not playing much at all and when you've got a defensive group giving up breaks like we've been lately, it can be a real ugly situation for a rusty goalie. Howard let in 3 goals in 5 minutes last night. Again, not blaming him, and not saying our goalies shouldn't help us out, but ragging on a rusty Osgood or a burnt out Howard when the guys in front of them aren't helping much doesn't make a ton of sense. And after watching those goals, I'm definitely not going to get pissed at Osgood. Make no mistake, he could do better, but they weren't s*** goals by any means either rusty or not.

I don't know what to say. I didn't even see the damn goals and I don't have DVR on the TV I'm watching on. I literally walked away a couple of times for a minute and multiple goals are scored. Unbelievable. After last night, I'm shocked. Howard wasn't great last night, but I didn't really blame him. The team fell apart. Not sure about Osgood yet as I haven't seen the goals... But wow....no words...

Datsyuk and Lidstrom really suck guys...

Face-offs were really brutal tonight, but I didn't realize just how brutal... Zetterberg - 27% Flip and Helm - 25% Overall we won 40% of the face-offs. Terrible. Brutal.

It has something to do with In 'n Out Burgers, but that's all I know...

Somehow out of all of this, Rafalski was +3. I didn't think he was as bad as some suggested. While he struggled with the puck on the boards, I don't recall any drastic mishaps leading to goals so much as missed offensive opportunities...

I've never been one to rag on Ericsson too much, but I was there, and he was awful. I'm not blaming the loss on him entirely at all, but he was really, really bad. He just looked lost out there so often. It's not even turnovers in my mind. He just seems to have no hockey sense lately. He makes many stupid passes, misses coverage, floats around, doesn't skate hard. Stuart didn't have a good night by any means, but looking at the whole of the game, from where I was seated, Ericsson looked awful. He made Lebda look like a steady, solid defenseman...

Aside from being united by the Wings, I'm glad we can be joyous and excited about a player despite our differences about other players. And yeah, like I said, no matter when he was on the ice, he was doing something real good, making the most of every opportunity. He looked great on the kill tonight.

I'm telling you, no way Z is 100%. And Howard doesn't make it easy on the D with the lack of puck control. The D does need to get guys out on those scrambles, but Howard also needs to be doing a better job of absorbing the puck as opposed to giving up rebounds that a ton of guys end up crashing into. With guys like Ericsson out there especially, Howard needs to control the puck better as chances are if it's anywhere near Ericsson, he's going to miss a guy or make a stupid pass.

Oh, and he also has one of the best attitudes of any of the guys. I love hearing him in interviews as you can just tell he doesn't minimize anything, he just keeps working and working and trying to improve. I LOVE IT!!!

Eaves line is outstanding and I can't say enough about Eaves. Aside from Datsyuk, he was maybe the only other guy who made a difference on every shift in some way. Obviously, he does it in a different way, but he plays a fast, smart, skilled, gritty, two-way game. He does it all, and he does it well and he hustles his ass off. He just looked great out there and that line is without a doubt our hardest working, most energetic line. Datsyuk made his line look great because that's what Datsyuk does, but you can put a lot of guys with him and it'll work out like that. This Eaves, Draper, Helm line is nickname worthy. You can't screw with it. They look great out there. I want Eaves to retire a Wing. Signed and sealed. He has absolutely won me over.

I think it's time, and it's no knock on Howard. The kids done a damn fine job, and it's probably safe to say things are cooling off a bit, but he's got a real bright future. He deserves a chance to relax a bit and focus on some other areas of his game that will make him a better goalie and Osgood needs to get playing. It's a good time to get back into a rotation. But no one can really say s*** about this kid for all he's done thus far. He's really pulled his weight and some and played some great hockey and these losses can't be blamed on him.

Comparing him to Datsyuk (who I practically blew my load over) in our end is real negative and ignoring when he does something great? Really? I think the guy is a weak-ass scoring threat, absolutely. The guy has got s*** for hands 90% of the time. He can pull a great play out of his ass every once in awhile, sure, but so can McCarty. The majority of the time on offense, he's not a threat. But I am more impressed than I was yesterday at his defensive play and I've always been impressed with his defensive play. I think he really excels almost to the level of excellence (as in, Datsyuk level, as in motherf***ing Selke level) in our end. If I just hated the guy, why would I bother even saying that? I'm objective. I'm not emotionally attached enough to any player to not just call it how I see it.

He played much better in the 3rd for sure and had those two good rushes, but the thing is, he just doesn't know what to do with it to finish more often than not. I also noticed tonight that he cherry-picks a lot more than I've ever seen, likely due to camera's. It's amazing how much you don't see watching on TV. But especially through the first two periods, he fumbled so many plays. People were making great plays to him and he'd botch them up. And he seriously falls so damn much. But again, he really can be great in our end. I've said it before and I'm more convinced than ever, Flip needs to be in a role where he doesn't have to worry so much about offense. It's blatantly his weakness whereas defense is a major strength. It's not to anyone's benefit, his or the teams, using him so much up front. It's comical watching this game after the thread saying he should get Datsyuk's minutes because literally, Datsyuk never fails to do something great when he's on the ice. Half the time I think you miss it on TV, but the guy is just unreal every shift in little ways. He creates plays out of no where, steals pucks out of nowhere, gets open out of nowhere and the guy reads the play like Gretzky. He's just sick to watch. Contrasting that with Flip, who again was really great in our end, is just ridiculous. Like I said, he had some good rushes in the 3rd, but he botches things up just as much by either choking up the puck or simply falling. Oh, and the idea that he works as hard as Eaves, Draper or Helm is hogwash, though it's not really a knock on Flip. That line outworked every Wing and most of the Coyotes. They hustle like there's no tomorrow and never give up. I'm not saying Flip's a slacker, but he is not the hardest working guy on the team so long as those three guys are around. Their energy level and intensity is unmatched. Though Datsyuk, gotta say, when he looks like he's coasting, he's just six steps ahead of everyone else as he always winds up with the puck out of nowhere and makes a play. It's unreal. I know he's amazing, but every game I go to it feels like the first time I've ever seen the guy as he is just so mind-blowingly good. He may not look as intense physically as the Eaves/Draper/Helm line, but I'm sure that intensity is boiling in his head. His hockey sense is unparalleled...

No one really said anything about Rafs, though his flubs in keeping the puck in definitely caught a lot of sighs. He wasn't as horrible as Ericsson by any means, but it definitely wasn't his best game either. I don't know what to say about Howard. Like I've been saying for awhile, his rebound control, even if it's not as bad as it was in the regular season, is still pretty damn bad. So many of those scrambles end up happening because he's not good at handling the puck or swallowing the puck up. I had a feeling sooner or later it'd start getting the best of him as teams picked up on it and I think we're seeing that to some extent. He definitely can't be faulted for the loss here, but he definitely wasn't a game-changer by any means either. I'm really not down on him at all though as I think he can get that s*** under control in due time. I heard people calling in on the radio saying we're fools for thinking he's the future. Well, time will tell, but you've got to be a fool to say the kid doesn't have a lot going for him. He's a rookie and he still has some kinks to work out. So what? No reason to get down on him if you ask me. I think it's definitely time to go to Osgood and get a rotation, but I don't think anyone should be getting on Howard because he's not playing as outlandishly as he did a month ago. If he works on some of those fundamental things through the summer, there's no reason he can't come in here next year and be an even better goalie. He won't be brilliant all the time, but who is? Again, bottom line, even on a night like tonight where he certainly doesn't look great, you can tell the kid's a gamer. Some people may want to rush it a bit which can lead to disappointment, but I think the kid's got a ton of good things going for him without a doubt even after a game like tonight.

I've gotta say, anyone giving Datsyuk s*** is out of their minds. That guy was without a doubt the best player on the ice. He's miles ahead of everyone else. It's silly watching him. You don't see how brilliant he is on TV, but every damn time he was on the ice he made great plays either in our end, their end or both. He's just unbelievable. Again, YOU'VE GOT TO BE OUT OF YOUR MINDS to be busting his ass right now. He's so good and makes it look so easy that you hardly even notice all the amazing things he does. You can see him at one second and be like, "why the hell is he standing over there" and the next second he's picked up the puck on a broken play and turned it around for a scoring opportunity. It's just unreal. Again, this guy is without a doubt the best hockey player on the ice for either team. No one else comes even remotely close. It's absolutely silly how good he is. And NO WAY Z's not hurting. He was absolutely not himself out there and you could really see it between plays as he got ready. He was hunched over a lot and seemed to just be trying to hold s*** together. And in play, he's just incredibly restricted out there in his movement and incredibly slow. You can see he's battling, but something's holding him back. I can't say enough about the Eaves/Draper/Helm line. They are definitely the hardest working line and the energy line. Eaves does a lot of little things behind the play as well like a smart hockey player and that's what holds that line together so well. Draper's got stone hands and Helm's all-hustle, but Eaves definitely adds some intrigue to the line without compensating for speed, work ethic and GRIT. Do we have a 4th line? They were pretty invisible as they didn't play much as the game want on but they had some good moments. May tries to finish his checks and Maltby can still get under people's skins. Bert/Flip/Miller was pretty useless most of the time. To anyone who thinks Flip doesn't fall a lot, go to the game. It was kinda unbelievable how much he falls. I've seen him do it plenty and heard people talking about it but man, I don't think TV gets it all. I hope they get Bert up with Dats again soon as he's just not going to get good setups from Miller and Flip. They just can't keep the puck going in the offensive zone. Flip clearly excels on defense as opposed to offense, and oftentimes was superb to Datsyuk levels in our end, but he's a detriment to Bert and Miller's no bargain. Bert needs someone who can really make plays to get him scoring, though he had some nice setups himself tonight. Ericsson.....man...he was really just terrible. I can't get over it...all game just stupid, stupid s***! sdlafjk;sdfk Kronwall looked good all things considered. He jumped into plays and kept a lot of offense going that would've died a week ago. He'll be huge for us in a couple games if tonight was any indication. It's a tough loss, s***ty as hell, but for 58 minutes things were looking pretty good. OH YEAH!!! They didn't show the replay, but I swear, that ******* team was offsides on that tying goal. I don't think there's any way in hell and I was sitting between center and the blue line about 15 rows up. Maybe I missed something as it's fast as hell, but it sure as hell looked offsides to me...

Man, it was unreal...I mean, tons of people left when we scored our fourth goal. The rest of us were just enjoying the ride. But the crowd was stunned to silence when they tied it up and I think we were pretty geared up to lose it at that point. So when it actually happened, no one was surprised. We just got up and left muttering under our breaths... I talked to some other fans and some staff we know. Pretty consistent stuff across the board... Lots of blame on the D dropping the ball tonight...mostly Ericsson, but he deserved it. It's actually amazing watching games live; I forget how much more you see from watching on TV. The thing is, great players look better and s***ty players looked worse. Ericsson looked like s***, plain and simple. He made so many bonehead passes and dropped the ball on coverage right and left. With a goalie like Howard who doesn't swallow up the puck as much, Ericsson is an accident waiting to happen on every shift because even if he gets the puck he'll make a STUPID ASS PASS!!! It was unreal... Aside from Ericsson, Stuart took a bit of s*** from people but people were saying he's been good most of the time, which is true. No one was really blaming Howard but they noted that the hot streak has definitely cooled off. It's definitely not fair to pin the loss on him but he's not giving Babcock any reason to keep him in every game either lately. Everyone seemed ready for Osgood it seems. Other than that, just lots of "unbelievable...this team is not ready for the playoffs."

Just got home. Unbelievable. People were chanting "let's go Phoenix" walking out. Even the staff was just livid...I head more "unbelievable" comments than ever before in my life. I don't even know what to say...

This is unreal. What a meltdown. The Joe is apathetic as hell. Wow.

Checking in from JLA... 14,286 hot dogs eaten tonight here at the Joe. Just gotta say, TV doesn't do Datsyuk justice. He's been nothing short of great all night. Eaves, Helm, Draper line is outstanding. Energy galore... And DAMN!!!

Ah, well never mind on that theory then...