YoungGuns1340

What is this? Did the Wings defense take the shots at Osgood too? Heres a thought - If the Wings defense makes a mistake, the puck still doesn't have to go in. Believe it or not, there IS another line of defense between the defensman and the goal. Why does it seem like this board has a hard time with wrapping their head around the concept that a goaltender CAN play well when his defense doesn't. Tonights loss is on BOTH the Wings defense and the goaltending, per usual. Defense was terrible, goaltending was weak. Both are complicit. God I wish we could've traded Rafalski for a goaltender at the deadline.

Haha...for some reason, I laughed out loud at that.

Hahaha....Mick. Daniels: "They'll forget about this game, throw this one away" Mick: "Yeah, well, the garbage can is getting full." HAHAHA

He was being facetious. I find it funny when people assume that Osgood playing well in a game means that hes "returned to form." The reality is, for this season, when Osgood plays well its an EXCEPTION to the rule.

I really hope we were scouting Lehtonen for a big off-season trade.

A team with comparable defense and goaltending...

Its 7-2 Babcock. SAMMY SUCKS lately. PUT ERICSSON ON THE POINT. Christ jesus god and other dieties.

I think this is ultimately the reason why you don't make your "deadline" acquisition in July. For a team whos motto was "defense first" against the Penguins, it sure didn't preserve that when it went out and tied up 11.5M dollars in Filppula, Hossa, McCarty, and Downey. Somewhere in there, theres probably the option to save a good 2M dollars for the deadline. Not pro-rated either, mind you.

Haha. Does anyone else find this incredibly comical?

I'm not going to get into the personal respects of the goaltending - we all know how Osgood has played this year. At the level hes played, its at least been consistent. The reason the issue of Osgood/Goaltending comes up when the TEAM is playing poorly - and its really quite simple - is that when your TEAM is playing poorly, particularly your defense, then thats when your goalie needs to be his best. Osgood should elevate his game to compensate for the defense - thats how TEAMS work and win. No one plays well every night. On most nights, someone has to carry someone else. Ultimately, the biggest problem this team has is that our defense is our last line of defense. Our goaltending isn't. So when the wheels fall off the defense, the wheels fall off the team.

The fact that hes signed for SIX million for the next THREE years is exactly the problem. This teams defense will look markedly different when Raffi retires. Its NOW that we need to implement a new face into the core of our D, or into the net. A guy like Bouwmeester is exactly the type of guy that could replace Bouwmeester. When Holland signed Rafalski for "insurance" when Lidstrom retires, he must've been toking something good. Either that, or he was duped by Rafalski's play in the insular New Jersey system. For a 6 million dollar man, Rafalski is beyond rough on defense. I'd rather have a 35 point Dman that can play top pairing defense, than a 50 point Dman who'd be a weak #4 defensive defenseman if that were his role. And personally, I'd had higher expectations for Rafalski when he signed here, and he didn't meet them in his first season. When it comes to defenseman, I want defense first, then offense. The fact that he has 50+ points is secondary to me. It means nothng when you play s*** defense more often than not. Ultimately, Rafalski is better than Schneider, but considering the way Kronwall was really our best #2 in the playoffs, and Stuart's play was up there as well, I think we win the cup with Schneider instead of Rafalski anyways. Especially considering Schneider played great defense for the Ducks last season. The fact that his contract would be up this season, and the Wings would have the option of signing another 6-7M defenseman, or put some money into the net is where the advantage comes in.

Haha, best quote of the game. "Datsyuk and Zetterberg hooking up. We've seen that before..." What kind of websites are you checking out, York?

That play had nothing to do with Ericsson whatsoever. That was a nothing play, that was 100% Rafalski's fault. He needs to play better, and communicate better, with his goaltender. Switch Rafalksi with any other Dman, and thats a nothing play. Rafalski has issues when he and Osgood are going for the same puck.

....just roll the bottom lines and save our big guns...nothins doin tonight.

I've contemplated that myself. Is this teams defense really going to be any better than it is now when its spearhead by an aging Lidstrom and Rafalski and with Kronwall looking like nothing more than a good #3? Say what you want, both Rafalski and Lidstrom have regressed this season. Next season, the only difference will be Ericsson on the back-end, and our offense - whats been winning us games - is going to get worse simply because of the cap. Honestly, I really, really regret the Rafalski signing. I would've preferred the signing Schneider, simply because Schneider was only looking for a short-term year contract, and Rafalski's contract on the back-end is precisely what takes us out of play for Bouwmeester. A susbstantial change on defense or goaltending is what this team needs, both now and in the coming years.

Holy f***....I was JUST going to post that a shorthanded goal was going to be scored on us before the PP even started. Damn, I'm such a psychic.

Man, Methot HOGTIED Hank in every sense of the word. Looked like a rodeo.

Don't forget the '03 Ducks. All it took was a 1-0 win to push us out of the playoffs.

I swear...the only forward on this team who know how to support each other are Hank and Datsyuk. Everyone else just stands around watching their linemates get checked, pushed around, etc, and don't come to his aid to give him any options. I've seen it happen with Kopecky, Hudler, Franzen, and Filppula several times tonight. They're battling a couple of Columbus defenders, and their teammates just stand back waiting for the pass....like its going to come when they're being hounded by a pack of BJs. Christ...

Rafalski and Osgood must hate each other. They simply don't communicate.

I wish we still had Fischer on this team. Then they could play that commercial whenever Fischer made a big hit. Filet-o-Fisch!!

Masons not just good...hes lucky too.

Aww that was just a weak backhand from Franzen. He didn't get the puck up much higher than a few inches.

f*** Franzen....how the hell did that not go in? And that hit on Kopecky looked really high.

It probably has something to do with them not centering retarded line combos.