mackel

I'd love to see Commodore on our team wearing #64

....and luckily for us he's very well practiced at pretending it never happend... he gets to practice this talent on average over 3 times a game. My god we're fortunate!!!

I'd love to try... how about this: When Conks is in the defence has confidence he'll make a few saves, therefore they can play loose. When Ozzie is in the defence feels (and rightly so) they need to be near spot on perfect or the red lamp will be burnin bright, therefore they play tight and are prone to error.

They should put Malts on waivers and pray like hell someone claims him. They wont but they should...

You can look at this in reverse too, why bust your ass for a guy who's just going to lose the report before he passes it along. How demoralizing it must be to think if you're not damned close to perfect on every shift you'll be down a goal, talk about walking on egg shells!!

Every team has defensive lapses, and many have goalies capable of making saves when it happens... the wings unfortunately don't.

If the playoffs started now and this team was to run into a hot goalie in a series or a team with solid goaltending and a solid offence (San Jose comes to mind) we'd be toast... Ozzie was good enough last year, I am more than willing to agree with that. But right now he's a liability, he is playing terribly and his win/loss record is due mainly to winning games 5-4 or 6-5 or in the shootout. Ozzie is in a slup yes, so far its called the 2008-09 season, he's not stolen a game yet... he has, so far, let in a few less goals (in most cases 1 less) goal/s than the offence can overcome. The guys timing, positiong and puck handeling have been terrible all season... Last year was great, but what has he done lately? Not too much! Also, for those of you who think people who have this opinion are way off in left field... have you been watching the games on FSN Detroit?? The boys in the booth have been saying similar things lately... but you likely think they are retarded too.

He's playing no worse... and you have to factor in a guy's career potential, Conks is a backup, stretch starter... all of the guys I have mentioned are starters.

Especially not with that attitude... sheeze.... I covered your pont before you made it, when I said the guys I mentioned can steal a game and ours can't... watch the tape... Also, its common sense that a talented goalie on a poor team when given some support on a good team will be as good (minimum) or better (likely).

This idea isnt as crazy as it seems... Let's remember we have a lot of forward strength on the griffins not to mention 1 or possibly 2 NHL ready defencemen. I would try and keep Hudler but thats not to say a package of Flip, Kopecky, Lebda and Conklin/Howard wouldn't fetch a better option in goal than we have now. All of Flip, Kopecky and Lebda are easily replaced from the farn and could fetch a solid goalie from a struggling team looking to tank for the #1 overall draft pick. Names that fit that bill: Toskala (TOR) Bryzgalov (PHO) Mike Smith (TB) Now some people will argue these guys have similar numbers to either Conklin or Osgood but lets keep in mind these goalies don't have the talent infront of them that Conks or Ozzie do and given that advantage they could only have better numbers given that each of the 3 I have mention can steal a game... something our guys clearly have not done.

You can't and no amount of Ozzy love/denial will help.

Face it Osgood at his best is average and at present doesn't deserve a starting spot in the NHL... take the blinders off...

Nothing Hasek could have turned that around just as easily...

Their is a simple reason for that, he does suck... He makes a few good saves here and there granted, but he lets in way too many softies to make up for them. He is good value for money compared to other starters in the league but you get what you pay for. In a case where the defence infront of him isn't in lock-down mode he is exposed as the weak link that he is.... see the All-Star game last year, talented ofensive players and not much real defence being played. He got roasted worse than the other goalies on the Western squad (or Eastern for that matter) and it took him 2 months to get back in form (limited though that form is). Moving forward this team needs to invest some money in a decent starting goalie, Howard by all accounts is being out played by Larsson meaning our best goalie prospects are 3-4 years from NHL play, Osgood is getting older and his limited skills are obviously in decline and Conklin is a career backup (see Manny Legace).

I don't remember mentioning Mike Vernon.... I thought we were talking about Chris OsBad

Yes and one Roy can do it with a team that doesn't compare to an All-Star team, while Osgood needs lock-down defence and a lethal offence. Good comparison you may want to try again, and next time try sticking to reality.

Thats like comparing a Warship (Roy) to a Row-Boat (Osgood).

These topics really get me going, and until now I've been fighting the urge to reply but I just can't bit my tongue anymore. First off let me say I've been a wings fan since 1990 ( I was 10 years old at that time), through the good times and the bad... I am as much a fan as anyone on this board... BUT this notion that not liking a player on your team makes you less of a fan is really getting under my skin. I'm not, nor have I ever been a "fan" of Chris Osgood, he is an interchangeable part of this team. We've never won a cup because of Osgood, but there is a good case to be made that we've won a few in spite of him. Osgood played well last year not great, not awesome, but ok, good enough as usual. Osgood is playing terribly this season, his record this season just proves the point of those reasonable, objective fans, who, for years have said his numbers are propped up by the team surrounding him. "His win" last night was a farce, he needed (and almost wasted) a 6 goal performance by his team. He looked like a fish out of water yet his record on the season improved with another tick in the win column. But all of this talk is irrelevant... We have no cap room to get a better goalie and we know that Osgood will start in the playoffs because of our two goalies he has experience in the playoffs. We just have to hope that our team can compensate for this obvious weak point as it has in the past.

If Drake retires what about bringing in Shean Donovan as his replacement... this guy can be clutch and should come dirt cheap. Thoughts?

How about HASEK for NOT being a CANCER in the room... lol On a more serious note... although I'm not a fan of his, the answer is obvious... OSGOOD.

How do you know that? Its just as likely that these guys will be rusty, or depending on the injury more prone to getting re-injured.

How is it a weak argument? Right at the moment this team is in shambles... we look worse than the Leafs. What player with any say would want to come into an uncertain situation when they have the choice of a surging team in Anaheim... Its a bery sound argument, and one I'm sad is a reality.

Yes and their is no guarantee that any of these players will be back at full capacity before the playoffs... in fact at our current rate of slippage its mathematically possible we wont mak ethe playoffs. I'm simply making the point that a player like Sundin maybe more likely to go to another top team without the issues the wings currently have.

Here's a good question, why would anyone waive a "No Trade" to come to Detroit?? With the tailspin the team is in and the rash of injuries we've had... We are really in a weak position as far as being a desired desitination don't you think?

The two forwards I'd most like to see us land are: Olli Jokinen and/or Vaclav Prospal Each player is close in age to our core players and in the case of Jokinen he's signed for a year or two afterward. Personally I view him as a younger already signed version of Sundin. But the elephant in the room here is our lack of depth on "D". Again we are one or at most two injuries on "D" away from a disaster. I think we need to add a couple of guys to slot into the 4-5 holes as needed. Lillypads as the 7th "D" would be ideal.