Heroes of Hockeytown

2009 Osgood is here

Did anyone actually feel that way about any of these players?

Most guys follow the $$$, I can't imagine that it will be a problem. Hossa is the exception, not the rule.

Scotty was the Wings' GM for a handful of years when he first came to Detroit, most famously orchestrating the Shanahan trade. As for his post-coaching days, I'm sure he was a useful resource but no one knows his exact role with the club, and it's fair to conclude that Kenny's work is his own for that time period.

Sparty, NOOOO! I'll say Michigan gets 2 of 3 against Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin. I also predict the season will end in a predictable way.

If they'd gone on a 3-4-2 stretch in the middle of year (as I'm sure they did or near enough plenty of times) there wouldn't be nearly as much fuss, but folks are antsy and don't like looking up at everybody in the standings. Not that I don't blame them, I don't like it either, but I'm going to have some more patience here and see where the next couple of weeks takes us. Going .500-ish for a stretch doesn't make a team good or bad.

Malik is good when he's trollin' the webz for news articles for me to read, I've never liked his editorials.

Mason and Conklin from way back at the start of the month also made some critical game-saving stops that sparked the Blues' rally in those games as well. The Wings need some s***ty goalies like Huet to come back into town to get these guys some confidence.

It's not necessarily that I thought he had a poor game -- especially for being Jimmy Howard, it seemed like a pretty damn good effort. But the timing of the goal, like the timing of a few other killer goals that have tied/lost the Wings games this season, was about as lousy as you can get. The score really could have been anything 0-0, 3-3, 2-1, whatever, something always seems to be finding its way in.

If the Wings paid Bert to hit posts he'd be the best bargain in the league right now. Datsyuk seems stuck in last season's playoffs, where he's got all the moves and is creating tons of chances and nothing is going in the net -- although the same could easily be said for the rest of the guys right now. Critically, a bad, late goal spells doom for the Wings, probably as bad a trend as any that they've displayed this season. As Osgood so often did last season (and in some of the early going this season) Howard spoiled an otherwise sterling effort with a weak goal at a bad time. I don't know, I think their scoring is going to pick up. I can't see how it won't, really. Goaltending, I'm less sure about. They're losing valuable points now while they try and get themselves in order and that sucks, but it's obviously not even close to too late.

Not so fast, Brian Burke would like to have a word with you.

Well I don't know what else to say, I'm watching the same replays as you, and the puck is clearly hidden underneath Ozzie's pad for nearly a full second before it's jarred loose. I can't detect it anywhere on the ice from when he stops the sharp angle pass to when he gets shoved into the net.

First goal wasn't a high stick... I don't know where you guys are getting that the puck was loose, but on each replay it disappeared completely under Osgood's pads for a second and there was no whistle. Even if the referee didn't see that the puck was frozen, he must have lost sight of it, because it wasn't loose from any angle I saw. Bad non-call.

The beginning of the season has been frustrating because four of the five games they lost, they did it by blowing a lead. There's various reasons for that, but in all four of those games there was a critical moment where if they had just scored a goal they would have put the other team away. With that said, it's doubly frustrating because the Wings played well enough to win the last two games. Ozzie let the guys down versus the Avs and, as Mike advised, the referee didn't do his ******* job last night when he at the very least must have lost sight of the puck; there should have been a whistle. But sometimes you don't get the breaks and then something terrible like the OT goal happens. Thinking back to all the times in recent years the Wings have been gypped out of a late goal or have a stupid fluky goal scored on them in the last minute that ends with their losing in overtime, I'm convinced that the Wings are the best team in the league with absolutely no luck. It would be a godsend for Lilja to come back and replace that hack Lebda, but as that seems unlikely you've just gotta keep on keeping on. This team is good enough to win, they just need to get a big goal here and there and catch a f***in' break for a change.

I like Bucci but that's a really odd notion he puts forth; I think you need to wait until a guy is closer to 35 before you declare he's past his prime. They could easily have their best seasons in the coming years before the inevitable decline.

Where have I heard that before? Sweden and Russia also have very good teams, Finland's no slouch, and most importantly of all, anything can happen in a single-game elimination tournament.

Can't imagine Kane and Rafalski not on the top line/pairing.

A lot of them have so much going on and such fine detail it's hard to see what you're supposed to be looking for in these images. With that in mind, I'm giving the edge to the simple designs like Brodeur's, Biron's, Toskala's, and Luongo's. I also like Emery's and Chris Mason's (very clever) a lot too.

They're not half bad, but probably not. It was just a classic Sparty NOOO moment with a clutch offsides that got them the W. I'm not gonna bash the guy for being optimistic, but definitely not.

He wasn't perfect (logo hunter, terrible running the PP -- although that is mostly Mike's fault for continuing to put him out there), but for the money he was making and for the number of huge goals he scored for the Wings in big games, he deserves to be well-liked at the least.

State played ND on the road, but they don't play OSU, so those scheduling kinks are a wash. If you're biggest claim is State plays a better MAC team, then there's really nothing to discuss.

Yeah, the mighty Montana State Bobcats, that was a real big win for the program, huh?

Tressel will need to gameplan obsessively for Iowa like he used to do for Carr to take those guys down. They have looked pedestrian even when they win, and look as mediocre as the rest of their Big Ten contemporaries.

I think it's paid off pretty handsomely in recent years, so I haven't got any real complaints. It's just annoying how during the season Osgood seems to surrender a weak goal every night, when he gave up maybe one or two all post season.

Coming from a guy that probably didn't even watch it. It was as close and tight a playoff series as last year's Wings/Ducks showdown.