Packer487

This isn't the first time that the Lions have made a lousy QB look like a Pro Bowler. I'm actually thrilled the Jackson has improved from "completely brutal" to "just plain sucks". Maybe the Vikings will keep him now. I was pretty heartbroken that Jackson missed both games against the Packers this year. Same deal with the Bears...I'd love to see Grossman play well enough over these next few games that the Bears have to keep him. Don't get me wrong, Minnesota's a decent football team. If you can run the ball the way they can and you have a capable defense, you're going to be in contention if your QB simply doesn't screw it up. But they're not "a team to be scared of" as ESPN was trying to make it seem. That team goes by Peterson. The Packers stuffed him in that game, so it really didn't matter which one of their s***ty QBs was in the lineup. If AD gets rolling, they've got a shot. If you can shut him down, it could get ugly. Pretty clear that all you need to do is force the Vikings QB du jour to beat you. San Diego is one of about 10 teams in this league that I would classify as "really weird". Sometimes they look like the team that went 14-2 last year and sometimes they look like they wouldn't beat Michigan. I'd also put Minnesota, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, the GIants, Washington, Philly, Detroit, Cleveland, and Tennessee in that category. And I'd consider adding Seattle, KC, Denver, and Arizona.... Basically I think it means that there's about 5 really good teams in the NFL (NE, Indy, Dallas, GB, Jacksonville, and maybe Pittsburgh--I know I included them in both lists) and a bunch of very, very mediocre teams who are capable of winning on any given day, but are also capable of losing to the Jets.

Peterson is great, but I wouldn't get overly juiced up over the Vikings beating Oakland, the Giants, and Detroit. The media has been slurping them all day as the sleeper du jour. It's amazing to me how a couple of wins over bad teams and one win over a decent team suddenly make you the team that no one wants to play. This is the same team that got beat 34-0 by Green Bay with Peterson in the lineup. They could--and probably should--end up with a wild card, but they aren't nearly as good as the media is making them out to be right now. It's like since Dallas played on Thursday and the Pats didn't play until tonight, they needed someone to jerk off over the weekend, so they picked the Vikings.

Thanks for posting that! I only caught about half of it on Turkey Day and didn't think to look for the rest. What're your thoughts about the Dallas game? You didn't comment on it. I'm curious if you're as optimistic as I am now, should we have to play them again...

Yeah, Hagelin was in J20. I wouldn't have a problem with them giving Lofberg another look--after all, it's not my money. But I just can't see the Wings relinquishing the rights to someone that they thought could end up being a pretty good player.

PSU has a chance in that game, but again, it's a road game. Wisconsin is going to get beat. They're really not a good team. I've watched way too much Wisconsin football this year and I haven't been remotely impressed. Congrats on a NYD bowl for your guys! Posters at The Wolverine are saying it's Michigan/Florida in the Cap One Bowl. That's going to be ugly and not in my team's favor.

I would have a really hard time picking anyone but Purdue to win their game if those are the matchups. I'm sure the Motor City Bowl would be thrilled with a rematch of a 23 point game earlier in the year.

Didn't say the conference was terrible and I didn't say that I think the SEC is amazing. I agree with you that the media is way too quick to jerk off average SEC teams as being better than they are simply because they're in the SEC. But I still think the Big Ten is going to get slaughtered in the bowls. At least if the matchups end up being as poor as I suspect they're going to be. If Illinois gets into the Rose Bowl, then you could potentially have: OSU vs. LSU USC vs. Illinois Michigan vs. Georgia/Tennessee/Florida Wisconsin vs. Tennessee/Florida Penn State vs. Texas I'd have a hard time picking the Big Ten team in any of those matchups, especially when you factor in that they're all essentially road games (I've posted before that the Big Ten traditionally sets its teams up for failure just based on where the bowl games are played...they're almost all road games). Some of those matchups probably aren't accurate (I didn't do a ton of research) but I doubt I'll end up liking the real games any better. We'll see in a couple hours.

Hawaii is going to a BCS game. They were #12 in the BCS last week and won, so assuming they don't find a way to fall a spot, they actually get an automatic bid. If a non-BCS conference champion is ranking in the top 12 of the BCS, they get an auto bid. The Big Ten is going to get slaughtered in the bowls this year, moreso if Illinois ends up in a BCS game....

It sure is a good thing that we drafted him over TJ Hensick. I want to say that Holland told him that they wouldn't be opposed to taking another look at him in the future, once he got his s*** together. But I don't have a link to back that up. I'm not sure how similar the Allsvenskan league is to the J20 league (all I know is they're both second tier leagues and not the Swedish Elite League), but to give his numbers a little context, Carl Hagelin, who is a freshman at MIchigan and was a 6th round pick of the Rangers had 25-36--61in 43 games including playoffs last year. Maybe the light went on for Lofberg but I doubt we're missing out on much. I can't imagine they would've let him go if they thought there was any shot he would turn into a productive player down the road.

I was just going to say we need to stay out of the box during that game. Montreal always has good special teams. I thought their PP would drop off with Souray gone and it hasn't happened. Whatever...if it's not this game it'll be some other game. Hasek is going to be fine.

Do you not think that KGB, Woodson, Rouse, and Jolly would've made a difference last night? Most of Dallas's early success was going after Bush, who won't be on the field again this year apart from special teams. I have to believe that Walker, Williams, and probably Blackmon moved ahead of him last night in the CB pecking order. The Packers had to play a ton of zone last night due to Woodson's injury and that's not their game at all. Bigby isn't a cover guy and it was Nick Collins's first game back in a month. It's tough not having a guy like Woodson out there when he's so much of what they do on defense. Not to mention that the Packers are the youngest team in the NFL. It was good experience for them to play in a game like that and they didn't blink, even after they got down by 17 and lost their legendary QB. I have to believe that the near comeback gives them all the confidence in the world that they can beat that team. Dallas would still be favored, and rightfully so. But I don't think it's at all unlikely that GB goes back down there and beats Dallas if these teams meet again. Even with all the injuries, losing the turnover battle, being -80 in the penalty yardage, the horrible officiating, the loss of Favre, the awful gameplan in the early going, off days from Favre and Harris, and the Cowboys playing about as well as they can (and having 52 of their 53 players in the lineup), the Packers still had the ball at their own 40 in the 4th quarter down by 3. I think all that bodes pretty well for a potential rematch. It's also a plus to me that Grant ran the ball pretty well against a good run defense, even if we couldn't use him as much as we would've liked since GB got down by so much early on. Crosby showed again that he's money. Jennings is an absolute monster. And Rodgers is probably the second best QB in the NFC North, which I think is kind of funny.

Boy if that wasn't a typical Packers at Dallas game...everything that can go wrong does go wrong, Favre struggles, officiating is horrendous. This was going to be a tough game from the outset, but you take away Woodson, KGB, Jolly, Franks, Rouse, and have Tauscher barely able to walk and it makes it damn near impossible. The Cowboys outplayed the Packers tonight, but I feel pretty good. There's a huge dropoff from Woodson to Bush, and the fact that Bush couldn't cover anyone completely changed their defense. KGB would be able to give Adams problems. (BTW Dallas's line is HUGE) Gotta believe that Rouse would have done better than Bigby. Jolly is a huge upgrade from Harrell as well at this point. I'm not sure why they got away from the short passing game at the start of the game. It's been so effective. I realize they wanted to test the safeties in coverage, but with the protection the way it was and how good the short passes have been, I don't get throwing deep as much as they did. If they play again, I'm sure they'll go back to what works. The officiating was horrendous. Why they had a 1st year ref doing the biggest NFC game in like 17 years is beyond me. Here's just a few of the garbage calls tonight: -Driver was interfered with on the third down pass on the first drive. Newman grabbed his hand and he could only go for the catch with one arm. If what Williams did was PI, so was that. (I also hated the play call since we didn't go for it on 4th down....why throw deep on 3rd and 1? Move the chains) -Harris ripped the ball away from TO clean and they ruled TO's forward progress was stopped. BS. Especially since the ref with the best view signaled Packers ball. Harris must be superhuman if he stopped TO's progress even though he was ripping the ball out with both hands. -TO doesn't get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for using the popcorn as a prop after his TD. That's automatic. The refs in the KC game missed it as well when Johnson grabbed a flag from a cheerleader, waived it around and planted it in the ground. -Jennings was facemasked as he dove into the endzone on his TD. That was a 15 yarder. -The PI on Williams was ungodly bad. He gave him a little tug--not that it impeded the WR in any way--but the ball was in no way catchable and it took them 15 seconds after the play to throw a flag. The ref on the play was overruled by someone who was 20 yards away, who didn't see it fit to throw a flag EITHER. One of the worst calls I've seen in a long, long time. -Grant had a first down on that late run right before GB kicked the last FG. He had it by a half yard. McCarthy didn't have a challenge left to get em to fix it thanks to the general incompetence by the officials earlier in the game. -Rodgers got hit really late on one pass -Owens pushed off big time on Barnett on the pass that was picked off. -Romo spiked the ball angrily when they false started on that 3rd and 14. Should've been a delay of game on top of the false start since those are automatic now. 3rd and 24 not 3rd and 19. Not that it probably mattered since Harris didn't cover anyone on the subsequent play. I guess that's part of playing in Big D. Same crap every time. But despite all the injuries and the horrid officiating we still had the ball down 3 with a chance to take the lead. They learned a lot tonight which will help in a potential rematch. Barring injury, Colledge and Bush aren't going to see the field again this year. Rouse probably moves into the starting role at safety. They'll go with the short passing game more. It's really tough to play a team as good as Dallas on the road, let alone without one of the best CBs in football and one of the best pass rushers (and without your QB). Dallas got dinged up during the game too, but it was already a 17 point lead at that point. The good news is that Grant looked good again, Crosby is fricken MONEY, and Rodgers looked like he'll be a legit QB in this league. Just wasn't our night tonight. Case in point, that onside kick. What a great call! Caught Dallas completely by surprise (there was no one within 8 yards), it was executed well, and they just got an unlucky bounce. BTW I'll say it again. the NFL and College Football need to combine their PI calls. Have a 15 yarder for incidental contact and make it a spot foul for flagrant contact (like when you haul a guy down because you're beat). It's so stupid that you basically get a free 50 yards on a very low percentage pass.... I don't know that Dallas can play a whole lot better than they did tonight. Their entire team is healthy save Terry Glenn, and I have to believe that balances out if we meet again. Harris can't play worse. Favre played terrible. The play calling in the early going was awful (SHORT PASSES!). The officiating was terrible. And we still nearly won. The silver lining is that it's pretty much a given that we'll be the #2 seed in the NFC at this point. I don't see Dallas losing twice, despite having 3 of the last 4 on the road and I don't think that Seattle or TB is consistent enough to get to 12-4 and put some pressure on us. With not a ton to play for the rest of the season, that should give GB a chance to rest some of these guys who have been nagged by injuries. Harris has been hurt all year, as have Woodson and Tauscher. If they think a week or two off would get them healthy for the playoffs, they might have the luxury to give them that time. And with Rodgers playing as well as he did, that'll give them a chance to be really careful with Favre. Despite the loss, and as angry as I am about the officiating, I feel pretty good. Unless something bad shows up on the MRI of Favre's elbow, we're still in really good shape and I like our chances in a rematch with that team. Provided we can get some guys healthy and get a remotely competent official.

You absolutely crack me up. He has a great game, by all accounts, he was spectacular in net and your retort is "He was just out of position and it made the saves look good". You're actually trying to say that he didn't make one good save over that two game span. That's just priceless. (BTW, all the condescending crap in italics is pretty much unnecessary--not that you can make a post without talking down to someone. We're not really comparing goalies with similar numbers and it'd be hard to argue that Hasek was worse than pretty much anyone at that period of time) Sure. But it wasn't like the 03-04 defense was terrible. The 01-02 team actually gave up 200 more shots on goal than 03-04's squad. Granted that doesn't take into account "quality scoring chances". Ah but you did basically say that any average goalie could've shut out the Avs in Game 6 on the road. Since Hasek didn't make a single save that any normal goalie wouldn't have stopped. It makes a little more sense to say "Any goalie could've done that" about Osgood than it does to say it about arguably the best goalie in the history of hockey. I'll grant you that he deserves more credit than I've probably given him (at least in the past--I'm on record numerous times as saying he's been outstanding since Jan. 07)....but he was also worse at times during that Cup run than a lot of the Ozzie fans are willing to admit--and it's not just the long bombs from MacInnis and Langenbruner. Not if Nik Contsanika was right in his book. He said the Wings offered Roenick 5 years for "about $37 million". He signed a 5 year/$37 million deal with Philly. (In all fairness, he also cited Roenick's wife's desire to be in Philly more than Detroit as a reason he chose to go there--in addition to questioning our goaltending and the age of our team.) I guess. But as a rookie (which was all the data he had on Cechmanek), Cechmanek was 35-15, led the league in goals against (2.01), was 2nd in the league in save percentage (.921), had 10 shutouts in 59 games and had a horrible Game 6 in the 4/5 series after playing fine the rest of the time (mind you, as a rookie). The other guy struggled mightily in the regular season, got drastically outperformed by his backup, and bombed in the playoffs after blowing a 2-0 lead to the 7 seed. Where would you have gone? Certainly not to Osgood's side. Cechmanek was a rookie and he had outstanding numbers. Hindsight's 20-20 but there was no reason to think that he wouldn't go on to a very nice career. Ok. Now if you can show me that the other contenders have equal or less than that, I'd think about standing corrected. But basically what you're saying is that we have 1/30th of the "top six" forwards in the league. Since every team in the league isn't equal, it seems reasonable to me that some of the top contenders have more. And you just tried to tell me is that I should be satisfied about having Samuelsson (who pretty much everyone here hates), Hudler (who our coach doesn't trust) and Cleary (who I do really like) as "top six" forwards on this team. That doesn't make the ole heart go pitter-patter. Forgive me. I'll say it again. I'm a lot more worried about our scoring, should the top line cool off, and about our #2 d pairing (since Kronwall and Lilja suck) than I am about if Hasek will break out of this slump, which has led to a whopping 3 losses in regulation and still would have us on pace for a 100 point season.

He was coming off 3 straight 70+ point seasons and back to back 30 goal seasons. Yup. Be sure and let me know if that continues. It's been 9 games. We might as well go ahead and put Tim Thomas's name on the Vezina for the next 6 years.

We don't, but it's pretty telling to me that a big-name free agent, who the Wings offered a ton of money to, turned them down because he was concerned about their goaltending. I just think it's funny how a guy can post a whopping .905, lose four straight games to a team who hadn't won a playoff game in ages, give up a number of weak goals in the process and "He's Detroit's best player" but Hasek can post 6 shutouts in the playoffs, shut out our biggest rival in back-to-back elimination games, and he was just along for the ride. Cracks me up.

Exactly one time huh? Hasek, who allowed goals at critical moments in the previous two games, was spectacular at times in earning his fourth shutout of the playoffs this year and 10th of his career. He turned away a flip shot by Milan Hejduk on a power play in the second period, then sprawled out to stop Hejduk from close range a few minutes later. Hasek also made a skate save on a hard shot by Joe Sakic during a power play in the third, and a sliding stop on Steven Reinprecht a few seconds later. "They had their chances, but Dom came up big when he needed to,'' Detroit's Chris Chelios said http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=220529017 Hasek needed to step up and steal a monumental stakes playoff game before he had the right to pop off about the play in front of him, and that's pretty close to what he did in Game 6. He had 24 saves, but he made the big, acrobatic ones when they mattered, and he helped avoid what would have an ignominious and recrimination-triggering series loss for a team built with two goals in mind -- beating Colorado and winning the Stanley Cup. http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2002/column...ry/1388647.html "That's why Dominik is here," said Detroit's Darren McCarty, who scored one of Detroit's goals. "He has put us in a position to win a series." http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/cup0...-29-col-det.htm How did the Red Wings survive elimination? Three factors surfaced. First, Dominik Hasek was flawless, while Patrick Roy made a critical mistake. Three Stars 1. Hasek: Tonight, he was in Dominator form. http://images.cnnsi.com/inside_game/darren...eliot_wingsavs/ The Red Wings needed Dominik Hasek to steal a game to keep their season alive and the Dominator did just that. Though Colorado struggled offensively in the early going, Hasek answered every Avs scoring chance by making several spectacular sprawling stops. http://images.cnnsi.com/hockey/2002/playof...29/three_stars/ But yeah, the defense basically just carried him to that Cup. I don't have that much of a problem with that statement. As I said, CuJo played a lot better than anyone ever gave him credit for. But I think you also have to point out that the offenses that we faced in 2002 were better than the offenses we faced in 2004. Vancouver led the league in goals with 254, St. Louis was right around the top 10 (227), and the Avs were further down (212 goals) but their best player missed the entire year and was back for the playoffs, so I think it's pretty reasonable to move them on up as well. In 2004, Calgary was the #19 offense and Nashville was 12th. I never said otherwise. All I said was Hasek was a part of the reason they advanced. But holding the #6 or 7 offense in the league to 9 goals in 6 games is pretty damn impressive. Particularly considering he gave up 3 goals in 3 games once we got down 2-1, including 28 saves in (guess what?!) another shutout on the road, in an elimination game, which no doubt could've been done by any goaltender with a pulse. Yeah, he was good enough that Jeremy Roenick wouldn't sign here the next season because he didn't think we had a goalie. Oh and Lapointe does suck. True, his numbers are worse than they've ever been in October. I just think it's silly for SO many people to proclaim this more than a slow start and simply a case of him losing it after he's lost 3 games in regulation, 2 to playoff teams. He's had nine starts, and he missed a couple of weeks. I'd be a lot more inclined to listen to this argument if it was January or February. Like I said, he hasn't been great, but he's only had 2 truly "Bad" games in terms of the goals allowed, and he still would have us on pace for a 100 point season. It's not like he's going Dan Cloutier on us or anything. He's not submarining the season. And with our position in the division and conference, we're more than able to let him work through this without it hurting our playoff chances one iota. There are plenty of other things to worry about on this team. Like who is going to score if the top line cools off, or who is going to be our 2nd pairing since Lilja and Kronwall both blow.

So if we're not allowed to bring past accomplishments (even those which occurred LAST YEAR) in to the mix, I guess it's reasonable to say that Cleary, Hudler and Draper are better goal scorers at this point in their career than Pavel Datsyuk and that Flip and Maltby are his equals. Or that Datsyuk has lost his scoring touch since he only has 3 goals in 18 games. Or that Kronwall sucks (Oh wait.....). Or that Tim Thomas is the best goalie in the history of hockey. There IS no argument not involving Hasek's past success. Part of the reason he's earned the right to play through this is because he's arguably the best goalie in the history of hockey and was solid last year and had a pretty darn good playoffs. He's led this team to their two deepest playoff runs in the last 8 or 9 years. If all you've got is the data from this year, then yes, start Osgood. But that's short-sighted and completely ignorant. Especially since the guy you want to start was useless for most of the year 2 seasons ago, and wasn't all that good in the first half of last year. But goalies can't improve... Projecting Dom's totals over an 82 game season, we're still on pace for a 100 point season. And that's assuming he won't improve one iota. But yeah, we'll "keep losing" with him in net.

ESPN is apparently reporting that the Pistons and Lakers agreed on a trade to send Kobe to Detroit for Tay, Rip, a first rounder (and maybe Amir) but Kobe nixed the deal. That would've been interesting. It's funny that when I heard it was Tay/Rip/#1 I was like "That would've been interesting!" but when I heard it may have included Amir, I was like NOOOOOOOOO! I'm not sure how I'd feel about Kobe in a Pistons jersey. It'd be nice to finally have someone who gets calls to counter-act LeBron, Wade, and evidently Daniel Gibson....

You do realize that Dom had back-to-back shutouts, against our arch-nemesis in elimination games right? And that he set a then-NHL record for playoff shutouts? Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that Joseph played a lot better than anyone gave him credit for, but you continually try to minimize what Hasek has done here--particularly in 2002--and you're flat out wrong. We were down 3-2, going on the road into a hostile environment, he didn't get a lot of goal support, but he put up the brick wall. And to follow it up, posted another shutout the next game. Maybe. San Jose was the team that I really didn't want to see in the playoffs and there were a lot of people who didn't think we'd win that series. But the Wings surprised me, and Hasek was part of the reason for that. Bingo. Personally, I'd lean more toward 60-40 Hasek, but the point is good. I've got no problem with seeing more Oz than normally while he's riding this hot streak. I don't expect it to last forever, but it's nice that he's playing well. But Hasek has the track record, he's played better in the recent past, and he deserves EVERY opportunity to play out of this little slump. So you want to go with the guy who hasn't won a playoff series in this millennium and who completely bombed out the last time he played for this team in the playoffs. Got it. Hasek's GAA was below 2 and his save percentage was well over 92% in the playoffs last year. The elimination game was bad, but apart from that, I don't really know what you were expecting him to do. I mean, he only went 9 straight games without giving up more than 2 goals, and gave up 3 goals total once we were down 2 games to 1 against the Sharks. And he gave up 2 goals total once Calgary tied that series at 2. Again (and this isn't directed at Offsides or Eva specifically), he's lost 3 games in regulation, people. 2 of those were against playoff teams. I'm sure he'd be the first to tell you that he's not at the top of his game, but he's started nine games. Nine. And he's only had 2 games where he gave up a "bad" total of goals--and even in those (last night and against Anaheim) he didn't get a lot of help. He's going to be FINE.

Track record. He was money last year, nearly took us to the Stanley Cup, and now people want to bench him because he's lost THREE GAMES IN REGULATION (one of which was against the same Blackhawks team that beat the amazing Oz the other night), and he had one exceptionally bad game--where he couldn't be blamed for at least 2 of the 4 goals and faced something like 8 odd-man rushes in under 2 periods. I'm not making any statement about the defense playing better in front of Osgood than Hasek, because I don't necessarily think that that's true, but you can't just look at shots on goal. More than 4. That's for damn sure. Especially since last night was the first time that Dom has lost to a team that's not currently in the playoffs. He hasn't been his Dominating self, but how many truly BAD games has he had this year? 2? Last night and the 6-3 loss to Anaheim? Even with how he's struggled, 3 of his last 4 he's given up 2 or less. When it starts really hurting the team to have Hasek in there. You can't tell me with any certainty that Osgood would've done any better last night, because quite frankly the defense sucked. And Oz kind of got hung out to dry a little bit the other night against Chicago. They had a long 5 on 3, several breakaways/2 on 1s, Chelios was standing around on the third goal, and the 4th was an excellent shot, though you'd probably like him to stop it. Before he got hurt, he had back to back wins giving up 2 goals in each one. He came back and played a good game against a Columbus team that is better than in year's past. Last night was a setback, but it's not like he had any help out there. Always. And Dom would probably be the first to tell you that. No, we're going to stick with a goalie as the starter because he's the best goalie in the history of the league and damn near took us to the Cup last year. And because he won as many playoff series last year as Osgood has since the end of the 97-98 season. That's coming up on a decade, folks. Plenty. "horrendous goaltending" is a little strong. But yes, I'll defend him because he's more than earned the right to try to play through this. It's not like he was average last year and this year he's spiraling into bad. He had a very good playoffs for us! And now he's been a little on the shaky side, but still is on pace for a 100 point season, and people want to bench him? Please. Again, when it starts hurting the team to have him in there. And it really hasn't thusfar. We're winning our division. We're making the playoffs. It's not like it's going to hurt us to let him play through this in freaking NOVEMBER. I'd also like to point out that if goalies weren't allowed to improve throughout the season, Osgood would be playing in the ECHL because he sucked in 05-06 and the start of 2006-07 (and even as well as he played down the stretch last year, we were still almost as likely to lose as win when he suited up...) You also have to remember that yes, we're 20 or so games into the year, but Hasek has only played 9 times and was out for a couple of weeks. It's just too damn early to say "Dom's done, retire *****" and proclaim Osgood as the OMG Greatest!!!!1! because he's been good out of the gate.

I think whichever NFC wild card team that gets to play the winner of the NFC South stands an excellent chance of winning. I don't see NYG or Detroit (assuming they don't come back to win the division) beating Seattle in Seattle, not that I really think they're any good either. The giants are a team that frankly, even after 9 games, we don't really know how good or bad they are. They've beaten Washington, Philly and 4 doormats and they've lost to Green Bay and Dallas twice. I know the Packers beat the hell out of them. I know Eli Manning isn't real good. And I know they've got issues with their back seven on defense. Manning is tied for second in the league in picks, so it'd seem reasonable that the Lions are a tough matchup for him, based on the fact they've been feasting on turnovers this year. And IF the Lions can block anyone, they should have some mismatches in the secondary. It was a joke that anyone mentioned the Giants in the "Class of the NFC" discussion. They're not a bad team, but they really don't scare me whatsoever.

At least 2--and maybe 3--of which he had no chance on. If Ozzie had a game where he gave up 2 PPGs, another breakaway goal, and faced at least 8 odd man rushes, people would be looking to give him a hug and tell him "Well...thanks for trying your hardest, buddy" Because of anything he did or the fact that they finally got their heads out of their asses and started playing hockey? Goalie changes usually tend to send a wakeup call to the team. For the first quarter of the season he has been. But if you think that's truly representative of their overall abilities, I just have to laugh. Soooo.....if he's a slow starter then it probably means that he's in the midst of a slow start? And that he'll probably improve significantly like he does every season? You do realize that in 2006 Dom nearly took this team to the Cup right? It's not like it's been 5 years since he last "Dominated". He was great last season. Because Lord knows 10 games does a season make. And no one ever improves throughout the course of a year (see Osgood, Chris circa 2006). I mean, if we were making decisions based on 10 games, then Jim Howard would probably be our backup right now since Osgood would be playing in the ECHL based on his play at the start of last season (and a good chunk of the year before). If Mike Vernon had nearly taken us to the Cup last year, then I'd be all for giving him more than 10 games to play through his struggles. But as it is, that's a ridiculously silly argument. You mean like in last year's playoffs when he posted a 1.79, .923 How on earth could you possibly know that? He's lost 3 games in regulation. It's not like he's tanking our season. We're still making the playoffs, we're still winning our division. Even with Hasek's 5-3-1 record (11 points out of a possible 18), we'd still be on pace for a 100 point season if you project it over 82 games. Not spectacular, but still in the playoffs. And that's assuming that he plays this "poorly" the rest of the year and doesn't improve. Which, quite honestly, is very unlikely People were saying that about Brett Favre too. Also I'd point out that Ozzie hasn't exactly been the model of perfect health over the past couple of years either. He's playing well, and I have no problem with suggesting that he get closer to 40% of the starts, or that we give him a little more playing time while he's on his hot streak. But if this team is going anywhere in the playoffs, it's going to be with Dominik Hasek. And before I get the "It's not 1997" anymore comment again, I'd remind you that Dom won as many playoff series last year as Osgood has since he skated around with the Stanley Cup--and that the latter hasn't won a series since 99-00. He's playing really well right now, but Hasek is still the elite goalie on this team. And with the way he played last year--and throughout his entire freaking career--he deserves more than three regulation losses to work through his damn struggles. Edit: Sorry about the formatting....not sure why it isn't accepting the "quote" tags.

I'm still almost in shock at what Michigan has done at the start of the season. 9-1-0, with only 4 home games. Gotta get through this weekend at LSSU so I can start thinking about the Showcase. I'm probably going to drive back for that one....we need to get that monkey off our back against Minnesota and I want to be there if it happens. Should be an outstanding weekend of hockey. #1, #3, #10, and #12. Woot!

Oh I'd be 100% confident if GB plays the Giants again. They're the most overrated team in football. Everyone was slurping them because they won six in a row, but four of those wins were against: Jets, Falcons, 49ers and Dolphins. In a row. I mean, that's like 4 of the 5 worst teams in the league. New England would win those 4 games by roughly 200 points and I'm not sure that's an exaggeration. What the Packers did to them wasn't a fluke. And GB has gotten better since then. Everyone keeps talking about their DEs, but it's actually Kampman and KGB who are the NFL's leading duo in sacks now.... It was a joke the way the media was discussing who was the best team in the NFC: The Giants or Dallas. I mean, I could be wrong, but GB has a better record than one of those teams, against a tougher schedule, and beat them by 3 TDs on the road. Can you say, East Coast bias? If I was a Lions fan, I wouldn't be 100% confident in a win this week, but the Giants are a VERY beatable team. Plus the Lions are much better at home than they are on the road. I guess this one depends on the OL. If they can give Kitna any time to throw, they'll win. If Umeniyora (or however the hell you spell it) starts getting into the backfield constantly, then it's going to be tough.

Totally. I'm the one who writes the "Yost Built" blog that he links quite a bit. That kid is an amazing writer and he knows his s***. I can't believe the depth some of his stuff has. Always good for a laugh too. Yup. And quite honestly, it wouldn't make me cry if he lost his Insider status. Pretty clear that half the time he's just getting off on the "I know something you don't know, but I'm not actually going to say what it is" posts. And recruiting is such a strange business that half the time the information he has changes anyway.....wake me up when the kid signs, and I'll be happy. The moderators/writers there do a fantastic job though. You'll find me over on the hockey board more often than not.