clutchngrab

No worries. Osgood won't be starting. Babcock and Holland will not piss away a legit chance at a repeat.

Yup, except that Meech is even more useless as a forward than defense and this team misses Hossa, Helm and Leino. Sammie is in the middle of one of his incredible disappearing acts which seems to last for games. All in all the team looks flat except for Kopie, Flip and that new kid on D.

I hope its Conklin and I think it will be as well. Looking in my crystal ball, I see no reason to believe that Osgood will turn it around after his vacations to get his head together etc. He still look flawed to me. I have a hard time thinking that Babcock and Holland will start him assuming he gets no better. My prediction is that they will alternate until somewhere like 5 - 10 games left. If Osgood is still s***ting the bed, which I suspect he will be, then Conks will get the majority of the regular season and start the playoffs.

you again with this s***? You are rapidly becoming a voice of one, captain ahab.

How true, you know what you re getting with rafalski. He's never been a shutdown D-man and you hope his offensive production outweighs his defensive short-comings. Kronwall and Stuarrt, however have no excuses for the s*** they have been pawning as defense.

Dats looks tired, no Hossa, no Leino or Helm.... I think I'm going to pull something out of the job jar and beat my wife to the nag.

flip shoots. Nice

So the interesting question come playoofs is who will sit? Leino and Helm shouldn't in my opinion. Kopy all of a sudden is playing like Franzen. Draper takes face-offs. I guess its a good problem to have, but someone who should be playing won't be. That's assuming Sammie, Flip and Cleary are all a given.

He reminds me alot of Z too, but with a bit of Hudler thrown in as well. I seems to have that ability to make tight stops and turns while stick-handling much like Pavs and Huds can do.

2 out of 2 on the back-to-back is big

Not to offend anyone, but Conklin has been very good tonight.

saw that goal coming....White knuckle time

I subscribe and the service and quality are worth ever penny. If I could get faster download speeds, I could even stream HD when they offer it.

So we already have an overloaded 4th line and our D is pretty set. Where does he play? And don't say Kopy, because Helm and or Leino already have that spot. You gonna drop Maltby or Draper for Dandeneault? Why do people post this kind of stuff without thinking.

Speak for yourself, Its going to take the rest of the season for me to be comfortable with Osgood come playoff time. Personally, I think Conklin is a better goalie based on his play on the ice. Until Osgood approaches at least Conklin's level of play, Conklin would be my starter. Especially after last night which was basically as close to playoff game as your gonna get in the regular season. Guess what? Conlin outplayed Nabby.

With Howard getting called up and lots of talk (on this board at least) of a possible trade for a goalie, I got to wondering who people think will be in net first game of the playoffs. The conventional wisdom is Osgood, but I'm convinced Babcock will not hesitate to go with another option regardless of last season. Keep in mind this poll is not about who should, but rather, who you think will. My hope is that people try to assess objectively and not get personal feelings in the way. So the choices are obvious: Osgood Conklin Howard Other

I wish him well, but after s***ting himself for the whole season, its time to start planning for the playoffs.

Agreed. Minus win percentage Conks is better stats wise.... Ironic. Playoffs head to head - I would not hesitate to put Conks against Naby right now.

Why don't you flag humpers get a room.

This will be close one. Sharks will win 3-2 because Wings haven't had the wake-up call regarding team D. Tonights game is that call and they go undefeated the rest of the season including the playoffs.

I can put up with a little over the top exuberance if that is his way of expressing his appreciation of luck, sacrifice and work he and his family have sacrificed to get to the top of the NHL. I would contrast his approach with Crosby and every other spoiled, North American athlete, who basically have had a silver spoon stuck up their asses through their development. One of the reasons people hate Crosby so much is that he brings the same egocentric spoiled attitude to hockey that has existed in the NBA/NFL/MLB for some time.

Holland: "You've got five or six (goalies) that are a different level than everybody else," he said, "but the difference between the 10th best and 20th best isn't that great -- if you play defense." That says it all. It is also interesting to see how once high and mighty goalies have crashed and burned and new comers are up on that list. It just goes to show that: 1. You play the goalie that is playing well 2. If you think a goalies performance can be predicted from the past you are mistaken. 3. Anyone who locks up a goalie with a fat long-term is going to destroy the organization. Unless it is Marty Brodeur and even he is probably nearing the end.

Spot on - it's totally about the rebounds - especially since the "new" NHL and our lack of physical D since even before the Vlady days. That means rebounds = great chances

LOL. You don't understand red wings fans. This is not hate, it's what we do because have no real reason to hate. We have to manufacture our hate based on strange hypothetical scenarios. Or even worse, what is relative hate: Our team wins 90% of the time and who is "not contributing". I know its pretty pathetic, but we are spoiled. Having said all that, I still hate Maltby, Kopy and to a lesser extent Draper. Oh yeah, I forgot about that goalie... what's his name? Did I forget to mention I am spoiled?

I just hope they don't deal Leino or other young talent in a moment of goalie panic. I remember back in the day when we made cup runs and gave up guys like Mike Knuble. Of course that was in the pre-cap era, so times have changed.