clutchngrab

Interesting - I've watched every game of the year on Hockeystreams - including this one.

lol. Osgood blows.

Babcock will give Osgood every opportunity to shoot himself in the foot from here on out. The gun is loaded, cocked and aimed at his big toe.

Right, and every day can be your birthday too!

I was a little sad we let him go instead of Lebda, but apparently his pre-season was not so hot.

I think you are spot on. As much as we fans enjoy seeing him lay out other players, he has to pick his spots in order to not be a target. Part of that is because we don't have an enforcer and part of that is because Bettmans NHL basically sucks ass.

There are no spells, voodoo dolls, witchcraft or anything else at work here. I've watched Osgood for closely for some time and it comes down to mechanics. His positioning and rebound control are horrid this season. He's small in net, usually because he is too deep, he complains about bad bounces, again because he is either too deep to do anything or otherwise out of position. He let's in short-side and 5-hole goals all the freakin' time. I'm not a hater just an observer. Goalies are notoriously up and down - all of them except for the truly elite like maybe Brodeur. To state that past success is a necessary and sufficient qualification for future success is asinine - especially at the goaltender position. Unless Osgood turns it around real fast here, I do not think we can afford to throw a couple few playoff games to give him the "benefit of the doubt". A growing body of evidence exists that refutes that strategy.

The numbers just don't add up to sign both Franzen and Hossa without significantly changing the team. I don't see Flip getting traded, I don't see Cleary or Rafalski waving their no-trades and I don't see Kenny giving up on Kronwall. I also hope Hudler stays on the team and doubt he would go as RFA. I do think Hossa will sign before mule. All this points to one conclusion: Franzen is gone after this year.

Ozzie Watch: positive: some excellent saves negative: 1 1/2 bad goals out of 3. status: same The 2nd goal was a direct result of him having the initial shot bounce of his catching glove. The 3rd goal was soft 5 hole.

Mickey seems to like Hudler almost as much as he hates the officials. Thats good enough for me.

uh oh... back to back for Ozzie. All eyes will be watching. With regards to Osgood I think fans and detractors alike can *mostly* agree on the following: 1. He has played subpar so far this year. I say this even given the considerable blame which should go to the defense in front of him. The numbers basically don't lie. 2. It seems highly unlikely the Ozzie we've seen so far this season will be good enough for a cup repeat. The open question is: How much better does our defense have to play to offset the goaltending gap in order to have a chance at the cup? My hypothesis is: If Osgood continues to play at the same level he has all season, then a cup repeat is highly unlikely regardless of what the defense does in front of him. So given that, I am scrutinizing Osgood closely in every game looking for signs of a turn-around. I have not noticed, yet, a significant change in his positioning and rebound control, which have both been off all season. Last night's win did nothing one way or other to convince me the turn-around is underway. Let's hope tonight starts the metamorphosis.

I really like your analysis.

He still looked like a wee little out position over committing leprechaun most of the time and on the second goal he decided to go for a swim. But yeah, sure the glass is half full.

meh - who cares what ESPN thinks.

If you look at Hudler's development over the last 2 or 3 years, his improvement has surpassed every wing I can think of (except maybe Dats) - and still at a young age. Its all about potential and upside which translates to value now and in the future. I felt the same thing about Dats when people were questioning his playoffs and heart. Hudler has worked his ass off on his skating and its obvious compared to a couple years ago. Both players can go into stretches of inconsistency, but to be honest, I can't get away from thinking that Franzen could easily be another Dustin Penner.... Finally, if Hossa signs, then for chemistry and team role sake, I see more need for Hudler than Franzen. Cleary and Homer give us the up front presence and Flip becomes somewhat expendable if Hudler stays and Leino develops like it looks like he should.

As much as I love Franzen, part of me can't help but think Dustin Penner. He cannot carry a team on his back like Hossa did early in the season. He's not in the same league. As far as Hossa goes, just cause he's stated he'll take a discount, doesn't mean he's gonna settle for a couple pizzas and some loose change. He going to have take significantly less than market value and ultimately those numbers might not meet up.

Lang was leading the league in scoring for a large portion of the season we got him and then I recall he was injured. He never quite raised to the same heights as a wing, but it was a reasonable gamble at the time. Bertuzzi was an even bigger gamble that failed.

I find it quite interesting that Babcock has kept Hank and Pavs separated for the majority of the season, yet now, post Z signing, they are reunited. History shows how well they play together and it is obvious - both on the ice, and in interviews, how much they like to play together. The cynic in me says this was a calculated way to low-ball the contract position of the Z camp by separating them and driving down Z's numbers.... Not that that is a bad thing for the wings or that Z isn't getting his coin, but I wonder how others think this was a deliberate strategy or not...

Aaron "pain train" Ward Actually some great insight into the ******* Bowman could really be.

That Ward guy showed some nice signs of being a good power forward. Hope that works out for ya.

That Ward guy showed some nice signs of being a good power forward. Hope that works out for ya.

Please make sure you return that shopping cart when your done with it.

Please do not take the bait of this post. Let this be a warning to all ye who enter here: Thar be dragons in this subjective, off the cuff malarky... rating such attributes as "grit" and "heart" without any objective measure...

Not to dash the trading Flip rumours, but I have it on good authority that Holland fully intends to name Filpula as the next captain of the red wings. My sources say Holland's thinking is that with so many Swedes on the team it would create a "positive tension" to have a Fin captain over the Swedes.

No kidding what a house of cards... I'm working on a points system that absolutely proves I'm the king of the universe. Please stand by!