greenrebellion

Ya, goaltending could definitely be a problem next year. In the meantime, name Conklin number 1 and pray for the best. Oh and our PK is driving me NUTS.

4-3 Wings, Helm with his first regular season goal.

But we've won two cups with "cheap" goaltending. Further, I personally embrace the way Holland builds his teams. He builds defense first, fills out with talented offensive players that are defensively capable and then fills in the goaltending need. In my view, goaltending is one of the riskiest positions to give long term contracts too. Look at the likes of Jim Carey, Jose Theodore, Khabibulin, and a whole host of other names. Ever since the cap era begin (granted its still a short time period) Holland has not splurged on goaltending, focusing on solid, proven players that aren't going to blow you away, but tend to get the job done. Hasek - past his prime, but still capable. Osgood - Never been known as a goaltender that will steal games, but tons of experience in tough situations. Conklin - solid backup for cheap You gotta sacrifice somewhere, if you are going to pay a guy $6MM to tend for you, guys like Hossa or Franzen or Hudler cannot be afforded.

Face it guys, there is NO WAY in heck we are trading for a goalie. It just isn't happening. Not only are we up against the cap, but it would be foolish to give away an of our future talent for a goalie at this point given the young goalies we have in GR. Furthermore, Chris Osgood has led us to cups in the past and I truly believe that he has it in him again. Have I had doubts recently? Sure, I've even commented in some threads that despite my extraordinarily high pain threshold, Osgood's play has really started to piss me off this year. But.... I still believe he can give us a decent shot once the playoffs hit, I feel that he's one solid game away from getting his A-game back. And you know what? If Osgood gets blown out in the first game or two of the playoffs, they will not hesitate to stick Conklin in net and we would have a situation similar to last year at that point. Granted Conklin's playoff experience (or lack thereof) is a concern, but its not like we need either of our goalies to play out of their minds or steal games and I believe that Conklin is thoroughly capable of playing average or above average hockey even in the playoffs.

Is there a risk to riding Conklin as starter into the playoffs, absolutely. I am totally willing to take that risk at this point, yes. There is NO way our odds are worse with Conklin than Osgood. What a horribly frustrating game.

I must be missing something, Ozzie doesn't look all that great to me. Played the Nash breakaway awful, was flat on his back, missed the poke check, Nash just had the puck slip off his stick. On the second goal, Osgood has to catch it and not let an easy floating shot fly back into the slot. Osgood's making his job a lot more difficult tonight with the poor rebound control. I will admit though, defense has been extremely porous...Do I blame Osgood for any of this, no. But calling him amazing out there tonight seems a bit overdone. Flame away...

I think we need to trade Val. We really need Hudler's playmaking ability b/c with Zetterberg and Datsuyk on the same line, Hudler's the next best playmaker. Would be nice to free up $3.5MM in salary as well and I have to believe we have people that could fill in pretty nicely for Val...Helm for example as a nice third line center down the road?

Unreal...I don't even know what to say. I've been a fan of Osgood dating back to his mishap against the sharks in game 7 back in the mid 90's, but this guy just does not have it this year. Make Conklin the starter. When we get to the playoffs, if Conklin folds like a Legace, put Osgood in and pray for the best.

Well when Osgood is letting in at least one or two of these a game its a problem. If he was more alert to the play he would've been in position to make the stop....I've been an Osgood supporter all through this year, but this is getting ridiculous.

Glad to see we have at least a point locked up with a depleted team. Cleary has been a BEAST out there, love that guy, always working his ass off.

I'll be there too! Go wings!!

I think someone said something similar about the "unsinkable" titanic.

The screen, the puck movement, the pinpoint shot....how can anyone call that luck!?!

Nashville announcers compared Lilja to Lidstrom after the last goal....so we should be set even if Lidstrom is out.

Looks like we found our starting goaltender....Conks is HOT. I kid...but at least we've got a solid backup option.

You could end up with a sick situation where a team needs one point to clinch a playoff spot on the final game of the season and intentionally throws the game in overtime (if it gets that far) in order to insure a playoff berth.

The current point system has bothered me since guaranteed points began to be awarded in the overtime period. In my opinion, it has created way too much parity where there are 5 or 6 teams separated by just a couple of points at the end of the regular season. There is nothing wrong with parity, but playing an 82 game season just to have a bunch of teams lumped together at the end seems kind of pointless. But I also agree with some of the concerns raised regarding teams playing safe, hence here's my idea on a new point system: Regulation win - 3 points Regulation loss - 0 points OT/Shootout win - 2 points OT Shootout loss - 1 point With this, teams will theoretically play hard even at the end of the third working towards the extra point...and in overtime, there is nothing to lose, just like the current system. Thoughts?

If you don't count Zetterberg's empty net goal. Neither Datsuyk, Hossa, or Zetterberg have scored yet this season and we are 2-1-1 as a team. Just wait, they won't go scoreless the whole season and we'll be more than fine.

mindfly is very sporadic in his posting, sometimes his posts are intelligent, but other times he sounds like a 12 year old at best.

Given today's loss, its clear that it is time to write of this season and begin to look ahead. What do you guys think, do we go into rebuilding mode and trade as many veterans as we can for draft picks and young players, or do we have enough of a core to build from heading into the 2009 season? Thoughts?

What am I missing. Why trade for him and give up players when you could've claimed him off of waivers a week ago?

ESPN Article on Schneider It appears that re-entry is not an option, they are going to revisit trading him. The reason Burke didn't want to do a deal before, was that all offers required additional players. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

I keep hearing about this NHL Network thing, does it conflict with Center Ice. Basically I am wondering if I'll be ok if I sign up for Center Ice through my local cable provider (here in LA). Does this work, or do I have to go the online route?

Legace Tim Cheveldae or Arturs Irbe

A lot of people are putting Hudler on the fourth line, isn't that a waste of talent or am I missing something?