russianswede919293

To me the biggest shame is that he first got really hurt goaltending in that stupid trick shooting competition at the skills competition. May have lost his career if this run doesn't work due to the damn skills competition, not even the all-star game.

I like Janik a lot, but he has passed down to Grand Rapids before already this year and to lose Lebda or Meech hurts the depth when you can keep them all... Sad but true Janik will most likely go back to the Griffs when everyone is healthy, and boy do they need some defensive help.

I think with his production from this season it will be about 2 million.

But the bolded line makes the other point applicable. As long as the Wings are having scoring issues the goalie that is letting in almost 0.5 less goals a game will play... If scoring picks up its easier to give Ozzie that chance, but while games are being won 2-1 and 3-2 its important to have the hotter goalie in to keep the game attainable for the struggling offense.

Jesus H. Christ This thread is about IF he will be re-signed next year and how much a fair cap hit is, not his nickname. Take the petty spelling issues to PM's. Again I will state in attempt to get it back on track... I think any contract for a guy Holmstrom's age that takes his kind of beatings should be a year-to-year basis. So 1 year deals only at this point, kind of like how they dealt with Chelios at the end of his tenure.

Drunk Driving is very serious and very dangerous. I'm disappointed in you Chelios.

Does it really matter between Homer and Holmer... Anyways, at this point in his career anything other than a year to year basis is bad, I say 1 year around 2 million if he even wants to come back. With his age andhow he takes a beating I wouldn't be shocked with a retirement or with another year.

I agree that Ozzie needs to get going on a regular schedule. But to get Ozzie going it might take a loss or two until he is going since he has been cold. The Wings are not in a position where they can afford to lose games, especially against the opponents they are playing (Colorado, Phoenix were the last 2 and LA and Dallas are coming up). San Jose, New York and Carolina are 3 games in a row followed by Dallas (another must win) and then Chicago. I expect Ozzie to play in San Jose, then probably at home against Carolina. If he plays well he may earn Dallas or Chicago. Ozzie will get games. This is an unfamiliar place for Ozzie, and Babcock and Detroit. In the past if Ozzie was struggling they could take a few games to get him going again. The Wings are outside of the playoffs looking in. They don't have that luxury right now. If there is a colder goalie and a hotter goalie, right now every game is a must win game and every point is important, so the hotter goalie will play. As long as Howard keeps getting the team points its hard to justify not playing him. Because a couple games of Ozzie not so sharp before getting sharp could be a couple of points...and a couple of points could be the playoffs. Right now the Howard over Ozzie is 100% based on the fact that Howard is winning games when games need to be won. Yes Ozzie has to get going, but really when he was off kilter that first game after being sick Howard was already rolling, and Howie hasn't stopped. There are 3 ways Ozzie gets consistent game action right now: 1) Howard gets cold 2) Ozzie plays very well in one of his games and steals a victory 3) The Wings gain some leverage point wise in the conference and can afford to let Ozzie take the time to get going

Hope to see Hank tonight

Also Howard is top 10 in GAA and SV%. So yes he is playing better. In fact he is one of the best in the league right now.

Howard is on fire right now. Ozzie will get his time to get back between the posts. I still think Ozzie will be the starter come playoff time. But Howard NEEDS this time for if Ozzie is injured or not ready to play come playoff time. Overall Howard's run here is better for this team overall in the long run. Keep it going Jimbo.

At this point the season is halfway over, and the total amount of OT loses (a 3-point game) is 158. Last Year the TOTAL was 282. So we are on pace to have approximately 34 more OT loss points this year from last year. The '07-'08 Season had 272 OT losses. There have been more and more games going to OT with the parity in the league so more and more points are becoming a 3 point game. In the past all games equaled 2-points 2 for a win 1 for a tie, end of sentence. With some games only being worth 2 points and others being worth 3 it makes it hard to move up the standings. You win a game, but 2 other teams in your conference play and go to OT, automatically you only gain 1 point all together in a game you won in regulation. I know that that point will not go away, so I propose that it is time to go to something that has been talked about for a long time: Regulation Win=3 points Regulation loss=0 points OT or shootout win=2 points OT or shootout loss=1 point And I will already counter the argument of "it makes previous records for points meaningless with this...That has already been done twice. #1 by giving an extra point just for getting to overtime #2 By nullifying the tie, thus guarenteeing 3 points out of ANY game that goes past regulation. So historical point records already mean diddily, I think that to make a win in regulation more meaningful to the standings that it should be given 3 points. Thoughts???

But we are now in 9th instead of 10th place!

Except that right now the OT and shootout win BOTH are equal to the regulation win...

Maybe not but at least every game would be worth the same amount of points. I just hate the concept that a team can win the game in regulation and actually lose one overall point in the standings... You gain 2 points...teams around you gain 3...you net a loss of one point even though you won in regulation...

I think that Babcock is one of the Best coaches in Hockey. I think he will be a Hall of Fame coach. And I hope he stays for a long long time. He very well could be one of the longest tenured Wings coaches of all time when he leaves...

Lets do the same to them as we did the Avs...BEAT IN REGULATION!!! To me I think that the extra point in OT is what is making it so hard to move up in the standings this year. Just at a quick glance there seems to be more games being lost after regulation this year then last...so a win really only has been gaining you 1 point on many nights... Wings have to beat these teams in front of them, and the need to do it in 60 Minutes. Leino with another GWG!!!

Part of that was how hard all 3 were playing. When Fil and J-Dubs went down Ville seemed to lose his confidence and looked lost and the drivve disappeared. He played really hard last game, and that goal could snap him out of his funk. He had been reluctant to dig in corners and go low like Babs had been telling him. After the game he said "I did things Babs said I should. I got deep like he wants me to." He took the coaches advice, played well and got results. If he keeps playing Babcock style hockey and keeps going to the net he will turn it around.

Couple of things here. #1 Leino was a 24 year old undrafted free agent last year. He had a great year in the AHL, and good camps, thus I think we expected too much out of him in general. #2 Ville is starting to turn it aroung a bit. GWG last game. #3 Give the guy more than 1/2 a season before comparing him to Boyd Deveraux...Deveraux played 4 seasons with the team...Leino has played half a year...Devereaux also had 2 seasons NHL experience before coming to Detroit...Leino has 1 season of North American experience... #4 Stacy Roest was much more disappointing to me then Devereaux, I never expected anything out of Devereaux. Roest was a Juniors STUD that performed quite well in Adirondak and never cut it with the Wings... #5 Leino was only really a dominant player in Finland once...every other year he was less than a point per game player. Long Story Short... Personally I always thought Devereaux was Boyd the Void... Leino still has time to show me something. He probably won't be the second liner I thought he would but I could see him as a 15-20 goal player as soon as next year. Now that he has his confidence back a bit I think he could start to produce more. I expect him to finish the year with 30 points if he can turn his play around. Don't give up on Leino so early in his career. Give him a shot before condemming him to Boyd the Void status. Expectations of him to come in and replace Hudler and win Rookie of the Year were to high. A solid 3rd liner with 40-50 points a season are not.

Goal and an Assist today in the Losers portion of the Juniors today.

They are one of the worst of the top teams... Miller is really the only dominant advantage this team has over anyone...

Since they are out when will Tatar-Tots be back with the Griffs. I am going to see them on the 8th, any chance he is back by then?

Not as great of a Tourney from Tatar as I expected. Slovakia also seemed to be a pretty weak team all around. Only won the one game I believe...

Friday: Philadelphia @ Boston Atlanta @ Buffalo Saturday: Carolina @ NY Rangers Vancouver @ Dallas Pittsburgh @ Tampa Bay Washington @ Los Angeles Atlanta @ NY Islanders Colorado @ Columbus Toronto @ Calgary Chicago @ St Louis Anaheim @ Nashville New Jersey @ Minnesota Detroit @ Phoenix Edmonton @ San Jose Sunday: Philadelphia @ Ottawa Buffalo @ Montreal Pittsburgh @ Florida Anaheim @ Chicago

Weak start to the game by Detroit. Ozzie held the team in it when they were not playing hard. Strong finish. Hopefully they tie it up early in the second.