chrisdetroit

That would be great but it's a pretty tall order especially considering that they have Aneheim and San Jose back-to-back. My guess would be that Babs starts Ozzie against the Sharks and we lose. Not just because of Ozzie but because they are a good team and will be fired up since we beat them last time. Howard has to be tired after the last 2 games and another day of rest would be good. We should then beat the Ducks and Kings with Howard playing both. That's my guess but I like your optimism. There aren't many optimists on LGW and I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Does your mom know you are using the computer?

First stop with the exaggerations, they are not getting outshot every game. The problem is team chemistry. They lost alot of guys to free agency and had to replace them with GR guys. It obviously takes awhile to adjust to that, then they started losing guys to injuries and had to bring in more guys. Now they are getting guys back, and once again this means different guys. I expect after the olympics they will get it together. You can't just keep switching the guys in the lineup every few games and expect it to go smoothy. Hockey is a team sport more than any other sport and team chemistry is critical. Patience.

Yea but he had 1 point more than your boy Hossa who cost us $7.45mil

I guess we should have listened to you. LOL You are implying that if we had moved Fil, we could have kept Hossa. Sorry, doesn't add up. Fil is a $3mil cap hit and Hossa is $5mil. Where's the other $2mil? I don't know how you can rag on the guy after he just missed 20 some games with a broken wrist. Give the guy a break.

Oh for f***'s sake. You are seriously going to quote his point total wothout any consideration to the number of games he missed? A liitle biased against Fil there are you?

And they shouldn't have beaten the Sharks in San Jose a few weeks ago, they certainly shouldn't have taken Chicago to a shootout and there's no way that they beat LA at home a couple of weeks ago. One thing I learned about the Wings a long time ago is that they get up for games against good teams. They will beat the Pens in Pittsburgh. Stop with the defensive pessimism.

No. May or Miller would have to clear wavers. It is unlikely that anybody would claim May but Miller would be gone.

I am. And please remind me at the end of the season that I said I was on January 28th. Can you image adding these guys to the team in the next few weeks: Franzen Lilja Holmstrom Williams f*** yea, I'm optimistic.

Our #1 goal scorer this year (before he was injured), Holmstron is not back. Our #1 Game winning goal scorer form last year Franzen is not back. Our #1 Shot blocker from last year, Lilja is not back Our #3 D-Man and #1 goal scoring D-man (before he was injured) Kronwall has only been back 2 games Win despite being injured? Yea ok, injuries shouldn't matter. That's a little unrealistic don't you think.

It's a combination of alot of things. The biggest issue in my opinion is something called "team chemistry". The Wings finally got in a "groove" where as Bertuzzi said, "everybody knows their role" and for a while they were playing a grinding game with very good team defense. Then guys started coming back and they started to try and play more puck-possesion. So far the adjustment hasn't been smooth. I expect that they will get it together after the Olympic Break and go on a tear. All that said, I think that Ozzie is done. Based on how he played in the 2 games that he played this month, I don't think Babs can afford to give him another chance. We have been lucky not to lose any ground the last 2 weeks but our luck could run out quickly.

I can't believe how quickly everybody is jumping off the Howard bandwagon. Even with "fair" outings the last few games, he still has a .924 save percentage. It's not like he's letting in terrible goals. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. This is the LGW board.

That's how hockey is. Every goalie has good games, bad games and lucky games. In order to make sense of it, you add up all the goals allowed, and shots faced and average it all out. You then get a number called save %. Right now Howard's save % is .924 which is 4th or 6th in the league depending on if you count all goalies or only the ones that played at least 30 games. Osgood is at .896 which is way down at the bottom 42d out of 46 goalies. How can you sit the 4th best goalie in the league in favor of the 42nd best? Ozzie has lost his job and I unless Howard tanks he isn't getting it back.

1. The fact that I can't switch on the tv on any given evening or on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in the middle of the frickin season and watch a hockey game, any hockey game. This is just plain ludicrous. 2. The fact that a team can't challenge a call on the ice. 3. The fact that Detroit, Toronto and Montreal are sending money to Phoenix to support a backrupt ice hockey team that plays in the middle of the desert. 4. loser points for a shootout or an OT loss. 5. The NHL bias towards Sydney Crosby. Enough already! 6. The stupid puck over the glass rule. 7. The stupid trapezoid rule. Let the goalies play the puck! 8. Weak penalty calls.

Before they got hurt Homer was #1 in points for the team and Kronwall was #3. Z was #2. Just increadible that a team can lose the #1, #2 and #3 scorers for a significant period of time and still be in the playoff race. I am stoked to get these guys back.

And lots of LGW posters didn't even want to give him a chance. They wanted to re-sign Conklin, trade Howard for a bag of pucks, etc. The Wings brass decided to give him a chance to be at least a back-up. Yes, it so far has turned out better than they hoped but at least they were willing to take a chance. Many LGW posters were not. Look it up if you don't remember.

Yea, the guy that had a great first 2 months of the season then went back to normal. He is currently ranked 4th in save percentage in the west behind Nabokov Howard Kipursoff and 8th in GAA and 5th in wins. Explain again why he should be chosen above Howard when Howard has a better GAA, SV% and more Wins? I guess if the voting took place in November, you might be right.

exactly.

The issue is experience not age. Age has nothing to do with it. Miller has had 2 1/2 years in the NHL which for most guys (except maybe unusual cases like Dan Cleary) is enough time to develop there skills fully or to at least show their potential. Leino has had 1/2 of a year which clearly is not enough time for most guys. Going forward, I want the guy with more potential and not the guy that has already reached his peak and is clearly not an elite player. Neither player right now is a key component on the Red Wings so I'd be willing to take the risk on the guy with huge potential rather than settle for the guy with less potential that is playing better right now. I'm willing to bet that the Wings agree. And the Huet versus Luongo comparison is not valid. Luongo is in anybody's opinion an elite goaltender. He doesn't need an upside, he is already proven.

And that many LGW posters do not....

My point is that the guy has the 2nd best save % in the entire league and Mindfly still has negative comments. I am ok if Howard continues to play exactly the same way as he is now. Yes he does sometimes leave out juicy rebounds, otherwise he might be up for the Vezina trophy

Correct and if Phoenix loses to Washington which is highly likely and Vancouver loses to Chicago which also is highly likely then the Wings are only 3 points out of 4th place.

Howard has the 2nd best save % and the 2nd best GAA of all goaltenders in the Western Conference right behind Nabokov (for guys that played at least 1/2 the games). How can he not be on the allstar team. Nabokov should be the starter and Howard the back-up. Who else is there in the West? Kipursoff's numbers are not as good in either catagory.

Leino. Miller is in his 3rd year, it's unlikely that he is going to show a big jump after 2 1/2 years in the league. What you see is what you get. Leino is a rookie who was the top forward in all of Finland last year and has only been in the NHL for 1/2 a season. He has huge potential. Sometimes it is not what you do in your first 1/2 of your rookie year. Fortunately the Wings brass has more patience than the LGW gang and is not ready to pull the plug on a rookie with so much potential after only 1/2 season. They are not going to give up on Leino so easily.