Dump Hasek, Play Howard

[ttbrunke 0]

What have you seen from him (Howard) that would suggest that he is any good at all??

That's the point we haven't seen enough of him he needs to get the shot and if we have Ozzie we still have stability. If it doesn't work then we have the trade deadline to try to improve the position.

[OsGOD 3]

I agree. I look at so many other teams like New Jersey with Martin Brodeur, Calgary with Kiprusoff and I see a lot of solidarity. Detroit has never or at least recently had that with their goaltender. Look at the goalies they've switched around - Vernon, Ozzie, Ranford, Ozzie, Dom, Cujo, Legace, and Dom again. The problem is that we're always looking for the quick fix - because for whatever reason we always need the "it" goalie..

Main reason being... they can look beyond the goalie for their playoff losses. We as fans pick the one position (apart from a glaring error... Lil' Ja) to offer up as the sacrifical goat. I mean honestly they have not fared all to well with those said goalies... yet they remain on the team... I love it! I wish we as a team were like that.

[Winged Scooter 0]

Howard's not ready now, and he'll never be ready, he sucks.

Oh now this is a brilliant freakin' post.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Howard's not ready now, and he'll never be ready, he sucks.

Wow, really getting the early jump on making the d*ckhead goalie bashing posts about Howard.

I thought we had some rule that the goalie had to actually be on the Wings roster full time before we got to crucify him?

[Kp-Wings 3]

No

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

If Hasek stays I'd be perfectly fine with him and Ozzie.

If Hasek retires, then I'd like to see Ozzie be #1 and maybe bring in Howard to back him up or possibly a free agent.

Howard is going to be great for the future, but he's not ready right now.

[Herr Hockey 0]

Can someone refresh my memory on the whole Bill Ranford thing? I forgot what happened there

Edited May 23, 2007 by Herr Hockey

[ILWingsFan1 0]

Howard's definitely not ready for the show.

And Dom got us as far as he did this year, without him the Wings don't make it. Bring him back for one last shot. Had the Wings stayed healthy, this team would be in the Finals I guarantee it.

The Wings were never supposed to make it as far as they did and Hasek is a big reason they played in the western conference final.

[Izzy24 44]

Oh now this is a brilliant freakin' post.

Thanks.

Wow, really getting the early jump on making the d*ckhead goalie bashing posts about Howard.

I thought we had some rule that the goalie had to actually be on the Wings roster full time before we got to crucify him?

I didn't know about that rule, sorry.

[OsGOD 3]

Can someone refresh my memory on the whole Bill Ranford thing? I forgot what happened there

Ranford played solid and then had a mental breakdown and 100% lost it... Ozzie had to come in with a f***ed up knee to try to scrap together anything good. It was pitiful watching ozzie in so much pain out there. That is the right incident, right? if then, my bad that was another time

[Izzy24 44]

Wow, really getting the early jump on making the d*ckhead goalie bashing posts about Howard.

I thought we had some rule that the goalie had to actually be on the Wings roster full time before we got to crucify him?

I thought the rule was the goalie had to win a Stanley Cup with the Wings (see Osgood, Hasek) before we go to crucify him.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Howards a franchise goalie

I'll take your word for it , If we can get Hasek back , we need him , Unless you guys would like Belfour or Super Pads (Giguere)

[joshy207 156]

I didn't read the whole thread, so sorry if this is redundant...

By pretty much all accounts, Howard isn't ready. Let him dominate the AHL first, like Buffalo did with Miller. They didn't rush him along, they let him basically overdevelop in the "A". Howard needs to either win the Calder Cup or at least make the final, lead or be close in major statistical categories, and be able to play well in the NHL if/when he's called up for short stints. There's no need to bring Howard up full-time next year. If he's not ready, you run the risk of ruining his confidence and never having him pan out. Better to sit on him for a while and make sure he's ready.

[Guest MrSandMan]

I'm excited to watch Howard but if Hasek wants to come back... more power to him, we'll be a great team with him.

Hasek

Edited May 23, 2007 by MrSandMan

[Guest jaytan]

It's a pretty tough question, but I agree with the original post. Look, if we start Ozzie and let Howard get used to being in the NHL by playing as his backup, we could have a good young goalie developed after a couple of years. We'd also have more cash to sign free agent skaters. Hasek is a risk, and he's only really a justified signing if we make/win the Cup at the end of the season, and he's a part of the run. This year, I'd say he was justified, even though we only made the Conference Finals, but now it's time to move on and, while I wouldn't call it rebuilding, look a little further ahead in the future than nine or ten months.

Ozzie can lead this team to the playoffs, and once in, he could get to at least the second round with the right support. He's still good, he's experienced, and he has won a Cup in the past.

[Guest MrSandMan]

It's a pretty tough question, but I agree with the original post. Look, if we start Ozzie and let Howard get used to being in the NHL by playing as his backup, we could have a good young goalie developed after a couple of years. We'd also have more cash to sign free agent skaters. Hasek is a risk, and he's only really a justified signing if we make/win the Cup at the end of the season, and he's a part of the run. This year, I'd say he was justified, even though we only made the Conference Finals, but now it's time to move on and, while I wouldn't call it rebuilding, look a little further ahead in the future than nine or ten months.

Ozzie can lead this team to the playoffs, and once in, he could get to at least the second round with the right support. He's still good, he's experienced, and he has won a Cup in the past.

I'm feeling the opposite about the matter. I'd like to see Howard be our #1 in 09'.

Keep him down in the minors to condition for another year. He's going to be good to be a backup

Edited May 23, 2007 by MrSandMan

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

For the love of god I would like to see this organization not play goalies like a game of musical chairs for the first time in forever.

Would I like to see Howard play for the Wings eventually? Yes.

If Hasek thinks he has enough juice left in the tank physically and keeps in shape, where's the major risk? He's proven over the last 2 seasons here and at Ottawa that he's still got it when he stays healthy despite being over 40. Age and wear-and-tear will eventually catch up to him like everybody else but he didn't have any groin issues this past season.

And if he does return, I highly doubt it'll be for a much higher salary than he made this season. $1M, $1.25M at most if I had to guess.

Playing the puck in traffic is something that irks me with Hasek. The way he stops pucks and his style doesn't irk me. For those who get all over his case for flopping around and unorthodox style, that style has helped him win 6 Vezina trophies. It helped the Wings win a Cup in 2002, and it helped the Wings make a deep playoff run this year when it probably wasn't expected.

It all depends on what Hasek wants to do. If he doesn't return, I gladly welcome Osgood/Howard. If he does return, I look forward to seeing Hasek/Osgood once again.

[FireCaptain 563]

BRING BACK MCDONALD!!

I just wanted to say something as ludicrous as "Dump Hasek".

[Booster313 138]

Yeah, lets bring Howard up, or better yet Liv, or better yet, let's start Ozzie, no wait Giggy is the answer, or is it Nabby...how bout we trade for Luongo. The fact is no matter who's in net, if we don't win a cup next year people will be calling for his head. The job is Dom's to take or give up, he stayed healthy, played solid, gave us a chance to win almost everynight and stole a few games. There is not a better goalie available. Let's wait till Dom decides to retire be it this year or next before we push him out the door. Just think if Jimmy is ready now, how much better he'll be a year from now.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Howards inconsistant AHL numbers didn't impress me this year. Just because he is the teams top prospect doesn't mean he should play right now.

SWF is right about how this organization is always playing musical goalies. Just look at the order of starting goalies for the Wings since before 1997. It's basically been this:

Osgood, Vernon, Osgood, Hasek, Joseph, Legace, Hasek.

I mean, this is pretty ridiculous when you think about it. For the past 10 or so years, we've used a total of 7 different starting goalies. Some teams still have the same goalie 10 years ago as they do now. I too, for once, would like to see the Wings not play musical goalies and just stick with the same tandem for more then one season.

[russianswede919293 95]

Allright so here is my 2 cents. The people in Grand Rapids think Howie needs one more year down there, I think we should give it to him. So...I think that if Dom wants to come back we should let him come back, but honestly I think part of why he slpwed down a bit towards the end of last rou was because of the Western Conference travel for a team like Detroit. If Dom was in the Eastern Conference and didn't need to travel Hell's Green Acres, I think his team would be in the finals now. BUT I also think at his age the travel regimen got to him towards the end of the Conference FInals, because although he played great, he wasn't quite himself...But Dom is not an issue, the guy proved he can play a full season, and get us deep into the playoffs, even with him slightly off his game a few more powerplay goals and that series was ours. So a lack of Power Play scoring hurt us more than DOm wearing down a tiny bit. Sorry for the ramble but overall I guess I'm saying if the money is right, DOm should be back next year and he deserves it, should he choose to retire, I think that we should sine an established back-up goalie, and have him compete with Liv to back up Ozzie...I don't think that will be an issue though.

[Yzerman19 334]

I do think that we need experience in front of the net. Making howard more present in front of the cage is not a bad idea but we have think also about the playoffs. Last year, we had Legace who had an unbelievable season, and he completely fell during the playoffs because of his lack of experience out there.

The things is that sure if we don't let our goalie start once how they are going to get experience....

But I do think that in the playoffs, if you want to win, your goalie must be the best player of your team.... Ask the Ducks about that.

I do think that we need experience in front of the net. Making howard more present in front of the cage is not a bad idea but we have think also about the playoffs. Last year, we had Legace who had an unbelievable season, and he completely fell during the playoffs because of his lack of experience out there.

The things is that sure if we don't let our goalie start once how they are going to get experience....

But I do think that in the playoffs, if you want to win, your goalie must be the best player of your team.... Ask the Ducks about that.

[Yzerman19 334]

I do think that we need experience in front of the net. Making howard more present in front of the cage is not a bad idea but we have think also about the playoffs. Last year, we had Legace who had an unbelievable season, and he completely fell during the playoffs because of his lack of experience out there.

The things is that sure if we don't let our goalie start once how they are going to get experience....

But I do think that in the playoffs, if you want to win, your goalie must be the best player of your team.... Ask the Ducks about that.

[Guest MrSandMan]

Howards inconsistant AHL numbers didn't impress me this year. Just because he is the teams top prospect doesn't mean he should play right now.

SWF is right about how this organization is always playing musical goalies. Just look at the order of starting goalies for the Wings since before 1997. It's basically been this:

Osgood, Vernon, Osgood, Hasek, Joseph, Legace, Hasek.

I mean, this is pretty ridiculous when you think about it. For the past 10 or so years, we've used a total of 7 different starting goalies. Some teams still have the same goalie 10 years ago as they do now. I too, for once, would like to see the Wings not play musical goalies and just stick with the same tandem for more then one season.

Sad isn't it.

[ttbrunke 0]

Yeah, lets bring Howard up, or better yet Liv, or better yet, let's start Ozzie, no wait Giggy is the answer, or is it Nabby...how bout we trade for Luongo. The fact is no matter who's in net, if we don't win a cup next year people will be calling for his head. The job is Dom's to take or give up, he stayed healthy, played solid, gave us a chance to win almost everynight and stole a few games. There is not a better goalie available. Let's wait till Dom decides to retire be it this year or next before we push him out the door. Just think if Jimmy is ready now, how much better he'll be a year from now.

If you read the whole thread (sorry to insult you if you happen to be illierate) instead of jumping in and shooting your mouth off. This thread was not about who will be better next year, clearly that will be hasek but how many years does he have left, and he couldn't play consistent enough to win the cup this year so why would he next year. If we are not going to win the cup next year I would like to at least take a step forward in our organization instead of putting it off another year and then we have 2 years where we know that we don't have the best chance to win the cup. The problem you fair weather fans have is you get attached to these big name guys like Hasek or Bertuzzi because they are sexy names, but the point is they don't help our future, and they are not enough help for our present (otherwise it would make a little sense). That is why "Dump Hasek" is not absurd at all.