Howard's career potential: 1A goalie?

[The Noodle 39 14]

I have never ever seen any of this greatness that some people say about Howard. But i dont really watch college hockey so.. except for that one awesome game michigan vs michigan State in a football stadiium lol!

I have only seen Howard play here.. and when he did he looked out of position all the time and anything shot at him that he did save he would always let out a huge rebound chance.. so yea I'm not too excited about the so called awesome Osgood / Howard tandem

[Guest wingswillwincup]

daniel larsson will be our future lundqvist in 3 yrs

That's because playing in Sweden we don't get to see this player peform, where as if he were playing GR, he'd be almost right next door.

Larsson, who I imagine you're talking about, is supposed to be projected as a #1 goalie, but somehow I don't think that'll happen with the Wings. They already screwed up Liv, so unless they bring Larsson over soon, they may lose out on him too.

liv never put up numbers like larsson is doing right now at a young age , let alone 1st season in the elite league ..... larsson has all the tools to be a star and as much as id love to see howard be amazing and be our starter i do think larsson will be the man , were already a swedish all star team , makes sense to have a swedish star goalie as well lol .. we'd have swedish stars in all positions zetterberg-lidstrom-larsson

And if howard becomes a 1a , then he'd be great trade bait anyways or a nice little duo in detroit

[union drone 0]

I have never ever seen any of this greatness that some people say about Howard. But i dont really watch college hockey so.. except for that one awesome game michigan vs michigan State in a football stadiium lol!

I have only seen Howard play here.. and when he did he looked out of position all the time and anything shot at him that he did save he would always let out a huge rebound chance.. so yea I'm not too excited about the so called awesome Osgood / Howard tandem

Whether you or I see the greatness is irrelevant. The organization needs to decide on a direction for the future when it comes to goaltending. So far, the indication has been that Howard is the future. If so, he'd better start seeing NHL pucks being shot his way while we still have other options available. If he goes from being AHL starter to NHL starter overnight, you can expect some real headaches!

Now if the organization has no real plans for Howard, but instead will trade for a starting goalie at some point, then everything I've said above is meaningless. This is almost what I expect to happen anyway.

[eva unit zero 271]

I think he'll be brought over next year. There's a need for him if they end up going with Osgood/Howard. I hope he can keep showing his potential throughout this year. I'm a big Howard fan (big goalie fan in general), but I think Larsson could end up being better. And, I don't think it's fair to parallel him with Liv; not saying you are, but people tend to. Liv had/has bigger problems, mostly about being able to get his head straight, whereas Larsson comes off as more level headed and consistent.

Liv was completely mismanaged by the organization. He should have been brought over before Howard was even drafted, and he wasn't brought over until Howard had established himself in the AHL.

[OsGOD 3]

I have never ever seen any of this greatness that some people say about Howard. But i dont really watch college hockey so.. except for that one awesome game michigan vs michigan State in a football stadiium lol!

I have only seen Howard play here.. and when he did he looked out of position all the time and anything shot at him that he did save he would always let out a huge rebound chance.. so yea I'm not too excited about the so called awesome Osgood / Howard tandem

You won't see the gretatness until management deems you are ready to see it... they will wait to long blow there chance and then go out and buy the next "awesome" guarantee to win the cup Free Agent... its so painfully scripted. only they don't seem to nail the "win the cup" part... cause it hasn't happened all to often compared to the plethera of goalies we have had.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I have never ever seen any of this greatness that some people say about Howard. But i dont really watch college hockey so.. except for that one awesome game michigan vs michigan State in a football stadiium lol!

I have only seen Howard play here.. and when he did he looked out of position all the time and anything shot at him that he did save he would always let out a huge rebound chance.. so yea I'm not too excited about the so called awesome Osgood / Howard tandem

He was pretty great in college.

Some highlights from Red Wings Central

# 2002-02 Hockey East Rookie of the Year Award Winner

# 2002-03 Hockey East All-Rookie Team

# 2003-04 NCAA top goals-against average (1.19, 0.57 ahead of Matti Kaltiainen at 1.76)

# 2003-04 NCAA top save percentage (.956)

# 2003-04 Set NCAA record for goal-against average (1.19)

# 2003-04 Set NCAA record for save percentage (.956)

# 2003-04 Hockey East First-Team All-Star

# 2003-04 NCAA East Second-Team All-American

# 2003-04 Hockey East Championship Tournament MVP

# Made 36 saves in 2-1 double-overtime loss to Boston College in Hockey East semifinals.

# Made 37 saves in 1-0 overtime loss to Minnesota in opening round of NCAA tournament.

# Finished seventh in country with 1.92 GAA and .924 save percentage, and second with six shutouts.

From what I've seen, he looks promising. But goalies are always such a crapshoot when you bring them up to the NHL.

Hopefully he'll get a chance soon to play with the Wings. I'd rather watch a young kid get experience even if he struggles sometimes, than an aging veteran do the same thing.

And more importantly, hopefully fans will give him a chance before they run him out of town.

Edited November 7, 2007 by haroldsnepsts

[rick zombo 3,739]

You won't see the gretatness until management deems you are ready to see it... they will wait to long blow there chance and then go out and buy the next "awesome" guarantee to win the cup Free Agent... its so painfully scripted. only they don't seem to nail the "win the cup" part... cause it hasn't happened all to often compared to the plethera of goalies we have had.

Well Detroit is murder on goalies. So it seems like management is doing the smart thing by letting Howard mature before they throw him to the wolves.

[2probert4 8]

Well Detroit is murder on goalies. So it seems like management is doing the smart thing by letting Howard mature before they throw him to the wolves.

They have Hasek (when healthy) and Osgood, so it's not hurting Howard by playing everyday at GR. But at some point it will have to be put up or shuttup with Howards career. Would be nice to see him get a few starts here and there, with Lidstrom and Rafalski in front of him. Someone posted that hes had 4 starts, and he didn't embarass the team from what I remember while he was in net, the issue was lack of scoring , I do remember he lost to Calgary 3-2 and he beat the Kings, not sure who else he faced.