Osgood has worst save percentage in the league

[Outsider 42]

I agree with this post. We know Osgood is not as good as top goalies like Luongo so our defenses should cover a lot of part but they did not.

But the problem you did not mention is Osgood is not improving at all. We already gave him ton of chances to prove his stats so far was a joke and wanted him to bounce back but he did not. We now finally have to realize Osgood cannot carry this team to the far in the playoff with this performance. If he has good 5 games, and terrible 10 games, I don't know which is good, and it shows how inconsistent Osgood is right now.

Throughout this season so far, I remember only one game Osgood's performance was great, game aginst the Wild. Even though Osgood makes key saves, there is no excuse for any starting goalie in the league that allows more than 4 goals pretty much every game.

Next monday is game against the Blues. It does not matter we lose or win, in next few games, we finally at least need to show the progress or improvment on our problems. 30 games seem to be many games but the truth is, it is not.

The more you post, the more you contradict yourself.

You cite in an earlier post how Turco has improved his stats, and is now playing at a much higher level.

Guess how THAT happened....

From day one, when Turco was playing FAR worse than Osgood, Tippett made it crystal clear that Turco was the guy and that:

a) He was going to have to get his game back on track, even if it meant playing EVERY GAME, which he did. And

b) The Team in front of him was going to have to play better, and support him until he DID get back on track, because they had no other choice. This was their guy, the guy who'd led them to the Conference Finals last Season, and there was absolute ZERO chance that they'd be going with an unproven goaltender in the Play Offs. Period.

It's Turco, or it's nothing. Get used to it, and get BETTER. Both Turco, AND the Team.

They did. Both Turco, and the Team got better.

Viola.

Osgood has not played badly his last few starts. Anyone who thinks so is looking at the numbers only.

* He was fantastic his first game back against Minnesota, allowing 2 goal on 35 shots, for the Win.

* He was fantastic his second game back against Dallas, allowing 1 goal on 23 shots, for the Win.

* He was spectacular in the OT loss against Dallas, and the only reason the Wings got a point, stopping 45 of 50 shots.

* He was great against Anaheim, snatching Victory from the hands of defeat when Perry had the Game on his stick with less than a minute to go, and Osgood outright robbed him.

* He was bent over and raped by his own Teammates against San Jose, as his Teammates gave up two breakaways, less than 3 minutes apart, midway through the 3rd period in a tied game against the #1 Team in the League.

* He was one of the few to show up against Columbus, as his Teammates dozed through that entire game, feeling sorry for themselves over the suspensions of Lids and Dats, and allowing Nash to do whatever he pleased. There wasn't a single goal he should have stopped in that game. Not one of them can be pinned on him.

* He had no chance on the first two Power Play goals against Dallas, and looked bad on the third goal. But certainly no WORSE than Conklin did on the fourth goal. That's for damned sure.

Now....let's look at Conklin's games during the same timeframe....

* He allowed 5 goals against Phoenix, (yes....Phoenix), on 26 shots, for a SVP of .808.

* He allowed 1 goal on 11 shots against Dallas. And that one goal was on the only quality shot he faced, and was far sloppier than anything Osgood had given up in either that Game, or in any of his previous 6 Starts.

* He gave up 4 goals on 27 shots against Washington, for a SVP of .852. As has been stated elsewhere: Green's goal was ugly. Ovechkin's first goal was FUGLY.

For the love of God.....

Go back and WATCH THE GAMES!!!

Firstly, Conklin is NOT an NHL Starter. As a matter of fact, until last Season, he'd been unable to consistently hold down a job as an NHL back up.

Secondly, Osgood is not playing as badly as everyone's making out. He has improved. The Team in front of him has gotten worse.....again.

Thirdly, Conklin has played no better since this "slump" started than Osgood has.

Go.

Back.

And.

Watch.

The.

Games.

[Guest Crymson]

Osgood's save percentage is the worst in the league? Well, thanks for making a thread and letting us know, genius. We can't read, so it's good we have you here to tell us this stuff.

Also, you'd make a horrible GM. Go back to NHL 09 or whatever it is you play, and try to remember that it doesn't mirror reality.

Edited February 1, 2009 by Crymson

[Outsider 42]

TSN Crew also claim that it all comes down to the goaltending, blaming everything on osgood, and a bit on the defense

http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/#clip135499

That's an outright lie, mindfly. Either that, or English is not your first language, either.

Listen to the clip. Michael Farber from SI claims that it "all comes down to goaltending", and that goaltending will be an issue "all through the play offs".

Steve Simmons from Sun Media rebuts, stating that goaltending was supposed to be the Wings "issue" last post season, but Osgood came out okay. He goes on to say that the Wings are having a "bit of a Cup hangover", but that they'll pull through, and he "wouldn't tweak a thing", if he were in charge.

Damien Cox states that he agrees completely with Simmons, and adds that a large part of the problem is that Nick Lidstrom is not having the dominating season he's accustomed to having, nor have the Wings made "that commitment" to overall Team Defense, and that those two issues are the main problem in Detroit.

If you're going to post a link, with the video right there for everyone to watch for themselves, why would you flat out lie about the content of the link?

Or were you perhaps hoping that no one had yet seen the link, nor would they click on it, and that everyone would simply take your word on it?

Edited February 1, 2009 by Outsider

[Mike 0]

These Osgood threads should really stop. He's not even playing in net right now, so there shouldn't be much criticism that hasn't already been heard.

[Outsider 42]

These Osgood threads should really stop. He's not even playing in net right now, so there shouldn't be much criticism that hasn't already been heard.

What difference does that make?

There were Osgood threads on this board, (as well as other Wings boards), when he played in New York, and when he played in Saint Louis.

There will be Osgood threads on this board, (as well as other Wings boards), long after he retires.

Detroit fans hate their Starting goalies, and tend to love their back up goalies.

Par for the course.

<shrug>

[Mike 0]

What difference does that make?

There were Osgood threads on this board, (as well as other Wings boards), when he played in New York, and when he played in Saint Louis.

There will be Osgood threads on this board, (as well as other Wings boards), long after he retires.

Detroit fans hate their Starting goalies, and tend to love their back up goalies.

Par for the course.

<shrug>

As it turns out, our backup goalies usually play better than our starting goalies. Also, the Wings usually do everything so well that fans have little to complain about, but the goalie is usually the weakest spot, so that is where the criticism is aimed. In this case, that criticism is deserved, but we might want to back off until he plays in a game again.

[Wingsallwin 0]

The more you post, the more you contradict yourself.

You cite in an earlier post how Turco has improved his stats, and is now playing at a much higher level.

Guess how THAT happened....

From day one, when Turco was playing FAR worse than Osgood, Tippett made it crystal clear that Turco was the guy and that:

a) He was going to have to get his game back on track, even if it meant playing EVERY GAME, which he did. And

b) The Team in front of him was going to have to play better, and support him until he DID get back on track, because they had no other choice. This was their guy, the guy who'd led them to the Conference Finals last Season, and there was absolute ZERO chance that they'd be going with an unproven goaltender in the Play Offs. Period.

It's Turco, or it's nothing. Get used to it, and get BETTER. Both Turco, AND the Team.

They did. Both Turco, and the Team got better.

Viola.

Osgood has not played badly his last few starts. Anyone who thinks so is looking at the numbers only.

* He was fantastic his first game back against Minnesota, allowing 2 goal on 35 shots, for the Win.

* He was fantastic his second game back against Dallas, allowing 1 goal on 23 shots, for the Win.

* He was spectacular in the OT loss against Dallas, and the only reason the Wings got a point, stopping 45 of 50 shots.

* He was great against Anaheim, snatching Victory from the hands of defeat when Perry had the Game on his stick with less than a minute to go, and Osgood outright robbed him.

* He was bent over and raped by his own Teammates against San Jose, as his Teammates gave up two breakaways, less than 3 minutes apart, midway through the 3rd period in a tied game against the #1 Team in the League.

* He was one of the few to show up against Columbus, as his Teammates dozed through that entire game, feeling sorry for themselves over the suspensions of Lids and Dats, and allowing Nash to do whatever he pleased. There wasn't a single goal he should have stopped in that game. Not one of them can be pinned on him.

* He had no chance on the first two Power Play goals against Dallas, and looked bad on the third goal. But certainly no WORSE than Conklin did on the fourth goal. That's for damned sure.

Now....let's look at Conklin's games during the same timeframe....

* He allowed 5 goals against Phoenix, (yes....Phoenix), on 26 shots, for a SVP of .808.

* He allowed 1 goal on 11 shots against Dallas. And that one goal was on the only quality shot he faced, and was far sloppier than anything Osgood had given up in either that Game, or in any of his previous 6 Starts.

* He gave up 4 goals on 27 shots against Washington, for a SVP of .852. As has been stated elsewhere: Green's goal was ugly. Ovechkin's first goal was FUGLY.

For the love of God.....

Go back and WATCH THE GAMES!!!

Firstly, Conklin is NOT an NHL Starter. As a matter of fact, until last Season, he'd been unable to consistently hold down a job as an NHL back up.

Secondly, Osgood is not playing as badly as everyone's making out. He has improved. The Team in front of him has gotten worse.....again.

Thirdly, Conklin has played no better since this "slump" started than Osgood has.

Go.

Back.

And.

Watch.

The.

Games.

I told you before, who cares about the beginning of the season's performance and stats. You never watched the Stars games? I never mentioned Turco is back on his game but he is enough and he is being improved. What has Ozzie improved? Can you say anything about this? He allowed around 4 or 5 goals many games in the beginning of the season. He allowed 6goals against the Sharks, 5goals against the Stars, 3goals against the Stars, can you say anymore than this? Yes, Osgood has those kind of games already a lot this season.

And the thread you made Conklin against the caps, did you even watch the game? How many good saves did Conk make? I know the 3rd goal was soft. Ok, you said 1st one was a joke. You are the kind of guy who just say when Osgood allows a goal by deflection, it is not his fault, but now is Conklin's fault? Did you see Kronwall fell on the ice twice on the back of the net? I don't say Conklin was great but if our defenses play better, then we would win, and Conklin was enough good.

You also said Conklin is never better than Osgood. Is stats just a number and joke? Then, Mike Smith is gonna win the Vezina? Ok, let's forget about the stats. How many times did Osgood allow more than 4 goals? Do you expect this to happen in the playoff? It will be embarrasing.

I also blame our defenses but you just sound like nothing is Osgood's fault. You need to realize the truth.

[gcom007 1,465]

Here is a cut and paste of a post I made in a thread yesterday.

The problem starts and ends with defense.

I think it's fairly clear that the root of the problem doesn't exactly lie with the goalies. Both are about as good as the defense, which is to be expected with a sub-million dollar goalie and to some extent with Osgood. While Osgood has plenty of room to improve to live up to his potential, it doesn't change the fact that a much more pressing and concerning issue is just how sloppy the defense is right now. Not just among the defensemen, but team defense. It's nearly non-existent. Conklin's pulled shutouts lately and the defense has looked good mostly against the bottom of the barrel teams but when they've been challenged at all, the defense looks terrible and Osgood or Conklin surrender 3/4/5 goals a game easy.

Once again, emphatically, there are only a few "stand on your head" goalies in the world that can and have done it year in year out. Very, very few. They get paid at least $8 million a season to carry teams with junk defense corps.

We have one of the best defensive groups in the league on paper and probably the best collection of defensive-minded forwards in the game.

We should not need a "stand on your head" goalie. There is no reason for it with the guys we have.

And even so, Osgood has won 2 Cups on his own watch and is capable of playing at a far higher level than he's paid to play at. Conklin has come in and played admirably and indeed has outplayed Osgood so far this year. But you can't expect Conklin, a career backup getting paid less than a million, to stop everything. You cannot expect Osgood to stop everything despite how much people love to hate him and how much better he could play.

The root issue here is that they shouldn't have to. Before the puck gets to the net, there's 5 guys on the ice that have a job to do too and they've done an awful job of it this year. They've shown little to no improvement over the course of the season. At best they've had flashes of brilliance soon to be followed by a slew of sloppy games. The mental toughness isn't there. The awareness is down. They give the puck away in their zone more times in one game this year than they did last year in ten. It's ridiculous.

Everyone would love the goalies to stop more, but someone's gotta give them some help. They're the last stop on the line so they take more heat, but blaming them doesn't make it right let alone logical. That's simply not the case this year. Even in Osgood's weaker games where he absolutely has to shoulder a good deal of blame, he can't shoulder it alone as in every case I can remember, the defense has looked just as bad if not significantly worse.

In plenty of other games, both goalies have played a "solid enough game to give a team a chance to win" and the defense has utterly dropped the ball on them.

It's not even worth discussing the forwards. We're leading the league with 179 goals. Boston and San Jose are the only teams close with 175 and 165 respectively. The only reason we've won as much as we have this year is because they've been very productive. Our stars are scoring like stars most nights. Datsyuks among the top in the league in points. We've added Hossa. Z can do better but has hardly been bad. Franzen's played well. Hudlers come on. Samuelson's had a good year. You'd expect Cleary to be better but eh, it's a wash considering what other guys are doing. Quite simply, scoring is not our problem.

The biggest problem with this team is the same one that's been there since the first game of the season: we're just playing sloppy hockey in our own end. If it tightens up for the rest of the season in the next game, Osgoods stats will improve dramatically and Conklin will be among the top in the league in stats. But until then, we're just going to keep poking along. This is hardly as simple as "just play Conklin" and thankfully most people realize that it's absurd to have to score 6 goals to win. The defense needs to clean their act up. Bottom line. If that happens, it won't matter who's in net. We'll win. They've both capable.

Again, the problem starts and ends with defense.

[gcom007 1,465]

???????

Well, considering that he opened the Cup Finals with two consecutive SHUT OUTS, I'd say that the only way to go from there was down.

<sheesh>

After that "first loss" he posted a 2-1 Win, in Pittsburgh, allowing 1 goal on 23 shots, for a .957 SVP.

That 1 goal, by the way, was a Power Play goal, scored by Marian Hossa, (yeah...that guy). It was the only goal Osgood allowed, in spite of the fact that the Pens had 6 PP's that night.

Yeah. He sucked in that game after the "first loss", alright.

The Wings lost Game 5 in Triple Overtime. Osgood allowed 4 goals in nearly 6 periods of hockey that night, for a GAA of 2.18.

The Triple OT Winner? Once again....

On the Power Play.

Game 6 in Pittsburgh, he allowed 2 goals on 22 shots. One to Evgeni Malkin, one to Marian Hossa.

BOTH on the Power Play.

I don't know, but I'm starting to see a pattern here.....

Maybe it wasn't Osgood who "played worse" as the Finals wore on.

Maybe it was the fact that his Teammates spent far too much time in the box as the Finals wore on.

Saying that Osgood "played worse" as the Finals wore on is the epitome of grasping at straws.

Try another tack. You should simply stick to the "Osgood hasn't played well this year". Because your "other" theory doesn't hold water.

When they're too ignorant to see the bigger problem here, you can't expect them to be logical.

[Outsider 42]

As it turns out, our backup goalies usually play better than our starting goalies.

It also turns out that the Wings usually play better in front of their backup goalies than they do in front of their starting goalies, and that expectations and standards for their backup goalies are considerably lower than those for their starting goalies.

Also, the Wings usually do everything so well that fans have little to complain about, but the goalie is usually the weakest spot, so that is where the criticism is aimed.

The key word here being "usually". This Season, that is most definitely not the case. There is much to complain about, and yet the brunt of the criticism is being piled on the goaltenders.

Okay....on one goaltender.

In this case, that criticism is deserved, but we might want to back off until he plays in a game again.

Yes, the criticism is deserved. But no more deserved than criticism for the shoddy defense, lack of effort, and laziness on display nearly every Game.

Doesn't matter how well the goalies play. Either of them. They're not going to win games in the Post Season with the kind of TEAM WIDE effort they've displayed all Season long. Period.

They're going to have to get everything back on track, from the goal on out.

If they don't, it won't matter who they've got in net.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

Or were you perhaps hoping that no one had yet seen the link, nor would they click on it, and that everyone would simply take your word on it?

"Video not available in your region".

Uh oh...

[Wingsallwin 0]

Here is a cut and paste of a post I made in a thread yesterday.

The problem starts and ends with defense.

I think it's fairly clear that the root of the problem doesn't exactly lie with the goalies. Both are about as good as the defense, which is to be expected with a sub-million dollar goalie and to some extent with Osgood. While Osgood has plenty of room to improve to live up to his potential, it doesn't change the fact that a much more pressing and concerning issue is just how sloppy the defense is right now. Not just among the defensemen, but team defense. It's nearly non-existent. Conklin's pulled shutouts lately and the defense has looked good mostly against the bottom of the barrel teams but when they've been challenged at all, the defense looks terrible and Osgood or Conklin surrender 3/4/5 goals a game easy.

Once again, emphatically, there are only a few "stand on your head" goalies in the world that can and have done it year in year out. Very, very few. They get paid at least $8 million a season to carry teams with junk defense corps.

We have one of the best defensive groups in the league on paper and probably the best collection of defensive-minded forwards in the game.

We should not need a "stand on your head" goalie. There is no reason for it with the guys we have.

And even so, Osgood has won 2 Cups on his own watch and is capable of playing at a far higher level than he's paid to play at. Conklin has come in and played admirably and indeed has outplayed Osgood so far this year. But you can't expect Conklin, a career backup getting paid less than a million, to stop everything. You cannot expect Osgood to stop everything despite how much people love to hate him and how much better he could play.

The root issue here is that they shouldn't have to. Before the puck gets to the net, there's 5 guys on the ice that have a job to do too and they've done an awful job of it this year. They've shown little to no improvement over the course of the season. At best they've had flashes of brilliance soon to be followed by a slew of sloppy games. The mental toughness isn't there. The awareness is down. They give the puck away in their zone more times in one game this year than they did last year in ten. It's ridiculous.

Everyone would love the goalies to stop more, but someone's gotta give them some help. They're the last stop on the line so they take more heat, but blaming them doesn't make it right let alone logical. That's simply not the case this year. Even in Osgood's weaker games where he absolutely has to shoulder a good deal of blame, he can't shoulder it alone as in every case I can remember, the defense has looked just as bad if not significantly worse.

In plenty of other games, both goalies have played a "solid enough game to give a team a chance to win" and the defense has utterly dropped the ball on them.

It's not even worth discussing the forwards. We're leading the league with 179 goals. Boston and San Jose are the only teams close with 175 and 165 respectively. The only reason we've won as much as we have this year is because they've been very productive. Our stars are scoring like stars most nights. Datsyuks among the top in the league in points. We've added Hossa. Z can do better but has hardly been bad. Franzen's played well. Hudlers come on. Samuelson's had a good year. You'd expect Cleary to be better but eh, it's a wash considering what other guys are doing. Quite simply, scoring is not our problem.

The biggest problem with this team is the same one that's been there since the first game of the season: we're just playing sloppy hockey in our own end. If it tightens up for the rest of the season in the next game, Osgoods stats will improve dramatically and Conklin will be among the top in the league in stats. But until then, we're just going to keep poking along. This is hardly as simple as "just play Conklin" and thankfully most people realize that it's absurd to have to score 6 goals to win. The defense needs to clean their act up. Bottom line. If that happens, it won't matter who's in net. We'll win. They've both capable.

Again, the problem starts and ends with defense.

Did you not already post this on another post?

Whatever, but I think it is about the lack of concetration on the game. Osgood and our defenses never worked hard at all.

But when our defenses were good, it was not only game against the cheap teams. Our defense was solid against the Sharks, Hawks, Oilers, f***s, and some other teams too.

However, it does not matter who you play against, there is no consistency in this team's defense right now.

And I agree with you at the last part. Nothing has changed. And some people here are very delusional of last season's playoff. Where is the clear eveidence we wil get hot in the playoff? Did they watch Wings hockey only last season?

[BlueMonk 102]

Osgood has been a disappointment but it's team defense that has hurt the Red Wings more than anything. If they don't get that part of their game together, no goalie in the world will save them.

[Barrie 900]

We shouldn't be to surprised, Ozzie's always been a rollercoaster. All we can do is continue to play him, and hopefully he gets into a grove. If he doesn't, Conklin is #1 in the playoffs.

[gcom007 1,465]

Did you not already post this on another post?

Whatever, but I think it is about the lack of concetration on the game. Osgood and our defenses never worked hard at all.

But when our defenses were good, it was not only game against the cheap teams. Our defense was solid against the Sharks, Hawks, Oilers, f***s, and some other teams too.

However, it does not matter who you play against, there is no consistency in this team's defense right now.

And I agree with you at the last part. Nothing has changed. And some people here are very delusional of last season's playoff. Where is the clear eveidence we wil get hot in the playoff? Did they watch Wings hockey only last season?

I did but I noted that first off. It's the same sentiments and I didn't feel like retyping it.

And you made a poignant typo when listing other teams? I hope it was an accident because it's a perfect accident.

[Outsider 42]

I told you before, who cares about the beginning of the season's performance and stats. You never watched the Stars games? I never mentioned Turco is back on his game but he is enough and he is being improved. What has Ozzie improved? Can you say anything about this? He allowed around 4 or 5 goals many games in the beginning of the season. He allowed 6goals against the Sharks, 5goals against the Stars, 3goals against the Stars, can you say anymore than this? Yes, Osgood has those kind of games already a lot this season.

And the thread you made Conklin against the caps, did you even watch the game? How many good saves did Conk make? I know the 3rd goal was soft. Ok, you said 1st one was a joke. You are the kind of guy who just say when Osgood allows a goal by deflection, it is not his fault, but now is Conklin's fault? Did you see Kronwall fell on the ice twice on the back of the net? I don't say Conklin was great but if our defenses play better, then we would win, and Conklin was enough good.

You also said Conklin is never better than Osgood. Is stats just a number and joke? Then, Mike Smith is gonna win the Vezina? Ok, let's forget about the stats. How many times did Osgood allow more than 4 goals? Do you expect this to happen in the playoff? It will be embarrasing.

I also blame our defenses but you just sound like nothing is Osgood's fault. You need to realize the truth.

With all due respect, there appears to be a bit of a language barrier here.

Turco has improved, because Turco has PLAYED. He has played, and played, and played, UNTIL he got his Game back on track. He played even when he was losing, and losing BADLY.

And STILL he played. And played, and played, and played. He played while the Stars watched their hopes of making the Play Off sprial dangerously close to the drain. And STILL he played.

Osgood has not been given that opportunity. He's played roughly 50% of the Games, even when he was WINNING!

See the difference? A vote of confidence was given to Turco by his Head Coach. "You're the guy. Get it fixed." He did.

You're advocating the exact opposite for Osgood. You're advocating sitting a 2 time Stanley Cup Winner, one who's approaching Top 10 all time in NHL History for career Victories, in favor of a CAREER BACK UP.

And simply because that back up has been "better" than the Cup Winner through FIFTY GAMES.

How is that "logical"? If that is "logical" in your book, then as I stated earlier, the Wings need to trade Nick Lidstrom immediately, and replace him with Duncan Keith, or better yet, Dennis Wideman. Because both of those guys are clearly, without any doubt, "better" than Nicklas Lidstrom.

Regardless of the fact that Lids is a 6 time Norris Trophy Winner, and 4 Time Stanley Cup Champion.

Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?

I think it is you who needs to realize the "truth".

[Wingsallwin 0]

I did but I noted that first off. It's the same sentiments and I didn't feel like retyping it.

And you made a poignant typo when listing other teams? I hope it was an accident because it's a perfect accident.

those are examples only but the real important thing is we have only few perfect games.

[Outsider 42]

"Video not available in your region".

Uh oh...

Look down below the "TV Screen", (silly description, I know....), and find the little box which reads "The Reporters".

You'll be able to load it from there.

[Mike 0]

It also turns out that the Wings usually play better in front of their backup goalies than they do in front of their starting goalies, and that expectations and standards for their backup goalies are considerably lower than those for their starting goalies.

Perhaps this is because the backup goalie is better than the starting goalie so the players will play at a higher level for a higher level goalie. The players would know better than the fans.

The key word here being "usually". This Season, that is most definitely not the case. There is much to complain about, and yet the brunt of the criticism is being piled on the goaltenders. Okay....on one goaltender. Yes, the criticism is deserved. But no more deserved than criticism for the shoddy defense, lack of effort, and laziness on display nearly every Game.

There is just as much criticism being placed on the defense, Kronwall and Rafalski in particular, and the Wings lack luster 4th line. Just look throughout the boards here.

Doesn't matter how well the goalies play. Either of them. They're not going to win games in the Post Season with the kind of TEAM WIDE effort they've displayed all Season long. Period. They're going to have to get everything back on track, from the goal on out.

This is a common problem with the Wings. They play as if the regular season has no meaning and then the playoffs role around and they start firing on all cylinders. There is no doubt that this Wings team is going to the playoffs, baring something amazingly bad. I will judge effort based on the first few playoff games.

If they don't, it won't matter who they've got in net.

Can't disagree with that. If the Wings play like they are now in the playoffs, the Wings can kiss the dream of back-to-back goodbye.

[gcom007 1,465]

I was not happy much at all with Osgoods play in the first half and you can look it up. I wasn't afraid to say it. He wasn't playing his game and he was just weak in the play in general. Since returning from injury though, like Outsider said, he's been significantly better. Not perfect, but certainly better. Both goalies have been the victims of some seriously terrible defense all year.

In many ways this situation reminds me a lot of Dom last year in the regular season in that he started off rough due to typical Dom weirdness and then battled injuries. But he pulled out of it and he came back and put up solid numbers the rest of the year. But the D was there last year and the Team D game was executed perfectly. That helped him a lot.

Thankfully, some of the other Dom-issues plaguing him last year like age and it's effect on Dom's style aren't so relevant with Osgood. He's a lot younger and his style is far less acrobatic and more about being mentally smart and precise on the angles. With that style, he'll be about as good as he's been until he retires; age won't bog him down like Dom, though I'm sure he won't push it like Dom did anyways. But right now, age isn't an issue and his style is different.

That bodes well for an Osgood turn-around of Cup-worthy proportions if the D gets it together. I'm still a believer. But the D's gotta get their first...

[Outsider 42]

Perhaps this is because the backup goalie is better than the starting goalie so the players will play at a higher level for a higher level goalie. The players would know better than the fans.

LOL. That's not even funny.

Look, I'm about as far from being a Hasek fan as anyone on the face of the planet. That's a well established fact.

But even I admit that the Wings played far better in front of Manny Legace in 2002 than they did in front of Hasek.

They played far better in front of Legace than they did in front of Osgood in years prior.

Are you suggesting that Manny Legace is a better goaltender than not only Chris Osgood, but Dominik Hasek, as well? And that the Wings played better in front of him because they "knew it" better than the fans?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[Ms_Hockey 0]

Look down below the "TV Screen", (silly description, I know....), and find the little box which reads "The Reporters".

You'll be able to load it from there.

Just saw it. I have to agree with you on this one - nobody was bashing our team. Two of them said we have to get back on track and the other said we're just having a hiccup and we'll be fine.

[gcom007 1,465]

those are examples only but the real important thing is we have only few perfect games.

I'm talking about how you called the Ducks something else...

[Guest Crymson]

That's an outright lie, mindfly. Either that, or English is not your first language, either.

Listen to the clip. Michael Farber from SI claims that it "all comes down to goaltending", and that goaltending will be an issue "all through the play offs".

Steve Simmons from Sun Media rebuts, stating that goaltending was supposed to be the Wings "issue" last post season, but Osgood came out okay. He goes on to say that the Wings are having a "bit of a Cup hangover", but that they'll pull through, and he "wouldn't tweak a thing", if he were in charge.

Damien Cox states that he agrees completely with Simmons, and adds that a large part of the problem is that Nick Lidstrom is not having the dominating season he's accustomed to having, nor have the Wings made "that commitment" to overall Team Defense, and that those two issues are the main problem in Detroit.

If you're going to post a link, with the video right there for everyone to watch for themselves, why would you flat out lie about the content of the link?

Or were you perhaps hoping that no one had yet seen the link, nor would they click on it, and that everyone would simply take your word on it?

SNAP.

Keep a lid on the stupidity, Mindfly.

[Outsider 42]

That bodes well for an Osgood turn-around of Cup-worthy proportions if the D gets it together. I'm still a believer. But the D's gotta get their first...

Gospel truth...