Holland:"Wings aren't seeking goalie"

[egroen 384]

Maybe you were just watching him on a big TV...

But seriously, I have a hard time believing Babcock would be playing Ozzie if he were playing scared. And frankly Ozzie's been in the toughest job in Detroit a lot of years between his two stints, which includes the choice to come back and then sign an extension. If he can last here this long I just don't see how he could now have his confidence shot eight months after being in the net winning the Cup. I have a hard time with the smell test.

Alright, instead maybe he has just plain gone straight to being a s***ty goalie in that time?

[SwedeLundin77 460]

That's Holland all the way- that's it buddy, Osgood he's got to come around cuz don't you know in Detroit its all about Goaltending on the cheap like its been for years so we can keep doling out fat longterm contracts for todays high profile forwards. Imagine Zetterberg 12yrs ; Datsuk 9yrs.. What's next Hossa 7yrs.; Franzen 8yrs. That's why he's hoping his little battler Osgood comes around. For sure you couldn't trade him , who want him ? Its become apparent that Detroit is far from being the goaltender hub it once was. Anyone out there ever watch Roy Edwards play when the Wings were middle of the pack contender? Let me tell you he stole more than a few low scoring games from the Montreal Canadians in the their glory days. The last Wings goalie with grit was Mike Vernon and he had skill to match. Ya he really was really shafted for his great efforts that delivered a Cup for us against the Avalanche which was a real war. Not like the cake walk we had against the Pens last year; even though Osgood almost made it closer than it was. Remember how shaky he was in the last two games. And that fumble bumble he did in the dying seconds of the final game where the Pens almost tied it with second left. No I'll take Holland at his word about no goaltending changes. But this year its not going to be the cake walk it was last year, its going to be a grind through and through. Of course that's even with we get through the first round condidering the number of goals this team now gives up per game. Now if we got Jay Bowmeester the equation would change. But the likelyhood of that happening ; well you know its like us retaining the Cup with what we presently have in Nets - fat chance.

The only reason I find your comments funny is because they are completely baseless and without merit. Ever heard of a 'tender named Ryan Miller? Yeah, I'm pretty sure he said he wants to play in Detroit. The only reason he re-signed with Buffalo was because Detroit had already shored up their goaltenders and it was apparent that we have some really good prospects coming up the pipeline. Howard, Larsson, McCollum.... yeah, it wouldn't be the most insane belief that one of those three will be our starter after Osgood departs.

Also, getting Bouwmeester will not answer our prayers.... This is the same defense we won the cup with last season, so yet again you think that someone like Jay B. will swoop in and save the day? Forget about it. Don't get me wrong, I like Bouwmeester and all, but he is not the answer. The answer is simple: Hard work, determination, hunger, and playing a relentless 60 minutes.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

... he just looks smaller out there than I have ever seen him.

Great observation; maybe afraid to come out and challenge more than he could/should? In the early part of the season this wasn't the case. "Looking big" makes shooters think more than they sometimes want to.

"Wings aren't seeking goalie": Mr. Holland has proven he knows what to do and he will prove it again.

[Cern 0]

Welp, It's official, Ozzie is our man for the playoffs. After playoffs start, it's Ozzie's job to lose.

IF that's really gonna be the case, I don't see Detroit being on the cup for 08-09, no way no how. He's not going to simply 'flip a switch' come April.

[Guest Shoreline]

I'm not going to argue the defense hasn't been bad, but while the defense may be 50/50, Osgood has been about 10/90.

Also, I simply think there are too many factors to go against the "the wings play better in front of Conklin" argument. To begin with, Conklin sees MORE shots than Ozzie, yet his save percentage is drastically better. Same with his GAA. And if the Wings play worse defense in front of Ozzie, in conjunction with his poor play or "bad bounces", then how come he has a record of 18-5-7. Bad bounces + poor goaltending + bad defense is a lot for the offense to overcome in order to pull off the win, as opposed to simply bad defense alone.

I wouldn't say Osgood has cost the team any more games than the defense in front of him has. He's not up to par, but I never even said the Wings simply play better in front of Conklin, but that they do show more confidence given his consistency in the net and they can rely on him a bit more to make a big stop when the defense breaks down -- something not so much a given this season with Osgood. He certainly isn't up to the standards we experienced over half a year ago, but the arbitrary 10% or 10/90 thing is way off, as the management would never let a player playing to only 10% of his potential start over half the games during a season thusfar. They simply see something people who are being excessively hard on Osgood do not.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

That's cute. Reminds me of my friend whose alcoholic father beats him, and is always a day late and a dollar short when it comes to anything family oriented (Ozzie), and his mom who is nice, means well, is a good parent when the dad is out of the house, but in the end still plays second fiddle to the father (that would be Conklin.)

I sure think so. Thankfully, I do not have an alcoholic father, so I think I am all right with this one.

What do you want me to say? People have analyzed this stuff in here to shreds that could create a new textbook for high school, I refuse to get heartburn over this stuff like some do in here, my stance has always been that this team makes the playoffs without much trouble, and like last year they made the playoffs without difficulty and never really sorted out the goaltending situation until April/when the playoffs started. The playoffs haven't even started yet, it isn't even March, so despite how bad Osgood has been so far, there is still time for him to play better, and this team is still making the playoffs through this. There is still time to sort out who is definite #1 b/w Osgood and Conklin, just like Osgood-Hasek last year when they were still tandeming at this point.

I wish there was some magic solution or Liquid Schwartz to make him play better, but it isn't that simple. If it was, everybody would take Liquid Schwartz.

So with that said, I take the route of rooting for both goaltenders and sometimes making smart-allec/cutesy posts instead of getting all hell bent out of shape with this stuff.