Howard Recalled; Osgood told to "re-focus"

[j.hoop 64]

About time Ozzie got a rude awakening. Christ, even Dom didn't play this bad last season, and he got raked over the coals constantly. Howie can't do any worse, can he?

the best part of being at the bottom is that theres only one place to go. i think jimmy will do good, because now that mccollums in the picture he is really competing with larsson. they both do great for the griffins, and he'll have something to prove for detroit.

[Reilly 24]

Considering how bad he's been this year, it's kind of surprising they've won as many games as they have.

[The Secret 304]

Considering how bad he's been this year, it's kind of surprising they've won as many games as they have.

Yup, Thank God for the #1 Power Play in the league!

[P. Marlowe 748]

This, of course, means that Wings will trade Maltby and a 3rd round pick for Backstrom.

[boomer 0]

No way the Wings trade Maltby. One reason they got Hossa is because of their loyalty. And second of all, Maltby does not garner much trade value.

I agree with that on the surface he does not appear to have great trade value, but that all depend on the team who is are aguiring him. Maltby has the Rings of experience to show;and for a young team going in the playoff he can ba a motivator as well as a good defensive forward. Look at Stepan Yelle in Boston that's the role he's playing. Loyaly I'm all for it , but some of these guys have to be turned over before their value completely dwindles. Plus many of the veterans have experienced more Cups than most players will ever have even if they had 3 hockey life times. Look at Raymond Bourque's career. To put it simply we have guality players that can be moved as we add personell like Hossa and young talent like Leino. And we should get full value for them while we can heading into the playoffs. Holmstrom anybody?

[Ms_Hockey 0]

I suspect Maltby is gone by the deadline, who knows maybe there's a package being put together to acquire a goaltender?

No wayyyyy.

The Red Wings system has been one of loyalty for the longest time. There's no way they'd give away one of their veteran players. They might - but I just don't see that happened. It's not how the organization works.

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

It's kind of heart breaking to hear, but it's a good move as I think it will *help* Ozzie after he clears his mind and starts playing again.

I don't think it's that the team or the coaches lost confidence in Oz. Kenny thinks giving him time off will help and that he wants to see him at his best. That's not loss of confidence, that's him wanting his goaltender to get better and play like he did last year.

[RockyMountainWingGal 108]

This is why I love this organization- making bold moves to improve the team, while still giving a loyal franchise (mostly) player a chance to redeem himself.

I am glad they did something, rather than nothin and keep biding time until the POs. Plus I think it will be very nice to see Howard at the NHL level.

We pretty much have the 2 seed locked up - and maybe even move up if things go our way - but I'm more concerned with preparing for the POs. I like that the team is addressing the GT issue, although I do feel horribly for Osgood, and wish it had to come to this....better move than trying to force a trade when there is not much out there...

[TimeBinder 28]

'Bout damned time - Babcock's philosophy was to have players who play well earn their spot(of course this doesn't explain the malty over Leino thing) but anyways - Conklin has played better. He's earned it. Howard has really picked his game up in GR lately from a slow start. He's being pushed by Danny boystrom. Why can't he be sent down - isn't it a clearing waivers deal only. Think Conks is hungrier than oscrap - he has done this his entire career - play good for a while then fall apart - thats why they let him go in the first place.

[Dawgs 0]

IMO theyve mishandled the goaltending this season. When Ozzies groin was hurting him, the writing was already on the wall. They should have jumped at the chance to put him on LTIR and brought up Howard then. Ten days isnt gonna fix Ozzie, his season is lost. I dont believe he will recover in time. If they had put him on LTIR in December then maybe wed have a decent goaltender right now along with knowing what we have in Howard.

This misplay, paired with lax defensive play, could cost us the Cup.

[clutchngrab 12]

I only know I don't have to spin jack. I hope for the best for Oz and that this break and hopeful re-focusing works for him AND THE TEAM. Which is where Holland and Babcock HAVE to be. And once again, thank God they're in charge and not you.

I would have done the same thing.

[lets go pavel 2]

I agree with that on the surface he does not appear to have great trade value, but that all depend on the team who is are aguiring him. Maltby has the Rings of experience to show;and for a young team going in the playoff he can ba a motivator as well as a good defensive forward. Look at Stepan Yelle in Boston that's the role he's playing. Loyaly I'm all for it , but some of these guys have to be turned over before their value completely dwindles. Plus many of the veterans have experienced more Cups than most players will ever have even if they had 3 hockey life times. Look at Raymond Bourque's career. To put it simply we have guality players that can be moved as we add personell like Hossa and young talent like Leino. And we should get full value for them while we can heading into the playoffs. Holmstrom anybody?

Are you seriously suggesting we trade Holmstrom now? Come on, you don't trade important parts of your team just because they're getting older and their value is soon to be dropping. Who's next, Lidstrom?

[Dawgs 0]

On the subject of Maltby: Hes done. Zero trade value. He will be a contract albatross next season. Well have to give up Hudler because hes on the roster. Retire already would ya.

The Wings need Chelios, Maltby and Draper to realize everything this organization has given them and repay them in kind by retiring. Those three contracts will hurt our roster next season.

[clutchngrab 12]

I guess we'll see how Howard plays.. but from what people have told me, I'm expecting next to nothing from him.

:Shrug: Oh well.

EDIT: I just read the article. Giving Ozzie the 10 days doesn't sound like a slap in the face to me.. just extra time to work with the coach. Best of luck to both Howard and Oz. We'll see how they both play after this break.

I don't know...roughly 25 games left and a 10 day hiatus. That's cutting it close. Management had to do something though. I commend the move.

[lets go pavel 2]

As for Ozzie, hopefully this helps. I have been an Ozzie supporter from the get-go. I haven't excused his poor play, but I have and continue to maintain that he is an important part of our ability to win another cup, and we need him playing well. I have stated many times that I thought the best way to do this was to play him ... obviously this hasn't yielded any results yet, so management is trying something different. I'll say it again ... hopefully this helps.

[lets go pavel 2]

I don't know...roughly 25 games left and a 10 day hiatus. That's cutting it close. Management had to do something though. I commend the move.

He'll likely only miss 5 games or so. That's still 20 games left ...

[HomeNugget 2]

'Bout damned time - Babcock's philosophy was to have players who play well earn their spot(of course this doesn't explain the malty over Leino thing) but anyways - Conklin has played better. He's earned it. Howard has really picked his game up in GR lately from a slow start. He's being pushed by Danny boystrom. Why can't he be sent down - isn't it a clearing waivers deal only. Think Conks is hungrier than oscrap - he has done this his entire career - play good for a while then fall apart - thats why they let him go in the first place.

The only reason Osgood was let go the first time was because we traded for arguably one of the three best goalies in the history of the NHL, and he didn't deserve to be a back-up when he was good enough to start on most of the other teams in the league. Apart from this season, Osgood has always been a solid number one goalie, and he always raises his game in the playoffs. I do agree, however, that he hasn't played well at all this season. I support the team's decision to give Osgood time off, and I hope he's able to raise his game back to the level we all know he's capable of playing at.

[clutchngrab 12]

... Let's hope Osgood's mental vacation gets him in a better place...

Gasp! your not suggesting the ultimate "better place" are you?

[NomadFromKazoo 42]

I think Kenny and Babs do not trust him in the net anymore.

Classic overreading. Clearly they are not satisfied and they are trying EVERYTHING. If they didn't "trust" him he would be waived and there's no basis to say that at all. With his record and our record it's nonsense to make that extreme statement they don't "trust him," pa-lease. With his save percentage and GAA there's no basis to say they are or should be satisfied. As they keep saying, you don't win playoff games 6-5. But because rather then playing Ozzie or sitting Ozzie for Conklin they try bringing up Howard and you jump to they don't "trust" him? It's baseless and frankly pretty inane. The only playoff experienced guy in the organzation who won two Cups, the last in J-U-N-E. And they don't trust him. Why do people feel the need for such nonsense?

[Vincanni 1]

Two weeks ago I was wondering why they hadn't toyed with this idea yet, glad to see they're going to try it out and hope it works well. Of course I also hope Ozzie finds his stride, but at this point in the season I'm placing more faith on Howard outperforming Conklin than Ozzie by a rather wide margin.

[NomadFromKazoo 42]

It's kind of heart breaking to hear, but it's a good move as I think it will *help* Ozzie after he clears his mind and starts playing again.

I don't think it's that the team or the coaches lost confidence in Oz. Kenny thinks giving him time off will help and that he wants to see him at his best. That's not loss of confidence, that's him wanting his goaltender to get better and play like he did last year.

I'm with you except the heartbreaking part. I don't think it's a big deal or even a real change. We've been bringing up all our other prospects that are about to hit the NHL, it's still over a month to the playoffs. Why not play Howard too instead of just Conklin when they're not playing Ozzie? Obviously Conklin's been getting extra starts on account of Ozzie sucking. I don't see why starting Howard instead of Conklin is some sort of major new approach to what they're already doing. It's still Ozzie determining how much plan B plays, regardless of if plan B is Howard or Conklin. Frankly Babcock's doing a great job trying every combination. Keep playing Ozzie no matter how bad he sucks, alternate him with Conklin, let Conklin have a few starts in a row. I'm sure there's lots of discussion behind the scenes. What else can you do? Realistically, if we win another Cup in June, Ozzie is probably going to be in the net when we do it. We're not going to throw the Cup pretending otherwise.

[TheCaptain19 49]

its just a way to get ozzie back on track. im just glad to get a new look at howard.

[NomadFromKazoo 42]

IMO theyve mishandled the goaltending this season. When Ozzies groin was hurting him, the writing was already on the wall. They should have jumped at the chance to put him on LTIR and brought up Howard then. Ten days isnt gonna fix Ozzie, his season is lost. I dont believe he will recover in time. If they had put him on LTIR in December then maybe wed have a decent goaltender right now along with knowing what we have in Howard.

This misplay, paired with lax defensive play, could cost us the Cup.

I see, so if we'd played Howard in Detroit this season he's be a playoff goaltender for an elite team and instead we wasted his season in Grand Rapids and now he's just a minor leaguer. I mean playing a kid in Grand Rapids to grow him into an NHL goalie and bringing him to the NHL slowly is such a waste of time and talent. I'll file this in the black can under my desk marked crapola and save it for all due future reference.

I always love the argument that when our kids come up they play well is PROOF they were always ready for the NHL and we were buffoons to have wasted all that time playing them in the minors. Silly me, I always thought it was solid proof we did a great job developing them in the minors and honing their skills to be ready to play in the NHL. It turns out they ALWAYS WERE and we're STUPID!!!! Wow, re-reading what I just wrote I realize what a moron I was for thinking that!!!!

Note from Kaz, I misunderstood this quote, addressed below.

Edited February 20, 2009 by NomadFromKazoo

[HomeNugget 2]

I see, so if we'd played Howard in Detroit this season he's be a playoff goaltender for an elite team and instead we wasted his season in Grand Rapids and now he's just a minor leaguer. I mean playing a kid in Grand Rapids to grow him into an NHL goalie and bringing him to the NHL slowly is such a waste of time and talent. I'll file this in the black can under my desk marked crapola and save it for all due future reference.

I always love the argument that when our kids come up they play well is PROOF they were always ready for the NHL and we were buffoons to have wasted all that time playing them in the minors. Silly me, I always thought it was solid proof we did a great job developing them in the minors and honing their skills to be ready to play in the NHL. It turns out they ALWAYS WERE and we're STUPID!!!! Wow, re-reading what I just wrote I realize what a moron I was for thinking that!!!!

I may be misreading, but I think he's saying we should have given Osgood a break back in December. That way Osgood could have had more time off to recover from his groin injury and retool his game, and we would already know what we have in Jimmy Howard.

[Guest Shoreline]

I said it before and was chastised for it, but Osgood has played well when in the role of backup and needing to prove himself. It was no different in the 90s, no different this decade either. He simply is too smug as a starter and needs a kick in the ass to keep his game up. Not everyone needs this, but clearly Osgood does. At least they didn't throw him off the team and will give him some time to deal with his problems. You don't just throw a goalie that helped you in the cup last season out just because he's having an off year. Good for management for mixing a kick in the ass with loyalty.