3/29 GDT: Predators 4 at Red Wings 3

[Guest E_S_A_D]

Another lovely night at the Library Louis Arena last night.

[The Secret 304]

What is really sad is that we do not even need an elite level Goalie to win it all... Osgood proved it again last year. Last season Osgood played adequate enough and even had it in him to steal 1 or 2 games.... thats all we need from him just to be consistently average, like his entire career. But this year is a totally different story. I hope he can play well enough but there is not even a sign to build hope on. And there are still Osgood lovers blaming everything except for the one person responsible for it all... Chris Osgood, he is to blame. It's not our Defense, although they are not up to the norm for what we are used to seeing they are still better then most. Put Osgood on just about any other team in the league and he is setting new records for the worst season ever by an NHL goalie. If he is this bad on the 2nd best team in the league he would have been tombstoned along side Legace if he were still in St. Louis. A bad game here or there is to be expected but this year he has had a good game or 2 and the rest have been terrible to say it nicely.

[wingfan1991 221]

babcock quote from MLIVE

Babcock, on the play of goaltender Chris Osgood: "I haven't looked at it yet, but the bottom line is we got to find ways to win games and we're in it together."

REALLY babcock? you really havent looked at it yet? well we all did, LIVE and it was brutal as usual this season.. if it wasnt for us scoring 5-6 goals with him in net, our record would be reversed.

[The Secret 304]

babcock quote from MLIVE

Babcock, on the play of goaltender Chris Osgood: "I haven't looked at it yet, but the bottom line is we got to find ways to win games and we're in it together."

REALLY babcock? you really havent looked at it yet? well we all did, LIVE and it was brutal as usual this season.. if it wasnt for us scoring 5-6 goals with him in net, our record would be reversed.

I hear what your saying but I think they have to stay as positive in the public eye as possible.... what goes on behind closed doors is certainly to sound alot different then what they want us to hear. He watched the same garbage we did, he's just not at liberty to say the same things we are. I think they are having a hard time pullling the plug on a player they know can play well enough to backstop the great team in front of him but I bet by now the team, the coaches and the rest of the organization are worried whats going to happen with the garbage goaltending of Osgood. God help us!

[Vladifan 680]

While I agree that taking the #1 seed is slowly drifting away, it can still happen. I'd like to see the Wings attack these last 6 games with some intensity. If anything else, it'll show that we're not meandering into the playoffs, rather we are diving right in. Even if we end up #2, if they turn their amps up to 11, I'll be more than satisfied with that finish.

I believe I was the one that mentioned the fact that whether Ozzie is in net or Conklin is, if the defense is s***ting the bed in front of them, we're going to lose regardless. Hell, Terry Sawchuk in front of this defense right now would be in trouble. I think that is really the bigger problem, rather than goaltending. An average goalie in front of above-average defense will come on top the majority of the time. An average goalie in front of below-average defense will be on the back-end of a loss more times than not. If the goaltending situation is what it is, meaning it's Ozzie/Conks or bust.....the defense really, really, really needs to pick up the slack. Nick's been a little off, but I don't know how much of that can be attributed to his elbow or the fact he's going to be 39 in a few weeks. I'd put more money on the elbow since I'm pretty sure there were rumors around the AS break that he'd need surgery on it in the off-season.

This team is in trouble on a couple different fronts, but they can be fixed before it becomes BIG trouble.

[boomer 0]

What is really sad is that we do not even need an elite level Goalie to win it all... Osgood proved it again last year. Last season Osgood played adequate enough and even had it in him to steal 1 or 2 games.... thats all we need from him just to be consistently average, like his entire career. But this year is a totally different story. I hope he can play well enough but there is not even a sign to build hope on. And there are still Osgood lovers blaming everything except for the one person responsible for it all... Chris Osgood, he is to blame. It's not our Defense, although they are not up to the norm for what we are used to seeing they are still better then most. Put Osgood on just about any other team in the league and he is setting new records for the worst season ever by an NHL goalie. If he is this bad on the 2nd best team in the league he would have been tombstoned along side Legace if he were still in St. Louis. A bad game here or there is to be expected but this year he has had a good game or 2 and the rest have been terrible to say it nicely.

Why you put out the effort to reason with certain individuals on this board who have been trumpeting the same justifications for months now speaks to the level of your patience. I maintained all along that the weak goaltending that we have been saddled with all season would come back to bite us because of all the catch-up hockey we had to play on too many night, even against weaker opponents ; would eventually wear the team down emotionally and physically. That where our defense is now, and our offense now is not able to score their way through over the hurdles of weak goals.Unless something drastically changes with the goaltending which I doubt we are fated for an early exit in the playoffs

[maltbyrocks18 0]

i said it in january and im saying it now, our goaltending is gonna be fine. ozzie will be pulled in game 2, and conks will dominate all the way to his first stanley cup. Believe in the conk. conk blocks all playoffs baby!

[Vladifan 680]

While I agree that taking the #1 seed is slowly drifting away, it can still happen. I'd like to see the Wings attack these last 6 games with some intensity. If anything else, it'll show that we're not meandering into the playoffs, rather we are diving right in. Even if we end up #2, if they turn their amps up to 11, I'll be more than satisfied with that finish.

I believe I was the one that mentioned the fact that whether Ozzie is in net or Conklin is, if the defense is s***ting the bed in front of them, we're going to lose regardless. Hell, Terry Sawchuk in front of this defense right now would be in trouble. I think that is really the bigger problem, rather than goaltending. An average goalie in front of above-average defense will come on top the majority of the time. An average goalie in front of below-average defense will be on the back-end of a loss more times than not. If the goaltending situation is what it is, meaning it's Ozzie/Conks or bust.....the defense really, really, really needs to pick up the slack. Nick's been a little off, but I don't know how much of that can be attributed to his elbow or the fact he's going to be 39 in a few weeks. I'd put more money on the elbow since I'm pretty sure there were rumors around the AS break that he'd need surgery on it in the off-season.

This team is in trouble on a couple different fronts, but they can be fixed before it becomes BIG trouble.

Cool. Now I don't have to choose to take any more flack for saying the same thing for weeks now. It's OK. It has been my choice. But there is a group of us out here who have felt the same way for some time now.

[boomer 0]

I hear what your saying but I think they have to stay as positive in the public eye as possible.... what goes on behind closed doors is certainly to sound alot different then what they want us to hear. He watched the same garbage we did, he's just not at liberty to say the same things we are. I think they are having a hard time pullling the plug on a player they know can play well enough to backstop the great team in front of him but I bet by now the team, the coaches and the rest of the organization are worried whats going to happen with the garbage goaltending of Osgood. God help us!

You reap what you sow with "goaltending on the cheap in Detroit" a tried and true Ken Holland policy.

[wingfan1991 221]

I hear what your saying but I think they have to stay as positive in the public eye as possible.... what goes on behind closed doors is certainly to sound alot different then what they want us to hear. He watched the same garbage we did, he's just not at liberty to say the same things we are. I think they are having a hard time pullling the plug on a player they know can play well enough to backstop the great team in front of him but I bet by now the team, the coaches and the rest of the organization are worried whats going to happen with the garbage goaltending of Osgood. God help us!

true, i agree. i just wish people would be like roenick when speaking to the media sometimes. enough is enough. like JR stated a couple months back, how the NHL interviews are all full of s***.. he was dead on.

i really feel for ozzie cause up until this year i was a big supporter... kills me to come on here and bash the guy and not want him to start, even after all he's done. but i think what bothers most of us this year, is the fact that this team is just too good to lose, and yet we do find ways to lose. always BS losses when you watch. like for classic example yesterday .. when nash scored to make it 3-2 i said to myself, guaranteed tie within the next min.. and they did!! then when we tied and took the penalty i said to myself again, game over nash will score.. and they did!

bottom line is their is no confidence in him at all.. from me and many many others. i dont have that same feeling with conks, i think we're ok with him, i really do.

[The Secret 304]

true, i agree. i just wish people would be like roenick when speaking to the media sometimes. enough is enough. like JR stated a couple months back, how the NHL interviews are all full of s***.. he was dead on.

i really feel for ozzie cause up until this year i was a big supporter... kills me to come on here and bash the guy and not want him to start, even after all he's done. but i think what bothers most of us this year, is the fact that this team is just too good to lose, and yet we do find ways to lose. always BS losses when you watch. like for classic example yesterday .. when nash scored to make it 3-2 i said to myself, guaranteed tie within the next min.. and they did!! then when we tied and took the penalty i said to myself again, game over nash will score.. and they did!

bottom line is their is no confidence in him at all.. from me and many many others. i dont have that same feeling with conks, i think we're ok with him, i really do.

This team is good enough that all they need is someone they are OK with. I am OK with Conklin too. He will not ever be an elite goalie nor do we need him to be, all we need him to be is consistantly good... not great just good. The team is good enough to take care of the rest. Osgoods soft goal don't usually come when the game is at a safe distance, they come in the heat of a hard fought game and they are almost alway back breakers, momentum changers and that sucks the energy out of the entire team. He faces what 25 shots per game on average... common! He might even make 2 or 3 spectaular saves but then lets in a poorly timed softie that reduces all the efforts to that point to nothing. Our success in the PLay offs will not hinge on anything more important the consistently good goaltending and Osgood cannot be trusted this year for that. THE END!

[OsGOD 3]

Of course I think they can. We've seen how this team has smashed some of the best opponents in the league. But it's all a matter of which Wings team shows up in the playoffs. We've got 2 and a half, almost three weeks til we find out.

Yup thats about all we can do is just wait and see. Right now we are in the Detroits traditional coasting into the playoffs time of year (the time of year i stop watching hockey because the games are meaningless for us and it shows by the effort on the ice)... Back when i had season tickets i would make sure to unload all the end of march/beginning of april games for that same reasons. "if" we were in any crunch to get that almighty 8th and final seed then these games might mean something....

right now its basically if we come out without injuries... then we WIN the games. forget the scoreboard.

::EDIT:: I once again don't think that there is any way this teams loses 4 of 7 against the same team...

Edited March 30, 2009 by OsGOD

[Guest mindfly]

Ken holland must feel like s*** now, like his first real mistake of his career as a GM, not getting a goalie at the deadline.

[OsGOD 3]

Ken holland must feel like s*** now, like his first real mistake of his career as a GM, not getting a goalie at the deadline.

hahaha you silly boy... you freak out when it doesn't even matter. stop you might not be alive long enough to watch the playoffs... your heart will fail if you keep worrying like this for a end of season game.

And i am saying this a person who cares about you... we NEED you around for the playoffs for comic relief. Loosen up and only stress when it matters.

Edited March 30, 2009 by OsGOD

[Holmstrom96 347]

Ken holland must feel like s*** now, like his first real mistake of his career as a GM, not getting a goalie at the deadline.

No, he did the right thing. If he wanted to get a goalie he'd have to dismantle the team. Waiting allows him to see if he can get Franzen, Hossa, and others onboard.

Even if we don't win Stanley every year, we've still got a dynamite team that consistly wins, especially at home.

[OsGOD 3]

No, he did the right thing. If he wanted to get a goalie he'd have to dismantle the team. Waiting allows him to see if he can get Franzen, Hossa, and others onboard.

Even if we don't win Stanley every year, we've still got a dynamite team that consistly wins, especially at home.

see thats the problem.. he isn't even from the United States...Let alone Michigan or Detroit...so saying they win at home means nothing to him... which is a shame because i will take them winning every game i go to over a stanley cup any day... especially after i have seen 4 in my lifetime already

with that said i just got tickets to thursdays game...so heres to a win

Edited March 30, 2009 by OsGOD

[Guest mindfly]

The more games i watch with detroit the more obvious it gets, if not hossa take 1M salary which he won't then let him go and sign an upgrade goalie for around 4-5M and franzen long term, let the rest walk away...

[wingfan1991 221]

hahaha you silly boy... you freak out when it doesn't even matter. stop you might not be alive long enough to watch the playoffs... your heart will fail if you keep worrying like this for a end of season game.

And i am saying this a person who cares about you... we NEED you around for the playoffs for comic relief. Loosen up and only stress when it matters.

that's the attitude i have when talking to friends, like everything is ok or gonna be ok.. nothing to worry about. but when i come on here i say what i really feel. and i feel ozzie scares the s*** out of me in net. im sure you're feeling the same way.

[OsGOD 3]

that's the attitude i have when talking to friends, like everything is ok or gonna be ok.. nothing to worry about. but when i come on here i say what i really feel. and i feel ozzie scares the s*** out of me in net. im sure you're feeling the same way.

Actually i really don't care tbh... Ozzie is my favorite Wing and I enjoy watching him play night in and night out despite his ups and downs. Seeing 4 cups in my lifetime is way more than most can ever hope to accomplish so really i am very content now with just watching my favorites play. I am a fan of the sport itself and the game. Having your childhood home town team win it all is quite nice, don't get me wrong. But at this stage in my life and the recent success the wings have had on a season to season basis... its time for me to enjoy whats left of my favorites careers.

Personally I do feel everything is going to be okay, i am not going to be two-faced about it.... Seeing Ozzie in the games makes me happy... personally i was more scared the last few seasons with hasek in net than i ever was with ozzie in net.

Call me a fan of a specific player or whatnot... i consider myself a fan of the game as a whole. winning is nice but it sure as hell isnt everything to me. I would rather watch a losing season with a team i care about then a winning season with a bunch of guys i don't care about. aka i don't jump ship just because my players are having a rough season... for better or for worse, right?

The more games i watch with detroit the more obvious it gets, if not hossa take 1M salary which he won't then let him go and sign an upgrade goalie for around 4-5M and franzen long term, let the rest walk away...

What is all this none sense about an upgraded goalie? do you have such a short term memory that you fail to see our over paid (cujo) and the best goalie in all of hockey (hasek) still produced the same amount of cups of as say the scum-bag Ozzie????????

Edited March 30, 2009 by OsGOD

[wingfan1991 221]

Actually i really don't care tbh... Ozzie is my favorite Wing and I enjoy watching him play night in and night out despite his ups and downs. Seeing 4 cups in my lifetime is way more than most can ever hope to accomplish so really i am very content now with just watching my favorites play. I am a fan of the sport itself and the game. Having your childhood home town team win it all is quite nice, don't get me wrong. But at this stage in my life and the recent success the wings have had on a season to season basis... its time for me to enjoy whats left of my favorites careers.

nice post, and i do really agree with you that hockey or the wings winning the cup again is not the biggest things in life. but as most of us here are wings fanatics anything less is failure... we're not really accustomed to losing, hence the frustration and it's always the goalie let's face it. sucks that ozzie gets the worst of it, but as we can see he is the worst on the ice most nights.

ok yesterday is behind me, looking forward to thurs with conks in

[OsGOD 3]

and really the goalie is the most noticeable becuase 1) he is the last line of defense when the other 5 fail and b) he is on the ice for usually a full 60mins where the rest of the guys maybe a 1/4 of that time at most.

and yes they are the most visable player on the ice when they are having an off night... and thus easiest scape goats to pick (i have been caught blaming goalies in the past)

[HOCKEY MATTERS 167]

nice post, and i do really agree with you that hockey or the wings winning the cup again is not the biggest things in life. but as most of us here are wings fanatics anything less is failure... we're not really accustomed to losing, hence the frustration and it's always the goalie let's face it. sucks that ozzie gets the worst of it, but as we can see he is the worst on the ice most nights.

ok yesterday is behind me, looking forward to thurs with conks in

Yep.

I'm glad that Babs said the Wings are focusing on staying healthy, but man, it kills me to watch them hold back, not play hard, and lose a game that could easily be a win. I have been hoping they have been holding back a little....otherwise they have become lazy and they suck. Nice of Babs to make that statement. Not that it will put out any fires on these pages.....just sayin.

Yesterday is behind us. I still believe that the Wings will flip that elusive "switch" and prevail.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

I still believe that the Wings will flip that elusive "switch" and prevail.

It's kind of passed off as a truism that you can't flip a switch for some reason. I can understand the desire for your team to be rolling into the playoffs, but considering we've seen teams enter the postseason on a losing streak and win, sometimes win it all, it doesn't mean much to me.

[gcom007 1,465]

The thing many of you are failing to see or admit is that even if we had Luongo on his A-Game, we're screwed with a defense playing like this. It is COMPLETELY ridiculous to expect the goalie to make the save on some of these plays the defense have let happen.

When you've got guys standing alone in front of the net, you're bound to get scored on because the goalies got to stay square to the play and if a quick pass makes it to the guy by the net, it's over. Nothing the goalie can do. The defensemen should've been knocking that guy on his ass. But it hasn't happened over and over this year.

When you give up breakaways and odd man rushes over and over because of stupid turnovers and don't hustle back, there's only so much any goalie can do. ANY goalie. The greatest goalies.

When you blindly throw the puck up the middle or right at opposing players (all the while other opposing players skate around uncovered) you're bound to get scored on.

No goalie is going to save us from all those stupid plays. Our record would be tremendously worse if we had more average goal scoring. Think as if we didn't have Hossa and his 30-something goals, we'd likely be toast in many of these games. Both goalies have had to deal with it all season and even though Conklin has better stats, at the end of the day, both goalies have won and lost at a similar rate. That says a lot.

Again, bottom line, our D needs to pick it up. We're toast if they don't. It doesn't matter who our goalie is, Osgood, Conklin, Luongo, Sawchuck...we're toast if the D plays as they have this season. If they can pick it up, we're going to win the Cup even if Osgood plays as he did at his worst this season. The D is the make it or break it of this team right now.

[OsGOD 3]

The thing many of you are failing to see or admit is that even if we had Luongo on his A-Game, we're screwed with a defense playing like this. It is COMPLETELY ridiculous to expect the goalie to make the save on some of these plays the defense have let happen.

Well thats just a load of bulls***... look at how many times Robby has made it to the playoffs with a defensely s*** team in front of him.... and look at how many cups he has playing with a decent team in the Vancouver canucks... that just blows your ideas right out the window... Robby is clutch AND can get us the cup. Get it done Kenny make that trade NOW!!!