Holland "Not Optimistic" about re-signing Hossa

[zata20 4]

Howard has played a grand total of 9 games in 3 years! 9 games..... do you understand???.... 9 games..... what the h*ll do you expect someone to do in 9 games?????? Good grief man get a grip! And give someone a chance for Pete's sake!

You try to get in a groove playing 9 games in the NHL over a three year span! ..... and he started only 7 of them.....

+1.

I totally agree. Give him a real fricken chance. If he sucks in a regular role as backup then you can critize him.

Edited June 28, 2009 by zata20

[titanium2 867]

Pav-Z-Cleary

Mule-Fil-???

???-Helm-Homer

???-Drapes-Malts

[Barrie 900]

I never expected Hossa to return anyway because of the Cap. I would be more surprised if he was back, then if he left.

I'm ok with Conkin gone. A Ozzie/Howard combo is cool with me.

[Icesurfer 75]

Pav-Z-Cleary

Mule-Fil-???

???-Helm-Homer

???-Drapes-Malts

Add EITHER Hudler or Sammy... whoever accepts 1.7 -1.9 mil

Leino - .875 mil

Kopecky - .525

that's 56.8 mil right there with the 8 defencemen and 2 goalies. Meech is 8th defencemen & extra forward.

Time for Fil to play a larger role and earn his keep. Helm will be sssoooo dynamic!

Edited June 28, 2009 by Icesurfer

[RedFX 48]

"not be able to pick up Hossa's production"

REALLY???

When it REALLY matters: Filppula had 16 points in the playoffs, Hudler had 12 points in the playoffs, Hossa had 15 points in the playoffs.. Hossa had a VERY disappointing playoff performance.... and it is his own fault he didn't get a ring!!!

There is a reason Hossa doesn't have a ring...... He is NOT a playoff guy who can take a team to a championship..... Regular season means SQUAT in the playoffs. I would rather have a player like Dallas Drake than a prima donna like Hossa in the playoffs ANYDAY!

Hossa will never get a ring!

Ancient scripture speaks of a series of quests teams must undergo in order to compete in said playoffs. Scripture refers to these series of games as "the regular season"

The past few years, the Wings were a shutdown defensive team. We constantly led the league in every statistical defensive category out there.

In the 07 and 08 seasons, the Wings averaged about 3.07 goals a game while giving up an average of about 2.2 goals a game. PK averaged about 84% and the PP averaged about 17%

In the 09 season, The Wings jumped up to a 3.52 goals per game, but their GAA jumped almost a full goal per game, up to 2.93. The PP soared up to 26%, while the PK dropped to 78%.

Maybe last year was just a fluke. Maybe with the new coach, new system, injuries, etc. we just had a bad year in that department. But what if it's not. Let's face it. Guys like Lidstrom and Rafalski is aging and Osgood hasn't exactly been Mr. Consistent throughout his career. Howard's unproven and may prove to be a flop.

So what happens if these defensive lapses continue? The increased offense isn't there to put is through in those close, high-scoring games. Can Filpulla and Hudler pick up the difference? They've never been known as high-powered scorers so I don't know. Maybe they have career years and keep our offensive pace from last year going. Maybe the don't though, and maybe some of those 1 goal games go the other way. As a result, the declining regular season stats make us go through a tougher postseason

And as far as the Hossa "playoff-choking" argument. It was only a year ago when he was terrorizing us in the Finals. He's put up big performances in the playoffs before, so It's not like he's incapable of doing so. There's no reason he can't put up a 2008 performance again.

[titanium2 867]

And as far as the Hossa "playoff-choking" argument. It was only a year ago when he was terrorizing us in the Finals. He's put up big performances in the playoffs before, so It's not like he's incapable of doing so. There's no reason he can't put up a 2008 performance again.

To be fair, he only started to play well when the outcome was all but done. He started to score in the game in which the Wings went up 3-1.

[KronwallCRUNCH 5]

A-freaking-men. Conklin can flat play. Howard has never done squat.

If Howard is our "goalie of the future," it's about time he comes up to the bigs. He's never going to become an NHL starter by being an AHL starter.

[titanium2 867]

If Howard is our "goalie of the future," it's about time he comes up to the bigs. He's never going to become an NHL starter by being an AHL starter.

He's just a stopgap until McCollum and Larsson are fully ready. At this point he looks like an extremely poor man's Marc Andre Fleury. Some games he knows when to use his athleticism and positioning and some games he looks completely clueless.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

If Osgood stumbles next year it will be a disaster.

[RedFX 48]

To be fair, he only started to play well when the outcome was all but done. He started to score in the game in which the Wings went up 3-1.

Well hell look at Malkin. Almost a non factor in 2007. Disappeared towards the end of last year's playoffs. This year, he dominates and takes home the Smythe. Go figure

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

First with Conklin. I wish they'd re-sign him. I like the guy and he did great overall in splitting time roughly 50/50 with Osgood. You wander if Howard is ready for an increased role, not so much 50/50 but maybe something like where he gets 35-40% of the starts because Osgood is getting up there in age. For people saying that he's absolute junk, he's only played a minute handful of games in the NHL over the span of a few seasons. That's too small of a sample size to throw somebody to the curb. I'd prefer Conklin over Howard but hell, might as well give Howard his chance. I'm looking forward to it.

With Hossa, I'd like to see him back despite the lackluster playoffs. Again, too small of a sample size, 1 playoff series (Pittsburgh series) or playoff season. Yeah it stunk that he didn't produce better in the playoffs but if we're going to criticize him for this (which I am not saying is not deserved), you can pretty much say the same thing for pretty much every other NHL player that played in the playoffs and didn't win a Cup if we're just limiting it to 1 season of play. Remember Datsyuk? He never had the greatest of playoff seasons but the organization stuck with him, and he was pretty darn good in 2007 and 2008.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

If Osgood stumbles next year it will be a disaster.

How do you know?

[RedStormRising 7]

Say it ain't so Kenny!!!

How do you know?

Um, have you seen Howard play? He sucks.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Um, have you seen Howard play? He sucks.

Um, a span of like 5 games in the past 4 seasons is kinda hard to determine if somebody stinks or not when he's eventually going to be playing in the NHL full time in all likelihood. Too small of a sample size to fairly/accurately judge.

[RedStormRising 7]

Um, a span of like 5 games in the past 4 seasons is kinda hard to determine if somebody stinks or not when he's eventually going to be playing in the NHL full time in all likelihood. Too small of a sample size to fairly/accurately judge.

I suppose. I'm just holding a grudge against him because the one game I was able to go to last year guess who started? Yup, Jimmy Howard. He proceeded to embarrass himself, the team, and the Detroit fans in the building. It was disgraceful and I nearly cried.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I suppose. I'm just holding a grudge against him because the one game I was able to go to last year guess who started? Yup, Jimmy Howard. He proceeded to embarrass himself, the team, and the Detroit fans in the building. It was disgraceful and I nearly cried.

Your grudge is unreasonable.

1 game.

1 game.

Every player in any sport is going to have a bad game sometimes, no matter how good or bad they are, or if they are a superstar or benchwarmer.

[henrik40 76]

This is what I expected to happen right after we signed him, so I'm not surprised. I just hope we don't turn into Pens fans and expect some sort of loyalty out of him. He lost a lot of money by coming here last year. Oh well it's not like we're getting terribly worse without him.

[LeftWinger 4,958]

I'm not going to believe anything until I see it for myself but if this is true, that really gives us some huge cap space to resign Hudler, Filppula and some other players and maybe even go after a semi big name free agent. If this is true I'm disgusted with Hossa and his Agent. I know an agent is supposed to get the most for his player that he can but if Hossa wants to stay in Detroit as bad as he has said all season long and to let a deal like this fall through just because of $2 Million more than I say shame on you Hossa and good riddons.

Now that being said I'm not going to start thinking about where he may go until I know for sure he is not going to be resigned by the Detroit Red Wings. I hope the Wings can work something out but if not I hope the Wings can make the right decisions on continuing to build a great hockey team.

GOD NO! re-sigging Hudler will handcuff us! He is done here in Detroit, get the compensation picks, even if it is only a 2nd and 3rd. L8R Hudler!

[LidsFan 68]

I don't expect any loyalty from Hossa, he came here for one year and that was it. I only wish that he could of won the Cup, but it was not meant to be. I wish that Hossa could of played like he did last year, but the pressure seemed to be too much for him to overcome. It's too bad that he won't leave the Wings a champion. I hope that he will be happy on whatever team he ends up on. That being said, Hossa should just come out and say that he is not going to sign with the Wings so that everyone can move on.

[13dangledangle 965]

How about this

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Cleary

Afineganov-Flip-Franzen

Hudler-Helm-Larose

Abdelkader-Draper-Leino

Maltby

Just a thought, and I didn't crunch #'s but should be cap friendly. But we should really look at Afineganov and Larose....and I forgot about Holmer...o well

[Wombat 26]

If Osgood stumbles next year it will be a disaster.

I don't think that is necessarily true. If it happens that Howard can't hack it, the Wings can trade for a reliable backup. that is why to me it is important for the Wings to leave a good amount of cap wiggle room this year... so they can make trades if needed without losing roster players. I don't think the Wings should sign Hossa, Sammy, or Hudler. Get whatever compensation you can, and leave some cap room open in case they need to get pieces during the season.

[RedFX 48]

How about this

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Cleary

Afineganov-Flip-Franzen

Hudler-Helm-Larose

Abdelkader-Draper-Leino

Maltby

Just a thought, and I didn't crunch #'s but should be cap friendly. But we should really look at Afineganov and Larose....and I forgot about Holmer...o well

Won't happen for more reasons than one

[Snazzy 0]

I'm glad to had Hossa on this team for the 08/09 season. He is a great player and fun to watch; I wish him nothing but the best.

[gcom007 1,465]

The only reason I'm concerned is this. For most of last season, our defense and goaltending was way off. After being the best defensive team for so many years, we pretty much collapsed, ranking in the bottom half in goals against and penalty kill. The increased offense really carried this team last year. Hossa was a big part of that. If our defense plays inconsistent again this year, I'm worried that someone like Filpulla or Hudler may not be able to pick up Hossa's production.

I said this numerous times throughout the season in referring to the importance of Hossa. I don't think people really stop to take time to think about what last season would've looked like without those 40 extra goals. Reality: with our D playing the way it was and with Osgood's issues, we would've lost a LOT more games if you take Hossa's points away, but most importantly his 40 GOALS. Especially when considering other variables like momentum and the drama associated with losing especially after a long Cup run, it could've set the stage for a fairly disastrous regular season.

Flip and Huds? Maybe Huds, but he's inconsistent thus far in his career. Hossa scored more goals than Flip scored points. And how many assists (majority of Flips points) came off of Hossa goals? He may have been snakebit in the playoffs, but he still scored twice as many goals as Flip. Secondary assists may go on the score sheet, but you don't win games without GOALS!!!

[Casey 145]

Secondary assists may go on the score sheet, but you don't win games without GOALS!!!

And you don't have an assist without a goal. Doesn't matter to me if a player has nothing but secondary assists, as long as the points are there.