Red Wings look toward the post-Chris Osgood era

[mjlegend 155]

Everybody who ******* about Osgood should remember there's only about one team that's beaten him in the playoffs the last two seasons. Find the replacement for Osgood in the salary cap world and see how much he costs.

[TheDetroitRedWings 286]

I thought that this kind of sentiment dried up during the playoffs.

I'll take a guy that is consistent, over a guy that sometimes gets hot here and there. Does dead last in GAA and Save % ring a bell? Sure he stepped it up in the playoffs. But he still didn't look nearly as sharp as he was in 08'. And now he's a year older coming off his worst regular season ever. Bringing his level up to "solid" for 3 weeks is just not good enough in my eyes. Especially when talking about the most important position in hockey. Not to say that it's easy to get an elite goaltender. But I'm saying its about time we give up what we need to give up in order to get an elite goaltender. With the team we have, a shut down goalie would make our Wings literally unstoppable.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

The poll looks exactly how I expected. More excitement for the youngest goalies that we don't have a lot of information about, and less excitement for the older more established guys. Sort of sounds like the normal theme around here, eh? I voted for Howard, because after watching some of his games during the Frozen Fours years ago, before he was drafted by the Wings, I want to see him play well at the NHL level.

Not for me, I'm still most excited about Larsson. He's 23 and still rockin' it out.

Howard- he's a lot better than most people on here give him credit for. Give him 20-30 games this year and I think people will change their tune.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Everybody who ******* about Osgood should remember there's only about one team that's beaten him in the playoffs the last two seasons. Find the replacement for Osgood in the salary cap world and see how much he costs.

People might complain about Ozzy sometimes, but he'll always be hockey royalty in the city of Detroit. He's done so much for the franchise... 3 cups, 2 as starter, that's a big deal for a goalie and a bigger deal for a goalie playing on the team that drafted him. He's still the best Wings goalie drafted since the Dead Wings era.

[titanium2 867]

Not for me, I'm still most excited about Larsson. He's 23 and still rockin' it out.

Howard- he's a lot better than most people on here give him credit for. Give him 20-30 games this year and I think people will change their tune.

I was actually surprised to see Larsson get as many votes as he has. I guess we're not as easily persuaded by McCollum's NA flair as I thought.

[TheDetroitRedWings 286]

I was actually surprised to see Larsson get as many votes as he has. I guess we're not as easily persuaded by McCollum's NA flair as I thought.

Larsson is the quicker goalie.

[eva unit zero 271]

People might complain about Ozzy sometimes, but he'll always be hockey royalty in the city of Detroit. He's done so much for the franchise... 3 cups, 2 as starter, that's a big deal for a goalie and a bigger deal for a goalie playing on the team that drafted him. He's still the best Wings goalie drafted by the organization since the start of the entry draft to actually play for the organization.

Fixed.

[Lidstrom for life 20]

But I'm saying its about time we give up what we need to give up in order to get an elite goaltender. With the team we have, a shut down goalie would make our Wings literally unstoppable.

Dude just stop. This is so dumb, read what you just said. We couldnt have the team we have if our goalie made 6 mil a year.

[titanium2 867]

Larsson is the quicker goalie.

He has to be. He doesn't have size as an advantage.

[Kronthewall55 14]

Yeah "solid" in the postseason at best. How about finally getting a goalie that is more than "solid." Plus, Osgood look below average in the finals, he didn't look too good against the Blackhawks either. And add that with the fact that throughout the entire regular season he had the WORST GAA and the WORST save % in the ENTIRE LEAGUE (including all team's backup goalies). And now he's yet another year older. No way in hell his contract gets renewed. I'll be counting down the days till his contract is up. Then we can finally have some security between the pipes.

no osgood last post season = red wings get beat by anaheim second round

by far the biggest steal in goaltending in the league when you look at the money he is making. rough regular season, no doubt, but did he totally redeem him self? you bet.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

No doubt!

Ozzie has been a solid #1 netminder his entire career...Yeah he may not be as flashy as Patty Roy, or Marty Brodeur, but his #'s suggest an induction into the HOF when he retires.

I haven't a clue as to who should be our #1 guy between the pipes when Ozzie retires...Maybe the guy who has the best looking mask

Well considering the mask that our best homegrown goalie in recent times wears.. maybe we should choose the goalie with the lamest mask?

Still, it'd be nice to finally admire some airbrushed mask variations again.

If it were up to me to paint the masks I'd be exploring the Cthulhu aspects of having an octopus mascot.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

no osgood last post season = red wings get beat by anaheim second round

by far the biggest steal in goaltending in the league when you look at the money he is making. rough regular season, no doubt, but did he totally redeem him self? you bet.

Yeah, during games 6 and 7 of the finals Ozzy was our best player. The same is arguable for games 1 and 2.

Anyone who thinks Ozzy played anything other than 'out of his mind' in the post season probably needs to lay off the cough syrup.

[dobbles 252]

having seen howard and larsson play in QC these last few years i have at least gotten to see them live a few times. howard has had some bad luck in QC and got lit up a couple times. i still think he has the ability to be a solid nhl'er. the thing about larsson is he seemed much more flashey. would make saves he seemed to have no business making. howard seemed like a much more percentage based goalie. unfortunately i won't get to see anyone play this year since our team folded...

[Doc Holiday 0]

I'll take a guy that is consistent, over a guy that sometimes gets hot here and there.

Enter Osgood.

Does dead last in GAA and Save % ring a bell?

Point being? This is not a "regular season" team. This is a playoff team you fool. Just like Anaheim was.

Sure he stepped it up in the playoffs. But he still didn't look nearly as sharp as he was in 08'.

That is right, because he played BETTER. Against better competition with weaker teammates.

And now he's a year older coming off his worst regular season ever.

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO HE LOST REGULAR SEASON GAMES!! IF ONLY WE HAD A GOALTENDER THAT HAD A GREAT SAVE PERCENTAGE IN THE REGULAR SEASON BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT IS WHAT WINS THE CUP!!

Bringing his level up to "solid" for 3 weeks is just not good enough in my eyes.

What about the 08 postseason? When was the last time Osgood flunked out in the postseason with Detroit?

Especially when talking about the most important position in hockey. Not to say that it's easy to get an elite goaltender. But I'm saying its about time we give up what we need to give up in order to get an elite goaltender. With the team we have, a shut down goalie would make our Wings literally unstoppable.

Hurr with an "elite" goaltender we wont have nearly the same assets up front that we do now. Osgood is dirt cheap, we have a lot of cap space for our players, and he does his ******* job. Wins in the regular season, and lights out play in the post-season.

Seriously, just sit down.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Enter Osgood.

Point being? This is not a "regular season" team. This is a playoff team you fool. Just like Anaheim was.

That is right, because he played BETTER. Against better competition with weaker teammates.

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO HE LOST REGULAR SEASON GAMES!! IF ONLY WE HAD A GOALTENDER THAT HAD A GREAT SAVE PERCENTAGE IN THE REGULAR SEASON BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT IS WHAT WINS THE CUP!!

What about the 08 postseason? When was the last time Osgood flunked out in the postseason with Detroit?

Hurr with an "elite" goaltender we wont have nearly the same assets up front that we do now. Osgood is dirt cheap, we have a lot of cap space for our players, and he does his ******* job. Wins in the regular season, and lights out play in the post-season.

Seriously, just sit down.

Schooled.

[Theophany 110]

Does dead last in GAA and Save % ring a bell? Sure he stepped it up in the playoffs. But he still didn't look nearly as sharp as he was in 08'. And now he's a year older coming off his worst regular season ever. Bringing his level up to "solid" for 3 weeks is just not good enough in my eyes. Especially when talking about the most important position in hockey. Not to say that it's easy to get an elite goaltender. But I'm saying its about time we give up what we need to give up in order to get an elite goaltender. With the team we have, a shut down goalie would make our Wings literally unstoppable.

Uh, Ozzie wasn't dead-last in GAA and Sv%, even during the regular season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/statistics?stat=nhlgoalies

He wasn't just "solid" in the playoffs. He was #2 in GAA and #4 in Sv%. By contrast, MAF was #9 and #10, and he was the guy holding the Cup, all said and done.

Give up what we need to in order to get an elite goalie?

Alright. What are they going for, $5-6 mil, if not more?

Let's just give up Zetterberg and bring in someone like Abdelkader to fill his spot.

That's really the only way we can swing an elite goalie; give up one of our guys that's ~$5 mil or more in cap space. If we start giving up guys like Helm, Filppula, Cleary, Franzen, etc, for an elite goalie, pretty soon we'll end up like Pittsburgh or Columbus. We'll have a few superstars, yeah; we'll still have the Euro Twins, Lidstrom, and maybe one or two others, but we wouldn't have close to the depth that's made us so dominant in the past 15 years.

[e_prime 1,936]

Test Howard in the big leagues this year... if he can't hack it, let 'em go and bring up Larsson.

I think we need more Swedish players on team.

Also, I love how **ANY** goaltending thread on this site turns into a bash of Osgood/defense of Osgood thread.

The guy carried us in the playoffs. Case closed.

Haters follow these three quick steps:

1. Remove head from ass.

2. Close mouth.

3. Move on.

[Casey 145]

Oz has the same overall personality as the Pistons when they last won the NBA title. Intentionally not flashy, but incredibly clutch.

[titanium2 867]

Oz has the same overall personality as the Pistons when they last won the NBA title. Intentionally not flashy, but incredibly clutch.

Both teams repeated with an appearance in the finals and lost down to the wire in game 7. The comparison better end there. We've already seen the Wings "not play hard" during the regular season. Should we now expect behavior that resembles an ugly sense of entitlement? Championship Hangover Disorder.

EDIT: Oh my goodness. Larsson as of this moment is tied with McCollum. I'm shocked.

Edited July 20, 2009 by titanium2

[Guest mindfly]

Why are you surprised that larsson is tied, the people who actually seen him, in SEL or GR knows he's the real deal... he and young jacob markstrom are probably the goalies with highest potential in sweden since henrik lundqvist.. just because mcollum is a first rounder doesn't mean he will be better, he's faced kids/juniors his whole career while larsson played a full 2 seasons of pro hockey in sweden and a split pro season with howard in GR last season...

[titanium2 867]

Why are you surprised that larsson is tied, the people who actually seen him, in SEL or GR knows he's the real deal... he and young jacob markstrom are probably the goalies with highest potential in sweden since henrik lundqvist.. just because mcollum is a first rounder doesn't mean he will be better, he's faced kids/juniors his whole career while larsson played a full 2 seasons of pro hockey in sweden and a split pro season with howard in GR last season...

I'm moreso surprised that we have that many people that know he's the real deal. I voted for him. But networks like TSN rated McCollum as our #1 prospect above Helm, Ericsson and Abdelkader. I thought that was enough to skew some perceptions in his favor.

[Lidstrom for life 20]

Why are you surprised that larsson is tied, the people who actually seen him, in SEL or GR knows he's the real deal... he and young jacob markstrom are probably the goalies with highest potential in sweden since henrik lundqvist.. just because mcollum is a first rounder doesn't mean he will be better, he's faced kids/juniors his whole career while larsson played a full 2 seasons of pro hockey in sweden and a split pro season with howard in GR last season...

I havent seen him so I have a question: do you think he is NHL ready now? I mean if they decide Howard isn't working out is bringing up Larsson a possibility this year? Or will they have to look for a free agent? I mean obviously I hope Howard does well but you never know.

[redwingfan19 293]

We will see Mccollum this year, he is going to tear it up in GR, then when one of Howrad/Ozzie is either injured or sucking he will come in and pull a Steve Mason

you can book it, this kid is for real

[dat's sick 1,002]

I havent seen him so I have a question: do you think he is NHL ready now? I mean if they decide Howard isn't working out is bringing up Larsson a possibility this year? Or will they have to look for a free agent? I mean obviously I hope Howard does well but you never know.

I wouldn't be surprised if our goalie tandem come spring is Ozzie/Larsson with Pearce/McCollum in GR. I think Larsson is more ready than Howard is.

[rick zombo 3,739]

I'd be completely astounded if one of these kids didn't end up as the #1 goalie in Detroit at some point in the near future.

That's a pretty good feeling to have.