10/24 GDT: Red Wings 1 at Avalanche 3

[stuck in socal 56]

Call Hasek up lmao.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

It's not necessarily that I thought he had a poor game -- especially for being Jimmy Howard, it seemed like a pretty damn good effort. But the timing of the goal, like the timing of a few other killer goals that have tied/lost the Wings games this season, was about as lousy as you can get. The score really could have been anything 0-0, 3-3, 2-1, whatever, something always seems to be finding its way in.

Yeah, those deflating goals are symptoms of the team's offensive deficiency. Because we can't seem to buy a goal lately, any goal that goes in is incredibly deflating.

[sureWhyNot 19]

I never thought I would miss Conklin as much as I do right now. The guy is killing it in St. Louis. Now granted, he's only started two games, but so far he is repping a 1.71 GAA and a .940 SV%.

It shouldn't be too surprising though, I mean he played very well last year when he was called on. Hell he won 25 games for us.

[Gordie Howe hat trick 110]

He let 2 goals in against the best team in the West. Brilliant is an overstatement, but it's no more of an overstatement than "didn't play as bad as he usually does" is an understatement.

If you think Howard's play was anything less than very good you're nuts. He made a bunch of key stops against the dominant team in the West.

This coming from one of Howard's leading critics...I'm sure that he will come to make you all eat crow by then end...bear in mind that first goal really wasn't his fault either.

[Viking_Erection 1]

Wings were great tonight. The Wings game was nearly flawless. Nobody here wants to admit it, but Anderson is the hottest goalie in the league right now, and he proved it again tonight. Give the kid some credit, he's play like an all-star. That said, Wings were the better team and I like the urgency they showed after the 2nd goal. Howard was strong tonight except for that weak goal (I think was deflected?)

Overall, great game. If they play like this, they'll win 90% of the time.

Another thing to note, the adversity this team early on will only benefit them later on. I'd rather the Wings have a slow start early in the season rather than later in the season!

By the way, Bertuzzi was on FIRE tonight. I hope he keeps playing that hard!

Edited October 25, 2009 by Viking_Erection

[sureWhyNot 19]

This coming from one of Howard's leading critics...I'm sure that he will come to make you all eat crow by then end...bear in mind that first goal really wasn't his fault either.

Ha ha - he played alright. I cannot wrap my head around all this praise as though he did anything special whatsoever. He stopped 20-22 shots, the first goal was not his fault, and the second goal was. Was the loss his fault no. Did he do anything what so ever spectacular. No.

The only people eating crow around here will be the blind ones who fail to see that he simply is not a high level NHL goalie. He is in the same class as Joey McDonald, the last goaltender so many around here here had a hard on over.

Edited October 25, 2009 by sureWhyNot

[Lazerbeam 13]

The Wings 2006-07 start--just to keep things in perspective

October 5, 2006 Vancouver Canucks Home 1-3 L

October 7, 2006 Pittsburgh Penguins Away 2-0 W

October 11, 2006 Phoenix Coyotes Home 9-2 W

October 13, 2006 Buffalo Sabres Home 2-3 L SO

October 16, 2006 Los Angeles Kings Away 3-1 W

October 18, 2006 Anaheim Ducks Away 1-4 L

October 19, 2006 San Jose Sharks Away 1-5 L

October 21, 2006 Edmonton Oilers Away 1-3 L

October 25, 2006 San Jose Sharks Home 2-1 W

October 27, 2006 Dallas Stars Away 4-3 W

October 28, 2006 St. Louis Blues Away 3-2 W

[Vladifan 680]

UHH What?!??!

Im sorry.. Right now we are in 11th in the west.... what would you call it ?

You go right ahead and write them off right now if that makes you feel better. There are about SEVENTY-FIVE more games to be played. They play till April 11th. That's about six months from now.

If there were a definition of "fairweather fan" in the dictionary, your picture would be next to it, along with about 20 others just in this thread alone.

Whatever floats your boat. But your statement already has a whole lot of holes in it.

And if you think they're that bad WHY do you keep coming back here? Wouldn't a whip and some vinegar serve the same purpose?

[Theophany 110]

Ha ha - he played alright. I cannot wrap my head around all this praise as though he did anything special whatsoever. He stopped 20-22 shots, the first goal was not his fault, and the second goal was. Was the loss his fault no. Did he do anything what so ever spectacular. No.

The only people eating crow around here will be the blind ones who fail to see that he simply is not a high level NHL goalie. He is in the same class as Joey McDonald, the last goaltender so many around here here had a hard on over.

.909 Sv% is pretty good, bro. I'd take him over Ozzie at this point, if he keeps putting up .900+ Sv% all year.

[Vladifan 680]

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS020629.HTM (44 saves)

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20022003/GS021075.HTM (40 saves)

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20012002/GS020148.HTM (40 saves)

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20002001/GS020111.HTM (46 saves)

4 times in the past 10 years that a Red wings goalie has stopped 40 or more shots.

Thanks for doing all the research on this, Z&D.

[Pucks 66]

Call Hasek up lmao.

For real. I hear he's been using the Chuck Norris groininator. He should be good to go.

[Vladifan 680]

Wings were great tonight. The Wings game was nearly flawless. Nobody here wants to admit it, but Anderson is the hottest goalie in the league right now, and he proved it again tonight. Give the kid some credit, he's play like an all-star. That said, Wings were the better team and I like the urgency they showed after the 2nd goal. Howard was strong tonight except for that weak goal (I think was deflected?)

Overall, great game. If they play like this, they'll win 90% of the time.

Another thing to note, the adversity this team early on will only benefit them later on. I'd rather the Wings have a slow start early in the season rather than later in the season!

By the way, Bertuzzi was on FIRE tonight. I hope he keeps playing that hard!

Boy, for a newbie I sure like your style! But watch out for the brickbats, ok? Anyway, welcome!

[stuck in socal 56]

Hey look at the Penguins, last February they were on the verge of missing the playoffs. Who knows how the Wings will turn their season around.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

Hey look at the Penguins, last February they were on the verge of missing the playoffs. Who knows how the Wings will turn their season around.

If they'd gone on a 3-4-2 stretch in the middle of year (as I'm sure they did or near enough plenty of times) there wouldn't be nearly as much fuss, but folks are antsy and don't like looking up at everybody in the standings. Not that I don't blame them, I don't like it either, but I'm going to have some more patience here and see where the next couple of weeks takes us. Going .500-ish for a stretch doesn't make a team good or bad.

[stuck in socal 56]

Yeah good point, but I just have this wierd feeling this year, I will stay optimistic though.

[ben_usmc 253]

are the Wings turning into the Pistons of 06 where they just don't give a f*** anymore? honest question!

[Carman 387]

are the Wings turning into the Pistons of 06 where they just don't give a f*** anymore? honest question!

No they are turning into the 09' tigers that just aren't that good.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

This coming from one of Howard's leading critics...I'm sure that he will come to make you all eat crow by then end...bear in mind that first goal really wasn't his fault either.

I wasn't one of his biggest critics. I've always been in the middle of the road when it comes to Howard.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Ha ha - he played alright. I cannot wrap my head around all this praise as though he did anything special whatsoever. He stopped 20-22 shots, the first goal was not his fault, and the second goal was. Was the loss his fault no. Did he do anything what so ever spectacular. No.

The only people eating crow around here will be the blind ones who fail to see that he simply is not a high level NHL goalie. He is in the same class as Joey McDonald, the last goaltender so many around here here had a hard on over.

Joey McDonald was never the top goaltender in the Wings' system, and at no point was he ever projected as more than a solid backup. Howard's been considered a blue-chip prospect for 4 years now and he's made the Hockey News' top 100 prospects list on a regular basis since he started in the AHL. Howard was the top prospect in the Wings' system for 2 of the last 4 years. Howard was an AHL all-star twice in his four years down there. Joey? Zero. Howard was the Griffins #1 goalie every single year he played in the AHL. Joey? None. His best stretch was when he split the games with Howard.

To say Howard's in the same class as Joey McDonald shows some serious ignorance when it comes to the Wings' prospect system. Even if Howard ends up a bust it won't be a case of people here overrating him, it will be a case of his not living up to his own potential.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Oh, for sure. Just saying a lot of people are blaming ONLY Lebda for mistakes made on D when it's been BOTH of them.

I fully expected E to play like a rookie; he had literally an amazing playoffs last year, and this is more in line with the kind of play you expect from rookie defensemen.

I think, though, that he should be playing with Lidstrom, Rafalski, or Kronwall; he need a guy that's experienced working with him, not the fifth-year rookie defenseman.

I agree 100%. On the Wings Ericsson should be the #6 defenseman, simply because our D should never be outplayed by a rookie, regardless of how talented he is. The problem is that Ericsson is leading the Wings in defensive scoring with 2 goals and 3 assists (Rafalski has 1 goal and 4 assists, so he's right behind him). Lidstrom and Kronwall have no business being outscored by a rookie. Again, we all know that Lids will be at the top of the pile at the end of the season, with Rafalski and Kronwall right behind him, I'm just pointing out one more symptom of the problem right now.

They definitely should keep Ericsson with a veteran out there-- preferably Lidstrom or Kronwall, although ideally they'd rotate Ericsson in with Lidstrom for E's full mins each night and play Kronwall with Lids for the rest of Lidstrom's time out there. Keeping Ericsson with Lidstrom minimizes the impact of rookie mistakes. Putting Ericsson with Lebda, a guy who makes worse defensive gaffs out there and constantly gets beat for pucks, amplifies his defensive mistakes because suddenly Jonathan is the defensive anchor on that pair and not the kid.

[Miss Wing Queen 154]

Only that I keep coming back to these threads and wading through the histrionics.

I should know better by now.

Me too. I usually feel like I need a big bottle of Zoloft after reading these threads.

Great game by Howard, and a damn good effort by the Red Wings. You can't win them all guys.

I hope the Red Wings play the next game like this one.

To all of you saying the Wings won't make the playoffs... this is not football, we play 82 games for a reason. If you're not satisfied with the effort the Red Wings gave, then stop watching.

Every loss needs a scapegoat. Forget the fact our offense is inept and our defense is slow.....no, we must blame Jimmy Howard. I'm waiting for Babcock to be next.

Too late, it's already been done earlier in this thread. After all the equipment guys and every staff member at JLA, I guess the only person left to blame is Mike Illitch.

_________________________________________________________________

Having done a 180 on my view of the season, I know they are playing well, but things are just not going our way. But with each game, I see the changes being made that will eventually lead to this team turning it around. The positives to take out of this game:

1. Howard performed much better than he has previously, and for that, I say yes he was great (comparing him to Anderson at this point is stupid in the grand scheme of things).

2. Our PK has been steadily improving since last season.

3. Players are stepping up. Beggars can't be choosers when it comes to the fact that those players are Homer, Draper, Malts, etc instead of Pav, Hank, etc. At least somebody is scoring!

Not the outcome we wanted, but a good effort from the boys.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

UHH What?!??!

Im sorry.. Right now we are in 11th in the west.... what would you call it ?

The Dead Things were a team that only made the playoffs 2 times in 17 years (this was when all but 5 or 6 teams made the playoffs), and could barely manage 20 wins in a terrible division. Games only became worth watching when they signed Steve Yzerman, and even then many of them were brutally bad.

By comparison, we're 10 games into this season. The previous season, the Wings were in game 7 of the Cup finals, won the cup the year before that, and were in the Conference finals the year before that. Throw in I don't know how many Presidents trophies.

Do you really not see the distinction between over a decade of horrendous play, and 10 games?

[Drake_Marcus 890]

The Dead Things were a team that only made the playoffs 2 times in 17 years (this was when all but 5 or 6 teams made the playoffs), and could barely manage 20 wins in a terrible division. Games only became worth watching when they signed Steve Yzerman, and even then many of them were brutally bad.

By comparison, we're 10 games into this season. The previous season, the Wings were in game 7 of the Cup finals, won the cup the year before that, and were in the Conference finals the year before that. Throw in I don't know how many Presidents trophies.

Do you really not see the distinction between over a decade of horrendous play, and 10 games?

I think the problem is he never lived through that era and you did, so he's got a skewed perspective on fan suffering.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I am curious as too when those of you who decry any statement that in all reality sums up the Wings so far will feel that it is ok to worry? Is it 15 games in? 20 games in? When can people, in your little world, begin expressing concern without your scorn?

Howard is bad. Osgood has been playing bad. Our stars are not scoring, and our secondary scoring is at best, very mediocre. When you add all that up you have a team that isn't going to fare very well.

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with certain people on this site. The inability to understand anything other than the extremes.

In my little world, I think the Wings and their fans should absolutely be concerned. They've lost a ton of scoring, they have two average goaltenders at best, and their team defense is nowhere near what it was in 2007, which is where it needs to be if they're gonna win games without offense.

My point was that it might be a tad premature to declare that they're going to miss the playoffs and this season is a wash.

Actually, forget I said that. The Wings suck. They will suck all season. They will miss the playoffs. There's really no point in even talking about them, so you might just wanna not bother posting here.

EDITED to clarify that there's nothing wrong with the site, just the way some people post here.

Edited October 25, 2009 by haroldsnepsts

[Aznknight 139]

The Wings are in trouble....yup....I have never said this EVER as a Wings fan, but I think this time, it's a legitimate concern.