Jimmy Howard watch thread

[Yzerman191 37]

The game tonight puts Howard at 2.16 GAA (7th place, or 5th when considering goaltenders playing at least 20 games) and .928 save percentage (4th overall, or 3rd when considering goalies with at least 20 games again). He's hanging with the likes of Miller and Kiprusoff, and above Nabokov, Brodeur, Luongo, and Lundqvist. That's Calder material!

EDIT: Steve Mason won the Calder last year with a save percentage of .916, a GAA of 2.29, and 10 shutouts. Just throwing that out there!

Edited January 8, 2010 by Yzerman191

[Broken 16 381]

No wonder they groomed this kid. Wow.

[RedWingsRox 614]

This game will make his stat go through the roof.

He was already 8th overall in GAA and 6th in SV%.

What a kid !!!

Damn ... I just checked, his contract ends at the end of 2010-11 ... he's going to cost a pretty penny to keep!

Edited January 8, 2010 by RedWingsRox

[edicius 3,269]

Howard was absolutely fantastic tonight.

I said it in the GDT, and I'll repeat it here. Babcock made the right decision in going with Howard tonight.

That was the very definition of a stolen game.

I was skeptical as hell about Babcock putting Howard in tonight. Showed why Babcock's the coach and I'm not. Howard really put that horrid performance in Anaheim behind him and that's a great sign for him.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Great performance by Howard tonight.

He still sometimes makes it more of an adventure than he needs to with his decision making on loose pucks around the net, but wow, he stole that game.

[Echolalia 2,961]

The Wings had no business winning that game tonight. As great as Jimmy was, credit definitely needs to go to the defensmen in front of him for clearing out rebounds and such. Great teamwork.

[edicius 3,269]

Snagged this for posterity. Good job, Jimmy.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

The Wings had no business winning that game tonight. As great as Jimmy was, credit definitely needs to go to the defensmen in front of him for clearing out rebounds and such. Great teamwork.

Absolutely. Several times they saved his bacon when the puck was bouncing around the net. They stole two points for sure.

[Broken 16 381]

Absolutely. Several times they saved his bacon when the puck was bouncing around the net. They stole two points for sure.

Right. Because the defense had absolutely nothing to do with the puck bouncing around in the first place. 50+ shots on net and the defense saved him. Lol... go with that.

That's just dumb.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Broken 16

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

No wonder they groomed this kid. Wow.

Well have you seen his hair?

[Broken 16 381]

Well have you seen his hair?

Heh, I can't follow GR as close as others. I wasn't really sure what to expect from him. I expected major consistency problems. So far so good.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Right. Because the defense had absolutely nothing to do with the puck bouncing around in the first place. 50+ shots on net and the defense saved him. Lol... go with that.

That's just dumb.

How about you unbunch your panties and read what I actually wrote before twisting my words.

I wasn't saying they saved him the whole game. Obviously you don't give up 50+ shots with great team defense. If you actually read my post (or the one above it where I say he stole that game) I was just talking about the few times when the puck was bouncing around the crease and the whole damn team piled in the blue paint to keep the puck out.

[Lovin Jiri Fischer 147]

Who here remembers previous years when a goalie was injured or something and Jimmy would get called up from Grand Rapids and the sinking "Ohhh Lord here we go" feeling in my stomach?

[Theophany 110]

Sup guys. Let's all have some.

[Broken 16 381]

How about you unbunch your panties and read what I actually wrote before twisting my words.

I wasn't saying they saved him the whole game. Obviously you don't give up 50+ shots with great team defense. If you actually read my post (or the one above it where I say he stole that game) I was just talking about the few times when the puck was bouncing around the crease and the whole damn team piled in the blue paint to keep the puck out.

Ya... I realized that I misread your post after I responded. My bad. Sorry. The way it read, it almost sounded like you were saying that the D stole two points. Heh.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Broken 16

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Ya... I realized that I misread your post after I responded. My bad. Sorry. The way it read, it almost sounded like you were saying that the D stole two points. Heh.

No worries.

I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even I couldn't give all the credit for a stolen game to the defense that gave up 52 shots.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Sup guys. Let's all have some.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

I wasn't saying they saved him the whole game. Obviously you don't give up 50+ shots with great team defense. If you actually read my post (or the one above it where I say he stole that game) I was just talking about the few times when the puck was bouncing around the crease and the whole damn team piled in the blue paint to keep the puck out.

Not that I'm particulalry fond of those scenarios, but it is nice to see the team in full-on desperation mode, blocking shots and collapsing around their net, doing anything they can to keep the puck out.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Not that I'm particulalry fond of those scenarios, but it is nice to see the team in full-on desperation mode, blocking shots and collapsing around their net, doing anything they can to keep the puck out.

True.

though I'd prefer to see them doing that in a game where they gave up 17 shots because they blocked so many.

[Pavel Hossyukstrom 2]

Does anybody here think Howard could make a run for the Calder???

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Sup guys. Let's all have some.

Awesome. But he did let that 52nd shot in. A shut-out in a 52 shot game would've been truly epic.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Does anybody here think Howard could make a run for the Calder???

If he keeps playing like this? Yes. If he dips? No. Don't forget that Rask is posting insane numbers. Howie would have to post these numbers but with significantly more wins.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Updated, and I can't believe he is still climbing up the ranks. This kid has blown away my loftiest expectations coming into this year.

[Guest mindfly]

50saves, great BUT i still think it's the defense and forwards in front of him who does an excellent job (the offense is non-existant but we're talking defensive play here)...everytime he touch the puck with his stick i get nervous he needs to work ALOT on that...

Even howard himself pointed this out

"It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it," Howard said. "It was fun to be a part of a game like that. I just continued to battle and the guys continued to battle in front of me. They stayed the course and bailed me out a couple of times when I left some terrible rebounds in front, so I've got to credit them for a lot of my success.

Edited January 8, 2010 by mindfly

[Echolalia 2,961]

50saves, great BUT i still think it's the defense and forwards in front of him who does an excellent job (the offense is non-existant but we're talking defensive play here)...everytime he touch the puck with his stick i get nervous he needs to work ALOT on that...

Even howard himself pointed this out

Definitely, his biggest issue is certainly rebound control and its caused a lot of nail-biters, but the Wings' D is aware of his weaknesses and play to minimize their effect. Regardless, we're talking about a kid who has started 32 times his entire NHL career. 50+ saves is a phenomenal feat.