Jimmy Howard watch thread

[Mabuhay Red Wings 177]

I was curious and so I checked on some stats.

Last year the Wings were 9th in shots against per game. This year they're 14th.

In goals against per game last year they were 7th. This year they're 17th.

Not sure if one of the defense or goaltending are to blame more than the other.

[Nightfall 871]

Plain and simple, the defense has been mediocre through 3 regular seasons now. Howard played great to battle through it last year. This year, Howard hasn't played as great so he couldn't battle through it in such a strong manner. This is simple. Why anyone continues to try and blame either the goalies or the defense more than the other this year is way beyond me.

This I agree with 100%.

[GMRwings1983 8,793]

He's also tied for first in the league in wins.

Yeesh. Some people here...

I hope that's a sarcastic post on your part.

His being first in wins has to do with this team scoring a lot. They've won in spite of Howard and not because of him.

This post is just further proof that according to some Wings fans no goalie is good enough to goaltend in Detroit.

Yes, that's exactly what that post meant.

Edited March 26, 2011 by GMRwings1983

[RedWingsExpert1988 8]

After reading all these comments I agree that Detroit's defense has been questionable. Howard is an average goalie like osgood. He is horrible with rebounds and positioning though. I don't care who will argue with me about how osgood has won a whole bunch of cups and so on. Howard can also win the cup with defense like chelios, murphy, and steve duchense on top of nick lidstrom as the core defense.

I can't seem to point any fingers other than the defense costing us games. If you look at our fowards they are considered some of the best defensive offensive guys in the league. I mean if we didn't have pavs leading in take aways and hank not doing amazing back checking then how many goals a game would we be allowing more?

I can see Howard allows bad goals but look at some of the best goalies out there. They CANT win in the playoffs. I understand you're goalie has to sometimes be you're best player but thats also why there is no "I" in team.

Stop pointing fingers at Howard and look at how lazy the defense is and how many mistakes they keep making every night.

GOO WINGS !!!

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

You should change your user name to Howard He Don't Do It.

Although the defense has been subpar, I don't think they're leaving him out to dry anymore than other teams are with their netminders. He's near last in the league in GAA and save % for starting goalies. I don't think our defense is the "worst" in hockey, to deserve those numbers. Last year there wasn't much pressure on him, so he did well. However, this season, he's shown that he can't handle the pressure of being the goalie in Hockeytown.

Oh the comedy genius. I'm laughing so hard.

[Firehawk 305]

That's a reflection on the Red Wings offense, not on Jimmy Howard's play in goal. Nashville wins because of Pekka Rinne, the Red Wings win because of their firepower up front. There are very few, if any, starting NHL calibre goalies that wouldn't have the same number of wins as Jimmy with that talent in front of them on offense.

I'm glad some people get it. Thank you for not being a superficial retard when someone says "but he's got the most wins in the league". So ridiculous.

QFT.

I was a howard supporter last year. i thought he was great. I was hoping it wasn't just because other teams hadn't figured him out. YOu could make this case this year that that's precisely what's happened. Other teams studied howard, and now they know how to beat him. The Wings defense last year was not great either, but Howard was much better. This year the defense is about the same it seems, and Howard's numbers are terrible for being on a super power like the Red Wings.

If we had a proven solid goalie on this team this year I argue that that goalie would have even more wins.

For those saying the defense has hung him out to dry all year, that's just ridiculous. Take the game the other night where Howard got pulled on all 4 of those goals. Tell me which goal the defense left him 'out to dry' on? Howard gave up big rebounds, one of which he never even bothered to cover when it came right through the crease right by his stick. It made no sense. Howard is slow to get from post to post, he over-reacts on shots, and he rarely ever controls rebounds. This is not the making of a good goalie.

Now last year, I gave him the free pass. Even in the playoffs, I didn't care how many bad goals he let in. I just cared that he gained experience for this year. This year he does NOT get any passes from me. I've called him out this season, and if he does not elevate his game in the playoffs, then I will be calling for his head in the off season. There is no excuse. Now that he knows the speed of the NHL regular season versus playoffs, there's no excuse. It's time to become the goalie we need him to be, or start over with another goalie.

With that being said, I feel Howard does get the start in net for the beginning of the playoffs. This would typically be where I say if he doesn't measure up after a couple of games, he should be pulled and put Ozzie in and hope he can do the same as in prior playoff years. But I don't know what the answer would be this time. You can't throw in a pure rookie like MacDonald if Howard buckles. And what a shame, another entire season would be wasted.

[sputman 1,268]

He's also tied for first in the league in wins.

Yeesh. Some people here...

hell, manny legace had a pretty good win percentage and some sparkling GAAs during his time as our backstop.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=3081

now he's in delaware playing for the iserlohn roosters.

[eva unit zero 271]

Goaltending is always going to be a question mark to people in Detroit. You name any goalie in our last 4 cup championship teams, and all of them have been under the magnifying glass. Even after they win a cup, no respect is given to them. This is the way it is always going to be in Detroit. Even last year when Howard was solid in net and helping us get into the playoffs, people here and other Wings fans I know never gave him any credit. Today, its no different. If Howard plays amazing, it is what he is supposed to do. Anything less, and its horrible. Being as that no goalie plays at that high of a level every game, there is no goalie who is good enough to goaltend in Detroit.

Vernon came in during the summer of 1994. The Wings had just traded Tim Cheveldae, possibly the most hated Wings goalie ever, to get an "upgrade" in net with Bob Essensa, who lasted two playoff games. The 1994 season ended with a rookie Chris Osgood misplaying a puck and the Cup-favorite Wings being ousted in seven games as a result. Osgood has taken flak for "You cost us 1994" despite being the primary reason the team lasted past game five. Vernon was a Cup winner, and was only a couple of years off his prime as a Vezina contender. Vernon played tandem with Osgood for three years, being a significant factor in both the Cup finals loss to the Devils in 1995 and the Cup win in 1997. He never had a huge segment of doubters, and he went out winning the Cup. So your statement should be "last three cup championship teams" and not include 1997.

I was curious and so I checked on some stats.

Last year the Wings were 9th in shots against per game. This year they're 14th.

In goals against per game last year they were 7th. This year they're 17th.

Not sure if one of the defense or goaltending are to blame more than the other.

Even just from that, the defense is clearly at fault for part of the increased goals against, but the goaltending also is not at the same level.

Despite playing through injuries and seeing sporadic starts, Osgood has significantly better numbers this season, numbers not too different from Howard's. Joey MacDonald's numbers resemble, over a much smaller number of games, Howard's from last season.

Given that, we can say that the primary factor is Howard's drop in play, and the secondary factor is the defense; both Osgood and MacDonald have been considerably better than Osgood's overall season was in 09-10.

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

Even just from that, the defense is clearly at fault for part of the increased goals against, but the goaltending also is not at the same level.

Despite playing through injuries and seeing sporadic starts, Osgood has significantly better numbers this season, numbers not too different from Howard's. Joey MacDonald's numbers resemble, over a much smaller number of games, Howard's from last season.

Given that, we can say that the primary factor is Howard's drop in play, and the secondary factor is the defense; both Osgood and MacDonald have been considerably better than Osgood's overall season was in 09-10.

Osgood played in 11 games to Howard's 57. Ozzie also saw his starts when the Wings were arguably playing their best hockey of the season. Is that the best you can do? And save me any stat extrapolations. Those are a joke.

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

I'm nervous. Howard is playing amazing and ******* Lupul sits on him.

[MGreenberg 105]

I'm glad some people get it. Thank you for not being a superficial retard when someone says "but he's got the most wins in the league". So ridiculous.

QFT.

I was a howard supporter last year. i thought he was great. I was hoping it wasn't just because other teams hadn't figured him out. YOu could make this case this year that that's precisely what's happened. Other teams studied howard, and now they know how to beat him. The Wings defense last year was not great either, but Howard was much better. This year the defense is about the same it seems, and Howard's numbers are terrible for being on a super power like the Red Wings.

If we had a proven solid goalie on this team this year I argue that that goalie would have even more wins.

For those saying the defense has hung him out to dry all year, that's just ridiculous. Take the game the other night where Howard got pulled on all 4 of those goals. Tell me which goal the defense left him 'out to dry' on? Howard gave up big rebounds, one of which he never even bothered to cover when it came right through the crease right by his stick. It made no sense. Howard is slow to get from post to post, he over-reacts on shots, and he rarely ever controls rebounds. This is not the making of a good goalie.

Now last year, I gave him the free pass. Even in the playoffs, I didn't care how many bad goals he let in. I just cared that he gained experience for this year. This year he does NOT get any passes from me. I've called him out this season, and if he does not elevate his game in the playoffs, then I will be calling for his head in the off season. There is no excuse. Now that he knows the speed of the NHL regular season versus playoffs, there's no excuse. It's time to become the goalie we need him to be, or start over with another goalie.

With that being said, I feel Howard does get the start in net for the beginning of the playoffs. This would typically be where I say if he doesn't measure up after a couple of games, he should be pulled and put Ozzie in and hope he can do the same as in prior playoff years. But I don't know what the answer would be this time. You can't throw in a pure rookie like MacDonald if Howard buckles. And what a shame, another entire season would be wasted.

I agree with pretty much everything in this post.

Jimmy hasn't been spectacular just because he is near the top in wins. He was solid early in year but now when it matters he is having more average or worse games then great confidence building games. Not saying the defense isn't to blame for some of it but to blame everything on the defense is just being blind. From what I have seen of Joey Mac lately is giving me more faith in him, shutting out Columbus and coming in after Howard's horrible game against the Penguins and after the injury tonight while not allowing a goal in either of those games either.

So as of this moment if Jimmy was completely healthy I still give my nod of confidence to Joey until he gets lit up if he gets another start or two.

But I do hope Howard gets better because I hate seeing the Wings with injuries.

Edited March 27, 2011 by MGreenberg

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

I agree with pretty much everything in this post.

Jimmy hasn't been spectacular just because he is near the top in wins. He was solid early in year but now when it matters he is having more average or worse games then great confidence building games. Not saying the defense isn't to blame for some of it but to blame everything on the defense is just being blind. From what I have seen of Joey Mac lately is giving me more faith in him, shutting out Columbus and coming in after Howard's horrible game against the Penguins and after the injury tonight while not allowing a goal in either of those games either.

So as of this moment if Jimmy was completely healthy I still give my nod of confidence to Joey until he gets lit up if he gets another start or two.

But I do hope Howard gets better because I hate seeing the Wings with injuries.

Howard was looking great tonight before he got hurt and every goaltender in the league has a game like Howard did against the Pens. It's bound to happen in an 82 game season.

Shutting out Columbus was fun but let's get realistic. Columbus is 12th in the conference and 22nd in G/G. Joey didn't exactly face an offensive onslaught. He shutout a bad Columbus team. Let's not blow it out of proportion.

You're quick to give Joey credit for tonight's game but no where do you even mention Howard's excellent play. I think it's crazy to give the nod to an AHL goalie with no playoff experience.

Edited March 27, 2011 by Howard He Do It?!

[MGreenberg 105]

Howard was looking great tonight before he got hurt and every goaltender in the league has a game like Howard did against the Pens. It's bound to happen in an 82 game season.

Shutting out Columbus was fun but let's get realistic. Columbus is 12th in the conference and 22nd in G/G. Joey didn't exactly face an offensive onslaught. He shutout a bad Columbus team. Let's not blow it out of proportion.

Your quick to give Joey credit for tonight's game but no where do you even mention Howard's excellent play. I think it's crazy to give the nod to an AHL goalie with no playoff experience.

Look everyone has an opinion and by your name you obviously support Howard 110%. I think Howard did ok tonight and my opinion is right now I give Joey the nod. Columbus may not be the best offensive team in the League but he stopped 37 shots against them and has been playing well. I just want to see Joey get a few more games and like I said he has my vote of confidence until I see him get torched a game or two and/or Howard just completely steals a game for us when he comes back.

Edited March 27, 2011 by MGreenberg

[Guest Howard He Do It?!]

Look everyone has an opinion and by your name you obviously support Howard 110%. I think Howard did ok tonight and my opinion is right now I give Joey the nod. Columbus may not be the best offensive team in the League but he stopped 37 shots against them and has been playing well. I just want to see Joey get a few more games and like I said he has my vote of confidence until I see him get torched a game or two or Howard just completely steals a game for us.

What is with people thinking my user name dictates my opinions? My girlfriend made the name up and frankly it's pretty shallow to allow your user name to drive your opinions and even more shallow to think that a user name even maters. He's not even my favorite player. Datsyuk tops that list.

Howard did more than ok tonight. You're ready to hand the reigns over to Joey but you can't even admit that Howard was having a great game. That comes off as extremely biased. There is no time to give Joey some games. This is the final stretch. Joey can have some throw away games when our position in the standings is solidified but nothing more. This guy wouldn't even still be up with the team if Ozzie were healthy.

[MGreenberg 105]

What is with people thinking my user name dictates my opinions? My girlfriend made the name up and frankly it's pretty shallow to allow your user name to drive your opinions and even more shallow to think that a user name even maters. He's not even my favorite player. Datsyuk tops that list. Howard did more than ok tonight. You're ready to hand the reigns over to Joey but you can't even admit that Howard was having a great game. That comes off as extremely biased. There is no time to give Joey some games. This is the final stretch. Joey can have some throw away games when our position in the standings is solidified but nothing more. This guy wouldn't even still be up with the team if Ozzie were healthy.

Ok, I apologise about the name comment, it is just natural for people to assume things like that. Howard played good, I wouldn't call it great personally but each person has different standards between ok, good and great. Also I know my opinion means nothing to the actual Red Wings and I know if healthy, Jimmy will get the nod over Joey come playoff time. And speaking of biased you can't admit Joey has played well over the last few games and act like a shutout is something easy even against bad to average teams.

I am just saying you never know if something could click between Joey and the defense where he could just become a wall in net. Also right now Ozzie is not healthy so that is not relevant even if it is true. But I am tired so good night Wings Fans.

Excuse any errors, typing over my playstation browser which doesn't always cooperate.

Edited March 27, 2011 by MGreenberg

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Epic saves to keep us in this one. Let's roll Jim!!!!

[MGreenberg 105]

Epic saves to keep us in this one. Let's roll Jim!!!!

Said it in the main game thread but he just needs to keep playing like he did in after the Nashville goals and especially like he did in the third and no one will doubt him(like I do from time to time).