Jimmy Howard to start VS San Jose; Brad May replaces Ville Leino

[Guest mindfly]

Jimmy Howard to start for Red Wings in San Jose; Brad May replaces Ville Leino in lineup

January 08, 2010, 5:45PM

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Update from the Detroit Red Wings' practice late Friday afternoon at the Toyota Center:

Jimmy Howard, as expected, will start Saturday in San Jose. It will be his eighth consecutive start and his 24th start in the last 30 games.

Just one lineup change, as Brad May will replace Ville Leino. That will bump Drew Miller up to the second line.

Here are the lines they skated with:

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi

Miller-Filppula-Cleary

Draper-Helm-Eaves

May-Abdelkader-Maltby (Leino working in)

Franzen also skated.

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Meech-Stuart

Lebda-Janik

Ericsson and Lilja also skated.

Williams skated briefly before practice in a warmup suit. Kronwall did not skate. He said he might try to get back on the ice Saturday morning.

Good to see him bench Leino!

[Miller Brew 0]

You're on it Mindfly. Do you have twitter updates or what?

[Guest mindfly]

You're on it Mindfly. Do you have twitter updates or what?

Hehe swedish hockey forums are fast, and also got very much sparetime so i look in the michigan newspapers alot too I bet most of the people on here does that also but this is a huge fan forum so it's important to keep the latest info fresh here.

Edited January 9, 2010 by mindfly

[Theophany 110]

You're on it Mindfly. Do you have twitter updates or what?

Twitter has known about this for hours!

HOURS!

[Z and D for the C 712]

I feel bad for Leino, but he does look useless out there.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

Drew Miller on the second line? Wow, you know you're down some man power when that happens.

Personally I would've liked to see Osgood get this game, after Howard's performance against LA he would be really determined to prove his stuff.

[Guest mindfly]

Drew Miller on the second line? Wow, you know you're down some man power when that happens.

Personally I would've liked to see Osgood get this game, after Howard's performance against LA he would be really determined to prove his stuff.

Absolutely, osgood should have gotten the start imo, prove himself.

Miller on the 2nd looks really weird to me, but then again they don't wanna break up the fantastic draper-helm-eaves line, and the other 4th line players most certanly can't play 2nd line minutes against opponents 2nd line players

[TheOwl 77]

I can see why Babs is going with Howard, who is playing magnificently. But 8 straight starts is a bit excessive. That's a lot of pressure, and eventually he will have a bad game. Will it throw off his confidence? I think Osgood should start, just to see how badly he really wants to be the starter again.

[Statts 4]

Sounds good to me.

I guess this means Howard's elbow if feeling good. He had me worried last night.

[Miller Brew 0]

If Howard plays tomorrow night like last night, then Wings win.

[jollymania 162]

Ride Howard while hes hot, when he cools down go back to switching every other game and let the 2 goalies battle it out

[Broken 16 381]

I can see why Babs is going with Howard, who is playing magnificently. But 8 straight starts is a bit excessive. That's a lot of pressure, and eventually he will have a bad game. Will it throw off his confidence? I think Osgood should start, just to see how badly he really wants to be the starter again.

If Howards confidence is that fragile that one bad game is gonna wreck him, best to find out now.

Ride em Babs!

[Opie 308]

If Howards confidence is that fragile that one bad game is gonna wreck him, best to find out now.

Ride em Babs!

A few points Broken:

A: According to half of this board he had his bad game against ANA, Hence point B: we already know the outcome, he was great against LA!

[esteef 2,679]

[DaWingsin071 4]

I was at the game last night in LA. I kept my eye on Leino. This dude is so damn soft, everytime he went in to the boards he would fall down. Trade him or put him on waivers'

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Ride Howard while hes hot, when he cools down go back to switching every other game and let the 2 goalies battle it out

This is pretty much it. Babcock's methods haven't changed... this is how he always explains it.

[SDavis35 140]

Osgood should start next week please Islanders and Carolina he has to start one of two and work his way up like Howie did. Plain and simple. If Howie's hot play him against the teams that we need a game stolen around (like the Sharks)

Just my two cents... I kind of miss Ozzy

[Russian Houdini 8]

Curious to see if Howard can replicate his LA game. Even if he can come close I will be very happy. As long as he can keep putting periods together.

I do know one thing though.. we can't give them 50+ shots. Jimmy can't be expected to do what he did every night..

[Broken 16 381]

A few points Broken:

A: According to half of this board he had his bad game against ANA, Hence point B: we already know the outcome, he was great against LA!

Oh, I know. I thought he had a shaky start in that game and then rebounded well. That's all you can ask from a goaltender. If he can rebound within the span of a game like that, then I think he is much more mature than some people like to give him credit for.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Isn't Howard sore since the last game?

Also, hopefully Helm will move up to the 2nd line. Eaves, Miller and Abby have gone a while now without scoring, so it's useless to put them on the 2nd line.

[Broken 16 381]

Isn't Howard sore since the last game?

Also, hopefully Helm will move up to the 2nd line. Eaves, Miller and Abby have gone a while now without scoring, so it's useless to put them on the 2nd line.

He's young... he can take it!

[rage 24]

Man, Leino has been a complete bust this year. And we could have really used some firepower from him this season with all our injuries.

Glad to see Howard start again. He's been awesome!

[Carman 387]

Osgood will get a start soon enough, San Jose wouldn't be the best game to give Ozzie a chance in. Islanders or Canes hopefully he can get his turn to rack up some wins so everyone can go back to saying he's a HoFer and the best goalie ever.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Howard earned this start, though I find it ironic that the game he earned it with was one I believed he didn't earn.

But that's how it goes. If Howard stumbles again then give Osgood a game. If not, wait for a lower seed.

[ben_usmc 253]

I'd like to see Ozzy play but as earlier stated they are probably waiting for the Canes and Isles so he can go up against easier competition and regain some confidence. I'm glad May is in because he's fun to watch, but I'd really like to see Leino get something going, I'm still rooting for him.