Time for Osgood

[Jaymz99 2]

Howard probably should have been able to stop one or two of the goals tonight, but the Wings HAVE TO start covering opposition players in front of their net. Ericsson walked away from Doan on the OT winner; Zetterberg (I know he's a center, but centers are the 3rd defenseman in your own zone) never even looked at Jovanovski, who was 2 feet away from him, on his goal; Stuart got outworked going after a rebound on another goal... If you play bad D, you will give up bad goals. If the Wings want to make the playoffs, they will play better in their own zone. Everything else falls into place after you do that.

Here here. I second this minus the Howard comment. If he should have, he would have. He also could have let in one or two more so it's all relative. Other than that it, this post is spot on. Raffi and Ericsson have both been sloppy recently. Not sure what is up with these guys. But rather than pick on individuals, the team needs to pull it together. All the Franzens, Kronners, Homers, and so on won't make a difference if they don't start playing like the former Cup champs. ****** defeat from the jaws of victory. We like to leave that to the Detroit Lions.

[YzerPucks19 4]

Howard is to blame on some of these last 5 out of the 6 loses.

Wings got screwed vs Stars with that no goal that counted.

Hawks game HOWARD can't stop 1 puck in the shootout. Hawks goalie stops 1 shot.

Kings tying goal went over Howard's head went he didn't even have to go down.

Tonights game goals 4 and 5 were the D's fault but goal 4 HOWARD had no idea where the puck was and didn't even have his paddle down to cover the 5 hole. Goal 5 left all alone but didn't need to dive if he knew where the puck was again.

I really don't think HOWARD is a good short term or long term solution for the WINGS.

WINGS need a goalie badly cause the way things are going they may miss the playoffs.

Too many missed points cause of goaltending. Also look at the 1st 2 games of the season Over seas.

WINGS were up 2 - 1 both games at the end of the 1st period and lost those 2 games and out shot the Blues.

How does anyone not think we need goaltending. We need it bad.

Edited January 27, 2010 by YzerPucks19

[TheOwl 77]

Ultimately I usually would blame Howard for this shotty play. But if you watch these games their are huge defensive breakdowns when these goals are scored. The D really needs to play better, and Howard needs to step it up. He's not winning us games anymore like he was a few weeks ago. He's either costing these games, or playing just as good as Osgood would be. Howard is looking less and less impressive every game he plays. Go back to an even rotation for 2 weeks, and whoever plays better can get a stretch. Let them battle for the #1 position.

[ben_usmc 253]

yep

[Superman54 91]

Ozzie should have played a couple more games then just 1 this month. Babs didn't use a streaking Howard as wisely as I thought he could have.

Edited January 27, 2010 by Superman54

[clutchngrab 12]

Yeah, Ozzie time => higher draft pick I'm all for it. Seriously does anyone think Osgood is going to bail out the Wings while they play this way in front of the goalie? That there is crazy talk.

[clutchngrab 12]

Howard is to blame on some of these last 5 out of the 6 loses.

Wings got screwed vs Stars with that no goal that counted.

Hawks game HOWARD can't stop 1 puck in the shootout. Hawks goalie stops 1 shot.

Kings tying goal went over Howard's head went he didn't even have to go down.

Tonights game goals 4 and 5 were the D's fault but goal 4 HOWARD had no idea where the puck was and didn't even have his paddle down to cover the 5 hole. Goal 5 left all alone but didn't need to dive if he knew where the puck was again.

I really don't think HOWARD is a good short term or long term solution for the WINGS.

WINGS need a goalie badly cause the way things are going they may miss the playoffs.

Too many missed points cause of goaltending. Also look at the 1st 2 games of the season Over seas.

WINGS were up 2 - 1 both games at the end of the 1st period and lost those 2 games and out shot the Blues.

How does anyone not think we need goaltending. We need it bad.

There is not a goalie in the league that will save the Wings the way they have played defensively lately.

[dicksmack 33]

Give the reigns to Osgood? Don't be dumb. You don't want to make a bad situation worse. Ozzie will get his chance in the playoffs, if we get there. I hope they start rotating more so he gets ready.

[RedWingAbner 13]

Osgood? The Wings are still very much in the playoff picture, guys. Why give up now?

Yes, you read that right. Osgood has shown, time and time again, that he is done. Yeah, the Wings played great in that Washington game, and Osgood shat the bed. I think the lingering image from last night's collapse is seeing Brad Stuart look sad after getting burned on each goal.

Howard is the reason the Wings aren't in lottery territory right now. Osgood was once a starting goalie. So was Curtis Joseph. Time to move on.

[mackel 767]

This is in no way hammering Howard for the loss to the Coyotes. He could've made a save on at least 1 of the 4 and shouldn't have let the puck back in play on the 2nd, but I refuse to pin this on him.

Are you sure? Sounds like pinning to me.

[edicius 3,269]

Howard has been making saves this season that Osgood could only dream of making.

I hate to say it, but I think a lot of those "great" saves that Howard has had to make lately have been a result of him having to scramble back in to position after having given up a juicy rebound. He then ends up making it look more spectacular than it really should have been. When he gave up that rebound off his glove before the 2nd goal, I just KNEW that was going to end up in the net soon.

[mackel 767]

You know what, I do not often post on here as I just like to read what people think and have to say. But I am going to be honest here; I am TIRED of everyone praising Howard day in and day out and finding reasons to not place some blame on him for losses. Then the one game Ozzy plays in a month he somehow gets TOTAL blame from everyone for losing. Fact of the matter is, yes Howie as been good some games, but there are a LOT of games where he gets lucky and lately he has just been costing the Wings their leads. I know everyone likes him now but look at the L.A game... the wings had a 2-0 lead and then right at the start of the 2nd period he let in a bad goal off a bad rebound that he could not control and brought LA back into the game. Today I blame Howie for the 2nd goal (terrible rebound), 3rd goal (there was barely a screen and it was not even a good shot!) and the OT goal (REBOUND). Fact is Howie is not making the saves he needs to make for the team to win lately. I CANT believe people are on this board sayin Howie played good tonight; most of his good saves came OFF of rebounds he could not control!

Another thing I wanna mention is the way that the Wings have been playing. When Howie plays the Wings seem more scared in their zone and they start diving all over the place when there is a shot because they do not have confidence in Howard. This tires them out and thus explains a weaker offense. Another problem with Howard is the fact that so many of his shots come off rebounds that Ozzy would control... we see 35 shots against the wings when Howie plays because of this, and again, takes away from their approach.

The one game Ozzy played, last week, against the Caps, has actually been one of the better games I have seen the Wings play in a while now. Why? Because the team played with better confidence with Ozzy in net and in the end only allowed 23 shots on net while shooting 47 shots the other way! Why is it that the wings seemed to play GOOD RED WINGS HOCKEY (few shots against, lots of chances for them) the one game ozzy played?

I think its time to find out if it continues... without a doubt, whether you like it or not, it is time for Babcock to start playing Chris Osgood. I expect Ozzy to play tomorrow night and Friday night against the Preds. And if all goes well those 2 games I say keep playing Ozzy because its time to get our true number 1 guy going...

People praise Howard because he's played well... as for making excuses, thats an Ozzy fan exclusive, not that you'd know anything about that given your post

[mackel 767]

We need Ozzie in now, I have not been a big Howie fan so far, he gives up to many rebounds for 2nd and 3rd shots(LA game 51 saves). If Babs does not play ozzie I think it will make him look like a fool.

Osgood has no rebound control issues you're right, the first shot is usually in the net.

[Guest mindfly]

Im tired of howard.. lets test out osgood....

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

People praise Howard because he's played well... as for making excuses, thats an Ozzy fan exclusive, not that you'd know anything about that given your post

Yeah, because you haven't shown multiple times any hatred for Chris Osgood.

[Travis 576]

Whenever I see the puck go in behind the net, it makes me nervous. While Jimmy is undoubtedly making huge saves, he is definitely losing the puck on the regular in these situations. I didn't see all of Ozzie's last game, but I do know that he let in a softy or two - so it's a toss up, I guess.

Obviously, we all want to see the #30 that played in last year's playoffs.

[The Secret 304]

We've been a team thats been able to get away with a decent goalie for many years. I believe Osgood was just the right amount of Goalie we needed and able to shine at times... Howard looks to be the same model. Howards done better then i expected and seemed to find a groove to where the D was able to bail him out when he needed it and he bailed them out when they needed it. Still, although there has been some improvement, I think Jimmy is still a rebound machine and he is contsantly needing to scramble around the crease to make up for being out of position. My opinion is that the majority of his success has come from the fact that he is a big goalie and has been taught to play high in his crease to leave less space for the puck... half of the save he makes just hit him because he is outside of the blue paint. I'm not a big fan of either goalie really but I think if they can both be in enough of a groove they could be a good enough tandem together... both giving us just enough. It might be time to give Osgood some starts to get him more in the mix.

Here's praying for a star goalie on our roster for a change instead of one thats just good enough!

[interminded 1]

Im tired of howard.. lets test out osgood....

But you'll get tired of Osgood too, sir.

Then what ?

[Travis 576]

But you'll get tired of Osgood too, sir.

Then what ?

Well call up Larsson to let in tons of soft ones.

[Guest mindfly]

But you'll get tired of Osgood too, sir.

Then what ?

Trade for Halak

[StormJH1 231]

I live in Minnesota now and am going to tonight's game (to root for Detroit, of course). I've been to past Wings/Wild games where it's almost 30% Wings fans, despite the fact that Minnesota has a very good fanbase with sell-outs or near sell-outs every game.

I expect that Osgood will start tonight. If it were B2B home games, maaayyybe Babcock throws Howard back out there to get some confidence back. But on the road against a team with an outside shot at competing for that 8th spot, I don't think so.

Nicklas Backstrom missed some practice time with a sore back, but is apparently OK and also may be playing tonight. I had thought they might play Josh Harding tonight (which would've been good news for us) b/c the Wild also play tomorrow night in Colorado (a division opponent), but that may not be the case.

[interminded 1]

Trade for Halak

No sir. Not good.

Besides, it doesn't matter which goaltender will play for the Detroit Red Wings.

Luongo, Quick, Miller, Bryzgalov or *INSERT NAME OTHER TALENTED GOALTENDER*

It will never be good enough.

We all think Howard is the next Sawchuk / franchise goaltender / multiple Vezina winner.

But I feel sorry for the guy already.

He's a goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings.

Back to topic:

It's obvious Jimmy has cooled off, along with most of the Red Wings.

If there is a time to (re-) ignite a spark, this would be it.

It's crunch-time.

It's time for Chris Osgood.

[chrisdetroit 189]

You know what, I do not often post on here as I just like to read what people think and have to say. But I am going to be honest here; I am TIRED of everyone praising Howard day in and day out and finding reasons to not place some blame on him for losses. Then the one game Ozzy plays in a month he somehow gets TOTAL blame from everyone for losing. Fact of the matter is, yes Howie as been good some games, but there are a LOT of games where he gets lucky and lately he has just been costing the Wings their leads. I know everyone likes him now but look at the L.A game... the wings had a 2-0 lead and then right at the start of the 2nd period he let in a bad goal off a bad rebound that he could not control and brought LA back into the game. Today I blame Howie for the 2nd goal (terrible rebound), 3rd goal (there was barely a screen and it was not even a good shot!) and the OT goal (REBOUND). Fact is Howie is not making the saves he needs to make for the team to win lately. I CANT believe people are on this board sayin Howie played good tonight; most of his good saves came OFF of rebounds he could not control!

Another thing I wanna mention is the way that the Wings have been playing. When Howie plays the Wings seem more scared in their zone and they start diving all over the place when there is a shot because they do not have confidence in Howard. This tires them out and thus explains a weaker offense. Another problem with Howard is the fact that so many of his shots come off rebounds that Ozzy would control... we see 35 shots against the wings when Howie plays because of this, and again, takes away from their approach.

The one game Ozzy played, last week, against the Caps, has actually been one of the better games I have seen the Wings play in a while now. Why? Because the team played with better confidence with Ozzy in net and in the end only allowed 23 shots on net while shooting 47 shots the other way! Why is it that the wings seemed to play GOOD RED WINGS HOCKEY (few shots against, lots of chances for them) the one game ozzy played?

I think its time to find out if it continues... without a doubt, whether you like it or not, it is time for Babcock to start playing Chris Osgood. I expect Ozzy to play tomorrow night and Friday night against the Preds. And if all goes well those 2 games I say keep playing Ozzy because its time to get our true number 1 guy going...

That's how hockey is. Every goalie has good games, bad games and lucky games. In order to make sense of it, you add up all the goals allowed, and shots faced and average it all out. You then get a number called save %. Right now Howard's save % is .924 which is 4th or 6th in the league depending on if you count all goalies or only the ones that played at least 30 games.

Osgood is at .896 which is way down at the bottom 42d out of 46 goalies.

How can you sit the 4th best goalie in the league in favor of the 42nd best?

Ozzie has lost his job and I unless Howard tanks he isn't getting it back.

[chrisdetroit 189]

I can't believe how quickly everybody is jumping off the Howard bandwagon. Even with "fair" outings the last few games, he still has a .924 save percentage. It's not like he's letting in terrible goals.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. This is the LGW board.

[Guest mindfly]

I can't believe how quickly everybody is jumping off the Howard bandwagon. Even with "fair" outings the last few games, he still has a .924 save percentage. It's not like he's letting in terrible goals.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. This is the LGW board.

When people remove the massive red wing googles they will see that howard is a mediocre goaltender with tons of flaws, the games where he had good sv% was because the team bailed him out, just re-watch them if you don't believe me

Edited January 27, 2010 by mindfly