Percentage of starts next year for Howard and Osgood

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

This is not meant to be a "Who should be starter thread". It is obvious that Howard is the man now, and unless he just falls off the face off the earth for training camp or whatever, he's the #1 goalie.

That being said, what's the percentage of starts you would like to see Howard and Osgood get? I highly doubt there's much issue with Howard getting worn out or whatever. And while I wish Osgood could've played in a few more games as the season worn down, I understand Babcock's reasoning and Howard didn't really do anything to suggest being taking out for considerable lengths of time when the Wings were scrapping for a playoff spot. In the grand scheme of things, I don't think it mattered. Howard certainly had some shaky moments in the playoffs (Phoenix game 4, San Jose game 3), but it wasn't enough to cause him to get pulled I think.

And any posts that simply say stuff like ZOMG OSGOOD SUCKS HE'S FINISHED or Osgood should play zero games are pretty much a moot point.

If Howard can keep up his play from last season and the Wings more fortunate with the injury situation and not sweating bullets as much to make the playoffs, I'd like to see something like 50-55 starts for Howard, 25-30 starts for Osgood.

Edited May 16, 2010 by SouthernWingsFan

[Reds4Life 51]

Depends on how he plays and where Detroit is in the standings.

I hope it will be possible to go Howard-Osgood 45-37 or 50-32.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Reds4Life

[nate94gt 134]

Id like a somewhat decent split. keep them both fresh. id like to see a 65/35 split or so

[Carman 387]

Depends on how well they play and how well the team plays.

Ideally we could have a playoff spot clinched and roll and 75/25 percentage. But if we need a win we play which ever goalie is playing better like we did this year.

[titanium2 867]

50/50

But that hinges on Osgood finding his game.

[Datsyerberger 279]

Roughly 75/25 is fine by me. 60 for Howard and 22 for Osgood, or thereabouts.

As far as stats, as long as Howard puts up around a .915 and Osgood can manage .900-905 as the backup, I'm content with that. Anything better from either of them would be a bonus in my book.

[Guest Four]

Get rid of Ozzie, Babcock won't use him. Get another goalie, a solid veteran that will be used by Babcock and rotate 66% to 33% in Howard's favour

[MulesWillFly93 199]

Roughly 75/25 is fine by me. 60 for Howard and 22 for Osgood, or thereabouts.

As far as stats, as long as Howard puts up around a .915 and Osgood can manage .900-905 as the backup, I'm content with that. Anything better from either of them would be a bonus in my book.

I like that split... I want to see Howard play a lot, but I want Osgood to be ready if for nothing else than the ever-present chance of injury (God forbid). I just want everybody to be in damn good shape for some major ass-hauling in their Cup run next year.

[FireCaptain 563]

Enough starts to get Ozzy to 400 wins.

[hardcoretom21 71]

I know Ozzie still has a lot of hockey in him, and after a few disappointing regular seasons I'm sure he'll be able to turn it around

[Miss Wing Queen 154]

I'm hoping for a better year on the injury front so that Babcock will not be pressured to work himself into a corner as far as goalie management goes like he did this year.

I believe that Osgood would have worked out his funk from 08/09 if the cards had been dealt better (him not getting the flu, the innumerable injuries, scrapping to make the playoffs). In about 60-70% of the games he played in October/November, Osgood showed promise of returning to his 08 postseason form. However, I really believe his lack of starts stunted that for the remainder of the year.

Howard stepped in and proved that he had won the job, and under the circumstances deserved the starter job. The good that came out of it of course is that we learned what Howard is made of, he gained a ton of regular season, and some playoff, experience, and we made the playoffs. But Babcock's ideology of "there's always tomorrow . . ." for Osgood was detrimental to the team to some degree since he screwed himself out of having his backup prepared in the regular season and come playoff time if needed.

Now I understand that things went the way they did in the best interests for the team making the playoffs, but Babcock really needs to learn from this mistake so as to prevent it from happening in the future. As the coaching and management staff has already made clear to the players, everyone will have to begin the fight again for their job come September. And that is only fitting because it challenges the players to up their game and bring their best. The same goes for Howard and Osgood. We don't want Howard to follow Mason's footsteps, and with one year left on his contract, Osgood can still show that he deserves to play for the Red Wings.

Overall, come September, I'd like to see Howard get about 60-65% of the starts, and have Osgood get 35-40%, but have the starts evenly distributed and managed, and of course, have above average to exceptional performances from both goalies.

It just seemed like we were always walking a fine line this season and holding our breath as far as the goalie situation went, always wondering how far we could push our luck, and I would like to see this team avoid that if possible next year.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Miss Wing Queen

[Jesusberg 1,256]

I'd like somewhere around a 50-32 or 60-22 range.

[Broken 16 381]

Just a flip flop from last season. They were hoping to get Howard into 35 games. I would think that would be the maximum that Osgood sees if all goes well.

[Guest mindfly]

Trade for Carey Price and make him the number 1 goalie with howard backing up

[Booster313 138]

Ken Holland said they would like to get around 20 starts out of Ozzie so that puts the percentage at 24.390244 for Ozzie and 75.609756 for Howie, or 24/76 if you prefer.

[GMRwings1983 8,793]

Leave it to SWF to start a trolling goalie thread.

I personally don't expect Ozzie to return next year. I think he took a lot of s*** from Babcock this year and would probably want to move on. Someone else will give him a chance as lesser goalies have gotten numerous chances before, even after their primes were done.

If he does return, I'd say split the games about 60/20, with Howard playing around 60 games.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I`m thinking 60/40 or 65/35 in favour of Howard. The Wings really need to avoid overworking him as recent history has proven that goalies who play 70+ games for their club are often worn down by the time the playoffs come around.

[ltgator333 3]

Four- I have to wonder if there isn't some truth to that, but we'll have to see. I didn't expect that Ozzie would get the flu and then end up way out of the loop like last year.

FireCaptain- I agree on that if Ozzie's 400th (IF it happens) comes in a jersey other than the winged wheel, it would be the exact opposite of fitting imo.

I think there's still an outside chance that, by demotion/buyout or trade, that Ozzie won't be in Detroit next year. I wouldn't count on it, but I would not be too shocked if it happened.

But if we assume he'll be back next year and getting regular playing time, I don't mind any split that is good for the team given the circumstances- and you never know what the next season will bring good, bad or meh. I really think that the future of hockey goaltending lies in more of an even split in workable situations, and if both goalies are playing well it's a workable situation in my mind.

[RedWingsFan1003 1]

I know Babcock and Ozzie had a little tiff during this season. But hopefully both sides will let bygones be bygones heading into training camp and throughout next season. But let's take a stroll down memory lane; Since Babcock became the Red Wings coach:

2005-06: Legace--49 Starts Osgood--29 Starts Howard--4 Starts Final Record: (58-16-8---124 Pts) Playoff Result: L-WCQ to EDM 4-2

2006-07: Hasek--56 Starts Osgood--19 Starts ???--7 Starts Final Record: (50-19-13---113 Pts) Playoff Result: L-WCF to ANA 4-2

2007-08: Hasek--40 Starts Osgood--40 Starts Howard--2 Starts Final Record: (54-21-7---115 Pts) Playoff Result: Won Stanley Cup

2008-09: Osgood--44 Starts Conklin--37 Starts Howard--1 Start Final Record: (51-21-10---112 Pts) Playoff Result: L-SCF to PIT 4-3

2009-10: Howard--61 Starts Osgood--21 Starts Final Record: (44-24-14---102 Pts) Playoff Result: L-WCS to SJS 4-1

Notice the difference between 2007-08, when the Wings won the Cup and the other four seasons. Both Ozzie and Dom played 40 games each, leaving both rested for the playoffs. Now we all know the story of how Dom was pulled in game three in the quarterfinal against Nashville and Ozzie led the Wings back to glory. But this isn't 2007-08 anymore. It's 2010-11, and the season begins October 6th. But why wouldn't any coach use the same method that won the Cup a few years earlier? That's not saying Mike Babcock is a bad coach, in fact, in my opinion, he's the best coach in the game today. But heading into 2010-11, I think Coach Babcock should go with the philosophy of platooning his goaltenders the same way he did back in 2007-08. I think Jimmy was just tired against San Jose. He played so much hockey, more than his body was used to, more than his body could take. Now is it better for the future, time will tell. But Ozzie and Jimmy should be within five starts of each other at regular season's end next April, and the Wings may be hoisting Lord Stanley again next June.

[eva unit zero 271]

Whoever plays the majority should start no more than about 50-55 games, and the backup should start the remainder, give or take a couple. Whoever starts the majority depends on whether Howard has a significant sophomore slump and how close Osgood's play gets back towards his 2007-08 form. Regardless, neither should play an excessive amount and if it comes down to playing almost 50-50, then so be it.

I have said before and agree with what has been posted earlier in this thread that Howard's generally poor performance in the postseason was a result of fatigue, as much of the problems came from issues of physical and/or mental reaction speed. Degredation of such is a symptom of fatigue, so it would not be surprising if that were Howard's issue.

Osgood should be given more playing time and Howie less in the regular season than last year both because he was showing much better play early last season and it keeps both him and Howard fresh going into the playoffs, as well as in the event of injury.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

60-22

[The Noodle 39 14]

I know im gonna get flamed for this but.. Come on people Howard needs a capable backup goalie! Osgood was HORRIBLE this past season so much so that Howard was starting every freaking game! We need a capable backup who can at least give Howie some rest! Now maybe I will be wrong next season and I think were stuck with Ozzie for 1 more year? Osgood might play descent or good next year to give our kid some rest but yeesh.. i know Ozzie probably deserves another year but please play descent to give Howie some rest or release him and pick up a capable backup!!

I know some members here think Osgood has superhuman powers of verbal awesomeness and random veteran cup winning savvy of the greek gods that inspire and make Howard play insane but I just don't buy it.

[Echolalia 2,961]

As far as I'm concerned Howard needs to prove that he can be number one again next year. Sure he was lights out this year, but when the summer is over its a whole new season and his stats from a year before mean jack. Fortunately this is also the case for Osgood. This year he sucked balls, but its not "this year" anymore an he has an opportunity to steal number 1 back, if for the last time in his career. This is the mindset that Babs needs to instill in Ozzie as well as in Howie, and to do that, I think for the starting stretch of the season, Babs should split starts right down the middle. If one goalie starts sucking, skew the start % to 60-40, or 70-30. If they both play well, keep the competition going. They don't get a free ride to number 1 and that's the way it should be.

[king_malice 17]

62-20

[CrimsonFlame 424]

50/50 then see who's better. Also none of this not playing osgood for a whole month at a time. That's insane and never gives him a shot to rebound.