Wings sign Howard to 2-year, $4.5M extension

[egroen 384]

Great playoff? .910 sv%, 2.63 gaa

Struggled? .915 sv%, 2.75 gaa

Pretty similar stats for such disparate descriptions. Hell, that 'great playoff' isn't too far above Howie's current regular season numbers.

Stats are pretty similar the past two seasons too. Howie 68-27-13 (63% win, 69% point), .923 sv%, 2.5 gaa. Niemi 49-22-7 (62.8% win, 67.3% point), .922 sv%, 2.35 gaa. Similar age. Similar size.

Sharks are just buying at the wrong time. Or maybe the other way around and the Wings are buying at the right time while Jimmy is down a bit. Sharks are also paying a premium for the Hawks Cup win. Which is funny in a way since the Sharks got Niemi because the Hawks weren't willing/able to do that themselves.

Great post -

I think it literally is the difference between signing a goalie at a high (Neimi) vs. signing a goalie at a low (Howard). These two have not done much to differentiate themselves up to this point, IMO.

Quite frankly, I feel a little lucky the Wings have been able to win despite Howard posting lesser stats compared to last season, as otherwise his price tag would be similar to Neimi's.

[Nightfall 871]

If there is anything I have learned on this forum, it is that every member here is always going to be skeptical of the goalie. Osgood won 3 cups with us and he is still not respected. Even Hasek's cup win is not enough to get him respect. Quite simply, no goalie is good enough to be a Detroit Red Wing. People like kissing Tim Thomas' ass, but fail to remember the down years he has had. Ryan Miller has even had his share of crappy games. They are all human.

I think the key here is to look at consistency. Howard won a lot of games for the Wings last season. This season he leads in wins. That alone tells me that he is worth the extension and the price tag that Kenny paid for him. His detractors will get their panties in a bunch and cry about it, but in the end, Howard will be the ones winning games. If the cup comes back to Detroit in the next couple seasons (hopefully this season), no one here will offer Howard an apology.

The Wings have always poured money into their defense, and I think that is the right move. Howard is just as good as any NHL goalie out there right now. The Wings have the firepower and the defense to win a cup this year. The cup run won't come down to Howard. It will come down to how they play as a team, pure and simple. If the forwards don't score, the defense blows coverages, and Howard plays like crap, Howard will take the fall for it. Just like Legacy did when the Wings were beat by Edmonton in the first round. It wasn't his fault entirely. The Wings just couldn't get it going.

Lets go wings!

[Guest Crymson]

So by your logic, if I say Tim Thomas is better than Howard and deserves a bigger contract, then I'm deprecating Howard? There's a logic fail in there somewhere.

In your attempt to "prove" that Niemi is better than Howard, you called on information that wasn't even true. What's that to look like to the rest of us?

Edited March 2, 2011 by Crymson

[Red Storm 38]

If there is anything I have learned on this forum, it is that every member here is always going to be skeptical of the goalie. Osgood won 3 cups with us and he is still not respected. Even Hasek's cup win is not enough to get him respect. Quite simply, no goalie is good enough to be a Detroit Red Wing. People like kissing Tim Thomas' ass, but fail to remember the down years he has had. Ryan Miller has even had his share of crappy games. They are all human.

I think the key here is to look at consistency. Howard won a lot of games for the Wings last season. This season he leads in wins. That alone tells me that he is worth the extension and the price tag that Kenny paid for him. His detractors will get their panties in a bunch and cry about it, but in the end, Howard will be the ones winning games. If the cup comes back to Detroit in the next couple seasons (hopefully this season), no one here will offer Howard an apology.

The Wings have always poured money into their defense, and I think that is the right move. Howard is just as good as any NHL goalie out there right now. The Wings have the firepower and the defense to win a cup this year. The cup run won't come down to Howard. It will come down to how they play as a team, pure and simple. If the forwards don't score, the defense blows coverages, and Howard plays like crap, Howard will take the fall for it. Just like Legacy did when the Wings were beat by Edmonton in the first round. It wasn't his fault entirely. The Wings just couldn't get it going.

Lets go wings!

How you can say that Howard is as good as any NHL goalie; and if you mean top tier that's absurd . HE does not match the abilities of a Ryan MIller; Cam Ward; Cary Price ; Tim Thomas or Rask for that matter. If he delivers solid goaltending in these playoffs unlike the shaky goaltending that he displayed last year, then I'm sure he'll be appreciated more . But until that happens , well you know...

[eva unit zero 271]

How you can say that Howard is as good as any NHL goalie; and if you mean top tier that's absurd . HE does not match the abilities of a Ryan MIller; Cam Ward; Cary Price ; Tim Thomas or Rask for that matter. If he delivers solid goaltending in these playoffs unlike the shaky goaltending that he displayed last year, then I'm sure he'll be appreciated more . But until that happens , well you know...

It sounds more like he's saying he's a starter-caliber NHL goalie. With the whole "If the forwards and defense play like they should, it won't come down to Howard's play" he was saying the Wings have the skaters to win the Cup, and Howard is as good as most NHL starters, so the Wings should be in a good position to win the Cup.