GDT 12/12 GDT: Red Wings 1 at Lightning 2 (SO)

[Z and D for the C 712]

I know everyone is weeping and wailing over our shoot-out record, but lets be honest if we were 6-0 in the SO people would just be bitching and moaning that our record is artificially inflated, we still suck, will lose in the playoffs etc etc etc.

Both derive from the fact that it's a problem that we can't win in regulation.

[GoalieManPat 1,007]

Monster has never put up a whole season with a save% higher than Jimmys career worst season. Right now Gus is on a hot streak and Jimmy is slumping. Odds are that the hot streak will end and so will the slump. Those trying to anoint Gus as the future starter are just silly.

[DatsyukianDekes 2,428]

Monster has never put up a whole season with a save% higher than Jimmys career worst season. Right now Gus is on a hot streak and Jimmy is slumping. Odds are that the hot streak will end and so will the slump. Those trying to anoint Gus as the future starter are just silly.

Gus always had it in him to be a great goalie, even fans in Toronto knew it. Francois Allaire ruined him, like he has many goalies before. Most Leaf fans will tell you exactly that.

[dat's sick 1,002]

Monster has never put up a whole season with a save% higher than Jimmys career worst season. Right now Gus is on a hot streak and Jimmy is slumping. Odds are that the hot streak will end and so will the slump. Those trying to anoint Gus as the future starter are just silly.

Yes most likely Gus will not be at this level all year, but he's not a bad goalie. He had a lot of personal and physical problems in Toronto on top of playing behind a poor team with tons of pressure. And it seems Allaire was completely wrong for him. I saw him in Sweden before he came over and I followed him closely in Toronto. This year he looks much more like the 'Monster' he was in Sweden than he's ever done before in the NHL. With Howard signed for many years to come and hopefully just in a slump and Mrazek coming from below I don't see Gus as a long-term solution, but it's not crazy to think he could be our starter this season/playoffs without it completely killing our chances.

[The Greek 323]

Jimmy hasn't stopped two consecutive shootout attempts his whole career!

C'mon, you can't just say things that aren't true. This season, jimmy has definitely been bad in the shootout. But, that doesn't mean Howard was never good in them. He actually still has a decent career save percentage in the SO despite saving less than half of the attempts, this season. That means his SO numbers were actually good, once upon a time. Edited December 13, 2013 by The Greek

[hillbillywingsfan 792]

Monster has never put up a whole season with a save% higher than Jimmys career worst season. Right now Gus is on a hot streak and Jimmy is slumping. Odds are that the hot streak will end and so will the slump. Those trying to anoint Gus as the future starter are just silly.

And those coming up with every excuse about Howard playing like crap even before his injury is just silly.

Edited December 13, 2013 by hillbillywingsfan

[GoWings! 179]

We are all fans and no real fan would say Jimmy Howard is trash and I hope someone kills off his bloodline because that's absurd. I'm a fan of hockey and I could care less about what these guys do in their spare time. Of course giving to charities and visiting people that are terminally ill are amazing gestures. But I watch this because it is an entertaining sport and to see how well these guys that are out there can perform. If Jimmy doesn't perform well on ice than he has to sit and we hand it over to whomever is winning. We did it with Hasek and Ozzie. Fans on these forums wanting Howard to sit does not make them any less of a fan than the guys that love him. Took 8 rounds to beat Gus last night in the shootout. He's been solid and deserves to start. Just because he came here to backup Jimmy doesn't mean he sucks. I'm really happy he is playing well because if he wasn't, we'd be the laughing stock of the Eastern Conference today.

I'm shocked how bad our guys are in the shootout. It looks like Datsyuk is being blackmailed by mobsters. All our big guns were in and they were pooped on by Bishop. Maybe we should send out Kronwall and Quincey in the next shootout. I hope we fix a few things and take it to Pittsburgh.

[b.shanafan14 733]

C'mon, you can't just say things that aren't true. This season, jimmy has definitely been bad in the shootout. But, that doesn't mean Howard was never good in them. He actually still has a decent career save percentage in the SO despite saving less than half of the attempts, this season. That means his SO numbers were actually good, once upon a time.

It was hyperbole, but the recent trend is not good for Howard in shootouts. He wasn't bad in his first season with the Wings, but lost more than he won. 2010-11 and 2011-12 were good seasons for him and he performed admirably in the shootout. Since then, his performance has dipped dramatically.

Last season, he ended up with a 1-5 shootout record with a .579S%, allowing 8 goals on 19 attempts. This season he has been even worse, as discussed above. We are about to enter 2014 and since October 2012 his record in the shooutout is 1-9 with a .517S%, allowing 14 goals on 29 shots.

It's a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, especially at the goaltending position.