moocat

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About moocat

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    Babcock's hair really is magnificent..
  • Birthday November 25

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  1. moocat

    Put Ozzy in.

    Whoa... So in game one Howard was lambasted for getting caught deep on the 4th goal on the 5 on 3 and when he plays the shot aggressively in game 2 with two teammates boxing him he screwed up as well. The only thing you can say on that goal was that he was maybe a tad too aggressive but he still played it correctly. He cut the angle and took the shooter away. His defense has to help by continuing to box out (he also slipped getting up which didn't help). On the 3-1 you are absolutely bonkers. Howard made a great blocker stop on Heatley so how you expect him to absorb the shot is beyond me, and he did deflect the puck out away from danger, unfortunately it hit Rafalski in the leg and bounced to Thornton so your assertion that it was put right on his tape is dead wrong. Also the third Shark stayed high while the other Shark went to the far side. Goals 3-4 are not on Howard. Howard still has work to do to tighten up technique without a doubt but some fans have no concept of the different stylesd being employed by goaltending coaches. Howard has to continue to work on his hands and making sure that pucks are controlled when in the gloves but he's come a long way just this year with this. A lot of people ***** about his rebounds of the pads without realizing that this is; A. Part of what you get with the butterfly technique and taking away the lower portion of the net, and B. Often intentional with goal being to direct or kick the puck out against the grain of the attack (the Wings struggled early in the year to get used to this and to use it as part of the breakout). Howard has ok size and comes from the blocking style of goaltending with a sprinkling of athleticism thrown in. This means positioning more than reaction. This means looking to block and cut off the angle rather than playing deep and reacting to the shot. Early in Howard's career and even early this year Howard over relied on the backside or down recovery (staying on his knees and pushing to slide over) this is part of the blocking technique he was coached to use and he over used it (see Edmonton early in the season). This season (goalie coach)Jim Berdard has obviously worked with him to rely less on backing in deep and sliding over to make a save when he can aggressively challenge the shooter, cut off the angle and hopefully swallow the puck or direct out of danger. He also has been coached to get to his feet rather than slide around. This is something that Osgood does and it used to drive me nuts because I thought it was an Ozzie thing but seeing Howard do in now, I know it's part of Bedard's system that he teaches. The Wings very clearly instruct their goalies to worry about the shot (as they should and every team does) and rely on your defense to clean up anything that gets free. Ozzie is a stud for incorporating the butterfly more solidly into his technique at such a late stage of his career but he was and always will be a hybrid/reaction goalie. He doesn't give the same type of rebounds as Howard because that is how he plays. He's better with his gloves and works the body more. Ozzie can't get to some of the pucks that Howard can with his athleticism but Howard can't suck in some of the pucks Ozzie can. It's just the difference in style and in Ozzie's case a bit of knowledge from being in the show so long. Howard has made great strides this year and while he does give a bad rebound from time to time this is the case for all goalies. Hopefully he continues to keep getting better and better. Lastly the amount of goals scored and goals against average are not always indicators of how well a goalie is playing. Remember to look at the nature of the scoring chance and the goalies save percentage.
  2. moocat

    [GDT] 9/27 - Penguins, 1 @ Red Wings, 4

    Howard stopped 25 of 26 shots, stopped a breakaway and a penalty shot. Whether you saw it or not it was a pretty damn good effort by J-Ho and was nice to see, and will hopefully lead to more outings like it.
  3. moocat

    Jimmy Howard

    I've called Mike Babcock "The Cock" for the entire time he's been the coach. Mostly because he's abrasive as all hell, and has a propensity for saying things and not caring about what the players think. Does this mean I don't like him? Of course not, but it's my chosen nickname for him, and while it's tongue in cheek I don't really care if you like it or not. I also find it very ironic that you're criticizing me for a nickname I use for the coach in a thread that has been ripe with arguments such as "Just because someone wears the Wings logo doesn't mean I have to love them unconditionally" in relation to Howard, and posters reasoning to give him a chance. P.S. I dearly hope this paragraph was formatted more to your liking, and I appreciate that you took the time to criticize me for my paragraph structure on a quick post while evidently being too stupid to realize that not 8 posts prior to your scintillating reply to me I posted a rather long entry about my thoughts on Howard....that yes, did indeed include paragraphs. http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.ph...t&p=1779359
  4. moocat

    Jimmy Howard

    blah, blah, blah... If the numbers are interchangeable like Babs says and they like Larsson then I guess that means they're just as comfortable with Jimmah..eh.. I chalk it up to motivational speak, because if Howard was truly as bad as everyone seems to want to make him out to be then why on earth did they re-sign him last year, and lord knows he wouldn't be on the big club this year. He'll sink or swim, but he needs to actually play to do that... Honestly I'm not sure if questioning J-Ho at every turn is the way to build up a young goalies confidence, but I doubt "The Cock" cares...
  5. moocat

    Jimmy Howard

    One fundamental issue with the Red Wings and goalies stems back to Scotty Bowman. The Wings with Bowman at the helm always felt that they needed to have a veteran goalie. This approach was also fostered by Holland, and it worked to the detriment of the goalies in the Wings farm system since the wings could go and get usually whoever then want on the free agent market or could trade for. Then came the salary cap and the years of the Wings being able to "get by" without having or nurturing top notch goalie prospects came to an end. With Howard being drafted the Wings were starting to rebuild their goalie pool and trying to rectify an area left weakened by injuries, bad drafts, and players dying on the vine due to no room at the top. When Howard entered the system all hope was the he would become a starter quality goalie and that the Wings would give him time to develop (two to three years). Expecting Howard to make the jump to the big club in dramatic fashion was highly unlikely given the stated plan for his development, the limited opportunities he had at the NHL level, and as you can see below the players that he would have had to unseat in order to be on the Wing's roster (again the Wings veteran philosophy). Howard's numbers as stated in an above post have never been worse than "good" even on a few not so good Griffin teams. He's played well, and played great at times. However when called up the Wings it's usually been as an emergency replacement and has only seen action in 9 NHL games. 4 games in 05-06, 4 games 07-08, and 1 game last year, and only starting 6 of those appearances. Obviously not a large body of work. (Howard was not even called up in 06-07) Last year was probably the first year where Howard failed at a chance to grab the backup spot, but I would contend again that it wasn't Howard that lost the spot so much as Conklin giving the Wings a sweetheart contract which again fell into the organizations propensity for picking veterans over younger players (especially goalies). Howard was told that he could win the back up job by having a good camp and pre-season, which was never going to be the case unless Conklin made a poor showing (which he didn't). Howard led the Red Wings in goals-against average (1.20) and save percentage (.947) in the NHL pre-season before suffering a broken fingertip and missing more than a week. He did everything they asked of him but this opened the door for Holland to send him down due to his year of remaining AHL eligibilty, and allowed him to go with the veteran, Conklin (which worked out very well for the Wings). However I think Howard struggled with not making the big team, and before he knew it Larsson was on fire. He fought back and by mid-season had fixed his game and regained the starting job. Obviously it's sink or swim time for Howard but he isn't the bust that some would make him out to be at this stage of his career and at this juncture the Wings need to start having their goalie prospects prosper, so it's in all of our best interests to root that he succeeds. 2005-06 34 Manny Legace 30 Chris Osgood 2006-07 39 Dominik Hasek 30 Chris Osgood 2007-08 39 Dominik Hasek 30 Chris Osgood 2008-09 30 Chris Osgood 29 Ty Conklin
  6. moocat

    Zetterbergs line

    It's going to take some time for Zetterberg to adjust. You watch him play and see the places he's going on the ice and he's getting open and making plays but he's not getting the puck or players aren't there to do anything with it. Same thing on D. That's nothing against Franzen and Hudler but they aren't the same players as Datsyuk and Homer. The chemistry between Z and D is inhuman and you can see that Hank keeps doing things expecting to give or get the puck like he would from Pavel but it's not happening. Also when you watch Hank you see him throw the puck on net a lot, and I believe that was because he new Homer was there and it always had a chance. Hudler plays out on the perimeter more and while a good passer hasn't been getting the time and space he needs. While Franzen is a beast he doesn't set up in the slot like Holmstrom, and would rather move toward the shot for a tip instead of playing straight back to the net (don't get me wrong he'll do it just not as ofter as Homer). Also Franzen likes to cycle and drive which is what Zetterberg does so Hank needs to find his place when Franzen is taking it to net. Hank is going to have to adjust to the style of his new linemates and they are going to have to adjust to him. Also lets be honest, when you swap Zetterberg for Hossa the top line isn't really getting much of a downgrade but swapping Pavel and Homer for the Mule and Happy is. It'll come around but this is certainly a work in progress.
  7. moocat

    Hossa/Ozzie Handshake

    Time expired as Hossa was swiping at the puck so it wouldn't have counted. Give Cindy credit for a nasty backhand there at the end and thank God Ozzie fought that off. Backhanders suck for goalies.
  8. moocat

    We always bag on the refs, so.....

    Yeah that was a nice job by the ref, but after the ticky-tac hook that lead to the Penguins second goal and then the blatant non call on Datsyuk being tripped in the neutral zone that lead to the last chance with seconds left pretty much blew any good will I had built up.
  9. Hmm not good. I would break up the Euro twins at least at the start of the game and make the Pengus worry about two lines. Flipper/Pav/Cleary Logo Assasisn/Hank/Franzen Maltby/Draper/Drake d-Mac/Helm/Happy
  10. moocat

    WQF Game 5 GDT: Red Wings 2, Predators 1 (OT)

    Ugh...Can you buy Maalox by the gallon? Thank you Jeebus for the Mule-acle.
  11. moocat

    3/20 GDT: Red Wings 6, Predators 3

    God I hate it when Dom lays there like that after a coverup because my first reaction is always "OH My God he just tore something!", and then of course he gets up, but seriously I can't take that kind of stress.
  12. moocat

    3/20 GDT: Red Wings 6, Predators 3

    I think Dom's got his groove back.
  13. moocat

    3/20 GDT: Red Wings 6, Predators 3

    Dom went to fight Roy in 02 and tripped on a stick upon arrival wiping both himself and Roy out spectacularly.
  14. moocat

    3/20 GDT: Red Wings 6, Predators 3

    No doubt. I'd love to be a fly on the wall if he's watching the game right now.