Showing posts with label Roundtable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roundtable. Show all posts
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Red Wings Blogger Roundtable...
Be sure to check out the third installment of this year's Wings Blogger Roundtable hosted over at Winging it in Motown. We've got a good discussion about the Central Division, Brendan Smith, and who we think is going to exceed or fall short of our expectations this season. I even bothered to drop in this time around. Stay tuned for more discussion next week.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Red Wings Blogger Roundtable Part Five...
Hello and welcome to Part Five of the Roundtable. I cleaned up some of the cobwebs that have accumulated over here while I've been slacking this summer in order to play hostess to my esteemed fellow bloggers.
1. Several of the Wings had less-than-stellar seasons last year. Whether they suffered from injuries, failed to meet expectations for offensive production, or took a step back during their first whole season at the NHL level, there are a number of guys who stand to have a rebound season this time around. Who do the Wings need to rebound the most? Who do you think is most likely to step back up to the level of play expected of him? Will that be enough of an impact to fuel the "in house improvement" that the Wings are looking for this season?
Hollis: Considering that the Wings watched their scoring totals drop significantly last season, I'm sure that a case could be made for almost any player on the team, especially Hank of Pavel. That said, I'm going to say Dan Cleary needs to be the guy to REALLY step his game up and earn his paycheck on this team. He's making over $3 million a season, but not necessarily doing a whole lot to support that pay day in terms of putting pucks in nets. Sure, he was suffering through a pretty bad injury last year, which could account for the diminished numbers from him, but I still think he has a decent ways to go to reassure fans that the investment the Wings made in him was a good one. I hope this is the year he shows all of us just how good he can be when he's completely healthy.
Malik: I think that Babcock summed it up best in his "end-of-the-season address": Valtteri Filppula, Jonathan Ericsson, Niklas Kronwall and Dan Cleary need to rebound, big time, Chris Osgood needs to salvage his game and Jiri Hudler must most certainly at least attempt to live up to his salary, never mind Babs' hype.
This really is a make-it-or-break-it season for Filppula. If he's not able to graduate to the 40-to-50-point range working between Franzen and Bertuzzi, he really doesn't justify his $3 million salary, and the Wings may very well cut ties with him if he turns out to be nothing more than a really solid third-line center who can put up 10-15 goals and 35 points on a year-by-year basis. He needs to step up, big time.
Jonathan Ericsson's picture is definitely next to the "sophomore slump" term in the hockey dictionary now, and he has to at least play like a solid #5 defenseman who can move the puck and bang bodies a little harder this year. I wouldn't anticipate a quantum leap in growth, but he needs to reestablish himself this season.
Kronwall needs to return to 50-point territory, pure and simple. When the Wings have Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Kronwall healthy and pumping out elite-defenseman numbers, they've got a top three (never mind a fantastic top four thanks to Brad Stuart's ridiculously solid play) that few teams can keep up with and can play an elite puck-possession game. I think the Wings honestly missed Kronwall when he was out and at less than 100% than they missed any other player with the exception of Zetterberg. Kronwall's really the linchpin here--if he can return to his hard-hitting, hard-shooting, slick-passing form, the Wings' offense and defense alike will return to form. He needs to stay healthy for a full season.
Dan Cleary doesn't necessarily need to put up the kinds of numbers Filppula or Hudler are expected to provide. The Wings need Cleary to come to camp ready to take on the forechecking/net-front-man's role on the third line, stirring up trouble (and pucks) for Modano and Hudler as a sort of poor man's Holmstrom, all while providing a solid presence on the PK as well. 15 goals and 35-45 points would be fantastic but his work ethic and ability muck up pucks, screen goalies, retrieve rebounds and grind it out down low will matter much more than his point totals.
As for Hudler, I think Babcock's proclamation of a 70-point season is probably out of line given his 3rd-line status to start the season, but at the same time, I do think that a return to his previous 20-25 goal and 55-point form could happen easily working with Modano and Cleary. The Wings always had the ability to out-depth teams by dressing a third line when they won Cups, and establishing an offensive presence from the third line equals success.
Chris Osgood simply cannot play as poorly as he did last season for the Wings to succeed. The Wings can't make Jimmy Howard play 60+ games on a year-by-year basis without expecting him to break down and Osgood has to get his game together and provide more than mentorship for Howard--he must support the #1 goaltender and deliver in the winning department.
Tyler: I think it might be Chris Osgood. If I stick with my always-wrong gut feeling of a sophomore slump for Jimmy, he'll be needed way more than he was down the stretch last season, when he all but abandoned charting faceoffs and instead was drawing pictures of himself jumping out of a cake naked with the phrase "#400" written on the icing.
Casey: The Wings need Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg to rebound the most. They both had good seasons in 2009-2010 but Datsyuk's was nothing compared to that of the Hart Trophy nomination year previously. Datsyuk can and will rebound and if Zetterberg stays healthy he will have a good season. I think that with those two carrying the load again this year it will allow the others around them to excel without as much pressure so their health and "rebounding" is very important.
Petrella: I think that Johan Franzen needs to rebound the most. And, obviously, it wasn't his "fault" he had a slower than usual season. That injury seemed mighty awful. I think that if he gets clicking right away, he can keep up a torrid pace and -- wait for it -- even lead the team in scoring this season. I think that the re-addition of Jiri Hudler, and to a smaller degree the addition of Mike Modano, will be enough to fuel the improvement on the front lines.
Saler: Osgood's gotta be the guy who needs to rebound the most. The Wings need him to get back to playing competently. I think the way to do that is to get him regular backup work. Given the season he had last year, I don't see bouncing back to be a problem for him, so I'd peg him as the guy most likely to step back up to the expected level. If he does, it'll go a long way in adding to the "in house improvement" the Wings're going for.
A good second choice for guy in need of a rebound year would be Ericsson, who absolutely has to regain some of the ability he showed in the 09 playoffs. He took major steps backward last year and needs to show some progression this season. A veteran partner in the form of Salei should help fix the damage caused by not providing him mentoring partner last year. I hope.
Drew: You asked three questions in your first question (I'm just sayin'). Anyway - who needs to step up and perform this season? Jiri Hudler. He was the one, true departure from the 2008-2009 team that really through Ken Holland for a loop. And he better have worked his little butt off to make sure that he doesn't take a step back from the near 60 point season he had before he bailed for his tax free bucks in Russia. Who's going to step up? I think a healthy Dan Cleary - even playing on the third line - will have his most productive season to date. With a power forward like Dan, a playmaker like Mikey Mo, and a sniper like Hudler...that third line is going to do some damage. I don't know about any "in house improvement" fuel, but let's hope Jonathan Ericsson gets his hands on a canister.
Me: I think the guy with the biggest rebound season has to be Chris Osgood. He’s obviously not the starter, but the Wings need to be able to rely on him to win some games when he relieves Jimmy Howard. Jimmy can’t start every game like he did during the second half of the season last year. At some point, Ozzie is going to have to step in and take care of business. The Wings can’t afford to just surrender wins on nights when Jimmy needs a break.
I think the guy we’re most likely to see a marked improvement from is Dan Cleary. Hopefully he’s gotten his knee issues taken care of during the off-season and with that no longer dragging him down, he’ll return to form. He didn’t do nearly enough to justify his paycheck last season, but I like to imagine that that had a lot to do with his injuries. It stands to reason that if he’s healthy, his play should return to the level that we’ve all come to expect.
I don’t think that one player’s personal improvement is going to do everything. Getting Ozzie and Cleary back on track is a huge step, but so many guys had off-years last season that it has to be an all-around thing. The Wings need Zetterberg and Kronwall and Datsyuk and Franzen and Filppula among others to step up again this season. Even a slight improvement from each of them will be more valuable than adding a pricey free agent.
2. Who do you envision ending up on the Wings' third defensive pairing coming out of training camp? The top two pairings are pretty well established, but Jonathan Ericsson, Derek Meech, Jakub Kindl, Ruslan Salei, and Doug Janik are all slated to battle it out for the last couple of roster spots. Who do you think will end up getting regular playing time? What about Meech's fate? Is he destined to be cheap trade bait before the season starts? Will Ericsson turn things around and show the promise that he did during the '09 playoffs? Are we going to spend the whole season cringing whenever the third pairing hits the ice again?
Hollis: Ideally, the pairings would look something like this:
Lidstrom/Rafalski
Kronwall/Stuart
Ericsson/Salei
That said, I understand that the Wings need to break in Jakub Kindl and I do expect him to see his fair share of playing time on the ice. Of course, it looks like he'll obviously be playing with Jonny Ericsson, but I will caution that I'm not so sure that Niklas Kronwall's knee is going to make it through the entire season again this year, so we may see Kindl get pushed up to the second pairing with the reliable Brad Stuart. I think it's important to get as much mileage out of Salei as possible, especially when he's paired up with Ericsson, which should help the young Swede focus on the solid two-way game that he needs to play in order to shake off the demons of a rough sophomore season.
As for Meech: Good luck in the East.
Malik: To me, the third pair has to consist of Ericsson and Salei. No ifs, ands or butts unless Jakub Kindl absolutely dazzles. Doug Janik's best-suited to a depth role as the dependable guy you call up from Grand Rapids when injuries occur and breaking Kindl in as the #7 defenseman seems most sensible at this point.
Meech doesn't have a future with Detroit barring training camp injuries. He wants to play elsewhere and he's given the Wings a versatile presence as a no-frills defenseman and forechecking forward, but he's earned the right to become a regular NHL'er somewhere else.
I do believe that Ericsson will rebound and that Salei, barring back issues, will hold up and provide a slight upgrade over Lilja. Salei's more dependable in his own end, meaner and has spent a good chunk of his career playing as a Brad Stuart-like #4 defenseman who shut down the opposition's top players. He can't block shots like Lilja can but he has better fundamentals.
Tyler: I'm not really worried about the 3rd pairing like a lot of people are. I'm really high on Ruslan Salei. Really, you'd think I shot him directly into my bloodstream. When I think about it, though, maybe I'm just stoked about Ruslan Salei + the contract he got. That was a pretty sweet deal. I'm hoping it completely distracts me from another season of Ericsson falling over himself like a giraffe that was given three Tylenol PM's and told to go wander across the Ambassador Bridge.
Casey: I think the third pairing will be Jonathan Ericsson and Ruslan Salei. I think they're the most established out of any of the others and the most capable of playing those minutes. That being said, I expect that Kindl will get quite a bit of playing time as the 7th defenseman and will definitely get close to 20 games. I think Meech is gone, I don't think he has enough to outplay the others in camp and with his voiced preference to move on if he's not in the top 6 it's pretty solidified. As for Ericsson I think he will turn around from how bad he was last year but I don't think he'll exactly be great either. I think he'll benefit from having a player like Salei alongside of him instead of Lilja/Lebda and that will help him learn and excel as the season goes on.
Petrella: I'm almost positive that Salei and Ericsson will be the third pairing, but wouldn't be shocked at all if Kindl sneaks in there instead of Rig. Ericsson was nothing if not a big steaming pile last season and Kindl has shown flashes of whoa baby. I also foresee a Babcock-like rotation of the three of them, with occasional peppering of Janik and MAYBE even Smith. Whatever the case, I have to think that the third pairing will be improved because Salei is a lateral -- if not positive -- move from Andreas Lilja.
Derek Meech is dunzo. There's no way he cracks the top six, and -- as promised -- he'll be shipped elsewhere for a draft pick. Best of luck to him, kid seems like he's got a decent head on his shoulders and he deserves a shot to play somewhere.
Saler: Ericsson-Salei. I don't know that Kindl's really ready for the NHL and tend to think the Wings would have kept him in the AHL if they had a choice. He had a good year with the Griffins last year, but the adjustment to the NHL will be tough for him. I think he'll rotate with Ericsson 20+ times. I don't think we'll ever see Ericsson-Kindl, unless injuries screw things up.
If it's Ericsson-Salei or Kindl-Salei, I don't think the cringe factor will be there too much. The big problem with last year's pairing was the lack of an actual veteran. Lebda's few years in the NHL didn't make him a mentor to Ericsson, so you had a real problem of an experience vacuum. Pairing an offensive-minded, jumping up D-man with an inexperienced, unsure of himself, effective rookie wasn't a recipe for success (not that there was any other option, really). With Salei covering for whatever young guy's in there, though, the third pairing should be less of a weak point.
I don't think Janik has a chance of making the team.
As for Meech, I'm basically in the camp that suspects he was promised a trade out of the pre-season, after he's had a chance to up his value with a strong camp and couple exhibition games.
Drew: Six questions in the second question? Come on, Kris! How about I start answering your questions with questions? How about that?
Alright, alright - in all seriousness, I see Ruslan Salei either starting on the third pairing with Jonathan Ericsson, or else he'll come in to replace Jakub Kindl should Kindl falter. Either way - those are the two I have playing on that third pairing...Big Rig is a lock. I don't see Derek Meech sticking around. He wants more playing time and he isn't going to get it here. His contract is a total bargain and we should be able to find a trade partner easily enough. One can only hope that Ericsson can turn things around - and I believe he will. He's still young and he just finished his first full season at the NHL level...he'll be fine. I think without Lebda/Meech on the third pairing, there will be a lot less fear (for fans) when the third pairing hits the ice.
Me: The third pairing has to be Ericsson and Salei. Hopefully being paired with Salei will help Ericsson find his game again. Getting Lilja back in the lineup at the end of last season seemed to help matters. As much as we’ll all miss Brett Lebda’s antics, not having him on the ice with Ericsson can only be a good thing. I think Kindl may see some time in the NHL if there are injuries or the Wings want to get him a little more experience, but barring a total disaster from Ericsson, he won’t be up with the Wings much. Meech is gone unless somebody has a major injury in training camp.
3. What's your overall assessment of the Wings' summer so far? Would you consider them to be off-season winners or losers? Do you think they improved, held steady, or got worse (in general and/or in comparison to their competition) with the moves Ken Holland has made this summer?
Hollis: I think it's easy to see the Wings as winners in this offseason, simply for the fact that they didn't have anything happen that set them back from where they were last year. How can we forget the nightmare that was last offseason, in which Hossa jumped ship, Samuelsson left for more money and Hudler inexplicably left for the KHL. That was a losing offseason. Landing Mike Modano and re-signing all of targeted free agents can be considered nothign short of a complete success, and that's exactly what Ken Holland and company did this year. If last year was bad, this year was an excellent bounce back for the Red Wings front office.
Malik: I would suggest that the Wings have improved themselves as best they could given their salary cap constraints. That's a win in my department. With Hudler coming back and Modano joining the fray the Wings now have three scoring lines, Salei's an upgrade over Lilja, and simply witnessing a return to relative health bodes well for a team held together with duct tape for long stretches of the 2009-2010 season. Obviously the Wings' fate hinges at least partially upon the expected rebound seasons of the above-mentioned players, but a healthy year and more depth equal a solid "win."
Tyler: I'm Prodano, thumbs way-up on Salei, happy with the re-signings and, most of all, excited for the return of Hudler and whatever Euro herpes he's bringing back with him. I'm very content with things right now.
Casey: I think the Red Wings' off-season thus far has been a win. They didn't have much that they could lose via free agency that would damage their future and I think they'll profit by getting Modano and Salei. Jiri Hudler is the best change to last year's roster and he will be a big contributor in my opinion. I think they improved by more or less staying the same. They've done an exceptional job of keeping the roster together through the years and it helps create a continuity and sense of family not many teams have.
Petrella: I feel like the Wings are huge winners this summer -- and are having one of the best off-seasons of any team in the league, let alone the Central Division. Hudler's return, Modano and Salei's arrival -- costing the Wings only Jason Williams, Andreas Lilja and Brett Lebda? No brainer.
Saler: Getting Hudler back makes them winners in my book. And sneaking in a veteran D-man does too. Modano's also a win, on paper at least. But I really feel like the moves matter less than the team remaining healthy somehow and than the top guns playing like it this year. The moves of the summer are secondary to Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Lidstrom, and Rafalski, etc. taking the lead and dominating this season.
Drew: Red Wings are winners this off-season. Any time you don't have room for players that were regulars on the team in a previous year - you have improved. We've only lost Lebda and Lilja...oh and Williams too. Those are not big losses by any stretch. Bringing Hudler back, Modano in, and getting Salei to replace Lilja are all positives in my book. I wanted to keep Lilja, for the record, but he wanted to play hardball, so...see ya, Lils. We have great depth now from top to bottom on offense. The mystery 3rd pairing is only a minor concern since they'll be logging the least amount of ice out of anyone. But when your fourth line is Abdelkader, Helm, and Eaves? Yeah, we're doing just fine.
This regular season is going to be a lot more fun than the last one.
Me: I think you have to look at the Wings as off-season winners. They’re returning the same solid core of players and adding Modano, Hudler, and Salei to the mix. Their only departures were Brett Lebda, Jason Williams (Who?), and Andreas Lilja. I’ll take that swap any day. Not only did the Wings improve, but their chief rivals the Hawks took a major step backward with the departure of a lot of their supporting cast. This season should be a lot more fun than the last one. I’m looking forward to plenty of good hockey to accompany the shanahanigans that are sure to ensue.
1. Several of the Wings had less-than-stellar seasons last year. Whether they suffered from injuries, failed to meet expectations for offensive production, or took a step back during their first whole season at the NHL level, there are a number of guys who stand to have a rebound season this time around. Who do the Wings need to rebound the most? Who do you think is most likely to step back up to the level of play expected of him? Will that be enough of an impact to fuel the "in house improvement" that the Wings are looking for this season?
Hollis: Considering that the Wings watched their scoring totals drop significantly last season, I'm sure that a case could be made for almost any player on the team, especially Hank of Pavel. That said, I'm going to say Dan Cleary needs to be the guy to REALLY step his game up and earn his paycheck on this team. He's making over $3 million a season, but not necessarily doing a whole lot to support that pay day in terms of putting pucks in nets. Sure, he was suffering through a pretty bad injury last year, which could account for the diminished numbers from him, but I still think he has a decent ways to go to reassure fans that the investment the Wings made in him was a good one. I hope this is the year he shows all of us just how good he can be when he's completely healthy.
Malik: I think that Babcock summed it up best in his "end-of-the-season address": Valtteri Filppula, Jonathan Ericsson, Niklas Kronwall and Dan Cleary need to rebound, big time, Chris Osgood needs to salvage his game and Jiri Hudler must most certainly at least attempt to live up to his salary, never mind Babs' hype.
This really is a make-it-or-break-it season for Filppula. If he's not able to graduate to the 40-to-50-point range working between Franzen and Bertuzzi, he really doesn't justify his $3 million salary, and the Wings may very well cut ties with him if he turns out to be nothing more than a really solid third-line center who can put up 10-15 goals and 35 points on a year-by-year basis. He needs to step up, big time.
Jonathan Ericsson's picture is definitely next to the "sophomore slump" term in the hockey dictionary now, and he has to at least play like a solid #5 defenseman who can move the puck and bang bodies a little harder this year. I wouldn't anticipate a quantum leap in growth, but he needs to reestablish himself this season.
Kronwall needs to return to 50-point territory, pure and simple. When the Wings have Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Kronwall healthy and pumping out elite-defenseman numbers, they've got a top three (never mind a fantastic top four thanks to Brad Stuart's ridiculously solid play) that few teams can keep up with and can play an elite puck-possession game. I think the Wings honestly missed Kronwall when he was out and at less than 100% than they missed any other player with the exception of Zetterberg. Kronwall's really the linchpin here--if he can return to his hard-hitting, hard-shooting, slick-passing form, the Wings' offense and defense alike will return to form. He needs to stay healthy for a full season.
Dan Cleary doesn't necessarily need to put up the kinds of numbers Filppula or Hudler are expected to provide. The Wings need Cleary to come to camp ready to take on the forechecking/net-front-man's role on the third line, stirring up trouble (and pucks) for Modano and Hudler as a sort of poor man's Holmstrom, all while providing a solid presence on the PK as well. 15 goals and 35-45 points would be fantastic but his work ethic and ability muck up pucks, screen goalies, retrieve rebounds and grind it out down low will matter much more than his point totals.
As for Hudler, I think Babcock's proclamation of a 70-point season is probably out of line given his 3rd-line status to start the season, but at the same time, I do think that a return to his previous 20-25 goal and 55-point form could happen easily working with Modano and Cleary. The Wings always had the ability to out-depth teams by dressing a third line when they won Cups, and establishing an offensive presence from the third line equals success.
Chris Osgood simply cannot play as poorly as he did last season for the Wings to succeed. The Wings can't make Jimmy Howard play 60+ games on a year-by-year basis without expecting him to break down and Osgood has to get his game together and provide more than mentorship for Howard--he must support the #1 goaltender and deliver in the winning department.
Tyler: I think it might be Chris Osgood. If I stick with my always-wrong gut feeling of a sophomore slump for Jimmy, he'll be needed way more than he was down the stretch last season, when he all but abandoned charting faceoffs and instead was drawing pictures of himself jumping out of a cake naked with the phrase "#400" written on the icing.
Casey: The Wings need Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg to rebound the most. They both had good seasons in 2009-2010 but Datsyuk's was nothing compared to that of the Hart Trophy nomination year previously. Datsyuk can and will rebound and if Zetterberg stays healthy he will have a good season. I think that with those two carrying the load again this year it will allow the others around them to excel without as much pressure so their health and "rebounding" is very important.
Petrella: I think that Johan Franzen needs to rebound the most. And, obviously, it wasn't his "fault" he had a slower than usual season. That injury seemed mighty awful. I think that if he gets clicking right away, he can keep up a torrid pace and -- wait for it -- even lead the team in scoring this season. I think that the re-addition of Jiri Hudler, and to a smaller degree the addition of Mike Modano, will be enough to fuel the improvement on the front lines.
Saler: Osgood's gotta be the guy who needs to rebound the most. The Wings need him to get back to playing competently. I think the way to do that is to get him regular backup work. Given the season he had last year, I don't see bouncing back to be a problem for him, so I'd peg him as the guy most likely to step back up to the expected level. If he does, it'll go a long way in adding to the "in house improvement" the Wings're going for.
A good second choice for guy in need of a rebound year would be Ericsson, who absolutely has to regain some of the ability he showed in the 09 playoffs. He took major steps backward last year and needs to show some progression this season. A veteran partner in the form of Salei should help fix the damage caused by not providing him mentoring partner last year. I hope.
Drew: You asked three questions in your first question (I'm just sayin'). Anyway - who needs to step up and perform this season? Jiri Hudler. He was the one, true departure from the 2008-2009 team that really through Ken Holland for a loop. And he better have worked his little butt off to make sure that he doesn't take a step back from the near 60 point season he had before he bailed for his tax free bucks in Russia. Who's going to step up? I think a healthy Dan Cleary - even playing on the third line - will have his most productive season to date. With a power forward like Dan, a playmaker like Mikey Mo, and a sniper like Hudler...that third line is going to do some damage. I don't know about any "in house improvement" fuel, but let's hope Jonathan Ericsson gets his hands on a canister.
Me: I think the guy with the biggest rebound season has to be Chris Osgood. He’s obviously not the starter, but the Wings need to be able to rely on him to win some games when he relieves Jimmy Howard. Jimmy can’t start every game like he did during the second half of the season last year. At some point, Ozzie is going to have to step in and take care of business. The Wings can’t afford to just surrender wins on nights when Jimmy needs a break.
I think the guy we’re most likely to see a marked improvement from is Dan Cleary. Hopefully he’s gotten his knee issues taken care of during the off-season and with that no longer dragging him down, he’ll return to form. He didn’t do nearly enough to justify his paycheck last season, but I like to imagine that that had a lot to do with his injuries. It stands to reason that if he’s healthy, his play should return to the level that we’ve all come to expect.
I don’t think that one player’s personal improvement is going to do everything. Getting Ozzie and Cleary back on track is a huge step, but so many guys had off-years last season that it has to be an all-around thing. The Wings need Zetterberg and Kronwall and Datsyuk and Franzen and Filppula among others to step up again this season. Even a slight improvement from each of them will be more valuable than adding a pricey free agent.
2. Who do you envision ending up on the Wings' third defensive pairing coming out of training camp? The top two pairings are pretty well established, but Jonathan Ericsson, Derek Meech, Jakub Kindl, Ruslan Salei, and Doug Janik are all slated to battle it out for the last couple of roster spots. Who do you think will end up getting regular playing time? What about Meech's fate? Is he destined to be cheap trade bait before the season starts? Will Ericsson turn things around and show the promise that he did during the '09 playoffs? Are we going to spend the whole season cringing whenever the third pairing hits the ice again?
Hollis: Ideally, the pairings would look something like this:
Lidstrom/Rafalski
Kronwall/Stuart
Ericsson/Salei
That said, I understand that the Wings need to break in Jakub Kindl and I do expect him to see his fair share of playing time on the ice. Of course, it looks like he'll obviously be playing with Jonny Ericsson, but I will caution that I'm not so sure that Niklas Kronwall's knee is going to make it through the entire season again this year, so we may see Kindl get pushed up to the second pairing with the reliable Brad Stuart. I think it's important to get as much mileage out of Salei as possible, especially when he's paired up with Ericsson, which should help the young Swede focus on the solid two-way game that he needs to play in order to shake off the demons of a rough sophomore season.
As for Meech: Good luck in the East.
Malik: To me, the third pair has to consist of Ericsson and Salei. No ifs, ands or butts unless Jakub Kindl absolutely dazzles. Doug Janik's best-suited to a depth role as the dependable guy you call up from Grand Rapids when injuries occur and breaking Kindl in as the #7 defenseman seems most sensible at this point.
Meech doesn't have a future with Detroit barring training camp injuries. He wants to play elsewhere and he's given the Wings a versatile presence as a no-frills defenseman and forechecking forward, but he's earned the right to become a regular NHL'er somewhere else.
I do believe that Ericsson will rebound and that Salei, barring back issues, will hold up and provide a slight upgrade over Lilja. Salei's more dependable in his own end, meaner and has spent a good chunk of his career playing as a Brad Stuart-like #4 defenseman who shut down the opposition's top players. He can't block shots like Lilja can but he has better fundamentals.
Tyler: I'm not really worried about the 3rd pairing like a lot of people are. I'm really high on Ruslan Salei. Really, you'd think I shot him directly into my bloodstream. When I think about it, though, maybe I'm just stoked about Ruslan Salei + the contract he got. That was a pretty sweet deal. I'm hoping it completely distracts me from another season of Ericsson falling over himself like a giraffe that was given three Tylenol PM's and told to go wander across the Ambassador Bridge.
Casey: I think the third pairing will be Jonathan Ericsson and Ruslan Salei. I think they're the most established out of any of the others and the most capable of playing those minutes. That being said, I expect that Kindl will get quite a bit of playing time as the 7th defenseman and will definitely get close to 20 games. I think Meech is gone, I don't think he has enough to outplay the others in camp and with his voiced preference to move on if he's not in the top 6 it's pretty solidified. As for Ericsson I think he will turn around from how bad he was last year but I don't think he'll exactly be great either. I think he'll benefit from having a player like Salei alongside of him instead of Lilja/Lebda and that will help him learn and excel as the season goes on.
Petrella: I'm almost positive that Salei and Ericsson will be the third pairing, but wouldn't be shocked at all if Kindl sneaks in there instead of Rig. Ericsson was nothing if not a big steaming pile last season and Kindl has shown flashes of whoa baby. I also foresee a Babcock-like rotation of the three of them, with occasional peppering of Janik and MAYBE even Smith. Whatever the case, I have to think that the third pairing will be improved because Salei is a lateral -- if not positive -- move from Andreas Lilja.
Derek Meech is dunzo. There's no way he cracks the top six, and -- as promised -- he'll be shipped elsewhere for a draft pick. Best of luck to him, kid seems like he's got a decent head on his shoulders and he deserves a shot to play somewhere.
Saler: Ericsson-Salei. I don't know that Kindl's really ready for the NHL and tend to think the Wings would have kept him in the AHL if they had a choice. He had a good year with the Griffins last year, but the adjustment to the NHL will be tough for him. I think he'll rotate with Ericsson 20+ times. I don't think we'll ever see Ericsson-Kindl, unless injuries screw things up.
If it's Ericsson-Salei or Kindl-Salei, I don't think the cringe factor will be there too much. The big problem with last year's pairing was the lack of an actual veteran. Lebda's few years in the NHL didn't make him a mentor to Ericsson, so you had a real problem of an experience vacuum. Pairing an offensive-minded, jumping up D-man with an inexperienced, unsure of himself, effective rookie wasn't a recipe for success (not that there was any other option, really). With Salei covering for whatever young guy's in there, though, the third pairing should be less of a weak point.
I don't think Janik has a chance of making the team.
As for Meech, I'm basically in the camp that suspects he was promised a trade out of the pre-season, after he's had a chance to up his value with a strong camp and couple exhibition games.
Drew: Six questions in the second question? Come on, Kris! How about I start answering your questions with questions? How about that?
Alright, alright - in all seriousness, I see Ruslan Salei either starting on the third pairing with Jonathan Ericsson, or else he'll come in to replace Jakub Kindl should Kindl falter. Either way - those are the two I have playing on that third pairing...Big Rig is a lock. I don't see Derek Meech sticking around. He wants more playing time and he isn't going to get it here. His contract is a total bargain and we should be able to find a trade partner easily enough. One can only hope that Ericsson can turn things around - and I believe he will. He's still young and he just finished his first full season at the NHL level...he'll be fine. I think without Lebda/Meech on the third pairing, there will be a lot less fear (for fans) when the third pairing hits the ice.
Me: The third pairing has to be Ericsson and Salei. Hopefully being paired with Salei will help Ericsson find his game again. Getting Lilja back in the lineup at the end of last season seemed to help matters. As much as we’ll all miss Brett Lebda’s antics, not having him on the ice with Ericsson can only be a good thing. I think Kindl may see some time in the NHL if there are injuries or the Wings want to get him a little more experience, but barring a total disaster from Ericsson, he won’t be up with the Wings much. Meech is gone unless somebody has a major injury in training camp.
3. What's your overall assessment of the Wings' summer so far? Would you consider them to be off-season winners or losers? Do you think they improved, held steady, or got worse (in general and/or in comparison to their competition) with the moves Ken Holland has made this summer?
Hollis: I think it's easy to see the Wings as winners in this offseason, simply for the fact that they didn't have anything happen that set them back from where they were last year. How can we forget the nightmare that was last offseason, in which Hossa jumped ship, Samuelsson left for more money and Hudler inexplicably left for the KHL. That was a losing offseason. Landing Mike Modano and re-signing all of targeted free agents can be considered nothign short of a complete success, and that's exactly what Ken Holland and company did this year. If last year was bad, this year was an excellent bounce back for the Red Wings front office.
Malik: I would suggest that the Wings have improved themselves as best they could given their salary cap constraints. That's a win in my department. With Hudler coming back and Modano joining the fray the Wings now have three scoring lines, Salei's an upgrade over Lilja, and simply witnessing a return to relative health bodes well for a team held together with duct tape for long stretches of the 2009-2010 season. Obviously the Wings' fate hinges at least partially upon the expected rebound seasons of the above-mentioned players, but a healthy year and more depth equal a solid "win."
Tyler: I'm Prodano, thumbs way-up on Salei, happy with the re-signings and, most of all, excited for the return of Hudler and whatever Euro herpes he's bringing back with him. I'm very content with things right now.
Casey: I think the Red Wings' off-season thus far has been a win. They didn't have much that they could lose via free agency that would damage their future and I think they'll profit by getting Modano and Salei. Jiri Hudler is the best change to last year's roster and he will be a big contributor in my opinion. I think they improved by more or less staying the same. They've done an exceptional job of keeping the roster together through the years and it helps create a continuity and sense of family not many teams have.
Petrella: I feel like the Wings are huge winners this summer -- and are having one of the best off-seasons of any team in the league, let alone the Central Division. Hudler's return, Modano and Salei's arrival -- costing the Wings only Jason Williams, Andreas Lilja and Brett Lebda? No brainer.
Saler: Getting Hudler back makes them winners in my book. And sneaking in a veteran D-man does too. Modano's also a win, on paper at least. But I really feel like the moves matter less than the team remaining healthy somehow and than the top guns playing like it this year. The moves of the summer are secondary to Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Lidstrom, and Rafalski, etc. taking the lead and dominating this season.
Drew: Red Wings are winners this off-season. Any time you don't have room for players that were regulars on the team in a previous year - you have improved. We've only lost Lebda and Lilja...oh and Williams too. Those are not big losses by any stretch. Bringing Hudler back, Modano in, and getting Salei to replace Lilja are all positives in my book. I wanted to keep Lilja, for the record, but he wanted to play hardball, so...see ya, Lils. We have great depth now from top to bottom on offense. The mystery 3rd pairing is only a minor concern since they'll be logging the least amount of ice out of anyone. But when your fourth line is Abdelkader, Helm, and Eaves? Yeah, we're doing just fine.
This regular season is going to be a lot more fun than the last one.
Me: I think you have to look at the Wings as off-season winners. They’re returning the same solid core of players and adding Modano, Hudler, and Salei to the mix. Their only departures were Brett Lebda, Jason Williams (Who?), and Andreas Lilja. I’ll take that swap any day. Not only did the Wings improve, but their chief rivals the Hawks took a major step backward with the departure of a lot of their supporting cast. This season should be a lot more fun than the last one. I’m looking forward to plenty of good hockey to accompany the shanahanigans that are sure to ensue.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Red Wings Blogger Roundtable Part Four...
Hey look, I haven't forgotten how to do this "blogging" thing after all. We're lucky I remembered my password after all this time.
Anyway, the latest edition of the Wings Blogger Roundtable has made an appearance over at The Triple Deke. Head on over there for a discussion of who belongs on the back of the Wings' Mount Puckmore, players who may surprise us this season, and whether or not the Wings are the team to beat in the NHL. The Roundtable will be making its way over to this oft-neglected corner of the internet later this week when I host the next installment.
Anyway, the latest edition of the Wings Blogger Roundtable has made an appearance over at The Triple Deke. Head on over there for a discussion of who belongs on the back of the Wings' Mount Puckmore, players who may surprise us this season, and whether or not the Wings are the team to beat in the NHL. The Roundtable will be making its way over to this oft-neglected corner of the internet later this week when I host the next installment.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Red Wings Blogger Roundtable Day Two...
Malik hosted yesterday's roundtable session over at Snapshots. Head on over there for a discussion that centers around the Wings' newcomers and goaltending for the upcoming season.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Red Wings Blogger Roundtable Day One...
Last summer, we held a roundtable to keep ourselves from being bored during the long off-season. Casey decided to set up a sequel this summer and kindly hosted the first set of questions at Winging it in Motown today. Head on over to see a fantastic discussion that focuses on the Central Division. Malik will be hosting tomorrow's edition over at Snapshots. We'll be stopping at various places around the Wings blogosphere to chat about the upcoming season. I like to think of it as a little bit of pre-season conditioning for us bloggers. We have to work on getting our typing skills and snark geared up for the season.
I would write more, but I'm currently under attack from a ninja silverfish. I'm not even kidding. It touched my keyboard.
I would write more, but I'm currently under attack from a ninja silverfish. I'm not even kidding. It touched my keyboard.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Finale: the Central Division and Motivation...
We’ve reached the final two installments of the Roundtable today. Motown Wings is hosting a discussion about the Wings’ chances in the Central Division, and the awesomely named Nightmare on Helm Street asked a question about the Wings’ sources of motivation for this season. This has been a wonderful project, and many thanks go to Christy Hammond at Winging it in Motown for bringing all of us together.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Day 9: Rivalries, Motivation, and Lengthy Seasons...
The Chief’s hosting the Roundtable today over at Abel to Yzerman. He asked us three separate questions about rivalries, the “Dallas Drake factor,” and the Wings’ ability to maintain the same level of play in light of their deep playoff runs over the last few years. Thursday’s segment will be over at Motwon Wings. Read and enjoy.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Day 8: Rookies...
Thanks to an epic failure on my part, I almost forgot to pass along the link to today's edition of the Roundtable. Babcock's Death Stare was kind enough to host today, so be sure to check out an excellent (if I do say so myself) discussion about the contributions of the Wings' rookies this season. Tomorrow is Abel to Yzerman's turn.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Days 6 & 7: Deja Vu & Nick Lidstrom...
The Roundtable took a bit of a break over the weekend thanks to internet troubles and travel, but it’s back up in full force today with not one, but two posts. First, head on over to The Production Line for a discussion of the parallels between the ’96 team and the ’10 team in terms of rebounding from a tough loss in the Finals. On the Wings is hosting a discussion about Nick Lidstrom, and his ability to come back from what was considered by many to be an “off” season last year. Tomorrow’s edition will be hosted over at Babcock’s Death Stare, and there’s the possibility of an additional post at Nightmare on Helm Street as well. For those of you who haven’t been following along (shame on you), Days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are worth catching up on.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Day 5: Let's Talk Goalies...
Thanks for joining us here for Day 5 of the epic Wings Blogger Roundtable. We’ve already discussed the Olympics, the Williams and Bertuzzi signings, potential fatigue, and influential players. Today, the greatest collection of hockey minds ever assembled will take on a topic of perennial controversy: Goalies.
First, how do you feel about a Chris Osgood/Jimmy Howard tandem carrying the Wings down the stretch? What do you expect of Ozzie this season? On top of that, do you think Howard will finally live up to his potential or is this the end of the road for him in the Wings organization? Looking beyond this season, who do you see taking the reins from Ozzie when he's gone? Despite the fact that he still looks like he needs parental supervision to get into an R-rated movie, he is getting up there in years. In addition to Howard, the Wings have Daniel Larsson, Jordan Pearce, and Thomas McCollum developing in the minors. Which, if any, of them do you think will be the Wings' "goalie of the future?" Or does the answer lie outside of the organization?
I'm far from being knowledgeable about Jimmy Howard's potential, so I can only go on what little of him I've seen, and of course, my usually-wrong gut feelings. And my gut tells me that this is the end of the road for him.
I'm mildly concerned about the goalie tandem because of the question mark that is Howard and the fact that I fear Ozzie's wheels are going to come off in the near future. He followed up a spectacular 2008 Cup run with a maddening regular season, and then turned it on again once the playoffs started. Is the inconsistency a sign of age, or something else?
If I had to guess which goalie will be the future of the Wings, I'd go with McCollum.
I discuss how I think Ozzie will play this season in Bingo Bango’s segment. I won’t repeat the whole thing, only say that Ozzie has cleared up his issues and is going to have a big season. Last year, during the regular season, in my weaker times, I called for Ozzie’s blood. I think I even said that he faltered because we put the saddle on him. I now believe that part of the problem was the uncertainty of who the main guy would be with Conklin in town. I think Howard is going to be the Manny Legace of this generation of Red Wings. I think he’ll do just fine as a backup, but I just have this feeling that we’re not going to be able to put the saddle on him once Ozzie calls it quits. Of course, I’ll be wishing and hoping that he does well…he has done a good job of holding down the Grand Rapids starting job while we go out and get fresh meat like McCollum and Larsson. I watched Larsson play in Grand Rapids last year and he really impresses me. Plus he has that whole Swedish thing going for him (complete with the two ‘S’ last name). I’m more than willing to give McCollum a shot if he rebounds from a bad WJC last year, he’s still really young, and Jordan Pearce could be one of those Tim Thomas-like sleeper pick-ups who turns into world class. I saw him play against MSU and he looked solid. I, for one, am sick of constantly looking outside the organ-i-zation for the next Red Wings goalie, it’s time for us to finally grow our own starter in-house, and with the crop we have right now, I think we may do just that.
I don’t have the same confidence level with the Osgood/Howard tandem as I did with Osgood/Conklin and Osgood/Hasek, but that’s because we had a pair of veteran goalies. Howard has yet to prove himself in Detroit, which would make any fan wary. That being said, GM Ken Holland has never let me down so I’m going to trust him in this one-year experiment. To be honest, I don’t foresee Howard staying with the Wings for more than 2-3 years because I believe Daniel Larsson and Tomas McCollum are more talented goaltenders that just need a little more time to develop. I think Howard can be a solid Band-Aid fix, but I don’t see him taking the reins when Ozzie is gone. That mantle will go to either Larsson or McCollum. I haven’t watched enough of either of those goaltenders to best predict which one will be our netminder of the future, but I’d probably go with McCollum as the long-term solution If I had to guess.
I have absolutely no concerns about Osgood this season. I think he made some mistakes last season and didn't have his focus completely, but he loves this team and he desperately wants to be THE guy here. He's not going to lose focus again. That said, you really don't want to ride him any harder than 55-60 games because he is just getting up there in years and history has shown that it's usually not a great idea to lean that much on an older goalie. I've been a Howard supporter for years, groaning and whining about the likes of Hasek and why it wasn't a good idea to sign Conklin (though it turned out to be), but honestly, now that he's on the team, I'm nervous. I think his NHL play has shown that he can play in this league, and I think playing for Detroit will really help him out. But I'm thinking less and less that he's the long-term solution in this organization.
I think Larsson and McCollum both have something special and I flip flop back and forth between who I think is the answer long-term. Larsson looks unbeatable and sometimes unchallenged in the AHL, I don't think anyone could have predicted how smooth his transition to North America was. McCollum has the most raw talent of anyone in the organization and all the tools of an elite NHL goaltender. But I've seen him have bad days, he needs seasoning and confidence. As of this moment, I think McCollum is probably going to end up being this team's answer. I think Larsson has the ability to be a reliable 1B goaltender, while Howard might be more of a backup. For certain though, this is a very nice dilemma to have and not one that Detroit's faced since I've followed them.
Damn. I just overcame the horrible night terrors caused by the sound of a Kronwall shot hitting the cross bar, the posts, even the remote possibility of a shot hitting the small remaining portions of Crosby’s dignity. And now just reading the name Howard brings a similar nauseating fear. I understand and support the Holland concept of allowing players to become “over ripe,” but I don't think that was the reason for Howard spending so much time in the AHL. Had Howard not been out of minor league options I think we may have had another season of Conkblock. At this point I am not yet convinced that Howard is an NHL level goalie. He has flashes of brilliance (alright maybe brilliance is a bit of an overstatement) but mid season he seems to run out of steam and struggle. He is simply inconsistent. Either way Ozzie is not going to be able to have a “finals hangover” this year. It doesn't seem like Howard will be able to pull the team through points of the season like the Conk did. With that being said, a goalie for the Wings (minus last year’s playoffs) does not need to steal games. He needs to stop the damn puck every once in awhile and mentally stay focused while the forwards are delightfully torturing the other team with Red Wing style puck possession. If our defense comes back this season in 2007-2008 form, well Howard may make it through.
I’ll be up front right from the jump: there can’t be too many fans that have been as hard on Chris Osgood as I have. His 08-09 regular season was HORRID, and I would have had no problem with his being waived during the winter months and going with Conklin.
That said, he really was the only reason the Wings made it as far as they did in the post-season. I’m a big enough man to admit that I didn’t see that coming – and was pleasantly surprised. I do think we’ll see a resurgence in goal from Ozzie (but really, how could it be worse?) during the season, but Jimmy Howard is a huge question mark for me.
He’s clearly not banging down the NHL’s door – which, after four years in Grand Rapids, he should be – so I don’t have a great feeling about his automatic inclusion on the roster. By what I’ve seen watching him with the Griffins (and in limited time with the Wings), I simply don’t believe he’s the heir apparent to the Red Wings net. It almost feels like the Wings are giving Howard this chance because A) they have to, thanks to the waiver options expiring, and B) they don't want to admit that he's not the guy they thought he was when they drafted him. Those aren't exactly confidence-building reasons for a fandom that borders on insanity when it comes to goaltenders anyway. I forsee him being - fair or not - public enemy #1 should the season not unfold the way we expect it to (read: 82-0).
I think the goalie of the future is Thomas McCollum. Yeah, he imploded in the World Juniors, but he’s a strong-headed kid and I don’t think that will affect him in the long run. At least I hope not. All signs point to Larsson being the real deal, too, and that’s certainly encouraging. I have to imagine that in a handful of years, one of those guys become the first bona fide Red Wings-drafted and developed star netminder in quite some time.
My money’s on McCollum.
Hello Kris and good morning. I look back to December or January of last year and I knew for a fact that Chris Osgood was done. There was no doubt in my mind. I would have bet both my pets that he had nothing left to offer the team, the state of Michigan, or me. As certain as I was then that he had nothing left but a bucket full of suck? That's how confident I am now that he's going to have the year of his career this upcoming season. I'm betting that Osgood is considering all he did to prepare for last year...and he's doing the exact opposite now. I'm betting he's embarrassed and is doing everything possible to reverse that.
In fact, say this: Jennings trophy and Vezina finalist. Leader in GAA and wins.
Jimmy Howard? Not so much. Never much, actually. Nothing he's done in the brief Detroit stints or the much longer tenure in Grand Rapids has given me any indication that he's going to ever be Detroit's number 1 guy. As for McCollum, Pearce or Larsson? No idea until we see more of them at this level. My gut tells me we're going to see another established goalie in here after Osgood. The Detroit Red Wings have no problem putting a good (rather than great) goalie in net. They do, however, resist the idea of an unproven, good (rather than great) goalie.
My only concerns about Chris Osgood's mental or physical state involve his ever-more-troublesome groin. He's started to stuffer from groin injuries on a semi-regular basis since adopting a more butterfly-based style, and as he seems to vacillate between playing a strict butterfly style (which tends to back him into the "blue paint" and his much more comfortable and aggressive hybrid stance, and it's as if shifting from comfort zone to discomfort zone makes him feel that it's more necessary to drop into the butterfly on every shot instead of performing the occasional kick save while playing that refined "balanced on the balls of his feet/toes" style which, with a few subtle tweaks in terms of conserving motion and momentum, has always served him well.
In terms of concentrating on playing better hockey on a regular-season-by-regular-season basis, I'm taking Osgood at his word when he said that his worst regular-season funk served as a late career-turning learning experience, and that he'll be able to just let himself play instead of channeling his inner Manny Legace. In that sense, playing alongside, "I only worry about stopping the next shot" Hasek helped Osgood tremendously, and I think that he missed Dom's calming influence last season. Serving as Jimmy Howard's mentor is going to help his mental outlook tremendously as he's got to "set an example" again instead of engaging in more egalitarian crease-sharing, which he did with both Legace and Conklin.
Regarding Osgood's age, when I've talked to Jim Nill and read Ken Holland's comments about Osgood, their party line is simple: they believe that goaltenders truly become better players as they age, and while they might require a little lighter workload as the miles pile up on the odometer, Holland especially sees playing goal at the NHL level as a career-spanning learning curve, with goaltenders hitting their prime around 30 and really continuing to improve for the balances of their careers. Osgood can easily play into his early 40's if he wants to, and the Wings will probably let him do just that if it's what he desires.
I will admit, however, that those who suggest that I drink the Red Wings' "Kool-Aid" (it's actually half lemonade and half iced tea, go figure) are mistaken for once when asking for my opinion of Jimmy Howard. The Wings have spent five years and enough hours of Jim Bedard's time that the Wings' goaltending coach could have learned how to fly an airplane (think 2,000-3,000 hours, minimum) trying to transform Howard from a slightly chunky flopper to a lean, mean, refined puck-stopping machine, and I'm just not convinced by his relatively inconsistent form in the AHL and his not-so-great performances in his few appearances in Detroit.
When Howard's on, he may be 6 feet flat and 205 pounds in terms of physical dimensions, but an aggressive, out-of-the-crease Howard employs a wide, sit-on-your-pads Roberto Luongo butterfly and wields his glove, blocker, and stick with both cat-like quickness and elegant simplicity. When Howard backs into the blue paint, he starts looking like Felix Potvin--a goaltender whose too-wide stance opens up a barn door of a five-hole, who's weak on wraparounds, and holds his hands so tightly in front of him that he might as well be waiting for an "applause" sign, with that aggressive stick wobbling heel-off and at a 45-degree angle, simply steering pucks into the blocker side corner instead of into a polyurethane foam-injected core's worth of stopping power.
I have yet to figure out which goaltender he really is, or whether he's somewhere in between, and I think that it's entirely possible that, should Howard not be up to the task of playing in 30 games and winning around 20 of them, the Wings would look for a veteran back-up at the trade deadline and give Larsson/McCollum/Pearce a game or three to strut their stuff.
Long-term, if Howard is the post-Osgood "answer," he'll end up mentoring one of the Wings' "big three" goaltending prospects, and as I've seen them all play and spoken to them, I do believe that, should Howard not pass his acid tests, one of Daniel Larsson, Thomas McCollum, or Jordan Pearce, in descending order, will prove very capable of stopping pucks at the NHL level.
Larsson's Howard's opposite--he's an unbelievably slight goaltender, a hair under six feet tall and 170 lbs. with his gear on, and prone to dehydration at that, but he knows how to make himself "look big" like nobody's business. He doesn't waste an ounce of motion and has the kinds of fundamental understanding of his position that makes what he does look easy. Moreover, he's just an unassuming fellow whose competitive drive is masked by a ridiculously easygoing, slightly quiet demeanor.
As for the red flags regarding his consistency and durability last season, coming over from a league where 50-some games are spread over seven months to playing 80 games over the same period of time, with many back-to-backs and back-to-back-to-back games where you're busing from Peoria to Milwaukee and back to Grand Rapids to play a weekend's worth of games in under 36 hours tends to breed inconsistency like mosquitoes in a swimming pool. He suffered from physical and mental fatigue while making what he deemed an admittedly difficult transition from a 100-foot-wide rink to an 85-foot wide rink with neither dead zones nor any spot where players refuse to shoot, especially to start the forecheck, and he still managed to play very capable hockey and made the AHL's PlanetUSA All-Star Team. He'll find more consistency this year as he continues to adjust to the AHL grind.
McCollum's much more raw than Larsson, whose experience in the Swedish Eliteserien cannot be underestimated (the guy won the Honken Trophy as the best goaltender in the league, for goodness' sake), but McCollum is everything that Howard and Larsson could wish to be in that he is simply BIG, and his big body knows how to get in front of pucks. I've never met a more massive-looking 6'2" human being, with near perfect proportions in a big trunk and long arms and legs, and while his style still has some low-post and can't-squeeze-all-the-parts-shut holes, he combines a strictly disciplined hybrid style with the willingness to throw the rulebook out when he's on his back or side, throwing out various body parts with surprising quickness as he does a suitable big man's Dominik Hasek impersonation. He's level-headed as all get out, too, the sort of goaltender whose empty-headed, easygoing zen betrays the fact that he's extremely intelligent and utterly personable. He's the kind of player who, when you ask him whether he needs a minute or whether you can come back when he's done undressing, says, "No, this is fine" and gabs at you for five minutes while he's soaking in leg pads. Excellent goalie in the making and a very, very nice young man. If he doesn't end up playing NHL hockey, he'll do a bang-up job as a probation officer (he spent his post-high school time in Guelph and Brampton taking college classes in criminology).
Jordan Pearce is somebody who theoretically has mixed priorities. He could have headed into medical school on full-ride scholarships because he pulled a 3.8 GPA while playing hockey at Notre Dame, but he's following his NHL dream instead--for now, anyway. His physical dimensions and playing style most closely resemble Howard's, which means that he was absolutely dominant at the NCAA level, but might have some issues adapting to the faster and more aggressive pace of AHL or ECHL play (and, at present, it seems that Pearce is the one destined to don a Toledo Walleye jersey). He's really an "X factor" who could find pro hockey less rewarding than medicine after a year or three of play in the minor leagues, or he could place himself on the fast track to an NHL paycheck. It's a bit hard to get a read on NCAA players, even if they're extremely dominant at that level--some players find the transition to playing twice as many games against bigger, stronger and more aggressive opponents easy, and others struggle with the grind. He's going to be interesting to watch to say the least, and but he does have "all the tools," both in terms of his on-ice abilities and his gigantic brain.
Long story short, I think that Osgood's going to be fine, I'm not sure about Howard, however, and I do believe that the Wings may end up acquiring a veteran back-up at the trade deadline, but Osgood's probably going to play until he's 40, and, in the interim, out of Howard, Larsson, McCollum, and Pearce, there's got to be at least one very capable NHL goaltender in the bunch.
The goaltending situation is without a doubt the biggest unknown heading into this season. Everybody knows that Ozzie can perform in the playoffs. He’s been lights out two years in a row come playoff time, but last season he struggled mightily during the regular season. If Ozzie is forced to take another “10 day rest”, I’m not sure how confident I am that Howard can pick up the mantle and keep the Wings on the winning path. The Wings need Osgood to step it up this year, both in his ability to stop pucks and in his ability to mentor the younger kids and be a veteran, leader-like presence in the locker room.
As far as the future goes, I’m in the Thomas McCollum camp. The kid was a first round pick, the front office is high on him and his stat line is pretty darn good. I think he is still a couple of years away from being ready, which lines up pretty well to the timeframe I put Chris Osgood on. I get the impression we will see Larsson up there with him at some point, but I don’t necessarily think the same holds true for Howard and Pearce in the long run. In Howard’s case, his tenure here depends on how well he plays this season. With all the time that has been spent on developing him, he needs to put in a good showing with the big club this year, or he may very well find himself on his way out. As for Pearce: I like the guy, but I don’t see him as a GREAT prospect, a la Larsson and McCollum. Look, the kid was a solid player at Notre Dame and it’s good to see him getting a shot at the big time, but I just don’t think his talent is strong enough to hold off a charge from Larsson, McCollum or any other prospect we may see down the road.
I'm feeling pretty good about it. I know Osgood will be better this year, as he'll be over whatever mental crap messed him up last season and he'll still have something to prove. We saw from the playoffs what the guy looks like when he has something to prove. I expect him to be on top of his game for most, if not all, of the season. I think last year was much more of an anomaly than the start of a trend. My wife, a big Osgood fan, predicts he'll be a heck of a lot better than last year, but not as good as 2008 (which was a career year).
It's Howard I'm a bit more concerned about, though that concern is lessened when I remind myself of how he finished this past season. After years of underwhelming and agonizingly slow devopement (to us impatient Wings fans, anyway), Jimmy really stepped it up down the stretch. The competiton Larsson provided was huge in that, but so was the extra attention the Wings gave him in the form of Jim Bedard this season. I think the combination of having a real competitor for the starting spot in GR and the obvious ramping up of the Wings' efforts with him went a long way in pointing out to him that he needed to improve or he'd be out. All that said, he remains unproven and the though of a possible Osgood injury will probably result in many sleepless nights this season (likely following a Howard loss). My wife says if he's going to make the NHL, it's going to be this year, because he looked the best he's ever looked at the end of the season and in the playoffs last year. Not starter material yet, though. She says he traditionally doesn't do well in high-pressure situations, though this past playoffs, he was better in that regard. The question, though, is if he can take that new-found stability and apply it in an NHL situation.
On the Larsson, Pearce and McCollum question, my guess is McCollum would be the guy. Larsson was strong in most ways last year, but it remains to be seen how much staying power he has. He may have just been a flash in the pan. Pearce is swinging for the fences on an NHL career and may be more likely to fall flat and return to medical school than he is to make it. My wife saw a little of him last year and said he looked good, but he'll really have to be incredible to overcome the McCollum hype. I think McCollum has better long-term potential to be The Guy in Detroit, but that's some years down the road. In the meantime, Howard may just become strong enough to keep McCollum from the job. If I had to pick now, though, I agree with my wife: Howard seems more likely to end up on a lesser team, with McCollum being the guy backstopping the Wings.
Like everyone else, I’m a little bit nervous about the Osgood/Howard tandem. I’ve always been an Ozzie supporter, and I fully expect him to rebound from his less than stellar regular season last year, so I don’t really have many worries on that front. However, the thought of him going down with an injury and leaving goaltending duties to Jimmy Howard doesn’t exactly leave me with visions of rainbows and sunshine. I know the Wings like to leave prospects in the minors longer to allow them to mature, but it seems like Howard has been in Grand Rapids forever. And there has to be some reason for that. I feel like he’s been forecasted as the Wings’ goalie of the future for as long as I can remember. I haven’t seen him play many games, but he hasn’t looked particularly good (or confident for that matter) in the few appearances he’s made in the NHL. The sense that his promotion from the Griffins was due to the fact that there were no other options isn’t exactly encouraging either. I get the feeling that Howard-as- backup will be a one- or two-year adventure until one of the guys developing in the minors is ready to step up and fill the role.
I’m actually excited at the prospect (pun!) of not having to look outside of the organization for the “goalie of the future.” As far as I can remember, Ozzie’s the last goalie drafted by the Wings to have any measure of success, and it would be nice to be able to have a guy who’s been developed by the organization take over a couple of years down the road when he’s done instead of trying to sign an expensive, veteran goalie with those precious capped dollars. I’m going to defer to George in terms of analyzing which prospect looks strongest, but I have to imagine that out of those three, at least one is going to develop into an NHL-caliber goalie. And that’s going to be a very good thing for the Wings down the road.
Be sure to tune in for tomorrow's edition at Nightmare on Helm Street.
First, how do you feel about a Chris Osgood/Jimmy Howard tandem carrying the Wings down the stretch? What do you expect of Ozzie this season? On top of that, do you think Howard will finally live up to his potential or is this the end of the road for him in the Wings organization? Looking beyond this season, who do you see taking the reins from Ozzie when he's gone? Despite the fact that he still looks like he needs parental supervision to get into an R-rated movie, he is getting up there in years. In addition to Howard, the Wings have Daniel Larsson, Jordan Pearce, and Thomas McCollum developing in the minors. Which, if any, of them do you think will be the Wings' "goalie of the future?" Or does the answer lie outside of the organization?
Tyler at The Triple Deke:
I'm far from being knowledgeable about Jimmy Howard's potential, so I can only go on what little of him I've seen, and of course, my usually-wrong gut feelings. And my gut tells me that this is the end of the road for him.
I'm mildly concerned about the goalie tandem because of the question mark that is Howard and the fact that I fear Ozzie's wheels are going to come off in the near future. He followed up a spectacular 2008 Cup run with a maddening regular season, and then turned it on again once the playoffs started. Is the inconsistency a sign of age, or something else?
If I had to guess which goalie will be the future of the Wings, I'd go with McCollum.
Drew at Nightmare on Helm Street:
I discuss how I think Ozzie will play this season in Bingo Bango’s segment. I won’t repeat the whole thing, only say that Ozzie has cleared up his issues and is going to have a big season. Last year, during the regular season, in my weaker times, I called for Ozzie’s blood. I think I even said that he faltered because we put the saddle on him. I now believe that part of the problem was the uncertainty of who the main guy would be with Conklin in town. I think Howard is going to be the Manny Legace of this generation of Red Wings. I think he’ll do just fine as a backup, but I just have this feeling that we’re not going to be able to put the saddle on him once Ozzie calls it quits. Of course, I’ll be wishing and hoping that he does well…he has done a good job of holding down the Grand Rapids starting job while we go out and get fresh meat like McCollum and Larsson. I watched Larsson play in Grand Rapids last year and he really impresses me. Plus he has that whole Swedish thing going for him (complete with the two ‘S’ last name). I’m more than willing to give McCollum a shot if he rebounds from a bad WJC last year, he’s still really young, and Jordan Pearce could be one of those Tim Thomas-like sleeper pick-ups who turns into world class. I saw him play against MSU and he looked solid. I, for one, am sick of constantly looking outside the organ-i-zation for the next Red Wings goalie, it’s time for us to finally grow our own starter in-house, and with the crop we have right now, I think we may do just that.
Christy at Winging it in Motown:
I don’t have the same confidence level with the Osgood/Howard tandem as I did with Osgood/Conklin and Osgood/Hasek, but that’s because we had a pair of veteran goalies. Howard has yet to prove himself in Detroit, which would make any fan wary. That being said, GM Ken Holland has never let me down so I’m going to trust him in this one-year experiment. To be honest, I don’t foresee Howard staying with the Wings for more than 2-3 years because I believe Daniel Larsson and Tomas McCollum are more talented goaltenders that just need a little more time to develop. I think Howard can be a solid Band-Aid fix, but I don’t see him taking the reins when Ozzie is gone. That mantle will go to either Larsson or McCollum. I haven’t watched enough of either of those goaltenders to best predict which one will be our netminder of the future, but I’d probably go with McCollum as the long-term solution If I had to guess.
Kyle at Babcock’s Death Stare:
I have absolutely no concerns about Osgood this season. I think he made some mistakes last season and didn't have his focus completely, but he loves this team and he desperately wants to be THE guy here. He's not going to lose focus again. That said, you really don't want to ride him any harder than 55-60 games because he is just getting up there in years and history has shown that it's usually not a great idea to lean that much on an older goalie. I've been a Howard supporter for years, groaning and whining about the likes of Hasek and why it wasn't a good idea to sign Conklin (though it turned out to be), but honestly, now that he's on the team, I'm nervous. I think his NHL play has shown that he can play in this league, and I think playing for Detroit will really help him out. But I'm thinking less and less that he's the long-term solution in this organization.
I think Larsson and McCollum both have something special and I flip flop back and forth between who I think is the answer long-term. Larsson looks unbeatable and sometimes unchallenged in the AHL, I don't think anyone could have predicted how smooth his transition to North America was. McCollum has the most raw talent of anyone in the organization and all the tools of an elite NHL goaltender. But I've seen him have bad days, he needs seasoning and confidence. As of this moment, I think McCollum is probably going to end up being this team's answer. I think Larsson has the ability to be a reliable 1B goaltender, while Howard might be more of a backup. For certain though, this is a very nice dilemma to have and not one that Detroit's faced since I've followed them.
Jessica at Bingo Bango:
Damn. I just overcame the horrible night terrors caused by the sound of a Kronwall shot hitting the cross bar, the posts, even the remote possibility of a shot hitting the small remaining portions of Crosby’s dignity. And now just reading the name Howard brings a similar nauseating fear. I understand and support the Holland concept of allowing players to become “over ripe,” but I don't think that was the reason for Howard spending so much time in the AHL. Had Howard not been out of minor league options I think we may have had another season of Conkblock. At this point I am not yet convinced that Howard is an NHL level goalie. He has flashes of brilliance (alright maybe brilliance is a bit of an overstatement) but mid season he seems to run out of steam and struggle. He is simply inconsistent. Either way Ozzie is not going to be able to have a “finals hangover” this year. It doesn't seem like Howard will be able to pull the team through points of the season like the Conk did. With that being said, a goalie for the Wings (minus last year’s playoffs) does not need to steal games. He needs to stop the damn puck every once in awhile and mentally stay focused while the forwards are delightfully torturing the other team with Red Wing style puck possession. If our defense comes back this season in 2007-2008 form, well Howard may make it through.
Michael at The Production Line:
I’ll be up front right from the jump: there can’t be too many fans that have been as hard on Chris Osgood as I have. His 08-09 regular season was HORRID, and I would have had no problem with his being waived during the winter months and going with Conklin.
That said, he really was the only reason the Wings made it as far as they did in the post-season. I’m a big enough man to admit that I didn’t see that coming – and was pleasantly surprised. I do think we’ll see a resurgence in goal from Ozzie (but really, how could it be worse?) during the season, but Jimmy Howard is a huge question mark for me.
He’s clearly not banging down the NHL’s door – which, after four years in Grand Rapids, he should be – so I don’t have a great feeling about his automatic inclusion on the roster. By what I’ve seen watching him with the Griffins (and in limited time with the Wings), I simply don’t believe he’s the heir apparent to the Red Wings net. It almost feels like the Wings are giving Howard this chance because A) they have to, thanks to the waiver options expiring, and B) they don't want to admit that he's not the guy they thought he was when they drafted him. Those aren't exactly confidence-building reasons for a fandom that borders on insanity when it comes to goaltenders anyway. I forsee him being - fair or not - public enemy #1 should the season not unfold the way we expect it to (read: 82-0).
I think the goalie of the future is Thomas McCollum. Yeah, he imploded in the World Juniors, but he’s a strong-headed kid and I don’t think that will affect him in the long run. At least I hope not. All signs point to Larsson being the real deal, too, and that’s certainly encouraging. I have to imagine that in a handful of years, one of those guys become the first bona fide Red Wings-drafted and developed star netminder in quite some time.
My money’s on McCollum.
Bill at Abel to Yzerman:
Hello Kris and good morning. I look back to December or January of last year and I knew for a fact that Chris Osgood was done. There was no doubt in my mind. I would have bet both my pets that he had nothing left to offer the team, the state of Michigan, or me. As certain as I was then that he had nothing left but a bucket full of suck? That's how confident I am now that he's going to have the year of his career this upcoming season. I'm betting that Osgood is considering all he did to prepare for last year...and he's doing the exact opposite now. I'm betting he's embarrassed and is doing everything possible to reverse that.
In fact, say this: Jennings trophy and Vezina finalist. Leader in GAA and wins.
Jimmy Howard? Not so much. Never much, actually. Nothing he's done in the brief Detroit stints or the much longer tenure in Grand Rapids has given me any indication that he's going to ever be Detroit's number 1 guy. As for McCollum, Pearce or Larsson? No idea until we see more of them at this level. My gut tells me we're going to see another established goalie in here after Osgood. The Detroit Red Wings have no problem putting a good (rather than great) goalie in net. They do, however, resist the idea of an unproven, good (rather than great) goalie.
George at Snapshots:
My only concerns about Chris Osgood's mental or physical state involve his ever-more-troublesome groin. He's started to stuffer from groin injuries on a semi-regular basis since adopting a more butterfly-based style, and as he seems to vacillate between playing a strict butterfly style (which tends to back him into the "blue paint" and his much more comfortable and aggressive hybrid stance, and it's as if shifting from comfort zone to discomfort zone makes him feel that it's more necessary to drop into the butterfly on every shot instead of performing the occasional kick save while playing that refined "balanced on the balls of his feet/toes" style which, with a few subtle tweaks in terms of conserving motion and momentum, has always served him well.
In terms of concentrating on playing better hockey on a regular-season-by-regular-season basis, I'm taking Osgood at his word when he said that his worst regular-season funk served as a late career-turning learning experience, and that he'll be able to just let himself play instead of channeling his inner Manny Legace. In that sense, playing alongside, "I only worry about stopping the next shot" Hasek helped Osgood tremendously, and I think that he missed Dom's calming influence last season. Serving as Jimmy Howard's mentor is going to help his mental outlook tremendously as he's got to "set an example" again instead of engaging in more egalitarian crease-sharing, which he did with both Legace and Conklin.
Regarding Osgood's age, when I've talked to Jim Nill and read Ken Holland's comments about Osgood, their party line is simple: they believe that goaltenders truly become better players as they age, and while they might require a little lighter workload as the miles pile up on the odometer, Holland especially sees playing goal at the NHL level as a career-spanning learning curve, with goaltenders hitting their prime around 30 and really continuing to improve for the balances of their careers. Osgood can easily play into his early 40's if he wants to, and the Wings will probably let him do just that if it's what he desires.
I will admit, however, that those who suggest that I drink the Red Wings' "Kool-Aid" (it's actually half lemonade and half iced tea, go figure) are mistaken for once when asking for my opinion of Jimmy Howard. The Wings have spent five years and enough hours of Jim Bedard's time that the Wings' goaltending coach could have learned how to fly an airplane (think 2,000-3,000 hours, minimum) trying to transform Howard from a slightly chunky flopper to a lean, mean, refined puck-stopping machine, and I'm just not convinced by his relatively inconsistent form in the AHL and his not-so-great performances in his few appearances in Detroit.
When Howard's on, he may be 6 feet flat and 205 pounds in terms of physical dimensions, but an aggressive, out-of-the-crease Howard employs a wide, sit-on-your-pads Roberto Luongo butterfly and wields his glove, blocker, and stick with both cat-like quickness and elegant simplicity. When Howard backs into the blue paint, he starts looking like Felix Potvin--a goaltender whose too-wide stance opens up a barn door of a five-hole, who's weak on wraparounds, and holds his hands so tightly in front of him that he might as well be waiting for an "applause" sign, with that aggressive stick wobbling heel-off and at a 45-degree angle, simply steering pucks into the blocker side corner instead of into a polyurethane foam-injected core's worth of stopping power.
I have yet to figure out which goaltender he really is, or whether he's somewhere in between, and I think that it's entirely possible that, should Howard not be up to the task of playing in 30 games and winning around 20 of them, the Wings would look for a veteran back-up at the trade deadline and give Larsson/McCollum/Pearce a game or three to strut their stuff.
Long-term, if Howard is the post-Osgood "answer," he'll end up mentoring one of the Wings' "big three" goaltending prospects, and as I've seen them all play and spoken to them, I do believe that, should Howard not pass his acid tests, one of Daniel Larsson, Thomas McCollum, or Jordan Pearce, in descending order, will prove very capable of stopping pucks at the NHL level.
Larsson's Howard's opposite--he's an unbelievably slight goaltender, a hair under six feet tall and 170 lbs. with his gear on, and prone to dehydration at that, but he knows how to make himself "look big" like nobody's business. He doesn't waste an ounce of motion and has the kinds of fundamental understanding of his position that makes what he does look easy. Moreover, he's just an unassuming fellow whose competitive drive is masked by a ridiculously easygoing, slightly quiet demeanor.
As for the red flags regarding his consistency and durability last season, coming over from a league where 50-some games are spread over seven months to playing 80 games over the same period of time, with many back-to-backs and back-to-back-to-back games where you're busing from Peoria to Milwaukee and back to Grand Rapids to play a weekend's worth of games in under 36 hours tends to breed inconsistency like mosquitoes in a swimming pool. He suffered from physical and mental fatigue while making what he deemed an admittedly difficult transition from a 100-foot-wide rink to an 85-foot wide rink with neither dead zones nor any spot where players refuse to shoot, especially to start the forecheck, and he still managed to play very capable hockey and made the AHL's PlanetUSA All-Star Team. He'll find more consistency this year as he continues to adjust to the AHL grind.
McCollum's much more raw than Larsson, whose experience in the Swedish Eliteserien cannot be underestimated (the guy won the Honken Trophy as the best goaltender in the league, for goodness' sake), but McCollum is everything that Howard and Larsson could wish to be in that he is simply BIG, and his big body knows how to get in front of pucks. I've never met a more massive-looking 6'2" human being, with near perfect proportions in a big trunk and long arms and legs, and while his style still has some low-post and can't-squeeze-all-the-parts-shut holes, he combines a strictly disciplined hybrid style with the willingness to throw the rulebook out when he's on his back or side, throwing out various body parts with surprising quickness as he does a suitable big man's Dominik Hasek impersonation. He's level-headed as all get out, too, the sort of goaltender whose empty-headed, easygoing zen betrays the fact that he's extremely intelligent and utterly personable. He's the kind of player who, when you ask him whether he needs a minute or whether you can come back when he's done undressing, says, "No, this is fine" and gabs at you for five minutes while he's soaking in leg pads. Excellent goalie in the making and a very, very nice young man. If he doesn't end up playing NHL hockey, he'll do a bang-up job as a probation officer (he spent his post-high school time in Guelph and Brampton taking college classes in criminology).
Jordan Pearce is somebody who theoretically has mixed priorities. He could have headed into medical school on full-ride scholarships because he pulled a 3.8 GPA while playing hockey at Notre Dame, but he's following his NHL dream instead--for now, anyway. His physical dimensions and playing style most closely resemble Howard's, which means that he was absolutely dominant at the NCAA level, but might have some issues adapting to the faster and more aggressive pace of AHL or ECHL play (and, at present, it seems that Pearce is the one destined to don a Toledo Walleye jersey). He's really an "X factor" who could find pro hockey less rewarding than medicine after a year or three of play in the minor leagues, or he could place himself on the fast track to an NHL paycheck. It's a bit hard to get a read on NCAA players, even if they're extremely dominant at that level--some players find the transition to playing twice as many games against bigger, stronger and more aggressive opponents easy, and others struggle with the grind. He's going to be interesting to watch to say the least, and but he does have "all the tools," both in terms of his on-ice abilities and his gigantic brain.
Long story short, I think that Osgood's going to be fine, I'm not sure about Howard, however, and I do believe that the Wings may end up acquiring a veteran back-up at the trade deadline, but Osgood's probably going to play until he's 40, and, in the interim, out of Howard, Larsson, McCollum, and Pearce, there's got to be at least one very capable NHL goaltender in the bunch.
Chris at Motown Wings:
The goaltending situation is without a doubt the biggest unknown heading into this season. Everybody knows that Ozzie can perform in the playoffs. He’s been lights out two years in a row come playoff time, but last season he struggled mightily during the regular season. If Ozzie is forced to take another “10 day rest”, I’m not sure how confident I am that Howard can pick up the mantle and keep the Wings on the winning path. The Wings need Osgood to step it up this year, both in his ability to stop pucks and in his ability to mentor the younger kids and be a veteran, leader-like presence in the locker room.
As far as the future goes, I’m in the Thomas McCollum camp. The kid was a first round pick, the front office is high on him and his stat line is pretty darn good. I think he is still a couple of years away from being ready, which lines up pretty well to the timeframe I put Chris Osgood on. I get the impression we will see Larsson up there with him at some point, but I don’t necessarily think the same holds true for Howard and Pearce in the long run. In Howard’s case, his tenure here depends on how well he plays this season. With all the time that has been spent on developing him, he needs to put in a good showing with the big club this year, or he may very well find himself on his way out. As for Pearce: I like the guy, but I don’t see him as a GREAT prospect, a la Larsson and McCollum. Look, the kid was a solid player at Notre Dame and it’s good to see him getting a shot at the big time, but I just don’t think his talent is strong enough to hold off a charge from Larsson, McCollum or any other prospect we may see down the road.
Matt at On the Wings:
I'm feeling pretty good about it. I know Osgood will be better this year, as he'll be over whatever mental crap messed him up last season and he'll still have something to prove. We saw from the playoffs what the guy looks like when he has something to prove. I expect him to be on top of his game for most, if not all, of the season. I think last year was much more of an anomaly than the start of a trend. My wife, a big Osgood fan, predicts he'll be a heck of a lot better than last year, but not as good as 2008 (which was a career year).
It's Howard I'm a bit more concerned about, though that concern is lessened when I remind myself of how he finished this past season. After years of underwhelming and agonizingly slow devopement (to us impatient Wings fans, anyway), Jimmy really stepped it up down the stretch. The competiton Larsson provided was huge in that, but so was the extra attention the Wings gave him in the form of Jim Bedard this season. I think the combination of having a real competitor for the starting spot in GR and the obvious ramping up of the Wings' efforts with him went a long way in pointing out to him that he needed to improve or he'd be out. All that said, he remains unproven and the though of a possible Osgood injury will probably result in many sleepless nights this season (likely following a Howard loss). My wife says if he's going to make the NHL, it's going to be this year, because he looked the best he's ever looked at the end of the season and in the playoffs last year. Not starter material yet, though. She says he traditionally doesn't do well in high-pressure situations, though this past playoffs, he was better in that regard. The question, though, is if he can take that new-found stability and apply it in an NHL situation.
On the Larsson, Pearce and McCollum question, my guess is McCollum would be the guy. Larsson was strong in most ways last year, but it remains to be seen how much staying power he has. He may have just been a flash in the pan. Pearce is swinging for the fences on an NHL career and may be more likely to fall flat and return to medical school than he is to make it. My wife saw a little of him last year and said he looked good, but he'll really have to be incredible to overcome the McCollum hype. I think McCollum has better long-term potential to be The Guy in Detroit, but that's some years down the road. In the meantime, Howard may just become strong enough to keep McCollum from the job. If I had to pick now, though, I agree with my wife: Howard seems more likely to end up on a lesser team, with McCollum being the guy backstopping the Wings.
And finally, yours truly:
Like everyone else, I’m a little bit nervous about the Osgood/Howard tandem. I’ve always been an Ozzie supporter, and I fully expect him to rebound from his less than stellar regular season last year, so I don’t really have many worries on that front. However, the thought of him going down with an injury and leaving goaltending duties to Jimmy Howard doesn’t exactly leave me with visions of rainbows and sunshine. I know the Wings like to leave prospects in the minors longer to allow them to mature, but it seems like Howard has been in Grand Rapids forever. And there has to be some reason for that. I feel like he’s been forecasted as the Wings’ goalie of the future for as long as I can remember. I haven’t seen him play many games, but he hasn’t looked particularly good (or confident for that matter) in the few appearances he’s made in the NHL. The sense that his promotion from the Griffins was due to the fact that there were no other options isn’t exactly encouraging either. I get the feeling that Howard-as- backup will be a one- or two-year adventure until one of the guys developing in the minors is ready to step up and fill the role.
I’m actually excited at the prospect (pun!) of not having to look outside of the organization for the “goalie of the future.” As far as I can remember, Ozzie’s the last goalie drafted by the Wings to have any measure of success, and it would be nice to be able to have a guy who’s been developed by the organization take over a couple of years down the road when he’s done instead of trying to sign an expensive, veteran goalie with those precious capped dollars. I’m going to defer to George in terms of analyzing which prospect looks strongest, but I have to imagine that out of those three, at least one is going to develop into an NHL-caliber goalie. And that’s going to be a very good thing for the Wings down the road.
Be sure to tune in for tomorrow's edition at Nightmare on Helm Street.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Day 4: Influential Seasons...
The Rountable is being hosted over at Bingo Bango today. Head on over there to see who we predict will have the most influential seasons for the Wings this year. I can’t say that I was terribly creative in my choices, but there’s a reason they’re the go-to-guys. Anyway, be sure to check back here tomorrow when I take my turn hosting a discussion about goalies. For those of you joining us late, be sure to check out Days 1, 2, and 3 of our epic series.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Day 3: Fatigue...
I don’t know about you, but I was exhausted at the end of the playoffs this year. Since all I did was occasionally jump up and down on the couch and yell at the TV, I can only imagine how the actual players felt after their second consecutive run to the Finals. In light of that, head on over to The Triple Deke which is hosting Day 3 of the Roundtable for some enlightening discussion about the potential fatigue factor for the Wings this season. In case you missed them, Day 1 of our epic series can be found over at Winging it in Motown, and Day 2 was hosted over at Snapshots. Enjoy, and be sure to tune in tomorrow at Bingo Bango for Day 4.
Coincidentally, the Detroit News had an article discussing the same topic today.
PS. Happy One Month Until the Regular Season Starts Day! It's getting closer...
Coincidentally, the Detroit News had an article discussing the same topic today.
PS. Happy One Month Until the Regular Season Starts Day! It's getting closer...
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Day 2: Williams and Bertuzzi...
Day two of the Roundtable is being hosted by George Malik over at Snapshots. Head on over there to see the eleven of us discuss how we would feel about the Williams and Bertuzzi signings if we didn’t have personal biases against them. Spoiler alert: I'd be happier. In case you missed it yesterday, be sure to check out Day one dealing with the Olympics over at Winging it in Motown.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wings Blogger Roundtable Day 1: Olympics...
In order to help overcome our extreme off-season-induced boredom, Christy Hammond organized eleven of us Wings bloggers to discuss different topics in a Roundtable of epic proportions. She started us off today with some questions about the Olympics over at Winging it in Motown, and the series will be continuing on different blogs over the course of the next week and a half. Since there are eleven of us, it’s a bit lengthy, but definitely worth the time. Tomorrow’s edition will be hosted by George Malik over at Snapshots, so be sure to check it out. I’ll be hosting Friday’s post.
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