Sorry about my absence as of late guys, I've been rather busy and have had a hard time paying attention to hockey at all. That said, I still have managed to be unimpressed with Hasek lately, and I'm glad that Osgood will be getting the start against the Blues tonight, but I am wondering if Hasek continues to not play at a good level if this doesn't spell disaster for the Wings come playoff time. Detroit fans always seems to put their playoff failures on the goaltender, and we need someone who can be a game breaker and handle the pressure. Hasek is the guy... if he can find a way to play at that level again. But if he can't, what can we do? The easy answer is to call up Howard and go with a Osgood-Howard tandem... but Howard again hasn't had an impressive start with the Griffins. So, this could become a fairly big problem.
Another thing that I think the team is lacking is a legitimate big bodied/ physical defenseman. We lost this in not re-signing Markov, and I do think the problem needs to be addressed. While its great that we have Rafalski, he is small and makes too many defensive gaffes for me to be completely satisfied with paying him 6mill a year for 5 years... hopefully this can be righted with time as he gets used to the system. Another defender I've been less than impressed with is Kronwall. Still not living up to his potential, at least not his offensive potential. At least he's been better than Lilja...
On forward it seems that we are lacking a legitimate 2nd liner... the young guys don't seem to have been able to completely fill the void of Lang as much as it hurts to say that. I dunno what happened with Franzen... lets hope he can get out of his early slump and eventually we can chalk it up to recovering from momentum lost due to his injury. Also, I'm getting sick of Hudler being in Babcocks doghouse... give the kid a break.
Outside of that, the top line is producing very well, one of the best in the league, and Lidstrom has been his normal Norris self, and Chelios keeps on showing why its not a mistake to have him back. Osgood has been spectacular so far... as has our overall team defense. Now if we could only crack those Hawks.... all those losses to them made me want to scream... we really should have won 3 out of the 4.
I agree with you on cracking the Hawks. We should have won at least 2 of them. Hasek is not impressive this season. I read an article that said that they want to rest him a bit more this season and save him for the playoffs. Thankfully Osgood has been more than solid. The top line, of course is amazing. We are getting some decent secondary scoring, but it could be improved a bit. It would be nice if they got another big guy on the team, seeing as Downey doesn't play every night.
Agree on all accounts. But I do take issue with the Osgood perspective. The season is young but, if Osgood continues to play the way he is right now....Im sorry, but hes given no reason to not believe he is ready to lead full time.
I think Hasek will break his funk, I really do. But if he doesnt, I am more than comfortable with Osgood in net if he plays at the level he currently is.
9 game winning streak turns into a 3 game losing streak...why? Because Hasek was in and Osgood was out. That simple. Babcock shouldve kept the train rolling. Im a big believer in going with your hot hand, no matter the circumstance. Ride Osgood as far and as long as he can take you. Who knows, the savvy SOB might not slow down. If he does, what did you lose?
Agree on all accounts. But I do take issue with the Osgood perspective. The season is young but, if Osgood continues to play the way he is right now....Im sorry, but hes given no reason to not believe he is ready to lead full time.
I think Hasek will break his funk, I really do. But if he doesnt, I am more than comfortable with Osgood in net if he plays at the level he currently is.
9 game winning streak turns into a 3 game losing streak...why? Because Hasek was in and Osgood was out. That simple. Babcock shouldve kept the train rolling. Im a big believer in going with your hot hand, no matter the circumstance. Ride Osgood as far and as long as he can take you. Who knows, the savvy SOB might not slow down. If he does, what did you lose?
The big thing is that I don't think that Osgood can continue to keep playing at this level. If he does, thats awesome and a huge surprise, and again we'd manage to have the cheapest starting goaltender in the league. But you're right, I do think Hasek will break out of this funk, he is too competitive not too. But perhaps age has finally fully caught up to him.
Sadly, I think youre right. Watching him "play" is really discouraging. He looks very old and a step slow, so to speak.
Maybe he conjure "it" one last time...we'll see.
Fingers crossed... if not, Osgood looks great. Let him start and Hasek back up, and if Hasek throws a fit, let him go. Howard is in a bit of a tail spin along with the rest of the Griffins, but maybe we should just give the kid a shot. He earned it in camp at any rate.
I agree for the most part too. Osgood>Hasek at this point. I'm not sure Osgood can keep it up as I've been disappointed with his performance in past seasons and I'm not sure Hasek has any gas left in his tank, he just looks old and frail out there at this point - I hope he can eek out one more great season though. I say keep with osgood while he's on his winning streak though.
Kronwall is facking useless. I have been saying that for 3 years now. All he does is screw up, give up the puck, and then get hurt. It's been the same story each season for the past 3 seasons. He's a waste. He had potential but he's never developed imho.
^ Inclined to agree. In other news, one of Mr Holland's rare bad moves, he signed this kid to a HUGE deal (like $3.5 million) based on nothing but potential.
Red Wings: Problems that need to be addressed
Red Wings: Problems that need to be addressed
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