OT - Osgood to start in Playoffs
Read in the free press this morning that Osgood is starting in the playoffs. I think its good that Babcock is finally making the decision either way. Ozzie's experience will go a long way though and hopefully we see the Wings crank it up to playoff intensity in the last couple of games here. What does everyone think?
http://www.freep.com/article/20090404/SPORTS05/904040408/Chris+Osgood+t…
haven't the wings been strugging a lot lately? i don't follow them but it seems like all i ever see on sportscenter lately is them losing
record in the NHL so if you think thats struggeling then yeah, I guess.
but seriously the defense has been rather poor this year compaired to previous years and people are kind of freaking out about it.
they're like 4 or six points behind san hosers and will be the #2 seed. lost like 4 of their last 5 or something awful like that. bad time of the year to be letting in so many goals.
right, that's what a meant by lately. the past week or two, not the past year
Osgood is statistically the worst goalie in the NHL this year. This team can't beat Vancouver in a 7 game series, let alone San Jose.
the Wings are Sharks split four games this year with the Wings losing two good games on the road and then jail sexing the Sharks twice at home. Also, this Sharks team is known for absolutely freezing in the playoffs. This current Red Wings teams playoff success speaks for itself. The team will be ready to go once the real season hits.
Big Wings fan, here.
I think its good the announcement is made now. Let Ozzie have some time to get focused on the playoffs rather than fretting who the starter will be. Conklin really struggled against the Blue the other night....wonder if that hastened the decision.
Overall, I dont think its the Wings year. The goaltending is just too dicey.
The Sharks are 2/1 to win the west....i might throw down on them on that one. They're the only team other than Detroit that can win the west. Hockey could really use a 7-game war between SJ and the Wings in late May.....but, this way, with the bet and nice pay out, I have some gain if the Wings fall short. Isn't it about time for the Shanks, anyway?
Or, given the Sharks annual woes in the playoffs, maybe wait until an eventual wings series and take them then, for a profitable silver lining if the wings lose? They wont be anywhere close to 2/1 at that time. Thats a drawback.
Just thinking out loud and giving epinion.
Calgary could win the West. You could argue they have the best forward (Iginla), best defender (Phaneuf), and best goalie (Kiprusoff). And Camelleri has given some scoring punch to the lineup. And you gotta love the other two U-M alums, Nystrom, and Moss, playing big roles-- Moss has 20 goals (!). Could make for a tough second round matchup with the Wings
the team with the hottest goaltending going into the playoffs win the cup more often than not. See Osgood last year, Giguere a few years back, etc. The Wings are anything but hot right now. Conklin has regressed tremendously over the last month, and Ozzie has never lived up to the way he played in the playoffs last year.
We actually has a pretty easy road to the Cup finals last year - Nashville with the exception of the last two years has been god awful against us, Colorado was so injury depleted and uncoordinated last year it was ugly, and no matter the situation Turco hardly ever beats the Wings. The real outlier and possibly only real test was the Pens who in the end are so one-dimensional that Malkin didn't even score a goal in the series until one of the last 2 games. So in reality, Ozzie did have a great post-season last year, but his true talent may have been inflated by the lack of competition we faced in the playoffs. There is a reason we traded him years ago and he ventured to a few different teams. He gets hot, and stays that way for a while, but in the end he gives up a ton of soft goals and is just better than average.
This year, we are a crap shoot going into the playoffs, there is not enough games left to really build up a ton of momentum and the goaltending has been way too inconsistent this past year, plus there are some legitimately better teams out there this year - Boston, San Jose, Vancouver has been very strong and very quiet, and this year especially we have been pretty bad against teams in the top of the league.
I hope for the best, but I am not as optimistic as least year.
I hope they win it all again, but what I see coming is what happened in 2004 and 2006. They were the best team by far, but lost to very low seeds (Calgary in 04 and Edmonton in 06) I hope I'm wrong though.
i still have no idea if you're just a troll or misinformed but Calgary and Edmonton were both trapping teams with good defense and goaltending that got to game 7 of the stanley cup finals.
Its not like losing to tiny tim and his band of paraplegics.
I'm not a troll! But who knows? Maybe Ozzy will surprise us...
He's won two different stanley cups! He's a hall of fame goaltender and you say he is just better than average?
He CARRIED a BRUTAL islanders team on his back to the playoffs. he anchored some shittastic st louis teams to the playoffs.
He is like every other goalie ever known to man, he needs defensive help and hasn't gotten it all year long.
The shortcomings of the opponents made him look better.. Jesus Christ man, you don't win a championship by accident. You don't shut down likely the most potent offense in all of hockey (penguins) by accident.
and you're right about his great seasons in Long Island and St Louis. And he was great in the playoffs last year. Howeva, you can't deny that he's been absolutely terrible this season. Yes, the defense has been substandard, but so has Ozzie.
In regards to last year's final-- Ozzie was great, indeed, but the Red Wings won because they were the superior team. Just look at the shot totals-- they dominated puck possession in that series.
And Hall of Fame? That's a tough debate, because he's going to have HOF numbers after many years spent on winning teams. But if I had a vote... I don't think so. I just can't group Ozzie with the likes of Roy and Brodeur. You buy a ticket for a Wings game, it's not because of Chris Osgood.
The case for the HHOF:
389 wins (1 short of 10th all time)
Less than two seasons away from eclipsing Terry Sawchuck's Red Wings wins record,
3 total cups, 2 as a starter,
sub 2.5 career GAA,
.91 SV %.
He may not have been the main event but that's one hell of an undercard.
He's more than likely a Hall of Famer, but there are plenty of Hall of Famers that weren't outstanding, they were just good and were on great teams. Osgood is good, not great, not outstanding, not bad, but better than average. He's not dominating, opponents don't fear him, he has had a decent career with some excellent seasons, but he is no where near the best goaltender playing today, nor has he ever been. Hall of Famer doesn't mean the best ever, it just means that you had a good career with good teams. Ozzie is alright, but he's nothing that special.
Even if he wins another cup with us this year, you cant look back on this season and say that he was good. Osgood's career is alternating shots of him winning the Cup and skating with his head down after letting up his third goal on his tenth shot faced.
I think you're flat out missing the short comings of this team. Goaltending doesn't turn the puck over at your own blue line, goaltending doesn't fail to clear the slot of the opposing forecheck.
Goaltending gets the bad wrap for losing games 8-2, 6-0, but its been a systemic abortion for the defense, not a goaltending issue. Last year (and the year before, and the year before) goaltending was just good enough to supplement the D, but the D was superior. They won the cup because all their Dmen were healthy and they all played well. Two years ago they lost to anaheim in the West finals because we were mising 4 defensemen and Andreas Lilja and everyone else not name Nick Lidstrom was playing too many quality minutes that he is not built for.
Neither Osgood nor Conklin will be the reason the Wings fail to advance to the finals or fail to win the cup, it will be the six dudes who have yucked it up all year long. This is just about the first year in a decade that Nick Lidstrom hasn't been the odds on favorite to win the Norris, what does that tell you?
I'm sorry to say. Lidstrom is finally starting to slow down-- however he is still their best defenseman, and I'm looking more at Rafalski and Kronwall to pick it up. I still won't rule out this team raising its level of play in the playoffs, and finding a renewed commitment to defense.
if this team just doesn't care about the regular season, thus the lackluster defensive efforts, or if they are fundamentally flawed. Certainly goaltending is not a strength, but it just needs to be solid, not spectacular, and I'm sure Babcock will not hesitate to start Conklin should Osgood carry his struggles into the playoffs. I do hope that, for one, a guy like Kronwall gets his game back to the level he had in last year's playoffs. Also hoping Hossa goes all Hulk-like in his quest for a ring.
Calgary is my bet out of the West. Them against New Jersey would be a hell of a series, polar opposites. Not to mention Sutter v Sutter!
I miss Jiri Fischer, any updates on him?
last I saw was about a year ago he had started non-contact skating, not likely to make it all the way back. He was my favorite of the young players before the incident
last I saw was about a year ago he had started non-contact skating, not likely to make it all the way back. He was my favorite of the young players before the incident
he will never play hockey again. He now runs Ilitch Children's Charities I believe.
I liked him too. It was kind of a deja vu what happend to him. Vladimir konstantinov and him were both injured and never able to play again. =( they were both bruisers too. I liked them both.
Oh, right. Never mind.
To be honest, though, I've grown somewhat fond of the Leafs since I realized they were the Lions of the NHL.
In spite of the Wings giving me ulcers this year, I fully expect them to be in the conference finals again (against San Jose). If we were facing a 1 and done issue like college hockey, I'd be much more worried than I am, because getting 4 games against the Wings is tough and I don't think anyone has much of a shot other than San Jose and we have a good record against San Jose this year, and the way the Wings play on the road, I'm feeling pretty good.
I also not planning on the Sharks choking like they have in the past. With McLennan at the helm, I don't think that'll be much of an issue.