Rejoice! Jimmy Howard for President of Space!

But.. there are things to not rejoice about. Like Chris Osgood letting in two of the worst goals of his career. However, it was a satisfactory effort. Detroit battled back from a 2-0, scored more than one goal, and the defense wasn't really at fault for any of the four goals, nor was Jimmy Howard for his two.

Let's take a gander at the game, shall we?

Osgood v. Howard - I saw Howard taking a lot of heat since his last start, how he doesn't belong in the NHL, how he's been a complete bust since he was drafted, etc., and I really wanted to stand up for him, but I couldn't, because his play wasn't backing him up. Sitting at a career record of 1-7, what can you say? I'd look like a hypocrite, because for years I've defended Osgood for the exact opposite reason -- he wins games despite his talent deficiency.

But Howard is a rookie goalie, and the only rookie goalies that don't hit rough patches are the superfreaks like Steve Mason and Carey Price (even still, Mason looked human in the playoffs and Price is currently eating some bench in Montreal). The guy looked elated after the game, I really think there's still some hope in him. Will he ever be an elite starter? Probably not. But I was amazed at the number of people writing him off, especially about him being a "bust draft pick." I don't claim to always be right about prospects, because it would be boring if I was, but I had the luxury of watching him a handful of times his senior season at Maine and a few dozen times in Grand Rapids. I know what he's capable of. I was amazed at all these prospects experts writing him off after two games.

He was decent in St. Louis until the two five hole goals, which were terrible and cost Detroit the game. I think he took way too much heat for the Colorado loss. The Chris Stewart goal was weak but it caught him off guard -- happens to even the best of goalies. He looked really good other than that, and Detroit failed to score on 48 of 49 shots so I'm not sure where Howard comes in to take the fall on that one. I thought he looked great last night. Some strange rebounds at times, and some unnecessary flopping, but in his 22 shots he faced a good deal of difficult ones and had no chance on the two that got by. Let's hope that confidence will help him iron out some of the rebound issues, and we can still count on him for reliable backup minutes.

Osgood, on the other hand, needs to wake up. I was fuming after the first two goals (Exhibit A, Exhibit B) and this post would have been a lot angrier had Detroit not staged a comeback I am not seeing where people thought he's been great this season. The Chicago game, and the Washington game, and that's it. These weak goals are backbreakers, and there's no doubt in my mind Detroit would have lost if Babcock didn't yank him after the second goal.

What do you do going forward? I think you've got to ride out Howard until he falls apart (he likely will, but don't write him off again, please). Give Osgood another start on this road trip to keep his head in it, but if Howard plays all the time like his last two starts (or ideally, better), then he should play close to 35-40 games. There's no point in going through this with Osgood again when he's just not mentally switched on for the regular season. Like my second tweet is, let the young guys play and work out the kinks and give Ozzie a call around April.

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Holmstrom: Finally! Datsyuk was just on tonight, you could smell he was scoring tonight even before his first goal. Zetterberg looked good, though I question his decision on his breakaway to just take a shot -- he love the deke, and Roberto Luongo tends to get really deep in his net when he's not confident. But the star of this line was Holmstrom tonight. He's looked great all season, but it's a waste if Datsyuk and Zetterberg aren't on. Holmstrom's goal was a perfect reminder of what that line can do together.

Bertuzzi - Filppula - Cleary - I'm looking for more from Dan Cleary, but I like how the other two work together. Bertuzzi is getting better and more confident in the offensive zone and there's just no way the points aren't going to come for him. How many times is a goalie going to get lucky on (from the Colorado game) a mini breakaway when he's got a whole net to shootout, or bailed out by a ref on the ensuing wrap around, or freakishly quick laterally like Luongo to save that tap in he had in the first. He's starting to look better with the puck. He just needs to get rid of it quicker in the offensive zone and get to the net, because he's looking dangerous in front. Filppula has been the Wings' most consistent player this season, but you just wonder when the points are coming for him. He set up Williams' game-winning goal, but he should have more points this season. I can't figure it out, but I'm working on it.

Jonathan Ericsson - He's taking a lot of heat this season and I think it's getting carried away. He's nowhere near the nightmare people are making him out to be. He hasn't been good this season, but people are going so far as to say he was bad defensively in the playoffs. Why didn't we hear all this.. you know, during the playoffs? He's never going to be a Lidstrom defensively but he can hold his own. Either way, he does need to be better, but I think it starts with the guy standing next to him. I know Babcock likes Ericsson, but having two guys who aren't great at defense to begin with on the same pairing, one a rookie, and one a midget, is just asking for trouble. He finally split up the top four, but I really think Ericsson needs to be with anyone else and you need to put Lebda with a guy like Stuart. Whatever.. we'll see.

I'm pleased with the effort, but I'm not going to be happy until they take it to the next level, because they can. I think we still have some guys we can get more out of. We just need some consistent goaltending and -- gasp -- we might even make the playoffs this season.

Comments (8)

The Scrappy Octopus said:

Re: Goaltending "I think you've got to ride out Howard until he falls apart (he likely will, but don't write him off again, please)." Howard impressed me big time last night, but my greatest fear going forward is what you voiced in this post, that he'll fall apart given more starting time and more pressure. It's one thing to come in and be the guy who saves the day after the #1 guy screws up, but it's quite another when greater expectations get placed upon you. I guess time will tell, but after Osgood's performance last night, it seems like Howard will get his chance in the spotlight sooner rather than later. Maybe that's the catalyst it'll take for Ozzie to get his mental game on. There are an awful lot of "maybes", for sure.

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October 28, 2009 | url
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RobRo said:

	... I agree that we should ride Howard for now. His confidence is probably the highest it's ever been in a Red Wings uniform (even if it is one game), and I'd rather see what the kid can do in October/November than in March or April. I don't think Howard's the president of Space though; the Ann Arbor faithful have another guy in mind already.
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Joe 35 said:

... Howie impressed me last night and he made some huge saves after he relieved Ozzie. There was nothing he could do on Schneider's cannon from the point and he nearly got that shot by Sedin on the 5-on-3. Also as of right now Babs is starting Howie for the game Thursday night in Edmonton. Should he plays like he did against Vancouver and get another "W", I would be glad to see him start Saturday against Calgary. However it'll likely be Ozzie since there are rotating games for now.

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October 28, 2009
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Baroque said:

	... We just need some consistent goaltending and -- gasp -- we might even make the playoffs this season. So, no Taylor Hall or Cam Fowler then?
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October 28, 2009
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Waltdetroit said:

	... Howard for President of Space - He's Lord of the Im-in-net Domain
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October 28, 2009
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KyleKujawa said:

... Scrappy Octopus - It's true. He is 25, but he's still a rookie. No matter how long Detroit waited, he's going to have some growing pains. I just hope that a game like this will get rid of the "Howard is not an NHL goalie" garbage. Sidenote -- Howard as a .936 save percentage if you don't include the St. Louis game. RobRo - True, I've heard that before, that's probably where I got it from. But what do we do next year when he's playing on Sundays? Joe - Thanks for the info, I'm never sure what the schedule is after someone is yanked. Detroit never really gave Conklin the starting reigns despite him outplaying Osgood, and I can't imagine things will go much differently this year -- they want Osgood in form for the playoffs. That said, I'm getting ahead of myself here because it was just one game. Baroque - Never say never, you never know how much they still intend to play Ozzie. Walt - Ha, clever!

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October 28, 2009 | url
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HN said:

OT loss to Oilers! Hey, I watched the game tonight with the Edmonton Oilers vs. The Detroit Red Wings. Of note, I am an Oilers fan, so I readily admit that. As for Howard, he was a little shaky in net during the start of the game. I was shocked to see the Oilers break their 7 period scoreless streak with a goal from JF Jacques. Howard had pretty poor rebound control which is a concern. Just when the Oilers looked to be getting a surprising blow out, the game turned in the third period. Babcock did well to utilize the long stretch passes which put pressure on our weak defensive corps (We had 3 AHLers on the blue line). As well, Babcock was smart to start pressuring our dmen with the dump ins. Strudwick is pretty clueless and I think he got an assist or two on some of Detroit's goals. Peckham was pretty lost in his end too. Well, the Oilers were pretty lucky with Detroit hitting a few goal posts during the game. Overall, it was an exciting game (sort of in a bad way for an Oilers fan). cheers!

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October 30, 2009 | url
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Baroque said:

	... Filppula out two months with a broken wrist. Fowler, I think - the other teams that could be competition in the lottery are more likely to think offense, I suppose.
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