Just wanted to say that I'm glad that you've developed an open environment for posting. It should be fun, that being said, I'm perfectly ready for you all to hate the lone Red Wings Fan! To you people who will hate me, I would like to give you a number, 94! What is that number, you ask? It is the number of points the Red Wings currently have. Breath it in, live it, love it, choke on it if you must!
Anyway on with my original topic I wanted to write about. As stated above, the Wings are currently tied with San Jose, points wise, for second place in the entire league. As stated by Matt in the past, the Red Wings are a well oiled machine. I cannot agree with him more. There is one reason that I am thoroughly impressed with the Red Wings. They currently have a record of 43-15-8. While this is normal for the Red Wings, I cannot give enough praise to: Pavel Datsyuk, Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg, and Brian Rafalski. These are the teams tops scorers. Combined with the rest of the team, these men have led the Red Wings to leading the entire league in goals scored. 244 goals total, which is 21 Goals ahead of the nearest team, the Boston Bruins. Which is no doubt, impressive no matter what team you love. What is not impressive is the 21st place position for Goals Allowed, with 197 on the season. This ranks the Wings with teams flirting with the .500 or lower win percentage. With the help of the offensive talent the Wings possess, the have fared well in the ranking.
My frustration is not centered on Ty Conklin, who is currently tied for 2nd in the league for shutouts. But rest upon Chris Osgood. The Wings have tried; rotating starters, sitting him and calling up Jimmy Howard from the AHL, and nothing has seemed to work. While I have a deep rooted loyalty to Ozzy, as the trade deadline came, and went, I found myself hoping for something to remedy my goalie woes. Ty and Ozzy, are basically even in games played, but Ty has weathered the storm considerably better than Ozzy. Where to go now? What can the Wings do? This is where I'm hoping to get some input from you guys. Is it just a confidence issue that will fade with time? Or is it the beginning of the decline of Ozzy? To be honest, I want to see Ozzy wake up. Every time I see the guy I just get giddy with Red Wing admiration. Heck even my wife knows who he is. I know he has it in him, but the coaching staff has said, he needs to just regain his confidence. He's done it before and he's pulled through for the Wings. But how many times can you allow a Goalie to go through the cycle. If the only consistency you are getting from him, is knowing he'll have a rough spot every year, you have to wonder....
In my oppinion, I hope Chris is buying a round of drinks for Zetty, Hossa, Dats, Franzen, and Juri(All 20+ goals on the season). Followed by a pat on their backs as he says "Geez, you guys are earning my salary this year!"
3 comments:
The Red Wings may have just lost out on the Stanley Cup Finals by not making a deal at the deadline for some goaltending depth. A team, no matter how good it is up front, simply must have a top-flight goaltender in order to win the Cup. I simply do not think Conklin is top-flight enough - although he's had a GREAT year and has been a real steal for the Wings (he's only making $1 million for 1 year). Osgood, unfortunately, does not have it.
I think the Sharks made one of the best trades of the deadline by acquiring Travis Moen and Kent Huskins for virtually nothing. The Sharks already have tons of scoring and a great defense, not to mention one of the league's top goalies. What they needed was some first-class grit, which they got from both Moen and Huskins. Moen especially is a great leader who gives 100% of himself every shift and should fill in nicely for the injured Mike Grier. It doesn't hurt that both Moen and Huskins have championships under their belt. Interesting that all of San Jose's major acquisitions for the year are players who have at least one Cup ring (Blake, Boyle, Lukowich, Lemieux, Moen, Huskins). Hmmm... think team brass is trying to create a certain attitude.
Sorry Derek, the Sharks will play the Bruins or New Jersey for the Stanley Cup Final.
That being said, nice first post buddy!
Bruins. I'm calling the Bruins in the finals for the East
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