Old School Hockey

Howard was given tons of time in Grand Rapids to develop, which is the Wings way. He is okay, an average goalie, maybe slightly better than average.

  Gustafsson is an UFA and had a great year, quite frankly better than Howard. He may not land a starting job but will land a nice contract. The odds are that he is gone.

 Mrazak is a cocky young goalie with a Calder cup under his belt and has shown flashes of talent that prove that he could be a solid NHL goalie in the future. He is likely in line to be Howard's understudy next season.

 

  I have posted elsewhere @Old School Hockey that I would like to see us sign hometown boy Miller signed, he would be an upgrade over Howard but Howard and his five year deal is likely untradeable. If we could get someone to take Howard off our hands even with minimal return and sign Miller it would be a nice move for us. Miller could start and Mrazak could be a solid understudy for a few years. Frankly I think it would be a good match.

How about a buyout for Howard. Not sure of the NTC/NMC he may have.

I don't watch much wings games, so you would know better than me. 

 

Yet, don't you think you are being a bit extreme? The index I generally use regarding goalies is sv pctg. Howards sv pctg during the regular season was pedestrian (but not the worst). Given the mammoth amount of injuries Detroit had, that could be excusable. His save pctg in previous years was upper echelon (top 5). 

 

This year in the playoffs, his sv pctg was stellar (.931). Detroit just ran into a better team and while Howard was good Rask was superior. 

 

If you look at the money Howard makes and look at comparables and stats, Howard is right there. 

 

I know the grass is always greener, but I think with a healthy Detroit club, Howard is perfectly fine. 

 

If not Howard, who would you want??

BTW .931 in 3 games vs 18 games. His regular season save pct was not top 30.

I don't watch much wings games, so you would know better than me. 

 

Yet, don't you think you are being a bit extreme? The index I generally use regarding goalies is sv pctg. Howards sv pctg during the regular season was pedestrian (but not the worst). Given the mammoth amount of injuries Detroit had, that could be excusable. His save pctg in previous years was upper echelon (top 5). 

 

This year in the playoffs, his sv pctg was stellar (.931). Detroit just ran into a better team and while Howard was good Rask was superior. 

 

If you look at the money Howard makes and look at comparables and stats, Howard is right there. 

 

I know the grass is always greener, but I think with a healthy Detroit club, Howard is perfectly fine. 

 

If not Howard, who would you want??

I WAS a huge Howard supporter.

He is NOT worth the money he's being paid. Which goalie still playing is letting in soft goals?

Here's the thing. He routinely allows soft goals. His rebound control has ALWAYS been horrible. His in net position is never very good. Puck handling? He is by far the worst puck handling #1 goalie in the NHL.

Bottom line in today's CAPPED NHL a team can not win without superior goaltending. And Howard is not a superior goaltender. Plain and simple.

As to who? I don't really care. I just know his 5.6m could have been spent better.

Ok I've been watching ALL playoff goalies play better than ours. A rookie in Montreal is now playing better than Howard. It's not because of defense, it's because these guys are in proper position and aren't giving up soft goals. Even Crawford looks better than Howard.

It's time to cut the losses and move on.

True, but the award isn't for "the best defensive defenseman in the NHL" - it is 

 

 

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=24942

 

I do think the nature of the award changed with Listrom's absolute dominance for six of seven (and 7 of 10) years, the most dominant stretch since Orr.'s eight years in a row.

 

Overall, it's more representative of the inherent weakness of the writers-based poll that picks it. 

When names like Subban, Green and Karlsson are mentioned as Norris caliber players it cheapens what the award is about. The three I mentioned are HORRIBLE defensemen and should NEVER be mentioned with the likes of Orr, Lidstrom, Bourque and several others. The only reason these guys get any mention is two fold. Flashy 4th forwards and the NHL defense core is horrible right now.

He should be forced to play and not be suspended! Suspending him helps the Rangers more than it hurts them!

This is just completely idiotic to me. Do you even know what the players and Bruins organization did in the wake of that tragedy? Rarely do I get irked by another post, but this one is so moronic and disrespectful that my temper is high. I think Lucic is a punk, but I don't call him out for the chest thump thing and I think its atrocious to call out the Bruins organization regarding the tragedy for that.

I call the Bruins organization out because Jeremy Jacobs! He's an F-ing idiot that been one of the biggest causes of two major lockouts. And oh yeah Flyer fans Ed Snider is a close second in idiots on the Board of Governors!

Lets just be thankful he is out.  No finals for this jerk.  He is one of the most hated players in Buffalo for sure

But but but Don Cherry says good ole Canadian boy! Imagine Cherry if that were a Russian doing the same thing! I can hear it. "Those Russian players just don't understand the North American traditions!"

Here's the owners motto!

Spend spend spend!

We need the players to give back again.

Who writes the contracts again?

More than a little. Maybe the owners weren't being totally 100% straight with their "cost containment" strategy?

Nah, they would never lie to us.

And yet those 30 billionaires decided that it made more financial sense for them to lose a season and a half of hockey to impose the salary cap.

That, my friend, is history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF6SNxNIV08

Try getting the owners to tell you what HRR (hockey related revenue) is.

They love hiding crap. They are including Bettman very disingenuous SOB's!

Which just flies in the face of why we've lost a season and a half of hockey in the past decade.

It wasn't the players seeking to impose a salary cap, it was the owners who insisted the only people in the entire universe with the ability to stop them from doing something immensely stupid was the players.

I actually like this a lot - not that I think there's a snowball's chance in Hell of it actually happening.

But it's a heckuva lot more reasonable than eliminating the cap, which they threatened the future of the entire league to achieve...

Heres something that's very funny! Leipold whinned about how he was then one out and sign two players for $200 million. Seems a bit hypocritical?

Here's a cool tradition I'd like to see brought back. Plain and simple RESPECT.

@jammer2

@ruxpin

 

Do we have another ToughFighter on our hands?

 

Didn't he take issue with Flyers fans and sportsmanship? I was assuming that was a shot at the BSB days....which makes the "Old School Hockey" handle kinda...

Yes even in the BSB days when it was said and done with tons of bloodshed they took the time shake hands. BTW I did watch the finals of the BSB.

Still waiting for a single post of yours on this thread to be remotely worth reading.   I very rarely use it, but ignore it is.

Still waiting for you to make a non condescending post.

I think the only way one argues "most" is if one has a much lower standard of class/sportsmanship than what I'm talking about.  Walking down a line tapping a glove and saying "good job" over and over again like it might as well be tape recorded just because everyone else is doing it really doesn't qualify for my definition of sportsmanship.  It does for you.  That's cool.  We disagree, though.

How about when a player says next year I'm going to f-ing kill you. Is that considered good sportsmanship?

Fair enough. I still think the exact same thing is accomplished in other sports without the show of the handshake line. I didn't like it in little league, AYSO, some high school sports, etc. I just think it's an entirely unnecessary compulsion to to do something that would/should come natural to an actual good sportsman.

In most it does come naturally. But in a small % (see Lucic) being a unsportsmanlike thug comes naturally.

Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay...need I say more?

You guys kicked our ass in the finals, I'm not holding that against you. (ok, maybe a bit )

Without use the intimidation factor!

Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay...need I say more?

Were angels compared to...............

Old school - , carry on the conversation, but if you're going to stereotype us all into one you're going to get feedback.

1970's! Need I say more?

There have been many comments on this topic. If you go back through them, several are by Flyer fans. Just because ONE guy has an opinion doesn't mean they're all the same.

Speaking of sportsmanship, doesn't Todd Bertuzzi play on your Wings? Does that mean ALL Wings fans love thugs? Of course not.

At what point did I say I condone TB's actions?

@Old School Hockey

There's plenty of Flyer fans on here that are good sports...Ruxpin is one of them. So am I. The guy has an opinion. Disagree with it all you want. It has nothing to do with poor sportsmanship. Lucic was poor sportsmanship. Not liking a handshke line isn't, it's an opinion.

Siding with a thugs is???

Careful.....

Why????

Should I expect insults?

And oh a Flyers Fan! Wouldn't expect the word sportsmanship to mean much.

Rux wants players to play in trackpants with the crotch at their knees and big puffy old wornout boxers muffintopping out the top hoisted up to their armpits. oh, and cool ballcaps on sideways, the big-ass oversized farmer ones. And every team has to have Milli-Vanilli on it. Both Milli AND Vanilli. And he wants to see choreography after every goal. Bench clearing break dances! And guys screaming they're #1 when they get a shot on net..

Give me back that badge!

If people would just leave the games traditions alone I'd be happy!

I kind of mean this in a sympathetic way rather than an insult, but it seems that what I'm saying (and jammer seems to be building off of) is so foreign to you that you don't seem to even know what is being said.  Unlike hf, fc, and TFG (who debated the merits--or lack of--of what was being said), you have yet to actually respond to what was said but instead have responded either completely missing the point or telling people what generation they're in (incorrectly) as if it was even relevant or negatively comparing them Lucic.  Even the post to jammer wasn't remotely relevant to what he said.  I've seen you debate elsewhere so I know you're not that way typically, so is it just that the concept is so foreign to you that you're struggling to even get your mind around it?  Are you capable of debating the subject or are we going to sling mud?

 

If we're just slinging mud, I'll let you win and whine to a reporter about it.

Also, I love the condescending I'm right and you're wrong attitude you seem to have! Seems like I'm having a debate with my wife.