Babs taps Mrazek to start playoff opener

[yave1964]

  Cannot fault Mike Babcock for guts. He announced at practice today that Petr Mrazek would start against the Lightning in the opener instead of Jimmy Howard.

 

  "We have confidence in both of our goaltenders, and if we do manage to make a deep run I have no doubt that both of them will be needed, I told Jimmy that and told him to be prepared." Babcock stated in a brief interview.

 Howard was brilliant in the first half until he was injured in early January the day that he was selected as the Wings rep for the all star game. Mrazek stepped in and was at times brilliant, keeping the team in games and building confidence, Howard was never the same player after returning, his save pct. was .895 after his return.

  Mrazek has had his ups and downs as well, but for the season, starting roughly half as many games as Howard, he had a better save pct, a better goals against, a better record, and more shutouts, including a 2-0 34 save effort against Carolina in the finale which clinched third place and sat up the matchup with Tampa. In his last start against the Bolts a month ago, Mrazek shut them out 3-0.

 

 In other Wings news, Babs has had it with Brendan Smith who I really do not see returning if Babcock does, he has announced Smith will be a healthy scratch for the opener and replaced in the lineup by Alexei Marchenko. Interesting move, both Smith and Kindl will be watching the game from the press box while the kid plays. He was at times nearly flawless in his earlier call ups.

 

 And Landon Ferraro (son of 17 year vet, 408 career goal scoring Ray Ferraro) will start the opener, Babs praised his work ethic and his nose for the net. It is uncertain who will be out but the tea leaves point towards Abdelkader missing the opener.
 

[Old School Hockey]

Sad part???? If you have two number 1 goalies, you really don't have one.

[ScottM]

I love the decision. Mrazek was great down the stretch. If I were a member of the Wings, I'd feel a lot more confident with him behind me than I would Howard. That's not intended as a slap against Howard, because he's been quite good in the last few years, but those stats that you gave speak a mouthful. Right now, I just don't think that he's 100%, and he just simply doesn't give the team the best chance to win. If they're going to have any shot at getting past the Bolts, it's with Mrazek.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

From a Bolts standpoint, I'd rather see the veteran Jimmy Howard go......so, yea, that means I believe Babcock made the best decision for HIS team in starting Mrazek.

 

I already said I believe that Mrazek COULD be (not is, but could be) a star in the making, and I sure would hate it if he did at the expense of the Lightning in this series.

 

I still like the Lightning's chances here, but this decision right off the bat already favors Detroit.

Kudos to Mike Babcock by not simply sticking to ol "gotta go with the veteran" type spiel and actually starting the guy who absolutely gives you the better chance to win against the given opponent.