As for Holland really wanting Belfour, it doesn’t matter how much he wants him if they can’t reach an agreement on salary. That seems to be the hang-up now.

I’m thinking, that if a goalie is worth doubting to sign, should you actually sign him?

If next season isn’t the time to give Howard his chance, I don’t know when it will be. The stage is set perfectly for an Ozzie/Howard duo. And Holland would mess that up for a 41-year-old goaltender who can’t touch his toes? Think about all the times goaltenders got run last season…Belfour could not survive that. Legace was a pretty durable goaltender on that level. I don’t have nearly the same confidence in Belfour.

In 03-04, it was a freak accident that broke his leg in pre-game warmups. He only got in 20 games with the Wings that year.

This past season, it was a torn ACL in the pre-season. He played 27 games.

For the Griffins during the lockout, he played 76 games and had 53 points, winning the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s best defenseman. Sure, the AHL is not the NHL but I think that should give us any idea of what he is capable of with a full season in the Winged Wheel.

Remember, defensemen take longer to develop than forwards do. Jiri Fischer took a few years and was finally entering his potential when his heart episode happened. Kronwall has 47 games NHL experience. I think he’s doing pretty well.

Oh yeah, and he’s an Olympic gold medal winner already (scored a goal in the gold medal game, in fact), something not many other guys at this stage in their career can say.

Belfour is the cheapest/easiest option, he’s not their best option. For a team that just lost it’s #1 and #2 leaders due to a youth movement, signing a 41-year-old goalie is lunacy.

I’ve been saying all along that the Wings should just go with Osgood and one of their young goalies if they can’t find a decent deal for someone else. Ozzie is more than capable of handling the load, as you say.

Belfour knows that he has a lot to prove due to the previous season, but I think he’s the best option that Detroit has at the moment. If they do have anything better, they’re definetly keeping it quiet. And I think it’s important to keep in mind that they do have a very good backup goalie who has some playoff experience under his belt…

As for Belfour, I’m surprised, honestly, that it’s taking this long for a decision to come out, whether yea or nay. Some have speculated that Holland could be faking teams out since the Wings are one of the few teams left that haven’t taken care of their goalie shortage. Teams like Anaheim, Buffalo and San Jose have the opposite problem: they’re looking to trade. If they believe the Wings are close to a deal with Belfour, maybe they’ll be more willing to push for a trade more favorable to the Wings.

Vesa Toskala is already saying he hopes the Sharks trade either he or Nabokov so that the two goalies don’t have to face the question mark going into training camp. So maybe there’s a chance there.

Personally, though, I have a bad feeling the Wings are serious about Belfour and that this isn’t a ruse on Kenny’s part. Maybe Crazy Eddie will turn out to be great. The same bad feeling tells me he won’t, though.

The agent for goaltender Ed Belfour sounded optimistic that a deal could be announced as soon as today. “We are moving towards our mutual goal of making Ed Belfour a Red Wing,” Ron Salcer, Belfour’s agent, said Monday evening. - Detroit Free Press

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This offseason is about to get a whole lot worse.