On Washington

Posted by on . 2 comments

No game day notes post today, but you can check out the discussion I had with Eric McErlain on the game at FanHouse, if you’re interested. 

I’ll have thoughts on the game afterwards.

Filed under: 2008-2009, Links

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  1. Garth says:
    January 31, 2009 at 7:12 am

    Interesting back and forth there, but I have one observation.

    "He's not been at his best, to be sure, but most of the time he's in net, his teammates seem to take a night off."

    Doesn't this say something? I mean, you CAN'T blame it all on defense. The Wings seem to step it up a little, sometimes, when Conklin starts, but they haven't played stellar in front of him most of the time either. To say that Osgood would be the man if the playoffs started now, while acknowledging that he's not getting the support that Coklin is seems to be a contradiction to me. This is Chris Osgood we're talking about, not Martin Brodeur. The concensus last spring was that, while Osgood played solid, it was Detroit'd defense that was more instrumental in winning the cup, so to say that the Wings are playing better in front of Conklin than in front of Osgood begs the question "WHY is Osgood the man?".

    Is it that they feel they owe it to him to start the playoffs, like they felt they owed it to Hasek last year? If Osgood is "the guy" right now, will it take one bad game to hand the reins over to Conklin?

    If Osgood really is "the guy" in the mind of Holland/Babcock, like people seem to be thinking, then i REALLY have to question their thinking…

    Reply
  2. Matt Saler says:
    January 31, 2009 at 8:30 am

    Garth,

    Good points. It is worrisome that the team doesn't seem to play as well in front of Osgood. And you're right, you can't blame it all on defense. Osgood has not been sharp this year, and Conklin has at times been only marginally better. The goaltending situation is a definite concern going down the stretch, but I'm still confident it'll turn around.

    I get the sense that Osgood would be the guy by the fact that they keep going back to him. They don't go with Conklin fully now because they want to be able to go with Osgood later. I may have overstated things when I told Eric "Osgood would be the guy if the playoffs started today," but I do think that it's the goal of the organization to use him in April, assuming he can get going. Even if he doesn't get better in the regular season, they may still go with him to start, if only to hand the reins over to Conklin, as you say.

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