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I can't argue with that. Are you kidding me!? He is not playing like the Jimmy Howard we've seen before. He is not playing like a goalie with, previous to this season, only 9 games of NHL experience. He's not the same kid I've been ridiculing for years and I couldn't be happier to be wrong. I mean, it's entirely possible, and very likely, that these numbers won't hold up forever but he is more than serving his purpose for this season.
Prior to the season starting, I think that if he could have come in and played 30 games and not been abysmal, that would have been sufficient. Ozzie could have handled the remaining games on the schedule, Wings would make the playoffs, same old, same old. But this is not a typical season. With the astronomically ridiculous amount of injuries, the Red Wings do not have the luxury of letting Ozzie have his weird winter mid-season slump. It's the first time in A LONG TIME that Detroit is having to fight for a playoff spot and not being handed the Central Division by default through a lack of competition.
The Western Conference standings as of 2:20 a.m. on January 4th, 2010. This will be interesting to look at again in the beginning of April.
As a long time Ozzie supporter, I can wholeheartedly say that Detroit needs to keep playing Howard. For one thing, I think it's important to play the hot goalie. Duh. But I also think that JHo is serving another purpose. It's recently been discussed in the media that there might be a goalie "controversy" brewing. I wouldn't quite say it's a controversy but I think Mike Babcock is not an idiot. (In fact, I believe that I most often refer to him as an evil genius who only uses his powers for good.) Regular season Osgood may or may not show up for a game. Pissed off, has something to prove, win at all costs, playoff Osgood? He always shows up.
There's no reason not to use Jimmy to push Ozzie. If Howard can put Ozzie in a position where he's battling and in constant playoff-mode, great. If he can win games and help make up ground in the West at the same time, awesome. The Red Wings need all the points they can get so when Jimmy gets a break and Ozzie plays a game, it's not just a normal game, even if they're playing someone completely meaningless, like the Carolina Hurricanes. All that's been expected out of Howard is for him to not lose games; Osgood is expected to win games. There's a very important difference. That's not to say that I think Ozzie is having a terrible season. I just think that he's going to need to be more of a difference maker, in a good way, in the games he plays.
So what happens come playoff time? I'm going to want more time to think about that and to possibly see Ozzie play another game before making any statements about that. Let's just say I'm not completely opposed to the idea of Jimmy Howard maybe possibly playing in a playoff situation.
I've come a long way from my JHo-hating ways of the past.
Prior to the season starting, I think that if he could have come in and played 30 games and not been abysmal, that would have been sufficient. Ozzie could have handled the remaining games on the schedule, Wings would make the playoffs, same old, same old. But this is not a typical season. With the astronomically ridiculous amount of injuries, the Red Wings do not have the luxury of letting Ozzie have his weird winter mid-season slump. It's the first time in A LONG TIME that Detroit is having to fight for a playoff spot and not being handed the Central Division by default through a lack of competition.
The Western Conference standings as of 2:20 a.m. on January 4th, 2010. This will be interesting to look at again in the beginning of April.
As a long time Ozzie supporter, I can wholeheartedly say that Detroit needs to keep playing Howard. For one thing, I think it's important to play the hot goalie. Duh. But I also think that JHo is serving another purpose. It's recently been discussed in the media that there might be a goalie "controversy" brewing. I wouldn't quite say it's a controversy but I think Mike Babcock is not an idiot. (In fact, I believe that I most often refer to him as an evil genius who only uses his powers for good.) Regular season Osgood may or may not show up for a game. Pissed off, has something to prove, win at all costs, playoff Osgood? He always shows up.
There's no reason not to use Jimmy to push Ozzie. If Howard can put Ozzie in a position where he's battling and in constant playoff-mode, great. If he can win games and help make up ground in the West at the same time, awesome. The Red Wings need all the points they can get so when Jimmy gets a break and Ozzie plays a game, it's not just a normal game, even if they're playing someone completely meaningless, like the Carolina Hurricanes. All that's been expected out of Howard is for him to not lose games; Osgood is expected to win games. There's a very important difference. That's not to say that I think Ozzie is having a terrible season. I just think that he's going to need to be more of a difference maker, in a good way, in the games he plays.
So what happens come playoff time? I'm going to want more time to think about that and to possibly see Ozzie play another game before making any statements about that. Let's just say I'm not completely opposed to the idea of Jimmy Howard maybe possibly playing in a playoff situation.
I've come a long way from my JHo-hating ways of the past.
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