What's Next for the Red Wings?

N4L wrote:Betuzzi might be the worst player in The NHL at this point. Just awful and he is bringing Zetterberg and Cleary down at this point. Babcock better figure out what to do with him quick because he might have already cost Detraoit the game.

I don't think Detroit needs to worry. They're so deep that Grand Rapids would be a playoff team if they were in the NHL.

Sincerely,

The Name Dropper

Detroit is deep but I dont see Bertuzzi being a top line guy there for much more then a couple weeks. Lieno has looked fantastic thus far. Bertuzzi has done nothing and is a liability out there in a big way.

N4L wrote:Detroit is deep but I dont see Bertuzzi being a top line guy there for much more then a couple weeks. Lieno has looked fantastic thus far. Bertuzzi has done nothing and is a liability out there in a big way.

Detroit is due for a drop-off. Maybe the departure of Chelios will help a little? We shall see.

They may end up just letting Bertuzzi be a healthy scratch at this point... he brings nothing.

N4L wrote:They may end up just letting Bertuzzi be a healthy scratch at this point... he brings nothing.

I haven't seen him but I noticed when he went to Calgary he looked pretty lean. You could see it in his face and I figured he would have a decent year. Maybe conditioning is a problem?

Hey, Chris Osgood lets in 4 goals on just 23 shots in a losing effort. Where are all the Ozzy fans?

davetherave wrote:Hey, Chris Osgood lets in 4 goals on just 23 shots in a losing effort. Where are all the Ozzy fans?

have that bugger in my hockey pool, consider him dropped in favour of Vokoun (who I am puzzled why he was released)

davetherave wrote:Hey, Chris Osgood lets in 4 goals on just 23 shots in a losing effort. Where are all the Ozzy fans?

Actually, they scored 4 on their first 13 shots, which is even worse.

But, the Wings and Devils are perhaps the only teams in the league for whom losses in October never seem to matter.

asq2 wrote:

davetherave wrote:Hey, Chris Osgood lets in 4 goals on just 23 shots in a losing effort. Where are all the Ozzy fans?

Actually, they scored 4 on their first 13 shots, which is even worse.

But, the Wings and Devils are perhaps the only teams in the league for whom losses in October never seem to matter.

Yeah, that's the standard line from Wings fans.

There are some who are questioning Detroit's goaltending already. ESPN's Scott Burnside had a few things to say about that, and he wasn't kind.

Excerpt from his report here:

WINGS' GOALIE SITUATION JUST GOT CLOUDIER

Scott Burnside/ESPN.COM Saturday October 3 2009

STOCKHOLM -- We have seen the future of goaltending in the Motor City and, frankly, it looks more Edsel than Cadillac.

At least that's the short view after the St. Louis Blues stunned the Detroit Red Wings for the second night in a row here, spotting the Stanley Cup finalists an early two-goal lead before roaring back to win 5-3 in the finale of the NHL Premiere Games series.

On a night when much-heralded Detroit backup netminder Jimmy Howard hoped to start answering the many questions that have been asked about his ability to handle NHL play, he instead created even more skepticism about the Wings' goaltending situation.

After the Wings dominated the first half of the first period, scoring 31 seconds in and adding another 1:37 later, Howard allowed two soft goals 13 seconds apart in the second period that allowed the Blues to take a 4-3 lead en route to their second straight come-from-behind victory against the Wings.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/preview2009/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=4529686

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@ASQ> Being a Wings fan, what's your take on the situation?

It's puzzling, because both times I stopped watching before the Blues made a comeback.

I watched the first period and eight minutes in the shots were 12-0 Red Wings, they had 2 goals and another disallowed one, and had the puck absolutely constantly. The Blues looked like an ECHL team in comparison.

It may be a case that the team is tired after three consecutive short summers. Being in Europe probably doesn't help either.

Obviously, you have to wait before making any moves. Osgood's not like Biron was for the Flyers or Lalime was for the Sens when they were dominant - he's proven again and again that when it matters, he's up to the challenge.

I suggested Craig Anderson for the Wings at the beginning of last season, but obviously that's a no-go at this point and right now, I'm not sure I see any Anderson 2.0s - unless the Wings want to target Brian Elliott.

It's still much to early to make any rash decisions, though.

The reason for the wings' loss was goaltending.