Excuses, Excuses

OK. This might not be popular with at least half of the Wings fan base, but I really have to get these Osgood thoughts down. The arguing on Twitter doesn't need to stop. But it does need to be kept in perspective. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, just remember that an opinion is not a fact. Oh, and one other thing before I continue: Nobody is a bigger fan than somebody else. You are not the fanniest fan in fandom. Here is a statement that makes you look like a totally retarded jackass, "I guess I'm just a bigger/better fan than you are." Oh, and just because you have liked a team longer it doesn't give you the right to be the mayor of Doucheville. It's not a seniority contest.

Now on to the whole Osgood thing that seems to be ripping our souls apart.

Last night's game showed us a couple of things. Osgood still does not have his head on and it probably won't happen this season. And 2, the defense plays a totally different game from a hole in front of Osgood. Now before someone jumps up and shouts that I am saying the team plays like shit in front of Osgood on purpose, that's not what I said. I think that the Osgood softies are in the back of everyone's mind and the D is getting caught out of position because they are pinched in a little too much or putting themselves in an odd position trying to keep it in at the blueline.

Here is something else that is missing. Rafalski's breakout passes. I'm sorry but I just don't think that the other D, with the exception of Lidstrom, can break it out as cleanly. They should take the Kindl route. Yes he has made some mistakes, but I be digging his breakouts. Instead of trying to make a bajillion mile breakout pass from the half boards, he's carrying the puck out of his own zone and doesn't think about passing until he's past his own blueline. That's a good way of cutting down your turnovers at the blueline.

All right, let's get down to brass tacks here.

All through the off season up until this very moment there has been a debate raging. It has gotten more heated than East coast rap VS. West coast rap. It has more nerdly stats and obscure factoids than Trekkies VS. Star Warsians. (I don't know what Star Wars people call themselves.)

OSGOOD.

Here is an argument that I just do not agree with. "Your back-up goaltender just needs to be serviceable enough to give the starter a break." That's so wrong it can't get no wronger. The back-up should be this hungry caged animal that wants his shot at number one. He should come in and steal the show. He has to be able to step in and carry games if the starter goes down. I want to say, "Holy shit, who the fuck is this guy." The back-up should be like when you put your hand in a pocket of a coat that you haven't worn in awhile and find a twenty dollar bill. It shouldn't be like putting your hand in and finding that a pen exploded leaving you with a big mess. If you order a steak at a fancy restaurant, you don't settle for a bologna sandwich because the back-up chef is having an off night, or hasn't cooked in awhile.

How about this one. "The offense needs to score more than a couple of goals to give your goalie a chance." Well if the goalie is doing his job technically the offense only needs to score one goal. In reality that is not going to happen. Plus I for one want curly fries and fucking beat downs. But the fact is that they are playing professional teams that have defenses and goaltenders as well. It's in the tight low scoring affairs that the goalie has to shine. If the goalie shits the bed in the first period, the game is totally different. It's easy to say, "Come on guys, you have to score 3 or 4 goals now." It's not that simple though. The opposition now gets to play shut down or prevent defense. Clog up the neutral zone. And now you have to take more chances which leads to more mistakes.

Stats be damned. Anybody can skew the stats to work in their favor. Technically I am a .500 goaltender with a 0.00 goals against average. See how I did that? Forget the fact that I never goaltended a game in my life. All of your past stats don't mean shit if you can't win now. Every positive stat from a long career can be countered by a negative stat from a player on the decline from the last couple of years.

This is not fueled by hatred for Osgood. Personally I want to see him get his 400. But I can't make that happen and neither can any of you. Only Osgood can. Throw away every argument ever committed to the digital annals of the interwebs, for or against, and it boils down to this. Osgood, step the fuck up and take those games son. I don't care if the Mighty Ducks are playing in front of you, (the team at the beginning of movie, not the polished group of ragtag losers we see at the end.) No more excuses. Slam that door shut. But if you don't want to do that then don't waste any more game time and let somebody in who is not content with charting face-offs.