He’d get crucified if there were any better options out there.

Is Craig Anderson really better than what we have?  Scott Clemmensen?  Lehtonen will cost a ton and is unproven.  Backstrom would be awesome but would cost more.  Roloson?  Why would Edmonton trade him. 

There’s no trade to be made.

Posted by Heaton on 03/02/09 at 01:41 PM ET

Besides the fact that we’re talking about “the Diggers” here, there’s a funny thing about “free passes”...

Four Cups since 1997 might earn you a few.

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 03/02/09 at 01:43 PM ET

Well, if the local media was worth a damn there would never have been an A2Y…

... yeah, I’d probably make that trade too.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 03/02/09 at 01:45 PM ET

He’d get crucified if there were any better options out there.

Seconded.

Conklin has been playing pretty well for the most part, and although the Edmonton fans would love to ship Roloson to Detroit for a first-round pick, I would be more upset with Holland if he did that than if he went with Osgood and Conklin and tried to make that work.

When all the rumours were flying about two weeks ago, one of my coworkers and I were discussing how the entire league wanted to foist off their old, expensive, injured, or rental goaltenders on Detroit for the minor price of a Helm, Abdelkader, and/or a first round pick.

If there was a better option that would also be affordable and wouldn’t cost the Red Wings more in the upcoming years than standing pat would, I’m sure Holland would love to hear it.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 03/02/09 at 01:52 PM ET

Someone please remind Jim that the Canadiens haven’t won 4 Cups in the last decade and change?

Osgood may be a mess in the head right now, but… how many Cup rings does he have?  And how many did he win himself?

How many Cup rings have any of the other goalies mentioned won?  That’s right:  Zero.

Like I said, Osgood is a mess right now… but he’s still the best option out there.  Goaltending around the NHL isn’t what it used to be…

Posted by Primis on 03/02/09 at 02:01 PM ET

I’ve seen this “argument” put forth in the Canadian hockey media twice in the last week, and I still don’t understand what the argument actually is. Are they saying that somehow Detroit is not a hockey town because Ken Holland’s roster decisions are not scrutinized like they would be in Toronto or Montreal? Are they really incapable of seeing the difference between those situations or are they just playing dumb?

Or are they saying that Detroit fans are more level-headed and more prone to give the team a “free pass”? Because that argument is even stupider than the first.

I’m open to other interpretations, but the gist of their argument seems to be “Wahhhh!!!11 Detroit has too much faith in Kenny Holland!1!1! Wahhhh!1!!”

Posted by Mandingo from The Garage on 03/02/09 at 02:12 PM ET

Actually, the argument is how Detroit as a fan base is not what it used to be.  The Wings are met with a yawn, and if not for a few blogs here no one would hear anything about them.  The papers don’t care, nor does the radio or TV truthfully…

I think the people on here (and other blogs) are taking this the wrong way.  Detroit has always been a true hockey city in Canadian terms - which made us “dummies” up here respect and admire the city and organization.  Any city that supports hockey like that has to be a great place!

The fear we have is if Detroit can forget about the wings, maybe, just maybe a Canadian city could as well… and well, that’s just scary.

So chill out and stop taking things to personally.  The only reason the media in Toronto and Montreal publish what they do is because they know people will read it - because we cannot get enough hockey news, even if it is not a true story to begin with… why?  Because we breath, eat and sleep hockey.

Posted by WingMan from The Q C on 03/02/09 at 02:25 PM ET

Why is he getting a pass?

a) Conklin’s picked up the slack.  Aside from Saturday night game, he’s been the better goalie.  Nobody picked up the slack that Kovalev left dangling.
b) Defending cup champion.  Sorry, but winning gets you some leeway.
c) Goes with b).  Detroit is still knocking on the door when it comes to the TOP SEED IN THE LEAGUE.  Does anyone really want to compare Detroit’s “disappointing season” of not being #1 overall to Montreal playing their way out of a playoff berth?
d) Montreal sat Alexei Kovalev.  He’s one of their highest paid players, someone that SHOULD be a leader and has been a disappointment.  Detroit sat Chris Osgood.  He’s been splitting time almost exactly 50/50.  AND, he makes less money than Detroit’s 4th line centre.  Oh, and he’s the guy that many people don’t believe even deserves much credit for their cup win.

What’s the comparison.  Why SHOULD there be an outrage?

I would argue that more people are outraged that Detroit hasn’t named Conks our starter, so why would they be pissed that Holland sat the guy that a lot of people think should be the backup..

Posted by Garth on 03/02/09 at 02:28 PM ET

So far since Saturday, we have had:

-Don Cherry kicking the Detroit area while we are down for not selling out every game, as well as dogging the Wings for playing boring hockey.

-Jim Hughson inferring Detroit is less of a “hockey town” for not being critical enough of the GM who puts together a team that annually contends for a championship since the mid ‘90’s.

I will now sit back and read other commenters mocking Red Wing fans for their “persecution complex”.

Posted by mc keeper from The Home Of Lord Stan on 03/02/09 at 02:29 PM ET

The Wings are met with a yawn, and if not for a few blogs here no one would hear anything about them.  The papers don’t care, nor does the radio or TV truthfully…

Admittedly, there’s some truth to that.

Posted by Mandingo from The Garage on 03/02/09 at 02:29 PM ET

The Wings are met with a yawn, and if not for a few blogs here no one would hear anything about them.  The papers don’t care, nor does the radio or TV truthfully…

It’s either a yawn or a kick in the yam bag.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 03/02/09 at 02:35 PM ET

Goaltending is the biggest obstacle between the Red Wings and another Cup and if he was in Montreal, you can bet GM Ken Holland would be vilified for refusing to address the obvious deficiency. Yet, in Detroit, he gets a free pass.

Wow, I would expect Jim Hughson to know a little more about hockey than this.

Holland would get the exact same “pass” (though I hesitate to call it that) in Montreal if he were in the front office of the Habs and brought them 4 Cups in a span of 11 seasons. Instead, Montreal have Bob Gainey, and haven’t won anything worthwhile in over 20 years.

That’s the difference. Duh. When a guy is an integral front office piece of 4 Cup victories in 11 seasons, he gets the benefit of the doubt because he’s proven his abilities and qualities. Bob Gainey hasn’t proven much in the front office.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 03/02/09 at 02:43 PM ET

In Detroit, it’s been mostly Ozzy with the consistent problems, and he wasn’t expected to play every game anyway. In Montreal, the entire team needs a kick in the pants.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 03/02/09 at 02:44 PM ET

The Wings are met with a yawn, and if not for a few blogs here no one would hear anything about them.  The papers don’t care, nor does the radio or TV truthfully…

This is a fact. The “Red Wings Radio Network” (the actual production of the radio game broadcasts) is very good. The FSD telecasts of the games are very well done. But outside of that, the papers do a terrible job, the national media sure doesn’t care, and besides the weekly recap on FSD, local sports TV and sports radio pretty much ignore the Red Wings outside of the actual game broadcasts.

I guess it’s more fun for people to whine about the Lions or decide what horrible player they’re going to draft this year (or more accurately, what good player they will draft this year, only to make him a horrible player because the Lions are the team careers go to to die).

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 03/02/09 at 02:49 PM ET

Of course fans in Toronto and Montreal eat, sleep and breathe hockey…

it’s the only food, bed and air.

Maybe if sports fans in those cities had probaseball, football and basketball teams to cheer for in addition to having a hockey team things would be a bit different.

Oh yeah, that’s right, I forgot those 50 thousand seat Curling stadiums that get filled to the rafters for 40 home tilts a year.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 03/02/09 at 02:50 PM ET

It’s either a yawn or a kick in the yam bag.

Spot on, my friend.  It’s either, ‘we’re tired of hearing about the Wings so we’ll ignore them’ or ‘we don’t hear anything about the Wings so we’ll make an issue out of a non-issue.’  How can you have it both ways?

Posted by clemshady from Greenwood, SC on 03/02/09 at 02:50 PM ET

Actually, the argument is how Detroit as a fan base is not what it used to be.  The Wings are met with a yawn, and if not for a few blogs here no one would hear anything about them.  The papers don’t care, nor does the radio or TV truthfully…

There’s truth to this, but you’re mistaken to think that it’s the Wings.

It’s the entire Detroit… no… the entire MICHIGAN sports market.

The Tigers were terrible last season and any hype surrounding them has died down.  The Lions, well…. yeah.  The Pistons traded for Iverson and promptly ruined their season.  Michigan went like 2-5894054095 on the season in football, the Big Ten is having a down year in basketball all-around (and will probably get murdered in the tourney), and Michigan State’s hockey program is in terrible shape for the moment.

There really isn’t a single Michigan sports team that’s garnering much attention lately.  I think reality has hit home with enough people and every single team is suffering attention-wise.  So it’s hardly just the Wings…  I think the layoffs at WDFN weren’t just indicative of the economy, but of also the genuine lack of buzz and interest surrounding anything sports in the area at the moment.

Posted by Primis on 03/02/09 at 02:53 PM ET

The Wings are met with a yawn, and if not for a few blogs here no one would hear anything about them.  The papers don’t care, nor does the radio or TV truthfully…

I wonder how much of that is a result of national priorities superceding local situations.  The top suits of the media corporations know, without a doubt, that “hockey doesn’t sell” nationally, therefore assume that of course it won’t sell locally, either - and therefore don’t bother paying any attention.  They don’t recognize that the Detroit market is different, and although hockey might be a waste of air time in many other markets, it does get attention in Michigan.

Part of media homogenization, perhaps?

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 03/02/09 at 03:04 PM ET

probaseball, football and basketball

Yeah, I know, here in Toronto we don’t have pro football, pro baseball OR pro basketball.

We also don’t have pro hockey, I guess.

Just curious what the defintion of those sports actually is…  Do MLB, NBA or the NFL count?

Posted by Garth on 03/02/09 at 03:08 PM ET

Garth, and anyone else in the Toronto fanbase, just how do the Jays and Raptors draw anyway? Are they typically on par with their respective leagues? And are they typically single sports fans or is there a good deal of overlap?

As much as Detroit is Hockeytown, there can be no doubt that it really is a baseball city when given a half way decent team. And well the entire country is just plain nuts for football, even with an 0-16 team. We’re supportive of our Wings, but in general, there’s a lot to divide our attention.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 03/02/09 at 03:38 PM ET

Well ,the fact the city of Detroit is going through some fundamental changes that will forever change the city, and probably not for the good, I’d say sports should rightly take second place in terms of interest.

Secondly, as much as I love the game of hockey, I actually find it a sense of relief and strength that the media in Detroit do not cover hockey like media in Toronto or Montreal does. There is a difference between great coverage and coverage that belies an unhealthy infatuation.

And, I’m getting a little tired of the Canadian media expecting American hockey fans to feel some kind of shame and apologize over how the game is accepted in the United States. Of course we would like hockey to have a bigger profile; but it is what it is.

Hockey will always be a second-tier sport in the U.S. It is simply a geographic and social reality. And the fact hockey isn’t worshiped in the U.S. does not mean the U.S. should be criticized. Does the fact the NFL is not worshiped in Canada mean Canada deserves criticism? Baseball the same? How the hell can you judge a geographic location based solely on its acceptance level of a particular sport? The shallowness of such a mindset is very apparent.

Give it a rest, Canadian media.

Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 03/02/09 at 05:06 PM ET

And, gee… does the Toronto media give a rats ass what the Raptors or Blue Jays do?

No?  Shocker.

As a note of reference to our neighbors to the north, the NFL is the Big Fish in the American sports lexicon.  By a light year.  It thoroughly dominates the media and the public mindset of pretty much every city that has a franchise.  Even when the teams blow… like in Detroit since, um, forever.

If by some stroke of extreme luck the Lions were to be taken out of the city of Detroit, I have little doubt that the greater part of the media focus vacuum would shift to the Wings, and that the Wings would almost certainly be the lead sports dog in the city.

With NFL, MLB, NBA, and a number of major college sports within a couple hours of metro Detroit the competition for print space is simply too strong.

Also, it really doesn’t help Detroit’s national Q-rating too much when Gary Bettman directs the NHL’s marketing arm to pour all their resources behind pushing a select few individual stars (who are unlikely to win anything in the near future besides individual awards) rather than promoting successful franchises.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 03/02/09 at 08:54 PM ET