Uh huh…

And Osgood switched to the butterfly style last year and it helped the Wings to their 11th Cup.  Should we be worried about the impact of this style on his future with the Wings?

[smacks himself on the forehead]

Of course, we should be worried.  We’re A2Y.  Savvy?

Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 03/18/09 at 03:53 PM ET

Maybe it’s a developmental issue - the same way that young kids shouldn’t throw breaking pitches because it will do more damage to limbs that aren’t fully grown yet than to adults.

In which case, it would only be a problem for Osgood if he was still as young as he looks. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 03/18/09 at 04:16 PM ET

the article suggests that the femur to hip socket at the hips is like a square peg in a round hole for twenty per cent of us, leading to damage when playing the style, sometimes of the irreperable variety. Aside from that, it has all the hallmarks of a repetitive strain injury, in a location not designed/evolved to handle it, in some cases irrespective of training and strengthening.

It’s a trendy and effective style though, mind you I will miss the days of Hasek and his wild saves.

Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 03/18/09 at 06:56 PM ET

Osgood didn’t necessarily switch to a butterfly style.  He plays on his feet quite a bit of the time, and when he does butterfly, he does so conservatively, flaring his pads out to allow them to do a lot of the work.  He doesn’t butterfly on every shot and he doesn’t attempt to spread his legs far apart...and he’s had persistent groin issues over the past few years, so he does pay a price for playing the style.

But the key point involves the fact that so many young goaltenders basically drop to the ice for every shot.  Kids have gone from playing the game like Roy or Giguere to playing like Cristobal Huet, who spends half the time he plays splayed out on the ice, butterflying when there’s even the hint of a shot possibly being taken.  Today’s “butterfly” style involves such an instinctual, all-shot butterfly that we’re seeing latter-day versions of Ed Belfour and Trevor Kidd (who would butterfly to make high glove and blocker saves).  Goaltenders simply don’t anticipate shots and stand on their feet anymore, and that causes a tremendous amount of stress and pressure on their joints.

The Toronto Star posted an interesting article on the fact that Brodeur’s style is both much more malleable than butterflying (i.e. Brodeur can stop the same shot four or five different ways) and probably will retire with him.  It’s too bad, because the stand-up style’s very, very effective.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 03/18/09 at 06:56 PM ET

What was the style Hasek was using? Why doesn’t anyone copy that?

Posted by DR on 03/19/09 at 02:02 AM ET

Because Hasek’s style required both Gumby-like flexibility and an anticipation level of near Gretzky-like proportions.  Hasek’s style was barely-controlled chaos, and I’m not sure there are goalies ballsy enough to try it and keep trying anything until they find a system of near-insanity that works for them.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 03/19/09 at 03:51 AM ET