No, I have Not Forgot About Howard!

By Adam W Parks

If you have been following Lamp The Light lately you might have noticed that I made no mention of Detroit's goaltending during my Year In Review blogs. Though if you have been following me all season you know how much I'm in love with Jimmy "The Deal" Howard.

The Western Conference Playoffs is overflowing with talented and dominant goalies, though only two (Evgeni Nabokov and Roberto Luongo) have any substantial playoff experience. In fact, the only other goalie that has played in the NHL playoffs is Ilya Bryzgalov. Wait a minute, that can't be right...can it?

I checked with my statistician and...yup! Confirmed! That's incredible! Five different Western Conference goalies are making their NHL Playoffs debuts this season!

Nashville's Pekka Rinne, age 27, used to terrorize the Grand Rapids Griffins for three seasons in Milwaukee and took the Admirals to AHL Playoffs in each season.

Antti Niemi (26) as emerged over Cristobal Huet as the Blackhawks' starting guy, and outside of international play in Finland, he only has two AHL Playoff games with the Rockford Icehogs under his pads.

Jonathan Quick (24) was the third goalie chosen for the 2010 USA Olympics team, but he has played in only one playoff game in his post-peewee career (Manchester Monarchs, AHL).

At 28, Craig Anderson is the "Old Balls" of this bunch. He has the most NHL experience--appearing in games in seven seasons with three different teams--though he spent his previous years with some bad Blackhawks and Panthers teams (at least he had some nice scenery in Florida). Anderson does have eight playoff appearances between the OHL and the AHL with the Norfolk Admirals.

Howard (26) played in 30 playoff games in three of his four seasons with the Griffins. His AHL Playoff record stands at 12-17. Not that impressive, though neither was his overall career in Grand Rapids. That was then. This is now.

Howard V Bryzgalov will showcase two of the best and hottest young goaltenders in the NHL.

BRYZ FOR VEZ?

The mantle may have been passed for Russia's top puck-stopper after Nabokov's poor performance at the Olympics and Bryzgalov's breakout NHL season. The Coyotes hiked up their dresses to play the Cinderella role all season long. They locked up the fourth seed in the West with 107 points, good for third best in the conference and fourth in the league.

Phoenix was dying in the desert a year ago. Bankruptcy and a not-so-great run with part-owner Wayne Gretzky as head coach had the Coyotes choking on sand. The team literally had to be saved by Gary Bettman and the NHL.

Bryzgalov (29) has been as essential to his team's turnaround as rotting carrion is to a coyote's survival.



Here are Bryzzy's stats on the season:

GAMES PLAYED IN--69--7th in the NHL
WINS--42--3rd
SAVE %--.920--9th
GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE--2.29--6th
SHUTOUTS--8--2nd

Those numbers cry Vezina Trophy nomination. Phoenix captain Shane Doan believes his goalie is deserving of the hardware and capable of carrying the Coyotes deep into the playoffs:

"We think we have the best goalie in the league right now, so we think our goaltending is an advantage to us."

Doan is not dumb. Bryzgalov might just be the best goalie in the league. Plus he has appeared in 16 NHL Playoff games with a 9-5 record during two runs with the Anaheim Ducks behind Jean-Sebastian Giguere. He has a Stanley Cup ring. He wants another one, though this time he ain't no backup.

THE DEAL

I started calling Jimmy Howard "The Deal" early this season soon after he stepped in for a flu-ridden Chris Osgood. Watching him in Grand Rapids, he never impressed me all that much. I figured the Wings would keep bringing in the Ty Conklins of the league and Howard would eventually be released. Honestly!

It was November, 2009, when Howard flipped my entire perception of him. In eight starts Howie went 6-2-0 and allowed less than three goals in five games. I remember saying to a friend, "Wow! Howard is the real deal!" The Wings moved forward from there and Ozzy watched from the bench as his job was lost before his and our eyes. The rest is history, wrapped up nicely in this video. (You may want to mute your monitor, the song is unfortunate.)



The Deal! Howie is deceptively quick; he moves around in the crease like liquid. He has tremendous confidence when facing a shooter and when things get thick in front. And he has the best glove my eyes have ever seen on the hand of a Wings' goalie.

Check Howard's numbers and compare them to Bryzgalov's:

GAMES PLAYED IN--63--11th
WINS--37--8th
SAVE %--.924--4th
GAA--2.26--5th
SHUTOUTS--3--20th

The only category that Bryzzy has a substantial advantage over Howie is shutouts! Howard should be a lock for the Calder Trophy for best rookie, but he should also be in discussions for the Vezina!

Yet, as all of us know, the playoffs are an entirely different car grill full of dead Coyotes. We cannot be sure what to expect from Howard once the puck drops tonight. Mike Babcock understands this:

“It’s not like a playoff game until it’s a playoff game. You never know what’s between a guy’s ears until he’s been through it and survived."

Although the Wings have already faced a high volume of intense pressure just in the regular season, and Howard has thrived in the atmosphere thus far.

“The crowd’s going to be into it, the buildings are going to be loud, it’s going to be a lot of fun," Howard said. “I’ve been in pressure situations, I enjoy it."

Howie seems unflappable, and his upbeat humbleness is so refreshing:

“Plus, I got a great partner in Ozzie. I’m sure he’s going to be giving me little tidbits here and there about situations."

I love this guy! This is the product of four years spent wallowing in the minors. Howard, at least to this point, seems to have the perfect, loose, team-first orientation that it takes for a goalie to become a great regular season player to a star in the playoffs.

Let's @#$%ing Go Howie!

Peace