Why?

1) I'm jealous of Ray and Biatch.
2) Thanks to a good week in baseball, (thank you Roy Halladay+AJ Burnett), I feel giddy+stupid+way too confident to hold onto my money.
3) I would have preferred to just keep betting on baseball, but I like these odds too much to pass it up. Its Osgood for ****s sake!
4) Last week's FCP prop betting extraganza has me itching to bet on everything. Today I nearly bet some guy $50 on our way down to the garage that the elevator would stop at an odd numbered floor.
5) I don't believe in long term relationships.....with my gambling roll.
6) I'm jealous of Ray and Biatch.

Starting Roll: $441.87

$100 Anaheim WIN +200
$100 Anaheim WIN in regulation +300


My favourite animal is steak.

FIRST..

Awesome..

Good luck

Imaginary hug, you may be the only one in business after tonight

I wish you spelled it extraanza so I could make a joke about your one night stand without any vag


GLGLGL go team!

lol...hilarious how your mind works.

this really hurts me...

I was thinking of you when placing the bet, and had already decided that 10% of all winnings will go to charity, namely BABBLO.

(Briand Adoption of Barbershop Biatch's Little Offspring fund)

Awesome! lol

Rejection's a bitch.

Go Whalers, dont let this night get even worse.

It's Osgood?!! Have you watched him in these playoffs? How about, oh I dunno, the last 15 years? Foolish bet IMO.

Dude, friends dont dis other friends one night stands. Oh wait, thats exactly what friends do. Then again, you and I aren't friends.

I really would take you more at face value if you didnt come across as a Wings fan. Sorry for my rant to come....

Since you asked....yeah, I watched him a little in these playoffs. He's been great. And believe it or not, watched him off and on the last 15yrs too. Have you? Im always curious how old the guys Im posting with are....for ie, Im 37 yrs old, and I have watched Osgood most my life. If you tell me your 22, Im gonna guess you havent really been around all 15yrs.
Ive seen a guy win Cups with great teams, and sometimes, I have seen a goalie who cost his team a run. He has been knocked out in the second round before, and I believe in the first round a few times too.

I will readily admit that unlike some rabid Wings fan, I have not seen every Wings game. Then again, if you have, that tells me you have no idea about the rest of the NHL and have little to compare Osgood to, in such a scenario as last night.

I really have little desire to turn this into another battle of me VS random dude whose team/player is God almighty and can do no wrong.

But I will state the following:

-He was brutal this year during the regular season. 45th out of ALL 47 NHL goalies in SV%. I figured, what the hell, maybe those 55 games meant something and would come back to haunt him last night.

-It was a bet. It gave great odds. I threw in the Osgood thing as half a joke. I should have guessed some guy with Red Wings tattoed on his ass would tell me Im wrong. Its called an underdog and pays well for a reason.

IMO.........he is the worst of the 4 goalies left. Only Fleury hasn't won a Cup, and anyone you ask will tell you the other 3 gtd's in these playoffs currently have the ability to practically will their team to a Cup. I dont see that in Osgood, past victories to the contrary. again, JUST MY OPINION. Im sorry if that offends you, but if you told me Cam Ward was shaky at times, Carolina's depth lacking and apart from Staal not many clutch performers on this team, Id agree! My team has faults, yes. Im really curious how many Wings fans would say today that they have an edge in goaltending.

For what its worth, you might see in the Wings thread I actually said I was wrong about Osgood, and that he played a GREAT game. He did. But at least I went off of facts, and not blind loyalty. (although blind loyalty would have paid off unlike the Ducks!!!)

If you think Osgood/Wings had no chance of losing that game, then what can I say? You and I disagree. For me, just a fun bet, taking a chance on an anything can happen game 7.

There is no denying my man love for Ozzie. I have been a fan before he even was a regular starter for the Wings.

But I can't say I wasn't nervous last night and part of it was his record in game 7's. 1-3 I believe going into last night.

I think Ozzie gets a bad rap though. But that discussion has happened before and it just isn't worth rehashing.

I understood your bets last night. And as much I like you Arp, I am glad you lost but if we meet again, the beer will be on me.

then, 2nd round of beers on me.

I do actually believe Osgood gets a bad rap too. Its just, some of the criticism IS deserved. But not all.

I'll admit too, that I love the fact that before these playoffs started, he had an attitude about the media disrespecting him based on the regular season, and I believe just said something like "wait til the playoffs are here". He was right. He was terrible in the reg. season, but he has stepped up in the playoffs, and really, thats all that matters to the Wings. I liked his confidence.

Glad your team won, too bad it had to cost me money, but thats the way gambling goes sometimes.

oh, the osgood debate. I believe I made an enemy out of dale over our good friend ozzie.

That was actually what I was thinking about and didn't want see that happen again.

I was just being obstinate, lol. I am generally not a touchy person.

I am. Don't mess with me, I might insult you.

Hey no hard feelings bro...lol. I was just a bit taken aback by your "It's F*&%* Osgood!"

Yes you are right. He has blown some big games, some leads, some series, etc. Yes he did struggle in the regular season. But you have to realize Wings' goalies rarely are among the league leaders in S%. Because they allow the least shots, and teams generally don't take a lot of low percentage shots against the Wings, because more often than not, they will turn that into a solid scoring chance going the other way. I'm guessing most of the other goalies this year with a similar save % as him did not have as winning of a record (correct me if I'm wrong).

Yeah I realize it was a good price. I just thought the Wings have played well enough this entire playoffs to give them a pretty solid edge at home in a game 7 vs. an unknown goalie (essentially). Hiller played amazing, don't get me wrong. But Ozzie has been very solid the whole playoffs and I was very confident the boys would hold it down for him (albeit barely, tight game).

But yeah I wasn't trying to insult you or anything, just was thinking to myself "Isn't Osgood the most winning goalie in Red Wing playoff history?!" (At least I think he is, once again I could be wrong)

And yes, I'm most definitely a Wings fan. And I have been a Wings fan for Osgood's entire span with the team. I'm 27 years old, so I've been around for the duration. There have been plenty of times I cursed his name and smashed a random object in my house...but I've always been a backer of Ozzie and will remain so. He's a standup guy and has had a great career.

See you in the '02 finals rematch maybe?

(I kinda disagree that Bulin can will his team to a victory, and although Ward is great, he's still young and we need to see a repeat of '06 before I'm entirely convinced. Fleury had been a late bloomer and still lacks consistency at times, so I kinda disagree that Ozzie is the worst left. Oldest yes. Most winningest, yes. Shakiest? Yes. But I have faith.)

Osgood is the worst goalie left and it isn't even close. If he played for any of the other 3 teams they wouldn't be in the conference finals.

lol

In your opinion I guess. What is it in particular that makes him the worst by far?

I realize you weren't addressing me, and I haven't even made my opinions clear, but take these 4 sets of stats from the regular season this year (and yes, playoffs are different), but it's a good place to start.

sv%: .919
gaa: 2.33
so: 3

sv%: .887
gaa: 3.09
so: 2

sv%: .912
gaa: 2.67
so: 4

sv%: .916
gaa: 2.44
so: 6


Those are the 4 starting goaltenders left in the playoffs. Without looking it up, try to guess who is who.

that is one year worth of stats, let's pull out last years stats and pick out who is who and if we want we can keep going year after year. The fact is that no one is saying that during the last regular season Ozzie was great, he had undeniably his worst reg season to date I believe and he admits it as well. He stated at the end of the season that he was bored from day 1 and couldn't bring himself to push himself too much. While I disagree with that type of thinking, as long as he showed up when it counts, oh well and so far he has shown up when it counts


.904
2.75
4

.909
2.63
2

.914
2.09
4

.921
2.33
4


You can't judge a goalie on one year especially his 15th. Well unless the numbers help you make the point you are trying to make.

chris osgood is the best goalie left in the playoffs imo

Steve, I qualified all of that in my post.

I was simply showing those numbers as a starting point to a debate; one that I don't really care enough to have.

One season is certainly a pretty good representation of ones game, it's a decent enough sample size. The fact that his numbers were that bad, AND he played for the 3rd best team in the regular season does say something, though.

I won't deny that he gets it done, he's been on winning teams, been on strong teams, etc. There's nothing in his game that tells me he should be placed ahead of any of the other 4 goalies, though, looking at it a slightly different way.

Why not look up Fleury's stats for his whole career? Going by one year is not a good sample size. Yes he plays for one of the best teams, but with that comes a strong defense who allows very few shots. Opposition rarely take low percentage shots against Detroit because they will make you pay going the other way. Hence I would say more of the shots he faces are legit scoring chances then what the opposing goalie sees (Det will sometimes fire 45 shots a night, with a lot of them being shoot-ins directly on net, slapshots from around the point, etc.). I understand your points, but I think if Osgood was facing 40+ shots a night (like Luongo did in Florida), his save percentage would be improved drastically. He was also part of a two goaltender rotation most of the year which certainly adds to the situation.

I think his career speaks for itself. You can't hold the fact that he played for the Wings against him because they are a good team. He was certainly part of what made them a good team. And his stats last year in the playoffs were excellent, and are certainly very good this year. His regular season numbers from this year really mean nothing at this point. As SB said, previous to the playoffs, he admitted this was probably his worst regular season but he knows when to amp it up and he certainly has.

Fleury has really proved nothing at this point in his career, Ward was part of a miracle run and although he has not lost a playoff series, he was also part of the team who didn't make the playoffs. Bulin has always been a solid goaltender and it's certainly not a coincidence that his performance increased this year with his contract coming to a close.

That being said, I think all 4 goalies are excellent. It's just frustrating to see Ozzie trashed so much after all he's done and endured. They do say the hardest job in sports is being a Yankee Pitcher and a Red Wing goalie!

Well, since you asked:

GAA: 2.87
SV%: .907

GAA: 2.47
SV%: .906

Obviously those numbers need to be put into context. One goalie is still at the very beginning of the prime of their career, while another went through theirs already. He also happened to have the prime of his career during the lowest scoring period that the NHL has ever had, while playing for a substantially more successful team. Fleury didn't play a ton during his first 2 seasons, although 50 GP in his second season is enough that the fact that the Penguins were the among the worst teams in the league during those years should have some effect on his numbers, not to mention he was still a rookie, technically.

I had no intention of making this a debate between solely Fleury and Osgood, mostly because I don't feel Fleury is the best goalie left in the playoffs either. Fleury has a bit of the same thing going that Osgood has, though. At least early in his career, he's proven to be a very money goalie when it matters. His play in the playoffs last year was absolutely dominant at times, and really was the biggest reason the Penguins pushed the Red Wings to 6 games (think about his amazing triple-OT performance in game 5). Osgood has the same sort of style, where his numbers won't always be the greatest, but when it matters, he makes the big save. The biggest thing about both of these guys right now, is that they both have good enough offenses in front of them that they can get away with that.

Fwiw, I don't think the argument is over who has proved the most in their career, historically. It's simply who is the best goalie RIGHT NOW, and I think that's the difference between the Wings' fans side of the debate, and someone like MLP or myself.

For my money, Cam Ward is the best goalie in the playoffs right now.

I think cop would probably say cam ward as well.

Maybe khabi is worse than ozzie, I don't know. that's the only way I could see saying ozzie isn't the worst of the final four.

obviously that is completely irrelevant to the discussion of who is most likely to win the cup... because then I think the answer is the wings.

I cant believe this thread is still going. I feel like Serge.

One thing....are the Wings playing poor defence in the playoffs? Why is it Im hearing from one side that Osgood SV% is low because the Wings dont give up a lot of shots, while at the same time being noted that Ozzie made 42 saves last night.

Those of you who like Osgood more than I.....Im curious, where do you rank the 4 remaining goalies? Say its game 7 of the semifinals....who would you like to have, in order?

1. Cam Ward
2. Osgood
3. Fleury
4. Kabbi

I agree actually. I have never been arguing that Ozzie is the best, only arguing that he is not the worst.

Personally I put it like this...

Cam

Fluery/Osgood (I think there is a good argument for either one for 2nd)

Khabby.

I dont totally disagree with this. But I would really raise Khahbibulin though. IF I take out last year, a year in which he was supposedly hurting, I have to say the way he played this year and the way he played in the playoff run for Tampa, so out of his mind, makes him just as good as Osgood+Fleury at least.

And I just think Fleury is a talented goalie who is actually gonna get better too.

What your saying isnt off the wall IMO, we just disagree on Osgood, and probably Nikolai too.

I have never been impressed with Khabby, nor have I paid that much attention to him to be honest. But when I do, he looks like a solid goalie but not one I would strive to get on my team. Same with Ozzie, as I said in the Wings thread, he isn't awesome, he is just solid. I looked at the career numbers on these guys and they all have had impressive years. Nikolia's stats the year he won the cup were great, but what has he really done outside of that year. Ozzie is now playing his 3rd decent playoff run. Cam and Fluery are much younger and I don't doubt that as the years go by they will get better. No argument there at all.

I think for you and I at least, you see Ozzie the way I see Khabby and vcice versa and I don't think either one of us is terribly off base.

Damn, 5:00 and I am taking my dad out to dinner and gotta run, I will post again later.

The only reason it's going is because saying "Osgood is the worst" is sort of a baffling statement. OBV he's not in the prime of his career anymore. Neither is Roloson though, and I'd probably take him over all these goalies in a game 7 situation (when he is playing like he is capable and healthy).

Yes the Wings gave up 40+ shots the other night. How many other times did that happen these playoffs? This season? It's obviously a rare occurence. And whaddya know, he rose to the occasion. I was just saying on average, the Wings fire the most SOG per game, and are USUALLY among the lowest for SA.

I would probably agree with the order others said. Although after seeing Ward get lit up tonight... Haha...

You seem to get really hyped up about this. I'm not trying to start a pissing match with you...you seem like you are personally offended at times. It's just in good fun.

oh man, NOT AT ALL. Sorry if it comes off that way, I pride myself in thinking I never try to make it a pissing contest. I hate that shit on here.

To me, Im just discussing the matter. Personally, Im always intrigued by how other people see things different than I. You guys have watched Osgood way more than I have, and I will always try to respect your opinion.

At the end of the day, all I said was he was the last guy Id pick of the 4 goalies left, not the worst of 50! Im not trying to incite anything, just make my points. I think having met me, and me him, Steve (piddle duck/sbriand) and I know we're just discussing it, not trying to goad each other. I just dont think we are that type, so antagonistic. Sounds like your the same, sorry if I came off any different.

I really dont think he is crap, or that bad. I respect his record, I respect how solid he has been when the Wings needed him....it just so happens he lost my faith this year during the reg season, and quite frankly, I really like the other 3 gtd still left more than most.

Fair enough. I respect your opinion. I was quite disappointed with his reg. season performance as well. But he usually answers the call in the playoffs so I can't lose faith in him. I'm just thankful we finally ditched Hasek for good (knock on EFFIN wood)! LOL

Oh I just noticed...Ozzie's .925 S% and 2.05 GAA and 10 wins lead all 3 categories for the playoffs among remaining goaltenders...

Can I get a hell yeah?!?!

I thought it was funny after all this talk that Cam and MAF give up 10 goals.

Not a good start for Ozzy tonight...but the first goal was a perfect deflection on the PP, so no blame there. Second one was a bit iffy, but meh.

hehe...its become the Osgood thread.

I have to admit, while I didnt see 1 second of the game, I heard from someone the game was 3-0 Hawks early on, and my first thought was I really hope Osgood let in some bad ones!

Off topic, but congrats to Arp, who did a fantastic job last night with a charity poker tournament, raising money for Autistic Children. He and his crew worked their butts off to help a good cause.... Nice work!

I think Osgood is better than Huet.

lol

I think Marian Hossa might be God...

thanks Chris, great job by you and your team as well.
The whole night was a success all around, everyone had a great time and we raised a nice chunk of change for a worthy cause.

Seeing the room full of poker tables was quite a rush. Next one coming soon!!!

no argument there!

Not sure how this became the Osgood thread BUT:

Watching Osgood reminds me a lot of Grant Fuhr. Fuhr never was the best goalie statistically but if you needed a big save in the third period up 6-5, he was your man...Last night Osgood made some very key saves to keep the Wings in the game late and his record in the finals is eerie good..I think even after last night loss he is something like 12-3 with a GAA of under 2.00

He even said that his idol was Grant Fuhr growing up.

There is a lot to be said for goalies that perform well under pressure....Example Luongo, he had a phenomenal regular season, but when it came time to step up, he didnt...

There is talks of Osgood for Hall of Fame, I am behind this...

Going into last night I believe Chris was 10-2 all time in the finals with a GAA under 1.50.

He definitely knows when to step up.

He's looked a bit shaky in the last 2 games, to be honest, though. Results are what matter, and he's got a ton of wins, so all the power to him.