I think Chris Osgood should start for the playoffs.

I have never, really had much confidence in starting Osgood, in most any situations.

Last season I was a firm believer in Hasek carrying the load for the playoff burden. All throughout this year I held the same mentality.Even with Osgood’s “All-Star” season, I was still very skeptical.

It’s come to the point now where it’s almost undeniable; Hasek shouldn’t start in the playoffs.

Babcock’s plan to start him for most of the remaining games isn’t exactly working out, with a slight nagging injury before and poor performance as of late (in spite of a poor team performance as well), Hasek looks unable to perform to his top ability.

This season when Osgood has felt confident, his game is better than it’s ever been. His positioning is solid and he challenges perfectly in the right situations. He gives the team a great feeling of confidence and therefore plays better in front of him.

Ever since the All-Star game though Osgood’s game has been somewhat shaky at times, not looking like himself this season. Starting him the last 10 or so games of the season should help get him back on top of his game.

Update - Hasek made some great looking saves in the 3/20 meeting against Nashville, however he still let in a weak goal, putting his total to 3 for the game.

Other Notes

Henrik Zetterberg hasn’t had the greatest month so far, scoring only 3 goals in the past 17 games. All of this of course is before the last game on March 20th when Zetterberg scored a natural hat-trick in the 3rd period to put the Wings up 3-1 against the Blue Jackets and ultimately win the game. Now this may just be hindsight bias, but in the first two periods Zetterberg looked angry and determined in the first two periods. He was jumping everywhere and he continued to drive the net. He had that look in his eyes, the look that shows you that you know the game is on his back.

Hopefully not literally though, his back is always a concern among Red Wings fans.

With his upcoming last year of his contract, Holland has been preparing to give him a contract extension to keep him with the team. The worry is if his back will hold up enough to have him be worth a long term, expensive contract. Clearly when he’s on his game, he is nearly unbeatable. He brings all the intangibles to the table, and he’ll be the eventual Captain of the team.

Though with his bad back, it’s hard to see whether or not it will effect him later in his career or not. When healthy, he can lead the league in scoring. When hurt, his leadership and defense is undeniable but the numbers don’t always show up. It’s hard to say whether or not that makes him worth Pavel Datsyuk money (which he clearly is when healthy). Datsyuk is rarely ever hurt and continues to put up numbers.

Franzen is an absolute beast.