#30 Chris Osgood
Ozzie
recieved most of the playing time for the first two months of the season, more
even than last season, when Vernon was injured and Hodson was still in
Adirondack. At the beginning of December, Osgood began to falter and
went on to injure his hamstring before the all-star game. Perhaps Chris is
not meant to play more than 50 games in the NHL, and that would be fine,
considering he has two other excellent goaltenders to back him up. When Chris
is on his game, he is one of the top three goalies in the NHL, among Hasek,
Roy and Beezer. However, through December and January, Ozzie played some of
the worst net of his short career. Although he bounced back fairly well towards
the end of the '97 season, Osgood gave way to Mike Vernon in the playoffs.
#29 Mike Vernon
Mike is a solid goaltender.
The more he
plays, the better he gets. The fans have gone down hard on him in the last
couple of years (and I include myself in this) when he has really just come
out, played hard, and done a darn good job at it. Vernon will be the #1
man whenever Osgood is out because he is talented and experienced, despite
the brow-raising play of rookie, Kevin Hodson. I figured he'd play some in the
'97 playoffs, just to keep Ozzie fresh, but as it turned out, Bowman put him in
the net in round 1, to match up against veteran Grant Fuhr, and Vernon never looked
back. He was superb in nearly every game, and was definitely at Conn Smythe form
throughout the playoffs. Detroit, upon winning the Cup, and Vernon having won 3 or
more games in the finals, has a guaranteed year in Detroit on his contract.
However, I have a feeling that Mike will waive the option and test himself on the
free agent market. It's Osgood's time, and Vernon knows this. Also, teams
like Calgary, Vancouver and Raleigh (snicker), are in need of good goaltending
that Vernon has proved he can provide. He will be the biggest commodity on the
'97 free agent market, with the exception of Mark Messier.
#31 Kevin Hodson
'Ticker' is obviously an
excellent goalie who
will only get better with age (as all goalies seem to). He sees the puck
extremely well and only does what he needs to when making a stop. Hodson may
be better than Osgood, but he will still remain the #2 man, behind Chris Osgood,
when Vernon departs. If Vernon doesn't leave, Hodson will almost certainly
request a trade. Who can fault him? He's a great goalie and got almost no time
in any league this year, because Detroit had to keep them on their roster
to prevent him being automatically waived. Hodson, at a year older than Osgood,
can hear the clock 'Ticking'...
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