Sports

Yashinsky: 'It's Now or Never For Jimmy Howard'

April 22, 2014, 2:52 PM by  Joey Yashinsky

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Drew Miller (left) congratulates Jimmy Howard after a game.

The Detroit Red Wings have qualified for the NHL playoffs 23 years in a row.

But they are in danger of experiencing a personal little drought of their own.

Amazingly, since 1995, the Red Wings have advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals at least once every five years.  Meaning, if four seasons pass without a Finals appearance, they are basically guaranteed to play for the Cup the following year.

This 2014 edition represents the last chance to keep the streak alive.  And the pressure falls squarely on the shoulders of one Jimmy Howard.

The goaltenders that preceded Howard in Detroit have set the bar extraordinarily high.

Mike Vernon wore the winged wheel for three years, authoring two Finals trips, and one Cup victory.  

Dominik Hasek arrived in 2001-02 and immediately led the Wings on a run to the championship.  

Chris Osgood was around forever, contributing to three Cup teams, acting as the main backstop for two of those runs.

Generally, if you play between the pipes in Detroit for long enough, you’ll be rewarded with a Finals trip.  Jimmy Howard is still waiting for that to come to fruition.

Howard's Fifth Year 

This is Howard’s fifth year as a playoff goaltender for the Red Wings and he is yet to make it out of the second round.

His first two years were the exact same.  Defeat the Coyotes (who by NHL rules are not allowed to play more than one playoff series in any given year), and then lose to the Sharks. 2012 was a short one round exit against Nashville.  And last year was a Game Seven victory against Anaheim, followed by a Game Seven loss to Chicago.

And now we’re in year number five.  The make-or-break year.  The year where Jimmy Howard needs to leave his mark or be in danger of having to do it elsewhere in the future.

There is generally not such patience for hockey excellence in this city.

Curtis Joseph was given two shots to win over the Detroit faithful over before getting shown the door.

Manny Legace dropped a first rounder to Edmonton in 2006 and it was on to a new guy, which happened to be an old guy in the returning 42-year-old Hasek.  

Hockeytown has never been a place for that slow, methodical, rise to the top.  

Here, you either produce and do so quickly, or it’s a quick trip up I-94 West and the first flight out of Metro in the morning.

Not to say that Howard doesn’t have a very tall task in front of him.  

Bruins Had A Very Winning Year

The Boston Bruins posted a whopping 117 points this year.  They collected 54 victories to Detroit’s 39.  And their goalie, the impossible-to-spell-correctly Tuukka Rask, is the favorite to take home this year’s Vezina Trophy.  

But excuses won’t fly anymore.  Howard needs to make a significant post season dent for this franchise.  

He first suited up in the Detroit red & white back in November of 2005.  It’s now April of 2014.  That’s a healthy chunk of time.  

Fair or not, a team’s playoff hopes are often directly pinned on the man tending goal.  Offensive dry spells are forgotten, defensive lapses are forgiven, but five straight years in Motown without a chance at the Cup is not tolerated.

It’s now or never for Jimmy Howard.  

Winning a pivotal Game 3 at Joe Louis tonight would be an awful good place to start.  

 



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