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By Matthew Wuest - www.RedWingsCentral.com May 14, 2007 The Detroit Red Wings may not have room for Jimmy Howard in the NHL next season, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. According to Grand Rapids Griffins general manager Bob McNamara, the 23-year-old goaltender could use another year of seasoning in the American Hockey League before making the jump to the big club. Howard had a good year with the Griffins, a middle-of-the-road team without much scoring punch. He started 49 games, going 21-21-3 with a six shutouts, a 2.70 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. The 6-foot, 215-pounder improved as the season went on and made his biggest gains in the post-season, when he posted a 1.93 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage and almost led the Griffins to a seven-game upset of the higher-seeded Manitoba Moose in the AHL first round. Howard had a difficult playoff experience in 2005-06, when the Griffins — then regular-season champs — were ousted in the semifinals. “He learned a lot this year and his play in the playoffs was much better based on the experience he gained from last year,” McNamara said. The Red Wings have backup Chris Osgood under contract and hope to bring starter Dominik Hasek back for another year at age 43. McNamara said at mid-season that Howard still had a lot of maturing to do mentally, as far as learning to shake off soft goals. “The mental side was coming around for him,” McNamara said. “He was getting better and better and I think he’s close. He has a little ways to go, but I think he’s close. He recognizes it’s part of his development.” At this time last year, McNamara correctly tabbed Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler as ready to step into the NHL. He also identified Tomas Kopecky as another who could make the jump. McNamara hasn't yet had his end-of-season meetings with Red Wings' staff because of the lengthy NHL playoff run. Here’s a look at news from this past week: * Stefan Liv, Howard’s goaltending partner in Grand Rapids this past season, signed with HV-71 of the Swedish Elite League this week. Liv, who started 34 games and had a 3.01 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage, is eligible to become an NHL unrestricted free agent on July 1. McNamara said Liv hasn’t informed him of his intentions. Howard is the only non-NHL goaltender under contract for next season. Logan Koopmans’ three-year contract expires this summer, and he’s contemplating retirement. In fact, the only other goaltender in the system, period, is Daniel Larsson, and he’s expected to stay in Sweden for another year. The Red Wings will undoubtedly be in the market this summer for a couple of lower level minor-league journeymen to fill out the system. * Forward Darren Helm (Medicine Hat, Western Hockey League) heads to the Memorial Cup in Vancouver on Friday a WHL champion. Helm and his Medicine Hat Tigers battled back from a 3-2 series deficit to beat the Vancouver Giants in seven games. They capped the series with a 3-2 double-overtime victory on Monday. Helm finishes the WHL playoffs with 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in 24 games, second in the league. That said, he had just two points (goal, assist) in the seven-game final. * Forward Anton Axelsson has signed with Timra of the Swedish Elite League. He spent last season with Frolunda, recording 12 points in 52 games. * Defenseman Jakub Kindl (Kitchener, Ontario Hockey League) finished second to Sudbury’s Marc Staal in voting for the OHL’s outstanding defenseman award. Kindl had 55 points in 54 games. The following are this season’s playoff statistics (grey background indicates prospect whose team has been eliminated from post-season):
The following are this season's playoff goaltending statistics (grey background indicates prospect whose team has completed its schedule):
The following are this season’s final regular-season statistics:
The following are this season's final regular-season goaltending statistics:
LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; ECHL -- East Coast Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; RUS-2 -- Russian second level; FIN -- Finnish Elite League; FIN-J20 -- Finnish under-20 junior league; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-3 -- Swedish third level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 junior league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; NCAA -- National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1; USHL -- United States Hockey League. |
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