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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Drew Sharp: Silence is golden for Wings' Howard - Detroit Free Press

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Drew Sharp: Silence is golden for Wings' Howard - Detroit Free Press
Apr 15th 2012, 09:52

It's the middle of April. The Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, the NFL draft's approaching, and there's not even the tiniest controversy or complaint in town about the state of the Red Wings' starting goaltending or the Lions' starting quarterbacking.

Detroit must be going through withdrawal.

"Everybody's always told me that the two toughest jobs in Detroit were being the Wings' goalie and the Lions' quarterback," said goaltender Jimmy Howard, "because of all the attention it gets and how everybody's always talking about it."

They're normally screaming, or at the very least worrying. But the vibe is strangely optimistic regarding both positions.

Howard was a first-team All-Star this season. Matthew Stafford should've made the Pro Bowl last season considering he became one of only a handful NFL quarterbacks to pass for 5,000 yards in a season.

Howard already is one of the top-five goalies in the game right now. Stafford's another huge passing season and 2012 playoff appearance from perhaps joining that same upper echelon in the NFL.

You'd have to go back about 55 years, to the days of Terry Sawchuk and Bobby Layne, to find a similar scenario when the Wings and Lions had one of the best goalies and quarterbacks at the same time.

The Lions have their first off-season organized team activity (OTA) Monday.

Stafford is the franchise. The Lions made wide receiver Calvin Johnson the highest paid nonquarterback in league history last month, but it's nothing compared to what Stafford will command if last season wasn't an aberration.

Must we wait until Nicklas Lidstrom's retirement before officially recognizing Howard as the Wings' franchise?

Before assorted injuries crippled the Wings' playoff seeding, coach Mike Babcock thought this team offered his best chance of a Stanley Cup since the Wings were defending champs three years ago. That confidence started with Howard.

He lacks Stafford's swagger, and football lends itself to gaudy numbers that look more impressive. But it's nothing short of extraordinary that the Wings have killed off their last 37 consecutive penalties in nine games. It's not coincidental that seven games ago Howard returned after a groin injury shelved him for the second time in the regular season's second half.

The Wings are 12-for-12 on the penalty kill against Nashville, ranked first in the league in power-play efficiency in the regular season. The Predators might have believed that they had a sizable edge in net with 6-foot-5 Pekka Rinne, but their inability to solve Howard with the man advantage has been the biggest difference through the first two games.

Howard preferred giving the bulk of the credit to those playing in front of him. But he has excelled with two key PK components missing. Darren Helm is gone for the duration after surgery on his right forearm following Game 1, and Babcock remains hesitant to use Lidstrom on the penalty kill out of concerns that the captain could aggravate that badly bruised right ankle blocking a laser off the stick of Nashville's Shea Weber from the point.

"We're doing a great job of blocking shots," Howard said. "Nothing is coming in from up top. Guys are stepping in there and taking them."

Howard stays humble, because he knows how long it took him to stick with the parent club. The patience that the organization exhibited in "overseasoning" him in the minors often was perceived as him simply not being good enough instead of simply not being ready.

He deflects the gushing of impending stardom like an opposing wrist shot from the slot.

But that won't stop the peppering of praise in his direction.

Contact Drew Sharp: 313-223-4055 or dsharp@freepress.com .

Join Free Press special writer Nick Meyer for a live blog of Game 3 of the Red Wings-Predators series today at freep.com/sports.

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