The Detroit Red Wings have made the playoffs every season for over two decades. That’s the longest running streak in the NHL. This year, is the first time in a long time that they have faced the possibility of not making the playoffs.

At the beginning of the season, goaltending was an issue for the team. At the time, Chris Osgood was the starting goalie and had the third worst save percentage in the league. Jimmy Howard was the backup and had the worst save percentage in the league. Both had save percentages well below .900.

Osgood would end up getting an injury that would sideline him for a few games. At the time, this was thought to be devastating for the team. The Wings were forced to put a struggling Howard, who had very little confidence, in goal. This turned out to be exactly what the young goalie needed.

I was watching the Fox Sports Detroit one day, and they were talking about Jimmy Howard. They were talking about a conversation that Howard had with one of his close friends. He told his friend that he “just needed one game to show that he belonged in the NHL”. At the time, he had no confidence in his ability, and was starting to doubt whether or not he should be the next starting goalie.

The media was not helping either. They were constantly raising questions about Howard’s playing ability, questions that I’m sure the young net-minder was asking himself.

However, there was one group of people that supported Howard, and it was the most influential group on Howard’s future success. That group was the Red Wings organization. They told the fans to be patient and give the goalie time to adjust. The Wings have always been great at developing goalies, as well as acquiring goalies to create championship teams.

I don’t know which game would be called the “turning point”, but it doesn’t matter. Howard’s confidence has increased more than anyone thought possible. He just came off his best game of the season against the LA Kings, where he faced 51 shots, and only allowed 1 goal and has started to make difficult saves look routine.

I said before in an article I wrote on Bleacher Report, that as “Howard started to see success, his confidence increased, and as his confidence increased, he started seeing more success”. That continues to be true today. After having the worst save percentage in the NHL at the beginning of the season, he has turned it around, he now has the third best save percentage in the NHL (.928).

To me, he really has the second best. Tuukka Rask has only played in 19 games and is currently the backup goalie in Boston to Tim Thomas.

Howard’s season has obviously been one of the best in the NHL. However, here are some stats that will put it in perspective for you. Like I said before, Howard’s save percentage is at .928. That’s better than Martin Brodeur (.923), Thomas Vokoun (.924), Evengini Nabokov (.925), Miikka Kiprusoff (.926), and Henrik Lundqvist (.926).

That’s also including the start he had at the beginning of the season. Right now, there is no goalie that’s playing better. During his hot streak, he has had a save percentage of almost .950, which puts him higher than every other goalie in the NHL. The question is, whether or not he can keep this up.

In Detroit, playoff performances are more important than regular season stats. That’s something that Howard has not had experience with yet. Hopefully, the Wings will make the playoffs and we’ll be able to see how well Howard plays in them.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that everything is changing for Jimmy Howard. That includes the stats, the confidence, and the fan perception. Fan perception is something that has changed more than anything else. I actually saw my first Howard souvenir jersey being worn a few days ago.

But, what does the rest of the season hold for the young goalie? Could he really become the rookie of the year? Right now, he’s a leading candidate.

At the beginning of the season, the biggest rookie of the year candidate was Craig Anderson. He was leading the Colorado Avalanche to a ton of wins during October. However, his season has started to turn south, he’s gone from the top five, to 14th.

If you were to tell most Red Wing fans that Jimmy Howard would be a rookie of the year candidate back in October, most would have thought you were insane. Now, it doesn’t seem so far fetched. He has done the most important thing he can do for Wings fans. He has given them a goalie that they can trust on a nightly basis to work hard and make great saves.

As the Wings front office knows, a great goalie is the first step to winning a Stanley Cup, and there should be a few in the future for Jimmy Howard, as long as he stays with the Wings.

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