Detroit Red Wings' goalie Jimmy Howard out for next two contests, Ty Conklin enters scene-NHL Update
Detroit Red Wings’ main goalie, Jimmy Howard, has been announced to be sitting out for the next two matchups as he suffers from a broken finger, the team let the media know on Friday, February 3, 2012, but as one player goes out, another will be coming in to take over.
Many observers are of the view that as Ty Conklin, being the backup to Howard, might not get that much time in the net, he certainly has the time to show him team what he made up of, something that might even allow him to become a frontrunner when Detroit needs performance the most.
It is believed to be during Detroit’s Thursday night game against Vancouver Canucks in Canada that Howard broke his finger while blocking a shot from the opposing end, but returned to play the rest of the game, leading the Red Wings to a 4-3 victory in a shootout.
Having a broken finger is not anything new for Jimmy Howard, who thinks that the two-game rest is without reason.
"I've played with broken fingers before," Howard said, "so I'm going to fiddle around with my sticks and cut some notches out of them, so hopefully I'll be able to hold on to them."
With Conklin becoming the main goalie for Detroit, the Red Wings have also called up Joey MacDonald to be his backup from their minor league affiliate team in the American Hockey League (AHL), the Grand Rapids.
"Good opportunity -- he's getting a chance and is ready to go," Detroit coach, Mike Babcock, said. "We've got to play real well, like we always try to do. If we do that, we give Conks an opportunity to be good."
Jimmy Howard has played in 44 games this 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season with an impressive record of 32 wins and only 11 losses and a .924 save percentage and 2.03 goals against average.
"When you play well and win games, you get rewarded for doing that," Babcock added.
Conklin will be playing the next two games against Edmonton Oilers on Saturday and Phoenix Coyotes on Monday.
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