Detroit Red Wings Goalie Jimmy Howard Is Facing Late-Onset Sophomore Slump

It was the thing every Detroit Red Wings fan dreaded and every Winged Wheel-hater hoped for over the summer—Jimmy Howard's sophomore slump.

Sure, he had had a marvelous rookie season and was going to be entering training camp as Detroit's top man between the pipes, but we'd seen the end of this movie before hadn't we?

The young, rookie phenom-goalie emerging as his team's savior his first season, only to become their achilles heel the next was a script played out most recently by 2009 Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason in Columbus.

Before the season began, some thought we'd be seeing the sequel to this tear jerker in Detroit, only with Jimmy Howard taking over the role from Mason.

So much for sequels.

By the end of the first month of the season, Jimmy Howard looked about as solid and sound in net as he did all of last year, only this time, with even more confidence in his abilities.

Howard ended the month of October with a 4-0-1 record, a .925 goals-against and a 2.14 save percentage, nearly identical to the numbers he ended his brilliant rookie season with.

Many pundits—including this author—loudly declared the fears about Howard's second season slide to be terribly misplaced and that his status as a top-notch NHL goaltender was well on its way towards becoming undisputed.

While at the time no other conclusion could have been drawn, in the two months since these assertions were made suggest that the judgments about Howard's second season were made too quickly.

Now, while Howard does lead all NHL goalies in wins with 20, his overall play over the past two months has slipped considerably since the season's start.

Howard ended November with a 2.52 GAA and .912 save percentage.

While hardly terrible, these stats aren't exactly superb and certainly far below the standard Howard set for himself through the first month of the season.

December's numbers are now firmly in the books and one finds that Howard's stats have continued to head south.

He's currently boasting a 2.70 GAA and .907 save percentage.

If you'd like to make the argument that stats, in and of themselves, aren't really the best way to judge a goalie, I'd be inclined to agree with you.

By themselves, statistics do not tell you the whole story.

However, when you look at Howard's downward trend and consider the fact that he has five wins in his last 10 starts and gave up at least three goals in four of those five, one sees that Howard may indeed be slipping in net for the Wings.

With the firepower Detroit has, they are more than capable of producing offensively.  But having to score four or more goals to win games is hardly a successful strategy in the NHL.

Of late, Howard has habitually surrendered at least three goals per game, and though his team has managed to win some of these tilts, their puck-luck isn't going to last forever.

With Pavel Datsyuk and Dan Cleary out at least until the end of this month, and a few other Red Wings nursing lingering injuries, now is not the time for this team to rely solely on offense to win games.

To a man, their defensive play must improve and so too must their goal-tending.

With two of their top players out for an extended stretch, the chance for other Red Wings to emerge as heroes looms large.

Jimmy Howard must use this opportunity to become the difference maker he was 12 months ago and ensure that his injured pals come back to a team with a goalie that gives his team a shot at winning every night.

Howard has proved in the past that he can be that goalie, but the evidence supporting this fact has grown a bit thin of late.

Yes, Jimmy Howard currently leads the NHL in wins.

Still, if he doesn't pick up his play, and fast, he and the Wings will be seeing fewer of them as their season rolls on.

So, you may still hold fast to your belief that Howard is no sophomore slouch, and in the end, you may be right.

Nevertheless, Howard is slumping right now, and he's in his sophomore season, so what else should we call it?

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