conundrumed
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Posts posted by conundrumed
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52 minutes ago, Cowtownguy said:
I sure hope that Smith comes back soon. We just don't know how well Rittich will play if he gets the majority of the next 25 games.
GG played Smith too frequently.
I'm not too worried atm. We seem to be a different team with Rittich, and Gillies is similar to Rittich.
It's why we have a goalie pipeline. If we're going to fret over forcing guys to take the next step it's a waste of breath.This is oft-times how so many get a chance.
It puts our development to the test, which might actually be pretty good.
But this is precisely why Rittich probably should have gotten a few more starts up until now.
He's shown no reason why you wouldn't.
Foresight is a fickle thing.
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13 minutes ago, Amander said:
Looks like Gillies has been called u on emergency basis
Smith has been ruled out for Tuesday and GG indicated they would update Smith's injury status tomorrow.
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One thing I was seeing with Smith last night. When you leave the puck behind the net, GET OUT OF THE WAY!!
Each and every time the dman HAS to slow down because you're in the way.
It's a fast pace, if something is there, it's gone because you're lolly-gagging in the way.
But to end on a positive, his ability to stop pucks and tips through screens is unreal.
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9 minutes ago, 420since1974 said:
I heard that Smith is teaching puck handling to Rittich.
What else have you heard? lol.
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13 minutes ago, travel_dude said:
It's what you need to do. You can;t risk losing Smith by playing him over 60 games.
That would land Smith at 60. I'm assuming he'll land closer to 70.
Not my choice, just assuming.
Does Rittich have a medical condition? It has to be something. Why the kid gloves?
Here's what I see...
We have a great D on paper. They LOOK great when Rittich is in net, not so great with Smith, but Smith can win by himself, so the point is kind of a wash.
But only if Smith can stay mad enough to win alone.
Pretty sure Smith's puckhandling is inconsistent, Rittich's is non-existent.
Which is a better plan, or is it great that our 2 goalies are so different?
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The big question...Will we give Rittich more starts? Are we confident enough now that we don't have to ride Smith hard to the end?
Is another 15 starts realistic?
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I don't want to sound like I'm constantly piling on GG, I just wish he would try different things. He just keeps doing the same thing over and over waiting and believing it will pay off eventually. But what if eventually never happens?
2 teams have played the entire season with less minutes in the lead than us.
Those teams are Buffalo and Arizona. 30th and 31st, respectively.
Couple that with GG not being one to shorten his bench much, it just doesn't seem like a good formula to me. I get that you need your top 9 fresh if you get an opportunity for a PP or O-zone faceoff with time dwindling, but the formula has not been successful to date. While most of us concede we're playing well in losing, if we decide nothing needs adjusting, I'm afraid that first pick for the Isles is going to creep higher and higher.
Smith is the only one keeping our heads above water, it's asking a lot for that to continue.
Although JG and Mony had 2 pts each in the last game, they've been rutting hard. Is that due to the woes of the PP?
Watching Mony ditch off to Ferland last game was particularly hard to watch. He's shooting 18%, near 1 in 5 is going in. How is it he doesn't look confident enough right now?
Is the PP having the same effect on the players that it's having on the fans?
I don't have answers, but there are too many questions imho.
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4 minutes ago, travel_dude said:
2 years ago, people were quietly saying Brodie would start getting the Norris mention. Now, he's on track for the Wideman award.
Watching Brodie struggle on the point in a PP is painful. He's a setup guy or a skater. Even having him and Hamilton on the same unit is having two guys that take wrist shots. Ah, well, Gully knows best. Keep starting Smith every game possible, even though Rittich has shown he plays behind a better team. Keep Brodie out there for 24 minutes when he's struggling. Ice the 4th line after a goal for or against. Refuse to even consider trying Tkachuk on the top line. Play Jagr in Frolik's spot. Sit out Kulak to keep Bart from getting stale.
If Rittich doesn't get 20 starts, then there is something wrong. He's done exactly what he's been asked to do, and then some. He doesn't handle the puck too much. He plays the angles without giving up too much to the pass.
I used to love the chemistry you could see with Brodie and Mony when Brodie was on the RD. Brodie could find Mony in the slot from one side, JG from the other.
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4 minutes ago, travel_dude said:
The only loss Rittich gave up was a SO loss. Every game he plays, he looks calm.
But, you are right that Smith will get far more games than he should. Waste his season on games where we don't even show up.
Tire him out before the playoffs, even if Rittich gives us enough chance to win.
Mangiapane being used for 8 minutes, while Jagr easily is a step behind the Backlund line. First shift of the game and he gets a scoring chance. Actually made the 4th line look like a decent 4th line. As well as he could.
Ras is wasting away. Should never have been sent down. He's better than Kulak. But, hey, the coach knows more. Gotta get Bart in the lineup. Yes, Prout was a smart trade for depth, but why do we bother with an AHL team if we don't use the D-men being developed there. Spoon was at least as good as Kulak, and is top 2 in Stockton.
Meanwhile, we suffer through Brodie's lack of awareness most shifts.
I think it's getting fair to say that GG has ruined Brodie in his arrogance.
We just have to look at TJ prior to GG and after.
Gio having a Norris yr prior to being injured, Brodie taking over with Wideman.
Imho, GG has Brodie turned inside out. He has done nothing but struggle with the direct correlation being GG's tenure.
Before that, no problem.
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On 12/29/2017 at 2:23 PM, travel_dude said:
He's shown us what a backup needs to be. Steady, never nervous, ready to play at a top level, I think he needs to get every 2nd or 3rd game for the next little while to both give Smith a break and see what Rittich is all about. He was perfect in the game and only let in a top shelf shot from the slot, with a falling player screening the shot, and a point shot that was deflected down by a player that should have been covered. He stopped two breakaways, one in the last second of OT. Even Smith is about 50/50 on those.
At this point in the season, I'd think he has to get at least 1 in every 4.
Unfortunately, I doubt that will happen.
Smith is playing very well and goalies like him want every game. But the flip side to that is if he starts to falter, we'll find out we waited too long.
I'm not going to pretend to understand the Flames view on Rittich, other than I simply don't get it.
He totally saved us from Lack, that's all I know!
He should have gotten a lot more consideration for the backup from the get-go, but they bring in Lack. I hate that we always refuse to give guys proving worthy on the farm a real shot. Not unlike sending Janko and Hathaway down in, "a numbers game".
Wait and wait and wait...now we even see Mangia-mangia bringing something to the table.
It's like mgmt has blinders on and force the square pegs into the round holes until they're desperate.
Then it's, "oh, why did we wait so long".
Hi Rasmus...welcome to the dreaded, "numbers game".
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On 11/28/2017 at 11:03 AM, travel_dude said:
Parson, Gillies, Rittich, Schneider.
The reason why I said that MacDonald was a right-off was that I haven't seen anything from him at any level that implies he's anything at the pro level.
Schneider is too early to call, but is trending in the wrong direction.
I would prefer that we have two possible starters battling it out in the AHL (Parson and Gillies) and that they stay there until they are ready, maybe another one to three years. Rittich could be a reliable backup this year and ready for a heavier workload next year. Smith may have a lighter workload if that is the case.
We could have just solved this with no Lack.
People can say, "well he didn't cost much", but that really isn't the case when he's in the way.
If Smith were to do a long groin stint on the IR, is Lack going to save us?
This is why I brought up, a few months back, I'm not interested in the ghosts of Gulutzan's passed, AT ALL.
Our drafting has been great, push that stuff to the front of the table and stop worrying that it might not be enough.
It's what we have via strong scouting. Trust it.
I think maybe it's just me, but I really like how Rittich plays and I favour him over all of our goalie prospects (and Lack) right now.
He keeps the crease quiet, no surprises, you know what you're going to get with him. He isn't there for Smith-type saves, and honestly, it's because he doesn't put himself in Smith-type trouble.
Perhaps the Flames played their best game defensively against Colorado because Rittich has zero surprises to spring on them.
I'm not sure what else he has to do to be honest, boot Lack, give him the seat.
He may not be the guy to win you a bunch of games, but he isn't going to lose any for you, as I see him.
His fundamentals are sound. When teams "get the book" on him, it's going to be a long read because you can't just say, "high blocker-side".
Rittich has a high end foundation imho.
Enough of my rant, though, I could blither much more.
I REALLY like Rittich. When I watch how he's used and even read people are leaving him as almost an afterthought, I wonder if I'm just entirely out to lunch.
All I see is a really pragmatic goalie and he could make a 40 save shutout look boring because his fundies are well above average.
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On 11/25/2017 at 3:49 PM, DirtyDeeds said:
GG said yesterday in an interview that the plan was a design by BT to get Lack some quality ice time/starts.
Lets face it sitting on the pine for long stretches is not a good recipe for quality play.
Regardless, Rittich has done nothing but be solid downstairs for us when needed, for over a year.
Lack is fighting a losing battle rn, in my honest opinion.
Imho, all of our goalies not named Smith will have to overcome Rittich.
We're overlooking him imho, he rarely struggles. Just a good, athletic and composed goalie that plays up to needs.
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7 minutes ago, The_Snowbear said:
Well Jager is old enough to need a walker soonish lol were suppose to be getting faster not slower
I liked my idea better, lol.
Speed, for me, is more in transitioning than just being fast skaters.
But I have to admit, for me, if this is what we're doing out of camp, I have to worry about what we'll do with Jagr.
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13 minutes ago, The_Snowbear said:
I'd prefer both then I need a Walker Jager
Don't think I wanna even approach what that might encompass, lol. Bottle of each? Johnny red or black?
Is Glass' a two way deal?
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At least we still have Glass, Lazar and Familton.
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5 minutes ago, cross16 said:
flames approach since Kipper has been the "roll the dice" approach to goaltending. When you do that your picking from a lower talent pool so good goalie coach or not when you have that approach to your goaltending you should expect inconsistent result. I don't think a goalie coach has enough of an impact to iron out inconsistencies when you have that type of approach to goaltending.
It's been 30+ years since I've been subjected to goalie coaches.
The main thing 3 out of 4 did for me was keep me scared, intense and focused.
Short term Ex-Leaf Tim Bernhardt was the 1-in-4.
He taught me to butterfly and filled me with positives.
Great coach. The other 3 were hard-checking from behind, taught me how to be focused (via hatred lol).
Goalie coaches, like goalies, are another breed.
So my big question is, do we need a nasty goalie coach?
How many G changes have we had since Kipper?
We're a laughingstock.
Please Smith, grab this by the throat and slap it around.
He's more visibly emotional than anything we've had in a while.
Fingers crossed, toes crossed, arms and legs, eyes. lol
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5 minutes ago, travel_dude said:
Button is doing what he was supposed to do the last few years. You can see a few GM or POHO picks mingled in where they really fought for a guy.
I find that the goalie coach here has never been hit or miss, he has always been miss. I don't blame him for Hiller's regression. I do have an issue with his results with Ortio and Ramo. He worked extensively with them. Both had tools, but turned into fish.
Imo, it's hard to blame a goalie coach. If you are an NHL quality goalie, you should not need a goalie coach re-teaching the position, just working to your strengths while improving the weaknesses. If you are letting in 50% of wristers from the point (Hiller), I don't think that's the goalie coach.
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Of 81 goalies that have seen a shot this preseason, here's the sv% standings for our goalies:
66. Eddie Lack
71. Jon Gillies
81. Mike Smith
Just sayin'...
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On 8/18/2017 at 3:56 PM, MAC331 said:
I don't miss Baertschi or Granlund to be honest. I like what people have to say about Mangiapane (Hawerchuk raves about him) however we have LWers out the gazoo and what I was suggesting was getting a similar RW talent back.
Never liked the Granlund for Shinkaruk trade personally.
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I like how KK proclaims, "it isn't economically viable to build it ourselves in a small market".
For me, that reads, "so we need house money because it isn't economically viable".
That's a compelling argument for taxpayers to say, "if it isn't economically viable with private funds, maybe it's just not economically viable and everyone loses".
The guy is a disaster. Someone, please, shut him up.
KK, hire me, I'll be your spokesperson. Just please, stop making public statements.
Let's look at Detroit again, putzy. Maybe 1/3 Calgary's pop. Bankrupt.
Surrounding area for them? Sure. That isn't massive unless you wanna really stretch boundaries.
They were still in bankruptcy when the plan was unveiled.
They injected 1.2bil into their economy, for jobs, for investment back into the city, etc.
They were bankrupt as a city.
What has it has created? A spark. Sure, you can find all of the woebegone stories to fill your boots if that's your angle. But in reality, it has established Detroit, again, as a world class city for facilities, and a current aura of great excitement and hope.
Then I watch what's happening here, it's totally 180 degrees, and all negative. Between the City and the CSEC, they waste $1bil/year plus on elbowinge that benefits no one, or very few.
The Flames make it sound like it's the City's responsibility to keep them profitable, that's laughable. The City makes it sound like there is no money in the coffers outside of loans so it's a massive taxpayer expense down the toilet, not an investment in the economy and luring investors. Not unlike most of their misadventures.
How much has been sunk in the East Village "yeah whatever" so far?
Could have used that to clean up many of your LRT locations, because they're dicey.
First things first.
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1 hour ago, Mike_Oxlong said:
Also, how about that Arena? I had an interesting discussion at lunch today about it.
Annnddd...?
Did you recruit some high profile investors? lol
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2 hours ago, Mike_Oxlong said:
You raise a valid point!
I had hoped that an option available to us would be to purchase shares in the arena. Thus private individuals could purchase an equity stake in the arena and raise funds for construction. Unfortunately this doesn't appear to be legal in Canada. I'd buy a $500 stake.
Miss that kind of schooling!
Detroit's funding on 1.2 bil, if I remember correctly:
$250mil state bond Olympia(Little Caesar's Pizza) pays
$200mil city bond Olympia pays the interest on. The city gets increased revenue on taxes. An investment, no?
Period.
That's only $800mil short, lol.
Olympia got investors, but damn, that's quite a corporation.
Pizza 73 has to buy us, don't even think about Domino's, I think that's the Detroit Pistons, lol.
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On 9/18/2017 at 9:47 AM, Mike_Oxlong said:
So many people demonizing the Flames ownership group for walking away from discussions with the city but few people seem to have noted another group that did so just a day later. Arts group walks away from city negotiations to transform old planetarium.
Can anyone propose a more fair way to divvy the costs? I'm not claiming to have the answer or even the best solution.
Sorry to crop your post ox, but I want to focus in on your opening statement.
My struggle in all of this is it's nothing but slant from both sides. They aren't letting us make an educated decision, they're playing wordsmiths to the media, because we are all really, really dumb. Telling us as much as we need to know, and leaving out the naughty bits undoubtedly each is hiding/scripting.
Both sides.
Nenshi is bombastic at best and talks out of both sides of his mouth.
How KK is the CSEC, ahem, spokesperson, is beyond me. He oozes smoke show.
I'm so looking forward to Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit. Because I already know Detroit, it'll be a total 180.
"Detroit Pride" will be stamped everywhere, every restaurant will be packed, the venue will bring every act under the sun, because it's built on a pizza empire, lol.
It'll be busy, a lot, and I think we'll be hearing the words, "best venue in NA", a lot.
Suck it Edmonton, lol.
As for Calgary, we'll sink $5bil into the East Village in a "good luck" way to up real estate values.
Yet we treat an arena as a cost, and not an investment?
Makes zero sense.
As for your tail end question ox, No.
I've said it enough times in this thread, it is totally treated as a cost, not an investment.
Until that mindset changes, they're stalemated.
Based on the City's other investments, as a fan of the sports, kinda feeling like the redheaded stepchild.
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We are going to have to put a billion easy, towards Olympic development. Isn't it time to rip out everything from the greyhound to beyond the pumphouse?
Heck, I don't care if it's made park land.
Right now it's disaster relief. It's a stain area, and it's right there. Lest we're blind.
How easy is it to put the sports side on the west and arts on the east? The 2 mix like oil and water for god sakes.
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Goaltending
in Flames Talk
Posted
That's not actually true or a debate.
The Coach makes the roster decisions.