Wreckening

In my opinion I think this is a make or break year for Ortio. Not so much as in they will cut him loose but more along the lines of if he has another weak camp like he did last year I see BT having no issue in waiving him. I can't see any team wanting an unproven goaltender who has weak camps. This leaves us with our tandem from last year and if management has lost faith in Hiller then I think we see movement on a trade to maybe go out and get that starter we need. If Ortio has a good camp though and shows he is NHL ready then I think management has some big questions to answer. You won't want to waive a young NHL ready tender so either Ramo or Hiller gets traded or demoted. I think, personally, that they should in this case trade Hiller. Get some value rather than lose him on the waiver wire. Any picks for him would be a plus as we would be wiping his salary off the books. The most worrisome scenario however is if Ramo has a weak camp and Ortio shows he is not ready. Sure we can go with Hiller as the starter and Ramo the back-up but I think this will be the ultimate scenario that pushes BT into a trade. I still believe our weakest position right now is in the crease. We don't have that goalie who can steal you games or show that he can put forth a sustained run of top quality netminding. We have Gillies in the wings but he is at minimum 2 years away. The Flames have to decide on when they feel their window of opportunity for being a Cup contender is. I believe they have established their core, or will have by season's end, but a lot depends on how we do this year. So the organization has to look at all positions to be sure they are comfortable on pushing for championships. I don't feel like the Flames are happy with their goaltending or comfortable in saying these are the guys we will win Cups with. That's why I feel like there is a trade to be made because I don't think the Flames want to wait two more years to see if a rookie goalie can lead them to the promise land.

Gillies is at least a year away, maybe two. I still think you'll see Hiller gone at some point and early. Possibly before the season starts. Which leaves Ramo and Ortio as our goalies. And as I said in an earlier post, I have a sneaky suspicion that BT will try and trade for a starter should the season start out badly for the goalies. There's no doubt our goaltending is average at best. I think our depth is very good though. They're just a few years away yet. I just wonder what goalies would be available at the right price?

Outside of Gillies I'm not sold on our goaltending. I lean towards a Ramo/Ortio tandem but I don't see them as the future. I wouldn't be surprised that if we don't see a goalie run away with the starter's job half way through the season a trade could be very possible for a bona-fide number 1.

To be fair none of us really knows the future and what will happen. Injuries, trades, a zombie apocalypse, anything could happen. Is he going to be worth the contract when he's 39? History would say no, but history is known to have it's moments too with D-men who have solid careers up to their 40's. Giordano could have the longevity of a Bourque or Chelios or Stevens and leave his own mark (sorry for the pun) on the NHL history books. I think the organization learned their lesson with Iginla. Giordano's contract is by no means anything that handcuffs this team. Its a tradable contract, the dollar value is good considering what he could have been paid in FA. Can't blame a guy for wanting stability for his family. Any one of us would do the same if afforded the opportunity. I know I would. In my opinion, weighing everything, this is a good value contract both in dollars and term. I believe BT hit a homerun on this one.

Well with the signing of Gio this just puts a capper on a terrific off season by Treliving in my opinion. Lots of talk was that it was going to take 8 or 9 million to extend him and Treliving comes up with this. Brilliant.

Have to agree with Cross. No major hiccups from the GM. The bad contracts to date were made out of necessity really. No one and I mean no one at all expected we'd be this far ahead in the rebuild. If we had a crap year last season and were still looking at truly building rather than rounding out these so called bad contracts would be welcomed by the community for the most part. The only reason they look bad is because of the situation we find ourselves in now.

Well said. I'm a little confused, not that it takes much these days lol, but teams can't offer contracts or extensions until July 1st right?

With the way waivers work, should Ortio be claimed off of waivers, doesn't he have to be on the claiming team's roster? He can't be claimed and then sent to the minors right? If this is the case I would go with Ramo/Hiller again for 1 more year. Let Ortio dominate the A and make a push. Then again he may make the team out of camp and then we could trade either Ramo or Hiller. My preference being Hiller.

Remember last year though Burke came out and basically anointed Ramo as the starter, then they went and signed Hiller. I think Treliving is playing his cards close to the chest this year and no promises have been made to any player.

You may be right but I think Ramo has more upside to his game than a declining Hiller. My money is on Hiller being traded, maybe in a multi-player deal to boot.

I agree. Of any player on this team I could part with would be Wideman. Don't get me wrong, I respect him for all he has done here and really like him as a player. I wouldn't take anything less than a 2nd rounder and a prospect for him though, that's minimum. I think he has great value right now and if you could land a bigger and skilled RW through a trade you have to do the deal. I'm not keen with Bennett on the right side. He is a Center and I believed he looked out of place at times during the playoffs playing on the wing. He still managed to impress but I think he was out of his comfort zone. My top six for next year would look something like: Gaudreau - Monahan - Hudler : Why mess with success. Ferland - Bennett - Poirier : Great 1-2 punch with the top line. Physicality and skill.

I understand what you are saying Cross, however we are still pretty thin on RW and Hudler fills a role. I would rather the Flames sign him to a 3 year deal. You listed his intangibles and that should be enough in itself to justify hanging on to him. The only knock on Hudler is his size and non-physical play and the Flames need to get bigger. Its clear that the Flames need to make some adjustments and that trades will be made, and if Hudler is in that mix, then we'd better get a good return. Nothing less than a first rounder and a high one at that.

I agree with Deeds. I think the way both played this year was far from over-achieving. I consider it meeting their potential. Coaching has a lot to do with this and I think Harley got 100% out of each player.

I said it before, Ramo over Hiller. I would actually like to keep both for next season but I honestly don't think Ortio clears waivers so one of them has to go. Hiller holds more value than Ramo as he has a reasonable contract and you can get something for him. Ramo on the other hand doesn't get you much because he is a UFA. Of the two Ramo is my choice to hang onto.

They were good, not spectacular. Hiller has been unbelievably stellar in net save for Game 6. Who knows, if Hartley had kept in him the game he may still have won. The pull was made to shake up the team, not a true reflection on Hiller. Ramo is coming off injury and still has a bit of rust. He needs more practice time and should be backing up Hiller. Like I said before it's Hiller's net to lose and one shaky start is not indicative of poor play. I expect Hiller to come out and be a wall. It will all boil down to how well the Flames play in front of him.

I like the decision to start Hiller. First of all it's his net to lose and secondly it gets him right back on the horse after falling in game 6 against the Nuckleheads. He'll have great motivation for these games that goes without saying. Although Ramo did not play poorly I don't think he's the go to guy at the moment. He's just coming back off injury and needs more time to get back in the flow of things in practice. This is the right call.

I thought the Flames had used up all of their call ups? Or does an injury negate that?

We would definitely be one of the front runners for the 1st overall in this year's draft. Our goaltending, although it hasn't been elite, its been good enough to win us games when we shouldn't have been in it to begin with. Personally I feel Ramo is the better of the two goalies going forward even though Hiller has had some big games. Myself I'm not so sure Ortio clears waivers next year so I would go with Ramo and Ortio next season personally.

I think this year has proven just how much we need to improve our depth. We don't really know what we have with Schlemko as of yet. So it's a bit premature to say he's the answer to our defensive woes. I like Schlemko and I hope he can be part of the equation but in my opinion, it's highly likely the Flames will pursue a mid to high level D man. It will all come down to price and I don't think BT is willing to bet the farm yet. If we stand pat I guess I wouldn't have an issue either but I'd rather we pick up at least a depth D man.

He had just a little over 7 mins ice time, comes in and scores one of the sweetest goals I've ever seen in the shootout. When he did play he kept it simple, not too many glaring errors from what I could see and quietly went about his business. I think his ice time will go up eventually, once he's more acclimated to the systems and how the team plays.

Found this article while perusing the inter-webs......sounds like they're getting closer. Although convincing Nenshi will be the tough nut to crack. He's pretty adamant about not spending public monies on the deal.

Agreed

Sounds like when Wideman was on the phone earlier it was about him taking on an A now that Glencross is gone. He would be a good choice I think.

Agreed. The one thing that annoys me to this day is the fact that after last season the Flames came out and said Ramo was going to be the number 1 coming into this season. Then things changed. For the better? Probably.....but whose to say really? Its been mentioned on here that Ramo reminds them a little bit of Kipper. I would say in one aspect he does. Kipper was a slow starter too and usually starting playing his best hockey a month or two in. I see this trait in Ramo. As well they both seem to have the same shyness in the media way about them and that's about where the similarities end in my opinion. I think Ramo has a better work ethic then Kipper. He's always out taking pucks even when he doesn't have to. He's stayed in game shape despite going long stretches on the bench. Hartley has gone out of his way to mention just how professional he is. Now does this mean Ramo is better than Kipper? Uh.....no. Is Ramo a quality tender? I would say yes, most definitely. Has he gotten the chance to prove it? Not really. He's just a victim of circumstance. And it doesn't get any better for him next season should the Flames choose to re-sign him. We have Ortio chomping at the bit to stay with the big club and we still have Hiller for 1 more year. Something has to give. As far as discussing who stays and who goes. You don't have to be a genius to see the writing on the wall for our goaltenders. One of them won't be a Flame come next season. I think its quite pertinent to be discussing these things at this time of year because at this point we see what our needs are and what we have as assets to acquire said needs. Goaltending just happens to be one of our strengths. Don't you doubt for one minute that Treliving and company aren't looking ahead to the off season and what moves they are going to make in regards to our goaltending as well.

I'd keep Ramo over Hiller as well. In my opinion he's earned it. It's been two years now and he's basically had to play second fiddle to someone, but when asked to play down the stretch he plays lights out. I think there is bigger return in Hiller than Ramo though as he is a proven starter and playoff winner. But something has to give and I would rather take the better return and you get that with Hiller.