s4xon

List updated on first post.

This is more of a comparison of the Flames during Kip's era vs. the Flames in the upcoming Ramo era and what assets/tools Ramo has to work with vs what he won't have that Kipper had for success. This wasn't a comparison of the two goalies themselves as individuals, or their past achievements.

^ For some reason, I was having a nice little brainstorm session this morning about Ramo as I was snoozing in and out of consciousness. It's wierd that this is when my mind is most clear. Question: Are the Flames setting Ramo up for failure? Lets take a look. When the Flames acquired Ramo, they expected him to come over and play the backup role behind Kipper and learn a thing or three from the best. He was to decrease the workload of our franchise ace by shouldering a third of the games in a season. Eventually allowing Karri to take the reins and secure the number 1 starting position when Kip retired. They signed Ramo to a 2 year deal, and expect him to compete on NA ice like it was second nature given his past experience with playing on smaller ice previously. Most are hoping history repeats itself and he evolves into what was once a phenomenon in Kipper; a guy who was looked at as a mere backup, a lowly regarded underdog, and became a franchise legend. Let's see what factors Kipper had to work with in his era vs what factors Ramo has to work with in his era: Leadership (Captaincy) The biggest difference between the two eras is the fact that the Flames currently don't have a league wide star captain, Iginla. Yes they have a few up and coming names such as Baertschi, Monahan, and Gaudreau, but these aren't established names with 11 straight season of 30+ goals, none have the ability to enforce respect from the opposition with their fists (both fists being equally dangerous), and none have the leadership quality that sets them apart from about 95% of the league.Defense Kipper Era - Regher in his prime was one of the hardest to play against in the league. He was responsible defensively, and he was a VERY heavy hitter. Phaneuf, ignoring his attitude, came out blazing in his first NHL season with 20 goals and 49 points in 82 games and didn't look back. His bomb from the point on the PP is something the Flames haven't been able to recoup since trading him. Boumeester, well we all know how much he got paid, but that is a moot point. We all know he was soft, again moot. J-Bo was never injured, he is still the reigning NHL ironman. His ability to minute munch with the top line talent in the league was a commodity most fans didn't even recognize, nor was defensive reliability. Mark "Jor" Giordano has been a consistent hard hitting and offensive defenceman...until this lockout shortened season. He made a name for himself with the team after not being drafted and coming from a much different development path. Ramo Era - The noteables on the current D ranks have Brodie as an up and coming regular. While not the kid is consistent, defensively responsible, and has one of the best breakout passes this team has seen in a decade. Offensively minded Wideman has shown to be a player to chip in to the scoreboard when needed and his defense hasn't been terrible to date, but we'll see in the next coming seasons. Gio is a crossover from the Kipper Era to now. Notable up and coming prospects are Sieloff, who most are hoping repeats the play of Regher with extremely hard hits, can hold his own in fights, and backs down from no one, and Wotherspoon, who is a very consistently steady and very solid stay at home D-man. Coaching Kipper Era - Darryl Sutter left Feaster with a mess. Plain and simple. His drafting was horrendous, his trades not much better, and his ability to plan for the future seemed non-existent. However, this was Darryl the GM, not Darryl the head coach. Everyone can agree that D-Sutter is one of the best coaches to ever manage the bench in Calgary. He pulled a team together from nothing and pushed them all the way to the '04 Stanley Cup final (we all know the Flames actually won), and pushed this team into the playoffs year after year until he stepped down as coach and took the reins as GM on a full time basis. Sutter recently took a very similar gritty and hard hitting team in LA, turned their season around and led them to a Stanley Cup. Ramo Era - Bob Hartley came in as the Flames new head coach before the lockout was issued. His history dictates he is able to win. He won a Stanely cup in '01 with the Avalanche. Some would argue that on paper, the '01 Avs team was bound to win the cup regardless of who the coach was. During this past shortened season, we hadn't seen a consistent line from Hartley. Ever. We can argue that Hartley wasn't given an all star lineup, the team was broken, and hard decisions were made to find chemistry, but when we saw chemistry growing, he would confuse the masses and place such players as Comeau on the top line center position. Kipper struggled under Hartley's watch, but there were too many intangibles to say it was Hartleys fault. Kipper was injured, he struggled when Iginla and Bouw left, the team's coIt remains to be seen if he can utilize the younsters properly, form some lines with chemistry with the remaining vets, and play a style that doesn't allow 3 goals against per game meanwhile giving us some upbeat and offensive hockey. The Core Kipper Era - Iginla, Kipper, Regher, Phaneuf, J-Bo, Gio - Gave the Flames a solid identity. Easily identifiable by the fanbase, by the media, and the rest of the league. A threat on paper. However, we all know there was no one available to center the best player the Flames have ever seen. We are left wondering what could have happened. Ramo Era - Cammalleri, Baertschi, Backlund, Brodie, Wideman, Gio - Not really a solid identity. Not so easily identifiable as some may contest some of these names and whether they belong or not, and not as much of a threat on paper either. Some of these names may not even be with the team within the next year. It's too early to say that one or two of the up and coming prospects will emerge as a sure fire number 1 star for the organization, but from what we see with the younger core and the up and coming prospects, it looks to be a shared burden amongst the ranks instead of a whole team's burden upon the shoulders of the ex-captain, Iginla.Backup Goaltending Kipper Era - It's no secret that Kipper didn't have much to rely on in terms of a contigency plan. Nor did the Flames. Much like the lack of support from Iginla's missing top line center, the same can be said for Kipper's backup. Year after year we saw a new name emerge as the backup to the hot Fin goalie, but none established themselves to a point where they stayed, nor to the point where they could relieve Kipper of his over 70 game/season duties. The Flames outright had to play their best player, or they wouldn't have been competitive for as long as they had. Ramo Era - This seams to be a different outcome. The Flames recognized (finally) that they couldn't rely on Mikka Kiprussoff forever. After the acquisition of Karri, they acquired Reto Berra as an asset in the Bouwmeester trade. They have already established backup Joey MacDonald who stood out as last season's starting netminder. Since 2009 the Flames have drafted goaltenders Joni Ortio, 2011's Laurent Brossoit, and 2012's Jon Gillies who looks to project as the Flames future star if development remains steadfast. As there are many options to choose from, there seems to be an established backup in the works. But are any of these, including Karri Ramo, able to emerge as the team's backbone and retain the number 1 position? Still too many question marks until we see some regular season action. What we see and know now... The young and bright eyed roster is going to have struggles; defensively, responsibly, and possibly even offensively (while I believe offensively will be the least of the team's worries). With not much defensive support projected, Ramo will be the last line of defense for the team and at times will have to try and steal wins when the team can't support him. The culture in the dressing room and around the fanbase certainly has changed for the better Kipper had a much more enticing core around him on paper. To date, the coaching seems more in favor of D-Sutter compared to Hartley, although we have only seen half a season with him. so to re-visit the question above... Are the Flames setting Karri Ramo up for failure? In my opinion, it's not fair to call him the next Kipper, nor to expect the same level of play from our elite Finnish legend from the past decade. We as fans and the Flames themselves need to garner their expectations. If Ramo does evolve into an elite goaltender, then the Flames are that much more ahead in the rebuild, and a new star with a new exciting era will most definitely be welcomed by the fans with open arms.

Yeah, I'm referring to the possibility that Ramo implodes and runs back to the KHL after 1 season, the same as Cervenka. I'm sure the Flames wouldn't be opposed to him forfitting the last year of his contract if this were the case. I'm sure that is the reasoning for a 2 year deal. I'm in the hopefuls camp that he solidifies himself as the Flames starter for the next while and is someone reliable between the pipes until the Gilles/Brossoit duo can step in.

At this present time, and the current rebuild situation, the current goaltending cards are the perfect opportunity to show your hand and earn the top 3 pick at the draft for the next couple seasons and reap the jackpot of some top talent. Am I suggesting the Flames are tanking for top talent? No, but the current goaltending roster options certainly parallel that mindset. Ramo will come out and play his bag off, so will Mac and so will Berra, no doubt about it. But when it gets to the point where dissappointment sets in, we'll see who emerges as a leader between the pipes. For all we know, Ramo could very well be the next Kipper, on the other hand, he could be headed back to the KHL in as early as a year.

Easy, he's "the other best goaltender not in the NHL."

He may, but I am sticking to my guns on the 3 mil, 2 year deal. I don't see the term being longer than 2 years, because the Flames don't want their hands tied in case of a failed attempt. 3 mil doesn't hurt the Flames' bottom line (although I think it would be too much at this point) but it's what I see makes sense. I wonder if there would be an out clause in order for him to go back to the KHL if there were to be a mutual parting after a year.

Announcements of Ramo's contract and terms should be coming up. What are your contract predictions? My guess is 3 mil for 2 years. It may seem high, but the Flames had to rip him away from the KHL.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/calgary-flames/Report+Flames+sign+Karri+Ramo+adding/8484536/story.html There's a source worthy of some trust. Much better. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hopefully no longer than 2 years. This team can't afford any more contracts that will bend the Franchise over in case of failure to produce (ala Stajan, Babchuk, Kotalik, etc.) And if there is an NTC or a NMC involved, I will seriously throw some sh*t.

http://www.truehockey.com/articles/Lehtera-Chooses-KHL-Over-NHL-Will-Stay-in-RussiaPlus-Calgary-Signs-Goalie Not sure how legit of a source this is, but seeing as nothing can be official until July 5th anyways....I'll take it. Seems the Flames brass have agreed to terms with Ramo on a multi-year deal. No details on the amount or duration. Let the fight for the crease commence: MacDonald, Berra, Ramo, Kipper(likely retiring, but still undecided).

This was a move in the best interest of the team going forward. I have to say Feaster hasn't been sitting idlie by since the trade deadline, good to see he's been keeping busy. Extremely busy. Glad to have big Mac back. Plus...what a waste of money on a new maskif they didn't sign him again.