travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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My concern about running with Smith is twofold. 1) Rittich is getting cold, even though he was the goto guy for most of the (winning) season 2) Important game, and we just saw one of Smith's worse games against a team we mostly dominated. So, if he loses, what happens next? Smith gave away the game in ANA immediately after we came back to tie shortehanded. Go back to him for a 5th straight game? Then we start a road trip against OTT, NYI and NJ. One of them is a B2B. What the heck. Start Smith and see the top seed slip away. Then start him in the playoffs and take an early vacation.
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After that long stretch of cold weather, you are saying the weather changes fast? The Flames have not been the same since the polar vortex crept in. Help me out Cow. What direction do you see the goalies trending in? Has Rittich had some tough games? Has Smith won a game here and there but is being touted as finding his game? Last 10 starts: Rittich 6-1-2 and one no decision (2 GA) Smith 5-3-1 and one no decision (4 GA) I am trying to trash Smith here. I am being realistic. Rittich gives us the best chance to win most nights.
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Radio silense on who gets the start against the Isles. Next game after that is the Ducks, fresh off two wins in a row. Wills would have you believe that Smith has taken back the net. Francis would have you believe that Smith is playing better than Rittich for some time now. Whatever. We've been fooled before.
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Philly has 4 goalies on their active roster plus one on IR. Bunch of contract piggies. Elliott Talbot Hart McKenna + Neuwirth
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You talk about his zone entries like he one of the best. I beg to differ. His points are based on hard work, not sick moves. You want to move him to C, or play him with Tkachuk, which is the exact same thing since you don;t want him playing RW. I want to see Bennett play the game that he excels at. Being a predator. Driving to the net for rebounds. Sticking up for his linemates. Heavy board work. Bring it on. When he diverges from that, his game drops off.
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I was a little concerned with all the PP goals against, but I can't fault Smith directly for them. Would another goalie have stopped them? Perhaps. I didn't feel he was well positioned on them, but that's as much the scrambly PK as the goalie. I agree about the Yotes game. It seemed like he can play two games and then revert to the usual play. The signs are there that he will not play well in the next game, against a good opponent. If we can't find a 1b option going into the playoffs, then I really hope they concentrate on getting Rittich back to form. He's our best bet right now.
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That's what I am seeing. IMHO, his positioning deep in nets is why he makes a lot of saves and lets in a lot of PP goals. Play deep and a lot of pucks are going to hit you. Play deep and the extra space on the PK means you are facing a shooter more often. Or you have to be perfect in seeing deflected and screened shots. So, to say it a different way, Smith is winning however he can. Doesn't mean it feels comfortable. He's battling though the fading skill. How's that? Too negative?
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Smith for ??. Not sold on Ward. Others may be better or more solid. I do agree that Smith played some weak sisters. Also, I felt that Smith has not been good on the PK. Yes, we need to give him better help, but I didn;t like many of the goals scored on him on the PK.
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Except on the road. Top line played against Crosby all night long. 4th played against whomever PITTS wanted out there. Backs started 55.9% in the O-zone in that game, while Mangiapane 50% and Monahan 42%.
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Mangiapane has been a points producer for some time now, so it may just be him starting to adjust to the NHL size game. I like the line. They have been effective for some time now.
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The 4th line has been providing jump. Mangiapane leads in the fancy stats. He's getting more chances than the Backlund line individuals, playing about 60 mintes less over that time. Maybe, just maybe, they should pop Mangiapane up with Bennett and Janko. Or continue with a real good 4th line. Just give them more minutes?
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You've been saying Bennett to C for the entire season. Fair enough, if that's what you want out of him. His so called slick moves are used on the rush, and it rarely results in a scoring chance. Zone entries. He's not near the best. But, we can agree to disagree. Where I think his passing fails (hehe) is that he waits too long to do it. Bennett's game is crash the net.
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Good to see people quoting Francis as some kind of expert. Sorry guys. Just could not resist. Francis had been bleating out how Smith was better than his numbers for a long time. Only recently has he been saying Smith was done. Until the MSM stopped pumping up BSD. If you look at stats in a vacuum, then maybe he's right. Smith has played the better of the two. Somehow, one win in his last 3 starts with two of those games 4 GA doesn;t give me a lot of happy feelings. Smith needs to channel his Nov.25-Dec.8 starts 50% against bottom feeders. Not being insulting, we need those kind of wins too. Francis can say what he wants as click bait, but the bottom line is that the coach makes decisions based on a bigger picture.
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Bennett gets trashed when he doesn;t bring his game and tries to be fancy. He's not that guy. Finding the right use for him in the lineup is crucial. He can change a game with a hit or a fight. That is where he excels. He's not going to wow you with a slick move, because he only does it in traffic and it usually doesn;t end well.
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I'm not going to dump on Smith for his recent starts or replacement. Rittich gave up 2 goals. And we gave Smith the net to give up 3 more. Smith played well enough to get a point against FLA. And good enough to only let in 4 against the Pens. Fine. Let's not fool ourselves that he's back. We talked about giving Rittich a bit of a break to get him ready for the playoffs. How much of a break? 3 in a row? 4 in a row? Points are important, but getting your number 1 ready is more so. I'm okay if the logic is seeing what we have in Smith before the TDL, but only if it's a realistic thing. He faded faster than Rittich last season. Okay. Woosaaa. I'm okay now.
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The question I always have is whether we need 15 minutes of Bennett or 10. IN other words, do we need him taking prime minutes to provide that toughness or 10 to make people pay.
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I'm not convinced Smith is a "hot hand". He played two games where he gave us good enough goaltending to win. He was really good for stretches. Does that make us forget why Rittich is the starter? I would have been saving the ARI game for him, after playing Rittich for 2, but that's just me. That is a gift. ARI is not a pushover anymore. What I don't understand is why all of a sudden Rittich is a question mark for BP or Sigalet. TBL was a whitewash for the team. VAN was a SO loss. SJS he was pulled after 2 goals. Did the coach forget that Rittich is the only reason why we are in a playoff spot? Not freaking out here, just annoyed. We have a chance to solidify our spot in the West. ARI, ANA, OTT and NJ coming up. 4 teams out of the playoffs. Easy enough to lose to any of them.
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It depends how you position the rest of your body. If your glove drops, it's a problem. If you can't reposition yourself after the first shot, it's a problem. My problem with SMith will always start with his playing the puck. Start the play to the defense, no problem. Short pass, no problem. Stop the ring aound shot. No problem. Ellect to shoot along the boards every time the puck comes near you? Big problem. The other part is how deep and low Smith plays. Too many holes left.
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Can you call DET and get the deal ready for us? Smith ++ for Howard and Nyquist.
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I think back to the last PITTS game. Yikes. My issue with Smith is that he follows up a good game with a stinky one. I though he looked pretty darn good in regulation and OT. Do I have confidence that he can duplicate that against PITTS? No. I think you really have to alternate goalies for awhile, but the majority still going to Rittich.
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I hear ya. The end result was in question after the 2nd goal, but the 3rd goal was the beginning of a game where the Flames had to record 4 or 5 to win. Cold goalie with little success taking over or PO'd goalie that just needed 13:42 in ice time for Rittich. Give him to the end of the period and see how he handles it. Talk to him after the end of the period. Going back to Smith in the 2nd was a surprise to me. He didn't do anything to change the momentum. 2 saves after the goal.
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I am with you. Twice in recent games he's blown it with a pass. Another time he froze it and was called for delay of game. He looks up to Smith, so MR. Goalie Coach needs to step in and simplify his game. You want steady goaltending or risky plays with the puck? Stick with what got you here. Nothing wrong with stopping pucks behind the net or making short passes to the D. They expect that. Smith almost cost us one, if not for Pav hitting the post. That was an example of the types of plays that burn me. Rittich's was a reasonable choice not executed properly.
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Yeah I hear ya. My bias tends to play a part of my view, but guys like Francis/Wills also have a bias for pumping Smith up for playing the puck, saying that it takes the pressure off the D. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it creates more zone time. Some times it impacts the D over the period (both positive and negative). Don't get me wrong. I think his stopping the puck on pucks played around the boards is fine. But, I tend to think he should just do that and get rid of it with a short pass. Or put a glove on it.
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I'm hoping that one of the regular posters has a subscription to The Athletic. Haynes did a story about the impact of stickhandling by goalies: https://theathletic.com/804879/2019/02/07/analyzing-the-impact-of-mike-smiths-puck-handling-abilities/ Can't view it, but was wondering if someone that has access can just do a quick summary. My belief is that Smith's handling of the puck can have negative impact on zone time, chances etc. Sure, he has times where his handling directly causes a goal (WAS game). The other impact can be spending time trying to get the puck back after a turnover or the result being a penalty. Rittich has more glaring errors, but also handles it less and lets the D do their job.
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Armstrong is probably facing the same pressure at Chia was. Ducks are injury ridden. Blues lost their captain, but have underperformed. Coach fired already. Yotes were decimated. They are coming back and are hot. Nucks were never expected to contend. Like at all. None of those teams made the same types of moves that Chia did. Year after year. He needed to go, but he's only the poster boy for the problems they have. They could, potentially, make the playoff by going all in. Trade Puljujarvi + 1st for a top 6 winger. Trade Talbot + 3rd for McBackup. Trade Nuge for Nylander. Trade Bear and Jones for a top 4 D-man, Seabrook or something like that. Trade Kassian for Martinook. These are just suggestions, none of them move the needle that much. The problems are deep seated. No scoring past McDavid and Draisaitl. Defense is weak. Klefbom will help, but Sekera is overrated and struggled last year after injury.
