travel_dude

I'm glad he's not in my pool (or Flames team). Another in the list of under-performing goalies. Give me Ritter or give me death. I like Hitch, but don't like his brand of hockey anymore. Would do well with a team that had more than an offensive line. Draisaitl has to be one of the worst C's n the league for two way play. He only gets going in one direction. But, he can score goals playing with McDavid!!

Well, I don;t know that number of games sat makes any difference. My initial idea was picking up a backup or guy like Mrazic and sending Smith down until he got his game back. Limit is 7 games played in the AHL. Anyway, they won;t be doing that. Was just one of those thoughts to improve the team.

This is brilliant. Gully loves to play with a one goal lead and try to win without any offense after that, and at worst plays to get to OT. Hitch loves to play a one goal game. No other scoring, just one goal. SHould be an exciting brand of hockey. McDavid gets a goal, then they go into dump and chase, trap, high possession, goalie duals. What could go wrong with that?

Deeds, I wanted to circle back to this. Prout has been loaned to the Heat on a conditioning stint. He's not injured. He's waiver eligible. How is that any different than what I had suggested for Smith last week? He can play a maximum of 7 games in Stockton. Calgary Flames‏Verified account @NHLFlames .@CortexBusiness Transaction Alert: The #Flames have loaned defenceman Dalton Prout to the @AHLHeat on a conditioning assignment. Quote from FN: This assignment allows him to get some game action in, potentially seven (assuming he plays tonight, but that’s unlikely) games at most during the two-weeks allowed by the CBA for conditioning stints. It’s an interesting move as Prout needs waivers to be assigned full time to Stockton, so a conditioning assignment seems to suggest that the Flames think he might get claimed on waivers. He still counts as part of the 23-man roster and against the Flames salary cap during his conditioning stint.

No, they kept all the A/coaches. They could end up with Gully next year as the head coach. Hitch will be an interesting fit in EDM. They haven't got the horses to play Hitch hockey (D, that is). Imagine a player like Draisaitl being sat out because he cheats offensively. We complain about our lack of depth sometimes, yet you look at that team and wonder how they manage to win any games. Okay,. that's right, they have a few players on a line that can score 3 goals per game against teams that struggle to get 2 at times.

Sure. MacDonald has never been able to do anything up to this point, so the rope is pretty short. You are right though. Give up too early and you might miss out.

I think Schneider is actually doing better at the AHL level. 3 games started. 3 goals against. 1.12 GAA. .962 SA% It says he played 4 games, but I think he only started 3. 3 wins no losses.

Fans were livid about the Flames game where they felt that Lucic and Kassian's usage created the loss. Intimidated by Tkachuk. Need to play Lucic with McDavid and Draisaitl to protect them. Maybe if Draisaitl stopped worrying about only scoring points, they would have had a different result. They also point to JP and KY as a waste of NHL talent. Somehow, every player that is the same size as Gaudreau is Gaudreau. I had pointed out to ON posters that the junior career of KY and Matt Philips were odly similar, so don't expect him to immediately become a top 10 player. The blogger point out that you can't compare a late round pick with a 1st rounder. Anyway, Chia is still there. He will continue to drive the franchise into the ground. Hitch will not be a fan favorite, since he's not a player coach. He will bench players that are sucking.

I was hoping he would be back this past weekend, but they haven't played since Friday. The Heat are not great at doing updates on player status.

We gave Feaster the gears for almost costing us Monahan for nothing, not even ROR. If we had a string of GM's so incompetant to have that many 1st overalls and still be that bad, we would be running Chia et all on a rail. You can't blame the fans. They get a little misdirected at times. Blame should be on the GM for de-constructing the team, and the players themselves for poor efforts. The coach maybe has never won a cup, but he's smart. He also only has whatever the GM gives him. Do they hate Tkachuk? Every one does except us. Would they trade Tkachuk for Puljujarvi? Every day, if they are being honest. The team needs to hit rock bottom before they drag themselves out. Healthy scratch McDavid until the team wins a game. Yeah, that would go over well. He's the only reason people pay $100 for the cheap seats.

Some interesting stats for Ritter: 2nd in Win% of starts with .857, just behind Korpisalo. 2nd in GAA with 1.92, just behind Rinne. Factor in the PITTS game's 3 goals. 4th in SSA% with .933, behind Rinne, Halak and Andersen. What has Ritter said he needs to work on? Shoot outs. Get the man a steak and a few Cokes.

Probably because he hasn't played in over a week. Stockton Heat‏Verified account @AHLHeat FollowFollow @AHLHeat More Forward Andrew Mangiapane will be out of the lineup for approximately a week with a lower body injury.

Considering the same team gave up 4 goals to the Flames in the 3rd period (1 EN) with a goalie that looked dialed in, I would say they probably got what they deserved. The best thing was seeing McDavid get a diving call. Maybe the refs start seeing his antics a bit clearer now; you skate at full speed not every touch should be a penalty or penalty shot. EDM needs to fix their defense first, then work on a team that only believes you need to cheat to offence to win.

Question asked and answered: Kristen Anderson‏Verified account @KdotAnderson FollowFollow @KdotAnderson More #Flames head coach Bill Peters says Rittich goes again tomorrow vs. Vegas.

Popular or not, Smith was not the frst choice for starting against EDM. History would suggest that Smith was the better choice. They may decide to give Smith a game sooner than later, but I doubt they do that without seeing something different from Smith. They thought he was ready to battle. He wasn't. They tried after what looked like some good saves. He wasn't ready. The GM is going to provide his perspective. Popular or not, the team has confidence in Rittich. They show it by leaving him out to dry. They show it by battling back for him. If you asked anyu of the players today, they would tell you who they want to see next game.

After the Smith injury: Five of his games he gave up 4 or more goals. Six of his games he gave up 3 or less. Last year was last year. Brodie is a different player, as is Hamonic. We have a better third pair D and a Brouwer-less team.

They can call all they want. The GM isn;t stupid. You want Bannett, there's a reason. We know what he is. Obviously you wouldn;t be calling if you felt he was a bust.

I don;t think anyone says he's a bust. If he stays at current rate, he will be at or less last's years output. Does the value of that outweigh what you might get in trade? I'm not arguing for trading him or keeping him. So, compare him to Kassian, who I pesonally hate. Both are gritty and fight. Production similar in the last few years. If Bennett ended up with the same career as Kassian would that still be alright?

Is it really a question? The coaches know that Smith is reeling. Putting him back in right now is the worst thing they could do. BP sounded like he was keeping Smith out until he gets his confidence back, not before. All Rittich knows is that when he gets a game, he tries to do everything possible to get it. He has no expectations to get the next start.

For those that want to talk politics, the Random Thoughts thread is a place that could use that discussion. Beware of the Peeps though...

I was. How many of those were quality shots, though. I wonder if Philly is as much a goalie wasteland as the Flames have been. Rittich has been a breath of fresh air this year. Early yet, but considering how well the team in front is playing, we should be crushing it.

He needs a "head" coach as much as a goalie coach that can work him through the fundamentals. I tend to agree about timing and reaction starting to slow down. Hasn't happened yet to me....

Back to the positives. Looking forward to Ritter against the Oilers. Big chance for him to show he can be a starter. Getting the wins is important right now. Start the hot hand and don;t let it cool off. Give the kid some rope. He's responsible for 10 of our 21 points this season. This in 6 starts. Other than a blowout loss, you go back to Rittich for the near future. He's earned the net right now and deserves to be given starts while Smith is working out his issues. Perhaps he can learn from the kid. The bolded is exactly what Rittich does. Worry less about stickhandling the puck and get your basic game back. You don;t need to be flashy to win.

Comments from Sigalet: “When Smitty has struggled in the past, we’ve put clips together of things he has done well and what has made him successful — whether it’s a highlight reel or just clips where he’s on and letting pucks come to him,” Sigalet said. “That’s something we’ve done in a past and something he likes. Instead of focusing on the bad, you focus on the good. And then just a lot of one-on-one conversation, trying to get his confidence up and get his ego up. “I think he’s had streaks like this in the past, and you always see him come out of it … He just has to take the pressure off himself. Just play.” “It’s tough, and you feel it right away,” said Sigalet, whose own puck-stopping resume includes NCAA, AHL and a sliver of NHL action. “And it makes it even tougher when the team is playing really well in front of you and you’re watching the other guy at the other end making save after save. And then you start to think a little bit and get a little tight, knowing that you don’t want to let in the next shot because this guy is standing on his head. “It’s not easy in a game like that.” It's easy to compare Price's situation this year and Smith's. Two vets that have played well in the past and have battled their way back. The problem with that is that Proce and Rinne and Holtby have been elite tenders, while Smith is a good goalie that has been great at times. I'm not sure that Sigalet's methods work, because when Smith has struggled, he has not found his way back. A couple of good games after he returned, but the bad parts are still there. Just because Smith likes it doesn;t mean it works. If you never work on the plays that result in goals, how do you fix it. It's not 100% confidence. His technique is leading to the goals. All you need to do is look at the first saves by Rittich. Square to the puck. Don't get too deep too soon. Don't play too small. Sit out and pay attention to the other goalie.