travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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At worst, we have to buy his final season out. $2.7m retained for 2016/17 and $716k for 2017/18, Not great, but a calculated risk. The upside is we have a starter signed through next season.
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Those three would be my preference. If none are available until the off-season, then I would prefer to do something about Hiller right TF now. The hockey gods have given us an opportunity to make the post-season if we have good enough goalies to get there. Bernier doesn't solve the long-term problem, but gets us away from Hiller's play.
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I don't recall saying that you waive Hiller without having a replacement. I said make a move and waive Hiller. Ortio is not the answer this year, and possibly never.
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He is needed when Wideman plays. Wideman/Engelland is a bad idea. Engelland can play well enough. I would prefer to upgrade on Russell or Wideman. Russell did not have a bad game, but I watched the same zone struggles. Russell on the 3rd pair is fine for now. Would prefer to upgrade to a LHS #4D for him. Smid as a 7th D is fine. Wideman is a waste of cap for a 5/6D. Trade him or Russell for a top 6 winger. Trade the other for a LHS D-man.
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There is no proof that Ortio can ever be an NHL goalie. Many goalies have done equal to him with NHL games. Maybe he didn't get a real chance this year, but he isn't helping his cause with inconsistent play in the AHL. We have spent this much time on him, so we can ride it out with him in the AHL this year. He may even get another injury callup. He has had up and down years in the AHL, so I am not that confident that he is going to make the translation to the NHL. Gillies is another story. He has the size needed. He is athletic and technically sound. Ortio has 2/3.
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Next season is next season. I am loathe to wait till then to solve it. There are legit things we can do right now to improve, and it involves moving Hiller. At the very least, we should waive him. He isn't even the short-term answer anymore. Make the move now to improve. Evaluate the rest of the season with Ramo any whomever. Look for a permanent solution in the summer; that may include the whomever.
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Both are a concern right now. As much as I hate to do it, I would suggest we trade or demote Hiller, contingent on another goalie being signed. A proper backup or a real #1. That is the only way forward this season. Do it now while Bernier is still on a stint and Toronto is still questioning their goalie situation. Or do it where teams have multiple options.
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If he had played like that early in the season, he would have received another game, sick or healthy. But it wasn't goaltending that won the game, it was the play of Johnny and Monahan and Granlund. If both goalies are healthy tomorrow, I would still give the game to Ramo; he has been the tender that kept us afloat for the last month. I hear what you are saying, though. Saying that Johnny has a mediocre game would have to be compared to Price having one. Neither Hiller nor Ramo should get a pass. If Hiller was 100% healthy, last night would have been one of his better ones. Low standards, hey?
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You are right. I forgot that. There was a closeup of his face in the 3rd and he looked gassed. His energy level was probably next to nil by that point.
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Last night is a perfect example of just okay goaltending in a winning cause. At times, it looked really solid. At other times, Hiller was in the butterfly (or low to the ice) with traffic in front of him. Risto's wrister was a bit of a muffin, but he was on the wrong side of the net, trying to look through a maze of players. The 3rd goal was a fluke, similar to a bunch scored in the early part of the season. All in all, it wasn't a great showing, but it was enough to win.
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At the time, Demko was playing on a powerhouse team with the best offensive line in the NCAA. The next year he played with Hanifin in front of him. Based on his play up to the point of the draft, he wasn't posting super numbers. His play in the Frozen Four was less than spectacular. At the time, the Flames scouts were keeping a close eye on the NCAA, and BC in particular, with Arnold, Johnny and Hayes (potential FA).
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In our first year of the rebuild (2013/14), we had JoeyMac, Ramo and Berra. Ramo was brought in as a 1a/1b, the same as Berra. They ran with the latter two most of the season, except for the start and for injuries. That says to me that we took signing and developing goalies seriously. A choice was made to cut loose Berra and keep Ramo. Just because Ramo and (later) Hiller haven't panned out doesn't mean they weren't developed. You can't always get your future starter right away in a rebuild. You may have to draft (years away), trade for (costly to the rebuild in assets), or sign a FA. Having a stable crease presence is just as important during the rebuild as finding the right guy right away.
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Scrivens and Fasth and Dubie all looked good to start. At some point the useless defense will hang him out to dry. Against the Stars, they basically did that, but he won it. I recall Scrivens having a 50 save performance last year in a win. We need a consistent goalie. Doesn't have to post shutouts every night, but in a game where the Flames can't score much, he needs to keep it to a 1GA game. In other words, he just needs to steal a game or two when the Flames are lacklustre on offense or defense. Ramo is yet to steal one this season. He was close, but one bad goal per game isn't going to cut it.
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You are right in the distribution of scoring. But GA are killing us. PK is killing us. We aren't losing 2-0 or 1-0 or 2-1. We are losing games where we have a lead. Or tied going into the 3rd. The only times Ramo has looked comfortable are the games he has let in 2 or less. The rest have at least one Ramo-esque goal. Most have 2. He has not been great even strength, just average or worse.
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A little hard to constantly have to score 3 or more goals per game to win. That is what our goalies presented us with earlier in the season. That was reduced for awhile, but we are climbing up again. And that is with improved defensive play. You need to improve from the net outwards. We have a better top 3D than a lot of teams. We need them to have a dependable goalie to help make that 1st save. When you have that goalie, you can better deploy your defense, knowing that the odd gaffe doesn't end up in the back of your net. Another top 4 defenseman is going to cost a lot. Teams are constantly looking for that. If we happened to be able to swing a Hamonic deal, I would cut loose Hiller and get Bernier or other as a backup, for little cost. Ideally, we trade in-season to a team looking to build a winner (TB could use cap space now to make room for other trades). COL could decide to cut loose Varly to begin another rebuild cycle. Andersen may not be a problem in ANA, but he could help them get picks, prospects or players (Hudler or Wideman??).
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The only risk of trading for a legit #1 today is the cost in assets and the potential to climb out of 30th. The positive outcome from last season was playoff experience, the growth of Johnny, Monahan, Bennett, Ferland, and seeing Brodie for what he is. We were able to sign two FA's that would likely not have signed with a 30th place team. This year's shaky start has more to do with goaltending than anything else. The coach using a win/you're in system and not knowing who the #1 guy is. The GM keeping 3 goalies to give more options. The coach not trusting an AHL tender. The two main goaltender playing like crap in their 1st game in a rotation. Soft goals. Shaky starts. If a goalie is available that you feel you can win with and afford the trade, you make that trade every day. You can improve every other part of the team and still be a 30th place team with 30th place goaltending.
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Regardless of whether TB needs to free up space, they would want a lot for a goalie of Bishop's calibre. I think it would be more than CGY is willing to pay. Riding Ramo and Hiller is likely to eliminate the Flames sooner than later, so I would be looking to upgrade sooner than this summer. Unlike previous years where American Thanksgiving was the point of no return, this year the Pacific is going to be a horserace up till at least TDL. If there is something better than Hiller, then I think BT needs to actively pursue that right now. Ramo is most likely going to be what he is today, not a lot better. Hiller has never seemed to recover his form from last year, early in the season. He is a big risk right now, as evidenced by Hartley's reluctance to play him. If he was available to play, Poulin would probably get starts before Hiller.
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Either of these could be a good 1b option in nets. Both is smacking of what the Oilers did; have two career backups fighting for a starter job, while a 3rd is the guy that won the job (Scrivens, Talbot and Nilsson). We still need that #1 guy.
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Good article about some options: http://flamesnation.ca/2015/12/6/10-options-for-the-flames-in-net
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I would say that Ramo has been the reason we have a chance to win most nights. It's not the number of saves or his GAA, it's just making the timely save. There were far more good saves last night than routine ones. He let in one goal that was even possible; teh top corner shot was pretty close to being unstoppable. The penalty shot was disheartening, but it was a goal scorer's goal. We need to upgrade in nets. Ramo is getting us through right now, but is not the future. Hiller is done. I don't see him able to rekindle the magic. We need to find the next one to get us through this and next year at a minimum. Andersen would be a target for me, dependent on cost. Valry is someone to consider, as is Mason if either were available. Bernier would be an upgrade to Hiller, but may be too risky. But then Hiller is a risk to start.
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Do you think Anderson in Anaheim should be a trager the Flames? Young enough, well established.... Costly maybe. At least he is worth a 2nd + something else. Any thoughts on what it would take or whether we should make an offer?
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Stockton Heat Updates [2016-2017]
travel_dude replied to travel_dude's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
Was half expecting this. He was bothered with this last year. Affected his WJC and season play. Get this out of the way and have a healthier player next season. Joni will get a lot of playing time, so he may actually earn his way back up. -
One only has to look north to see the impact of an average defender. Neilson is playing better than the defense. He is giving them average or better tending. It's hard to imagine them being worse, but put October Ramo and Hiller there and they would be lucky to have 5 wins.
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He was a different player last night. The first goal was mostly on him, just for coverage, as Ramo should have had that. There were a few plays where I thought he was a step behind, but he added some toughness that hadn't been seen by the defense in awhile. All "clean" hits. How I have missed that. Engelland can do it, but gets out of position some times doing it.
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I believe they were talking about playing as a unit, not breaking out as one. I think what you see in the defensive zone is what is consistently practiced. It's not really that much different than last year. It can work, if the other team plays a certain way, but is also easy to predict. Two of the best played games this year were ones where dominated on the shot clock. And we had better than average goaltending.
