kehatch
-
Posts
10,467 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
33
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Videos
Events
Gallery
Everything posted by kehatch
-
Remember when we used to complain about Elliott's 910 save percentage?
-
That's the most likely answer. Especially if Rinne is happy reducing his workload. But it wouldn't be the strangest thing to see Nashville trade Saros after extending their starter.
-
Rinne just extended. I wonder if that makes Saros available?
-
I agree. For now. The best situation is to get Smith going. You do that by getting him starts and treating him like the starter. Rittich maintaining his level of play with a bigger workload is far from a certainty (and is down right unlikely). But the Flames are running out of time and Smith is running out of rope. If his next start is a mess he gets yanked in my opinion and we start to roll the dice on Rittich. If Smith has a strong start he earns a bit more rope.
-
I don't think either goalie is particularly athletic at this point. Rittich never was and Smith has lost a few steps. It is probably why neither does particularly well when the Flames D falls apart. I don't like Rittich as a starter. I have been very vocal about that and I will continue to be until he proves me wrong. Barring a trade I still think our best case forward is to get Smith going while managing Rittichs starts so he can continue to have success. That said, I am a bad start or two from pulling the plug on Smith. 10 starts should be enough to tell the difference between a slow start and age catching up. It's starting to spiral now as his confidence is impacted. I would start Rittich next game and then Smith the one after. After that my objective if I am the coach isn't to get Smith going anymore. It's to play my best goalie. If I am the GM it's to find a starter. Of course, I think that should have been the objective starting last June.
-
Apples taste better in pie then in salad.
-
39 goalies have played five or more games this season. In that group Rittich is 3 in save percentage. Smith is 39. They both have the same team in front of them. The good news is Allen, Fleury, Holtby, Murray, and Bobrovsky are also near the bottom of that list and have sub 900 save percentages. The bad news is (with the exception of Murray) these guys have been better then their back ups so it points to a team issue (at least in part). The other bad news is Smith has been a fair hit worse then the guys on this list.
-
I like th NMC in this case. If he won't waive to come here then he probably won't sign here. And we need a long term solution.
-
I have no idea how Sigalet still has a job. He shouldn't have it based on the results alone. But I don't think you can hang Smith's results in him. It is much more likely age and injury have caught up to him then a coach has derailed his game.
-
What is he going to learn watching those goals? His job is to forget about that game and get his mind right for the next. He has enough time in the NHL to know how to handle that. This is one comment I have zero issues with.
-
It's not that easy. Smith is a vet and is popular in the room. Moving on from him is going to take time the Flames don't have. Take where we are right now. Smith just got yanked in one of the worst games in franchise history. He has a losing record and dreadful stats. Meanwhile Rittich has a winning record and strong stats and has generally been very good. Yet the coach continues to defend Smith and Smith is getting the next start. If Rittich hasn't been handed the starting reigns, even temporarily, then they are clearly reluctant to do it.
-
I didn't like Smith's interview. Even ignoring the stats, Smith has been short on big saves and long on bad goals. That said, I don't care what someone says in an interview, I care what they do on the ice. If a little denial is his way of staying positive then fine.
-
As we have seen in Montreal, Colorado, even in Calgary, if a goalie is great it makes the team look better. The opposite is true when the goalie is terrible. I don't think the Flames would look anywhere near as bad if Smith was making some saves. But just about every mistake goes in the net. That said, recently the team is struggling. Gio is slowing down, Brodie hasn't returned to form, Hamonic has been out or meh, Stone is Stone, and our forwards have shown zero commitment to defence, at least the top and third line. We were better the first 5 or so games though and goal sunk us when Smith was in the net.
-
Sorry, but no. That is the type of excuses we heard all summer. I totally agree that the team in front of the goalie hasn't been particularly good for a bunch of games, especially recently. But the Flames haven't been the worst team in the NHL and Rittich hasn't pooped the bed like Smith has. Smith has been absolutely sensationally dreadful. Full stop.
-
Is it too early to resurrect the summers posts about goal being our biggest risk? Smith has been terrible. Rittich has been good, but he was last season as well until he had to carry the starter load. I don't know what's out there, but its past time to find an upgrade in net.
-
Smith for sure. Rittich should start about 1 in 4 unless the Flames are forced to change things up. I would pencil Rittich in against New York and then Buffalo, and adjust if Smith has a couple of bad starts back to back.
-
Not a chance. Smith could turn things around. There may be no trades out there. One of the kids might step up. I am not saying the Flames will trade Smith. But to suggest "Treliving won't trade Smith" isn't accurate at all. If he can trade Smith and make the team better, or if Smith play forces the issue, he will absolutely make a move.
-
I agree that we need something effective and long term. But whatever we do will probably be a risk that most of us won't love. Schneider is 32, hasn't played well in two season, and is inked for 4 more at 6 million. Extending Smith isn't ideal given his age and play. Bobrovsky is going to make over 10 million per year if we even have a shot at signing him. Varlamov might be a good target, but will he even be available and what will be cost to sign? Rittich/Parsons/Gilles aren't inspiring confidence to be starters. I agree the best thing to do is to ride this season until at least the deadline and probably the summer. That gives you time to assess the kids and see what is available via trade/free agency. But if Smith keeps playing poorly Treliving may need to accelerate things to keep from throwing a season away.
-
I don't disagree it isn't ideal given his salary, term, age, and performance the last two seasons. But it is unlikely we find an ideal solution. The term definitely scares me because it is a big problem if he doesn't turn it around. But whatever we do isn't going to be ideal at this point.
-
Sure he will. If Smith doesn't start playing well Treliving will do whatever he can to find a goalie. Which will probably include reading Smith given how close we are to the cap. If the Flames miss the playoffs because of poor goal tending there is a very real chance Treliving is out of a job. At the very least he chops off a few of his nine lives.
-
Kinkaid is doing well in New Jersey. Schneider has 4 years at 6 million and its possible the Devils would like to get away from that. Would people be into Stone/Frolik+Smith for Schneider? He hasn't played well the last two seasons, but was a high end goalie before he got hurt. Salary lines up with Calgary getting out of one of their not great contracts. I don't know if NJ would have any interest. This assumes they want to get away from Schneider.
-
The priority isn't to see what you have in Rittich. It's to get your starter playing well. Sitting him after a game then long stretch off isn't how you get your starter playing well.
-
We need both. Smith is our starter. He is going to play 55-60 of the games in the regular season and all of the games in the playoffs. He needs to be good. We also need Rittich to be good because we dont want to be forced to overplay Smith. It's possible this is the season Smith loses the starter role and either shares starts or becomes a backup. But I need to see a couple more strong starts from Rittich and stinkers from Smith first. Like I said above, there are currently a lot of elite goalies at the bottom of the statistical pile right now and a lot of backups at the top. It's a symptom of being 5 games in.
-
I don't see that this season. I did in the past for sure. But he seems to be using his team mates and focusing on other areas of the game rather then trying to constantly wow everyone.
-
Rittich looked solid last night. The first two goals weren't on him, and he shut the door after that. He wasn't called on to be spectacular, but he was solid. I don't know if I would give him the next game though. We need to have Smith playing solid hockey. That's a long stretch without a game for Smith. Like it or not Rittich is our backup and Smith the starter. It will take more then one solid game to change that. If missing the next game is the best way to get Smith going then do it, but I doubt that is the case.