Goaltending

[kehatch]

Gilles or Rittich will get an opportunity if there is an injury. Just like 90 percent of goalie prospects. 

 

I am more focused on Gilles rebounding in the AHL. Sure he played well at the end and that is a positive sign. But looking at segments of play is never a good way to evaluate goalies. He needs to do that over a long period. 

[jjgallow]

1 hour ago, kehatch said:

Gilles or Rittich will get an opportunity if there is an injury. Just like 90 percent of goalie prospects. 

 

I am more focused on Gilles rebounding in the NHL. Sure he played well at the end and that is a positive sign. But looking at segments of play is never a good way to evaluate goalies. He needs to do that over a long period. 

 

I'd like to think you're agreeing with me, but I suspect...you meant AHL?

[MAC331]

It has taken BT awhile and a few shots at it but I like the sense of order and quality we now have in our Goalie pipeline.

[cross16]

I agree that the focus should be Gilles taking over at the AHL level and being consistent there. I don't see any reason why the focus should be on the NHL team when he has only had 1 AHL season and it was pretty up and down. 

 

Not very common for goalies to be an NHL option after 1 AHL season, even the best of the best prospects. I get some mention Gilles age but i'm personally not a huge fan of looking at it based on age, experience matters more IMO. 

[robrob74]

On 2017-07-13 at 10:59 AM, cross16 said:

I agree that the focus should be Gilles taking over at the AHL level and being consistent there. I don't see any reason why the focus should be on the NHL team when he has only had 1 AHL season and it was pretty up and down. 

 

Not very common for goalies to be an NHL option after 1 AHL season, even the best of the best prospects. I get some mention Gilles age but i'm personally not a huge fan of looking at it based on age, experience matters more IMO. 

 

 

Like you said, the best of the best...

 

look at Carey Price. Everyone in Montreal wanted his head when he had bad games, and they wanted Halak over him. 

 

Early in his career it didn't look good. But luckily the fans weren't the GM and he didn't get traded. Where would they be now? Bottom feeders.

 

let Gillies develop. Over-developing isn't a terrible thing. It is when you dick someone around and not play them properly. He still has to prove it.

[420since1974]

As long as Smith/Lack perform as expected, I have no problem with Gillies/Rittich in Stockton for 2017/2018.

Most assuredly, there will be injuries to the Flames goalies, and they'll both probably get some NHL minutes.

 

As for age, Rittich is almost two years older than, and has started around 50 more games than Gillies.

He looked as good, if not better than Gillies last year, and could well be the first G call-up this upcoming season.

 

Still waiting to hear that he has been re-signed.

[travel_dude]

Flames have signed both Rittich and Gillies to one-year, 2-way deals.

 

Aaron Vickers‏ @AAVickers

#Flames announce signings of goaltenders David Rittich and Jon Gillies to one-year, two-way contracts.

[redfire11]

I think our biggest goalie problem last year was confidence. I still believe Elliott was a good accusation and is a great goalie. But it wasn't till he started getting confident in our Defense and his own abilities later in the season did he show his capabilities. In the playoffs his confidence was shattered after the second game. 

I have watched Arizona play quite a bit the last 2 years probably 3rd of teams watched behind Calgary and Edm. Lack of Confidence in his own abilities was NOT something Smith portrayed. Lack of confidence in his defense in front of him YES. His age and his demeanor will work in the flames favor. As I said earlier in this thread.

If you screw up your duties in front of Smith. " No longer are you going to get that sympathy hug from Geo or that little Time Out from GG, You are going to be yelled at so the whole stadium will hear it".

[Flyerfan52]

1 hour ago, redfire11 said:

I think our biggest goalie problem last year was confidence. I still believe Elliott was a good accusation and is a great goalie. But it wasn't till he started getting confident in our Defense and his own abilities later in the season did he show his capabilities. In the playoffs his confidence was shattered after the second game. 

I have watched Arizona play quite a bit the last 2 years probably 3rd of teams watched behind Calgary and Edm. Lack of Confidence in his own abilities was NOT something Smith portrayed. Lack of confidence in his defense in front of him YES. His age and his demeanor will work in the flames favor. As I said earlier in this thread.

If you screw up your duties in front of Smith. " No longer are you going to get that sympathy hug from Geo or that little Time Out from GG, You are going to be yelled at so the whole stadium will hear it".

I wish I could believe the high lighted as IMO the Flyers down graded big time going from Mason to Elliott.

 

I'm another that isn't all that confident in the Smith/Lack pairing but figure they are =/> last year's experiment. I hope the improved D makes adequate goalies out of both.

[kehatch]

There was an article on flamesnation.ca (I think) comparing Smith to Elliott. The big difference was consistency. Smith may not be an elite goalie. But he is steady and predictable. 

 

I think the Flames biggest issue in net had been the lack of consistency. Hiller, Johnson, Elliott, etc went through long stretches of being terrible and it appeared to impact the teams confidence. Having a steady tender will be a refreshing change. 

[travel_dude]

13 hours ago, kehatch said:

There was an article on flamesnation.ca (I think) comparing Smith to Elliott. The big difference was consistency. Smith may not be an elite goalie. But he is steady and predictable. 

 

I think the Flames biggest issue in net had been the lack of consistency. Hiller, Johnson, Elliott, etc went through long stretches of being terrible and it appeared to impact the teams confidence. Having a steady tender will be a refreshing change. 

 

TBH, I don't know if Smith is any better than Elliott or Mason.  Elliott lost the confidence of the GM, or at least they weren't confident that he could play 50+ games consistently.  He would have cost a 3rd.  Mason would have cost nothing and is close to Smith in most regards.  What I don't get is why they made the trade when they made it.  The pick is from 2018 anyway, so the only asset that was expiring was Johnson.  ARI could have just exposed Smith over CJ.  Waiting till FA started might have given us time to look at other options or possibly reducing the cost.  

 

I'm not sold on Smith, but if he can give us a win in game 1 and our first home game, I will be very happy.  When was the last time we had wins in those two situations?

 

[Cowtownguy]

Not much discussion has taken place about Lack. While his numbers are not that impressive, I thought his play was often pretty solid when with the Canucks. If memory serves, he was usually brought in when the Canucks were really playing poorly. I think that this was an intelligent move by Treliving because I used to think that Lack really played well when pushing for the #1 spot. Like most people on the board, I am taking a wait and see approach to this tandem. I think that I am a little more optimistic than most here. If GG can get the rest of the team to give them a chance, I think that the talent is there to perform well.

[420since1974]

I thought that Lack was a decent backup in Vancouver.

I didn't watch any of his games with Carolina, so no eye test there for me.

If his play can mirror his time with the Canucks, he should be slightly better than Johnson.

[conundrumed]

19 hours ago, 420since1974 said:

I thought that Lack was a decent backup in Vancouver.

I didn't watch any of his games with Carolina, so no eye test there for me.

If his play can mirror his time with the Canucks, he should be slightly better than Johnson.

Exactly the way I view it.

I like what redfire is saying about Smith yelling at guys.

I want that emotion.

"You humiliated me out there"....boo-freaking-hoo.

Don't come back for seconds...

If a goalie isn't verbally abusive on his D, he probably isn't doing his job. lol.

Send the entire D corps for Sensitivity Training in reverse. Don't get all sensitive because you boardinged up.

Ahhh, if only the world worked that way again, lol.

[Flyerfan52]

25 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Exactly the way I view it.

I like what redfire is saying about Smith yelling at guys.

I want that emotion.

"You humiliated me out there"....boo-freaking-hoo.

Don't come back for seconds...

If a goalie isn't verbally abusive on his D, he probably isn't doing his job. lol.

Send the entire D corps for Sensitivity Training in reverse. Don't get all sensitive because you boardinged up.

Ahhh, if only the world worked that way again, lol.

I doubt it'll be the D corps he'll be yelling at if he's left hung out to dry by a bone headed play. I trust them but a lot of our forwards have to learn that not only those designated as defense on the game roster should play defense.

[robrob74]

55 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Exactly the way I view it.

I like what redfire is saying about Smith yelling at guys.

I want that emotion.

"You humiliated me out there"....boo-freaking-hoo.

Don't come back for seconds...

If a goalie isn't verbally abusive on his D, he probably isn't doing his job. lol.

Send the entire D corps for Sensitivity Training in reverse. Don't get all sensitive because you boardinged up.

Ahhh, if only the world worked that way again, lol.

 

 

I played Ted on a hockey team where the goalie was passionate, yelling compliments and letting us know we boardinged up. It didn't change how I viewed him. I respected it.

[conundrumed]

47 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

 

 

I played Ted on a hockey team where the goalie was passionate, yelling compliments and letting us know we boardinged up. It didn't change how I viewed him. I respected it.

I highly doubt a seasoned NHL goalie is playing subterfuge, put it that way.

If he's screaming, he just might be really choked.

I want US to have that in our goalie.

Get pissed off, be my guest.

[420since1974]

As far as I'm concerned, if Smith can provide league average or better goal-tending stats, he can yell at anyone he wants to.

 

Bennett, Ferland, Hathaway, & Tkachuk tend to draw a lot of penalties with their gritty style of play.

Not every player is suited to that role, but even Backlund and Frolik were in their fair share of face washing scrums last season.

I'd like to see more of it, and from more of the players on the team.

 

I believe that the Flames have enough talent to win; they just need to fine hone their intellect and emotion to win it all.

There are many young core players on the team who have not mastered that yet.

That's usually the "magic ingredient" for Cup winning teams, convincing each & every player to totally invest their minds, bodies, & souls for the team.

There cannot be any passengers, everyone must help push or pull.

 

One of the things that really stood out for me during Calgary's 2003/2004 SCF run, was that they played with a lot of passion.

They stood up for each other consistently, and pissed off near every team they encountered during the play-offs.

To me, that is a much more entertaining style of hockey, win or lose.

 

[cccsberg]

On 2017-07-29 at 11:32 AM, travel_dude said:

 

I'm not sold on Smith, but if he can give us a win in game 1 and our first home game, I will be very happy.  When was the last time we had wins in those two situations?

 

Yes, the season starts with a bang, and could easily be a foreshadow of things to come.  Tons of pressure, key opponents, needed wins.

[cccsberg]

On 2017-07-31 at 2:34 PM, conundrumed said:

Exactly the way I view it.

I like what redfire is saying about Smith yelling at guys.

I want that emotion.

"You humiliated me out there"....boo-freaking-hoo.

Don't come back for seconds...

If a goalie isn't verbally abusive on his D, he probably isn't doing his job. lol.

Send the entire D corps for Sensitivity Training in reverse. Don't get all sensitive because you boardinged up.

Ahhh, if only the world worked that way again, lol.

yeah, good points, but unfortunately you may have to wait for another generation or two.  In regards to Smith, I'm also believing his puck-handling skills can be a HUGE asset to the team, especially with our D who know how to turn up the ice and go.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how that develops and how GG tweaks the offence to utilize his talents handling and passing the puck.

[Carty]

Obviously not going to happen now, but still interesting to hear about it from Fleury...   from: http://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/news/marc-andre-fleury-would-have-waived-no-trade-for-the-flames/ar-AArP6Ug?li=AAadgLE&ocid=spartandhp

 

Marc-Andre Fleury can admit now he was preparing for the possibility of becoming a Calgary Flame.

 

He’ll even go as far as to say that had Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford crafted a deal to send Fleury to the Flames at last season’s trade deadline, the 32-year-old goaltender would likely have waived the no-trade clause he has in his contract.

 

“I think so,” said Fleury while in New York for league meetings.

 

“I think Calgary is a great town and a great hockey team too. I think they’ll be very good again this year. But here I am.”

 

In Vegas.

 

[The_People1]

2 hours ago, Carty said:

Obviously not going to happen now, but still interesting to hear about it from Fleury...   from: http://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/news/marc-andre-fleury-would-have-waived-no-trade-for-the-flames/ar-AArP6Ug?li=AAadgLE&ocid=spartandhp

 

Marc-Andre Fleury can admit now he was preparing for the possibility of becoming a Calgary Flame.

 

He’ll even go as far as to say that had Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford crafted a deal to send Fleury to the Flames at last season’s trade deadline, the 32-year-old goaltender would likely have waived the no-trade clause he has in his contract.

 

“I think so,” said Fleury while in New York for league meetings.

 

“I think Calgary is a great town and a great hockey team too. I think they’ll be very good again this year. But here I am.”

 

In Vegas.

 

 

Interesting.  I wonder what was crafted by Rutherford.  Probably a good idea we said no...

[cross16]

Personally I doubt the Pens and Flames talked. It sounds like Vegas and the Pens worked out a deal before the trade deadline to deal Fleury to Vegas which was, and should have been, plan A for the Pens because even thought it cost them a 2nd round pick it allowed them to protect and keep all their dmen. I think Rutherford did a smart thing to give up an asset to keep his roster together rather than try and get assets for Fleury. 

[Flyerfan52]

As everyone is probably aware my choice for this year was a Mason/Grubauer tandem but unfortunately that was not to be.

I was never on the MAF wagon & was luke warm @ best with Smith.

The strange thing is as I talk to people & read various articles about Smith in Calgary the more faith I'm starting to have in him.

I was talking to my niece's husband on Sunday. He's a goalie & a Habs fan (I forgave him as he is a good guy) & talk turned to improved teams so we taked Jets getting Mason (we both live in the "Peg afterall) & he mentioned Smith with that Calgary D. We tend to discuss rather than argue so I let him make his points why that was a great combination & I had no rebutal. There's a dang good chance this works if our forwards hold up their part of the bargain.

[Thebrewcrew]

Some thoughts on the goaltending;

 

Smith- I think he will do well here. His puckhandling will really help the D and hopefully we see a few breakaway passes to Johnny lol. I can't remember the last time the Flames had a goalie who was a very good puckhandler like Smith. However, he will make mistakes and it will result in goals, we will have to live with it. 

 

Lack- If i recall correctly when VAN had him on the trading block I believe CGY was interested, as they were in Talbot also. Anyway, I expect him to be highly motivated this season and I can see him being a pleasant surprise between the pipes.

 

Prospects- Smith has an injury history, fingers crossed he stays healthy, but if not it will be a good opportunity to see what we have in Gillies/Parsons/Rittich (FWIW I am a huge Parsons fan and would not at all be surprised if he is the #1 in Stockton this year).