Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
Do you think Ortio was really ever that good? I am just not that convinced he was ever all that. Maybe its the ultimate we'll never know.
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I bought into the Ortio hype only as much as he was the goalie next in line to have his shot, and I wanted to see him get it. I remember a development camp where he looked particularly atrocious, as one of the older players in attendance, letting in softies from 40 feet out, and displaying very poor body language. At that point, I was on the side of 'he's not an NHL player'.
Ortio wasn't good enough to earn starts from Bob Hartley in a season where Jonas Hiller had a sub .880 save %. That's nobody's fault but Ortio. If you can't convince your coach in practice that you're better than a checked out Hiller or a 38 year old Backstrom, you don't belong in the NHL. Hartley would've rather played Ramo's one-legged corpse than Joni Ortio. That says it all.