Hamonic and Smith presser - 2pm. Hamonic will wear #24.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Demetric

https://twitter.com/NHLFlames/status/879356465881808896

looks like 41 for Smith

Thank goodness, it's not the wretched #1.

It's going to be a good season.

[king_amonte]

Mike Smith must be a Dave fan.......

[Erick Estrada]

Where's Smith's offseason home? Going by the trees behind him that doesn't look like typical Arizona.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Where's Smith's offseason home? Going by the trees behind him that doesn't look like typical Arizona.

Not sure where he lives but, LOTS of places in Arizona look like that... just sayin'

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Looks like 41 for Smith is confirmed:

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
Mike & Brigitte Smith, along with their kids Aksel, Ajax, Nixon & Kingsley and their �� Berkley, are ready to join the #CofRed!

How do the Flames not know what Berkley is? He's clearly a dog.

[KelVarnsen]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Looks like 41 for Smith is confirmed:

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
Mike & Brigitte Smith, along with their kids Aksel, Ajax, Nixon & Kingsley and their Berkley, are ready to join the #CofRed!

Originally Posted by squiggs96

How do the Flames not know what Berkley is? He's clearly a dog.

Better?

[Phaneuf_Phan]

Originally Posted by skudr248

Smith is our very own Robin Williams in Jumanji

1989 Mike, 1989!

[NiklasSundblad]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Where's Smith's offseason home? Going by the trees behind him that doesn't look like typical Arizona.

I think when TSN radio interviewed him they mentioned Collingwood ON?

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Where's Smith's offseason home? Going by the trees behind him that doesn't look like typical Arizona.

Heard talk he was training with Matt Tkachuk and Gary Roberts somewhere in Ontario

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Looks like 41 for Smith is confirmed:

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
Mike & Brigitte Smith, along with their kids Aksel, Ajax, Nixon & Kingsley and their �� Berkley, are ready to join the #CofRed!

I love this.

[Vinny01]

I was half listening to HC@noon today on 590 and they discussed who was further ahead between the Flames and Oilers. Marek said he thinks the flames have jumped out ahead again with the Smith and Hamonic trades. Millard commented how the Smith trade appears to be only received lukewarm in Calgary and the panel briefly discussed how much better Smith should play with this blueline in front of him.


I am not sold on Smith. I feel Tippet played a style that is more defensive and beneficial to goalies (similar to Elliott in front of the Hitchcock Blues). I hope I am wrong and Smith has a strong year

[Joe Nieuwendyk]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Heard talk he was training with Matt Tkachuk and Gary Roberts somewhere in Ontario

...where the sealions kiss so the story goes

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I am not sold on Smith. I feel Tippet played a style that is more defensive and beneficial to goalies (similar to Elliott in front of the Hitchcock Blues). I hope I am wrong and Smith has a strong year

You may be right on Tippett's style but having one of the worst teams in the league in front of Smith surely hurt his numbers more than Tippett's style may have helped then

[Max Cow Disease]

Good to have Mastodon's Brent Hinds on board to keep goal.

[AC]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I am not sold on Smith. I feel Tippet played a style that is more defensive and beneficial to goalies (similar to Elliott in front of the Hitchcock Blues).

Pretty sure this hasn't be accurate for many years.

The Coyotes allowed 34.1 shots against per game last season, that was 2nd worst.

[CaptainCrunch]

Tippet was basically doing crossword puzzles behind the bench last year while wearing a T-Shirt that read.

"I want the frack out of here and all I got was this stupid T-Shirt"

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by AC

Pretty sure this hasn't be accurate for many years.

The Coyotes allowed 34.1 shots against per game last season, that was 2nd worst.

I am not a huge advanced stats guy but how did Smith do against high danger chances? If teams keep shots outside it can really over inflate a goalies save % which is the knock I heard on Lehner in Buffalo.

For all intents and purposes the Flames have an elite blueline and play a solid possession style. Smith should be in line for a solid year

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I was half listening to HC@noon today on 590 and they discussed who was further ahead between the Flames and Oilers. Marek said he thinks the flames have jumped out ahead again with the Smith and Hamonic trades. Millard commented how the Smith trade appears to be only received lukewarm in Calgary and the panel briefly discussed how much better Smith should play with this blueline in front of him.


I am not sold on Smith. I feel Tippet played a style that is more defensive and beneficial to goalies (similar to Elliott in front of the Hitchcock Blues). I hope I am wrong and Smith has a strong year

I think it would be fair to give Smith some latitude for adjustment. I recall reading Elliott saying his unfamiliarity with Flames D led to him not reading the play as well. Subsequently he was a little hesitant early on. I also recall Kipper saying similar comments back in the day about not being able to read what his D was going to do and his play would suffer.

The D has a year of GG system under their belts so it should be better for Smith than it was for Elliott but there will be an adjustment period.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Looks like 41 for Smith is confirmed:

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
Mike & Brigitte Smith, along with their kids Aksel, Ajax, Nixon & Kingsley and their �� Berkley, are ready to join the #CofRed!

He knows that he didnt make the playoffs right?

[AC]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I am not a huge advanced stats guy but how did Smith do against high danger chances? If teams keep shots outside it can really over inflate a goalies save % which is the knock I heard on Lehner in Buffalo.

For all intents and purposes the Flames have an elite blueline and play a solid possession style. Smith should be in line for a solid year

I'm not either but here's what I could dig up:

Of goalies that played a minimum of 3000 minutes (approx 50 games) the last 2 seasons combined:
8th in even strength SV% (a better indicator of a goalie's strength as it removes a poor PK from affecting the SV%)

Ian Fleming‏ @imfleming16
If you want to take potshots at CGY for Smith, do it for his age. Harping on unadjusted Sv% won't get that argument where you want it to go.

Ian Fleming‏ @imfleming16
I don't believe in small samples, but here is Smith against Antti Raanta, another rumored target for CGY:



He appears to compare pretty nicely to Raanta surprisingly.