Back Up Goalie Discussion - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Roof-Daddy · 06-25-2017, 09:49 AM

What's Tre going to do here?

IMO this is THE biggest hole in the roster right now.

Part of me says let all the 'kids' battle it out for back up duties. You'd think between Rittich, McCollum (who actually has had some damn good AHL numbers the last few years) and Gillies someone would be able to step up, but Flames brass clearly thinks this team is ready to contend, and I doubt they want to risk their entire season by forcing Smith to shoulder a 65+ game work load, or worse have him get injured and end up with a Gillies/Rittich tandem and their 1 1/3 games of NHL experience between them.

I'm partial to Anders Nilsson myself, but that's no sure thing either.

Does Johnson come back knowing if everything goes to plan he only gets 25-30 starts? Doesn't seem likely.

Tre had Chayka hold back some of Smith's salary, bringing his cap hit to $4.25~ so that could be an indication he plans on shelling out a little more money to a reliable back up while keeping the hit for goalies more palatable and in the $6-6.5 million range...

What is everyone's feelings on this? Predictions? Hopes?

hockey.modern · 06-25-2017, 09:52 AM

Sign Chad Johnson $2.5M-$3.0M/2 Years

btimbit · 06-25-2017, 09:52 AM

Smith is a good guy to shelter someone with if they do go that route, but I'm not against Johnson coming back either

TheFlamesVan · 06-25-2017, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hockey.modern

Sign Chad Johnson $2.5M-$3.0M/2 Years

Please don't. Really not a fan.

The Hendog · 06-25-2017, 09:56 AM

Condon looked alright last year when Anderson was away
Only 27 played 40 games last year and 55 games a couple years ago for the habs
Seems like he might be a good insurance policy at the right price

Also would be pretty happy about Nilsson
Huge dude !!!

devo22 · 06-25-2017, 09:57 AM

someone like Keith Kinkaid maybe? Can give you solid 20-30 games per year and actually had better numbers than Schneider last season.

FireItUp · 06-25-2017, 10:04 AM

I think we have more of a problem with our goalie coach. For the last few years, it seems no matter what goalie we bring they end up sucking. Our goalies are never consistent or reliable and this includes the started and backup. I think it's time for a goalie coach.

bigrangy · 06-25-2017, 10:08 AM

Sink or swim for the rookies, and if they're all awful, sign or trade for someone in December. There's always at least one decent backup available for cheap at some point.

Gaskal · 06-25-2017, 10:11 AM

I'd prefer Rittich, leaving Gillies and Parsons to get the bulk of the starts in the AHL while McDonald stays in in the ECHL.

Demetric · 06-25-2017, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaskal

I'd prefer Rittich, leaving Gillies and Parsons to get the bulk of the starts in the AHL while McDonald stays in in the ECHL.

Parsons should be starter in ECHL. Goalies need starts and sharing in AHL for our top 2 net minders is not a good plan

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tkflames · 06-25-2017, 10:21 AM

Huge fan of Condon. We don't need the whole season reating on a Smith injury.

Condon has shown he can deliver.

djsFlames · 06-25-2017, 10:23 AM

Have to agree with others. I am not impressed with Sigalet's track record here. If the tandem as a whole struggles again you've gotta let this guy walk. He can't seem to help settle down our goalies after shakey games and help them work out that consistency and those technical weaknesses. Eg. Elliott in the first round. ####ing test him where he was allowing weak goals and drive home hugging the posts, keeping the pad on the ice and not going down too early. That's stuff he could work on with these guys. Goalies with decent histories all come and are streaky af with uncharacteristic lapses in their technical games and it's all been during his tenure here.

jayswin · 06-25-2017, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireItUp

I think we have more of a problem with our goalie coach. For the last few years, it seems no matter what goalie we bring they end up sucking. Our goalies are never consistent or reliable and this includes the started and backup. I think it's time for a goalie coach.

There's no real rumblings of this from within the organization and you'd think he'd have been let go by now if they were as unhappy with his performance as the fans are.

What specifically does he do or not do right? What were the ceilings of our declining/crappy goalies each season? Did they reach them? Could they have been even worse? Not to be snarky, but this is the one comment that seems to elicit a lot of "well, among a bunch of possibilities for struggles there's one obvious constant that needs to be changed".

Yet, nobody knows anything about the position because we're not around when he's working, nobody lends any credence to the idea that we haven't shored up goaltending with top quality tenders since he came here.

I don't know, I guess I'm just willing to throw up my hand and say "I don't know the position and how he's doing so that's just something I won't comment on and instead will defer to a GM that clearly isn't afraid to make changes whenever he sees something not working.

I highly, highly doubt Brad Treliving has put himself on the hotseat with goalie acquisitions year after year yet hasn't heavily considered the guy coaching them and wouldn't make the change in a ****ing heartbeat if he didn't think he was fulfilling the job properly.

StrykerSteve · 06-25-2017, 10:26 AM

I'm personally hoping for Rittich. No need to spend more money on yet another goalie when there are so many already in the organization.

jayswin · 06-25-2017, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

I'm personally hoping for Rittich. No need to spend more money on yet another goalie when there are so many already in the organization.

Absolutely there is. What if Rittich plays a few games at back up and clearly struggles at the NHL level, then the next day the team announces Mike Smith has a knee injury and is out four months?

Our season will effectively be over. No way Brad goes into the season without an NHL level back up. Not a chance.

djsFlames · 06-25-2017, 10:31 AM

Another vote for Rittich. Mature goalie with great numbers on the farm. Smith can play enough to shelter him. No need to spend more assets or a couple mil in cap space for a position that's been a rotating door.

jayswin · 06-25-2017, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Another vote for Rittich. Mature goalie with great numbers on the farm. Smith can play enough to shelter him. No need to spend more assets or a couple mil in cap space for a position that's been a rotating door.

Again, Brad simply will not chance another season to not having sufficient goaltending in place. Not a single chance he goes into the year with Mike Smith and an unproven back up.

Bunk · 06-25-2017, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayswin

Absolutely there is. What if Rittich plays a few games at back up and clearly struggles at the NHL level, then the next day the team announces Mike Smith has a knee injury and is out four months?

Our season will effectively be over. No way Brad goes into the season without an NHL level back up. Not a chance.

I think make it a race between Gillies and Rittich. If one struggles or gets injured, give the other a chance. At a certain point you have to take a bit of a risk in the development process. Both are at an age they should be able to step up.

I think another factor that makes this strategy less risky is the quality of our D. No goalie is going to be inundated with 40 shots a game.

Use the money to bolster the rest of the team.

Gaudfather · 06-25-2017, 10:37 AM

I would like to see Gilles get the backup assignment. I think Smith would be a great mentor for him and he could still start 30 games as a backup. I think he is ready to spend a year in the show!

Table 5 · 06-25-2017, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayswin

Again, Brad simply will not chance another season to not having sufficient goaltending in place. Not a single chance he goes into the year with Mike Smith and an unproven back up.

Be careful about dealing in absolutes...

Gillies and Rittich aren't 19 year olds...I think at some point you need to take a bit of a sink or swim approach with these guys to see what we have. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing the two rotate between the AHL starter spot and the NHL backup spot. Sure it would be nice if the #1 goalie was a bit more of a sure thing, but at some point you gotta test out your young goalies. We're not completely in win-now mode, so i think there's still a bit of flexibility there.