Late Summer Reverse Standings Poll - 30th - Page 4 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Lanny_McDonald · 08-20-2014, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

I am wondering the same thing...

Buffalo is better on both wings and on defense. There goaltending has just as many question marks as ours. Where we have an edge is in the middle. Buffalo has the worst center depth in the NHL for the moment. Buffalo will give us a run for our money, but they have a few more good wingers that can score than we do.

ForeverFlameFan · 08-20-2014, 10:00 AM

Lol, you think our goaltending has question marks? We just signed the 2nd best goaltender in free agency, and Ramo really showed us how he rolls at the end of the season. And you can't account Ramo playing well when it didn't matter most, New Jersey was still in a playoff spot and he completely shut them down.

Lanny_McDonald · 08-20-2014, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Lol, you think our goaltending has question marks? We just signed the 2nd best goaltender in free agency, and Ramo really showed us how he rolls at the end of the season. And you can't account Ramo playing well when it didn't matter most, New Jersey was still in a playoff spot and he completely shut them down.

Hiller has plenty of question marks surrounding him. We'll see if his vertigo problems still dog him. The Ducks let him go for a very good reason, electing to go with a guy with 28 games of experience and another guy with 3 games of experience. Ramo's performance at the end of the season was good but will that carry over? At this point we don't know. Our goaltending is a huge question mark. The potential is there for it to be good, but the potential is there for it to go all to hell.

Enoch Root · 08-20-2014, 10:33 AM

I don't think there's any question that starting the season with Ramo (with a year's experience) and Hiller is SUBSTANTIALLY better than starting last season with two unproven question marks in Ramo and Berra.

Much improved. No question.

Even so, however, our goaltending is still a pretty big question mark and is far from being a strength. Sure, they can both have great years, that's definitely possible, but it is far from a certainty

CliffFletcher · 08-20-2014, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dammage79

The Flames actually played far better after the trade deadline so missing Stempniak is not really an issue.

A lot of teams play better once they're out of the playoffs and the pressure is off.

dammage79 · 08-20-2014, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

A lot of teams play better once they're out of the playoffs and the pressure is off.

They routinely beat teams or at least kept the games they lost close during that stretch. They beat contenders in a playoff run. What more should they have done?

I really dislike the downplaying and straw man arguments like this putting the Flames down when they don't deserve it. They were absolutely on of the best teams in the league during the second half of the season. It was their first part of the season that killed them. They improved over the year. Give them some darned credit.

Weitz · 08-20-2014, 11:01 AM

The biggest point is Hiller was passed over for essentially 2 rookies on a contending team. Not exactly a good sign. I mean he was 24th in GAA and 33rd in Save % last year... on the Ducks...

Street Pharmacist · 08-20-2014, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dammage79

They routinely beat teams or at least kept the games they lost close during that stretch. They beat contenders in a playoff run. What more should they have done?

I really dislike the downplaying and straw man arguments like this putting the Flames down when they don't deserve it. They were absolutely on of the best teams in the league during the second half of the season. It was their first part of the season that killed them. They improved over the year. Give them some darned credit.

I believe it's true though. Someone could do the math for current history, but about 5 years ago I looked at it about 5 years ago and the first 40 games were a way better predictor for the following season than the last 40. I think the flames played great, but we're playing above their talent

Poe969 · 08-20-2014, 11:46 AM

I honestly don't see Hiller as an improvement over what we had. I mean if he was that good, the ducks would have kept him. He has potential to be the goalie he once was but he could also follow his trajectory of decline.

Resolute 14 · 08-20-2014, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poe969

I honestly don't see Hiller as an improvement over what we had. I mean if he was that good, the ducks would have kept him. He has potential to be the goalie he once was but he could also follow his trajectory of decline.

Most other teams and your reasoning would be sound. But Anaheim let Hiller go because of an abundance of options. Much the same way LA jettisoned Scrivens - he wasn't traded because he sucked, he was traded because Martin Jones made him redundant.

Hiller won't steal a ton of games, and I don't even think he is a threat to steal the #1 job from Ramo. But he is a noticeable upgrade on MacDonald and Berra.

ForeverFlameFan · 08-20-2014, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poe969

I honestly don't see Hiller as an improvement over what we had. I mean if he was that good, the ducks would have kept him. He has potential to be the goalie he once was but he could also follow his trajectory of decline.

Hiller isn't an improvement over Berra?

Fire of the Phoenix · 08-22-2014, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weitz

The biggest point is Hiller was passed over for essentially 2 rookies on a contending team. Not exactly a good sign. I mean he was 24th in GAA and 33rd in Save % last year... on the Ducks...

That's why we got him on a short term, relatively cheap contract. The potential is there for him to be better than last year and there's no way he can be worse than Berra.