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Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire
Your absolutely right regarding his positioning and being a first stop goalie, but that's not to say he gives up for 2nd and 3rd saves as well. I don't know how Jonas Hiller plays so I can't compare Irving to him, but he is one of the best goalies I've seen positionally. He has great puck handling skills as well. I've rarely seen him get in the way of a defenseman chasing the same puck.
As for his upside: I see him as being a lot like James Reimer. Exactly the same age, a little lighter and shorter. The kicker is, Irving has had numbers in the AHL than Reimer. Whether that translates as well to the NHL, I don't know. It's just really too bad they signed Karlsson for two years because I have a feeling we're going to lose Irving.
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Yeah. Much of what you say seems to give me visions of Hiller...I think if we do manage to keep Irving, it'll come down to a contrast of natures again between the D Feaster likes (fast, two-way, not required to be physical) compared to the style Irving has, where some of the biggest threats are going to be within the last 10 feet from the net. Speedy defensemen will be able to prevent the long bomb shots and force teams to constantly cycle the puck, but won't be able to clear the front of the net if rebounds occur...much like our situation with an aging Kiprusoff, jamming away will score quick and often.
It seems to be less of an issue with Karlsson by nature of the way he rebounds the puck (they bounce out far and often to the opposite side) and is less of an issue as Karlsson can fall back on being big to stop lots of in tight shots...Irving, not so much. Irving does have the ability to be a much more positionally sound goalie though and, if he can build up lateral movement, I think will be a much better goalie.
Using Reimer as a comparison might not give a good indication. Reimer caught fire last year at the end of the season...we're not sure yet if those are his actual quality numbers ala Ward or if he pulled the same stunt as Halak (who's certainly not an elite goaltender).
I'm also not convinced Karlsson for two years will be a major issue. I think Feaster is preparing to move Kiprusoff soon, using his low actual salary as bait for a team with lots of cap space. A combination of Irving/Karlsson (1A/1B...whichever plays which) for a few years wil be shaky at times, but gives me some pretty good feelings that the Flames won't be desperately looking for reinforcements in net for at least 5 years (At worse, we'll have a 1B/Backup situation...which, while not ideal, should get by at some degree).