Quote:
Originally Posted by The Fonz
I'm aware it's unlikely, it's just nice to think about.
You're 1st paragraph though... are you forgetting about the season we just witnessed? Not only did they produce at that pace, but we also had Iginla, Bouwmeester, and Kiprusoff on the roster. We finished with exactly 1 win, 2 pts more, than the team holding the 3rd overall draft spot.
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True, but Kiprusoff had the worst season of his career by far. In fact, Kiprusoff had the worst GAA and worst SV% on the team, and the team had the second-worst save percentage in the NHL — just a hair ahead of Florida. The only goaltender returning from last season is MacDonald, who also had the best stats of the lot.
If either Ramo or Berra can improve on a 3.39 GAA and .884 SV% (the collective numbers for all Flames goalies not named MacDonald), that will be an improvement. For the team to get worse, they would *both* have to fall short of that very low standard. And if Ramo and Berra do both crap the bed, I would fully expect the team to go out and sign or trade for another goalie. Goodness knows there are plenty of replacement goalies on the market.
As for Iginla, he scored only 9 goals before being traded, and was, I believe, generally viewed as a defensive liability. I hate to say it about the man, but trading him, at that point, may have been addition by subtraction.