Quote:
Originally Posted by FlameZilla
I still expect the Flames to drop a lot of points this season, mostly due to leaky defence & potentially terrifyingly unreliable goaltending. I think we will definitely have a lot of fun watching the forwards' swashbuckling style, but there will be some heartbreaking leads surrendered by the back-end.
If Feaster/Burke (Burkster?) added one powerhouse, crease-clearing defenceman it might make the difference between being a bottom-10 team in the league and being a playoff team. But would that sabotage the rebuild?
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How good was the Chicago's goaltending going into last year. They were saving cap space with a tweener (NHL/AHL) with a .903 save %.
Crawford's save % 2011-12 .903 and Macdonald's save % 2012-13 .902
With this Flames team the goalie is not going to get run 10% as much as Kipper and MacDonald were run last year. There will be far less goals tapped in from scrambles as Bouwmeester tries to stick check the forwards standing in front getting 2-3 chances.
Even though preventing and letting in goals is credited to the goalie it is a team effort. This is an area, unlike scoring, that consists mainly of hard work and commitment.
The Flames teams of the last 5 years were much more talented but consistently got out-worked and folded when given any excuse: second game of back to back. ... blowing a 3 goal lead, top player injured.