Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
I am all for poking fun at Ricardo but his post has some good points.
Ortio has been good at the AHL level, maybe very good, but not dominant. There were well over a dozen goalies with better results last year. Yes Ortio did better after a slow start. But you can't just take out a players bad games when assessing their performance.
His NHL performance has shown flashes. Some good but some bad too.
I think he is a reasonable backup on a rebuilding team. Or a team with a true workhorse number one.
The Flames are acting like a contending team with 1a and 1b goalies. A poor fit for Ortio
|
Tenders are so hard to evaluate. Yeah maybe his numbers weren't dominant, but when you watch Ortio play, he plays such a sound style. You expect a goalie with the right tools (athleticism, proper technique and style) and good minor league numbers to translate to the NHL success. Eddie Lack comes to mind for me. Ramo, and to an extent Hiller have unconventional styles. Although their numbers are good, you almost are afraid to bet on your own goalie since he plays so much differently than the top tenders of the day.
Call it intuition or simply talent evaluation, but despite Ortio's non-dominant numbers in the AHL, he appears to have the proper tools to be successful in the NHL. Of course, anything can happen, but with good coaching and a good atmosphere around the club, Ortio seems poised to succeed and even outpace Ramo and Hiller as a pro NHLer.
PS: Essentially what I'm getting at is that you need to look at more than just stats with goalies, more so than any other position.