Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
I haven't felt this confident with a Flames goalie between the pipes since Kipper retired. Is Ortio legit? I know he looked rough at the beginning of the season during the three-goalie nightmare, but whenever he's been the undisputed starter, he's been very impressive.
With that in mind, should we forgo the goalie search this off-season, opting to add more offence instead? Is Ramo/Ortio enough?
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I think Ortio is "legit" in that he's proven himself capable at an NHL level and shouldn't need to return to the AHL unless he's regressed once again next season. There are still games where he's been struggling...and there are even cases of it after Ramo went down this year. But I am not concerned or worried as I have been with Hiller in the late stages of this season (or the rest of the post-Kiprusoff era goaltenders for the most part...Ramo and Hiller in stretches have looked good but rarely at a consistent level).
He's certainly still raw and needs more starts. Watching Backstrom in net gives you a good sense of the level of panic in Ortio's game. Backstrom is calm and composed at almost every point while you can almost see Ortio's worry if he's out of position or doesn't know the puck's location. But he's also capable of the saves you need out of a goaltender and accomplishes it with relative frequency. His skill set is not enough for me that I'd trust him to reliably give a chance to win against the Anaheim or Washington tier teams...not yet anyways. So a back up is a good position for him to get experience and to see how much better he'll become. If he follow the Kiprusoff projection (an unlikely one, I know), he'll be fighting for that starter spot sooner rather than later...a good problem to have.
I would love to see this team get another capable goaltender, especially a starter. I'd want to see where Ramo is post-recovery before handing him the keys to the team (or even a contract) if you want to go Ramo/Ortio. He's been good post-Christmas this season...but that's a major injury. So I'd give him a shot on the team (PTO). That would leave room for the starter seat still and I'd still encourage the Flames to seek out a viable starter goaltender who can take the extremely tough minutes.