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curves2000 · 04-11-2016, 04:47 PM

The truth is the entire team including management, coaching, special teams, forwards, defense and goalies weren't good enough.

I am no Hiller fan and his performance was awful but was Ramo's, Ortio's and Backstroms superb? The 3 out of the 4 goalies we had are flat out amazing then doesn't this mean our goalie situation is resolved for 16-17 season?

Let's not all have short term memory loss here as to the reasons why we are where we are. Hiller deserves a solid level of blame for the issue but that doesn't absolve

1) Gio and Hamilton being one of the worst D pairings at the beginning of the season. Injuries, new guy etc are excuses as well

2) Every analyst and most fans talked about the bad decision to have 3 goalies at the start. Not sure why this issue wasn't rectified sooner as it clearly was an issue. After we went with Hiller and Ramo it was discussed by GM and coach that this was indeed a factor in poor start

3) Ortio. Lets not forget how high a lot of fans and management were on this guy at the start. The thought was he was soooo good that he couldn't be placed on waivers as some team would pick him up. Now being honest here, how many of the other 29 teams are licking their chops to sign this guy based on his work? I believe he can be a potential back up for us but that's a maybe.

4) Special teams: Bottom feeders pretty much from start to finish. Not much else to say here

5) Lack of veteran scoring at the start and middle of the season. Plenty of players had a lot of goals February and onward but when we were still in the thick of the race in December a lot of our vets didn't show up. Management always talks about wins in October are just as important as in April but the truth is player production is vital when the games truly matter. Hat-tricks in game 80 of a bottom tier team don't do as much other than give the agent more ammo to present to management come contract time.

It may seem like I am sticking up for Hillers performance but I am not. The guy clearly didn't have it despite having a decent season last year. His lack of saves doesn't absolve management, coaching and other players from their jobs. His lack of saves didn't prevent the PP from being as pathetic as it was. The guy didn't play all 82 games. Every season there is a scapegoat but the problems persist.

Rant over. Sorry about the length.

04-11-2016, 04:47 PM	#150
curves2000 First Line Centre Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Calgary, Canada Exp:	The truth is the entire team including management, coaching, special teams, forwards, defense and goalies weren't good enough. I am no Hiller fan and his performance was awful but was Ramo's, Ortio's and Backstroms superb? The 3 out of the 4 goalies we had are flat out amazing then doesn't this mean our goalie situation is resolved for 16-17 season? Let's not all have short term memory loss here as to the reasons why we are where we are. Hiller deserves a solid level of blame for the issue but that doesn't absolve 1) Gio and Hamilton being one of the worst D pairings at the beginning of the season. Injuries, new guy etc are excuses as well 2) Every analyst and most fans talked about the bad decision to have 3 goalies at the start. Not sure why this issue wasn't rectified sooner as it clearly was an issue. After we went with Hiller and Ramo it was discussed by GM and coach that this was indeed a factor in poor start 3) Ortio. Lets not forget how high a lot of fans and management were on this guy at the start. The thought was he was soooo good that he couldn't be placed on waivers as some team would pick him up. Now being honest here, how many of the other 29 teams are licking their chops to sign this guy based on his work? I believe he can be a potential back up for us but that's a maybe. 4) Special teams: Bottom feeders pretty much from start to finish. Not much else to say here 5) Lack of veteran scoring at the start and middle of the season. Plenty of players had a lot of goals February and onward but when we were still in the thick of the race in December a lot of our vets didn't show up. Management always talks about wins in October are just as important as in April but the truth is player production is vital when the games truly matter. Hat-tricks in game 80 of a bottom tier team don't do as much other than give the agent more ammo to present to management come contract time. It may seem like I am sticking up for Hillers performance but I am not. The guy clearly didn't have it despite having a decent season last year. His lack of saves doesn't absolve management, coaching and other players from their jobs. His lack of saves didn't prevent the PP from being as pathetic as it was. The guy didn't play all 82 games. Every season there is a scapegoat but the problems persist. Rant over. Sorry about the length.