Quote:
Originally Posted by Galakanokis
I am not as big a fan of it as I thought I would be. At first the thought really excited me and I thought it would benefit the offence a lot more but now I am not so sure of that.
Part of me likes the defenceman with the puck behind the net with time to setup. When Smith plays the puck it is to a corner limiting what the D man can do, up the boards or back behind the net. You also have to have both defensemen doing the samething, waiting for Smith to decide which way he is going to play the puck. If the puck is stopped behind the net one defender goes to retrieve it and other setups. More options for the defender behind the net and I feel the players have a better understanding of where they should be on the ice. Less guessing and thinking.
There is still room for a puck moving goalie but it doesn't need to be every play. It feels like for every good play Smith makes four are wasted.
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I agree with a lot of this. I was one of the few who wasn't excited at all about a goalie who played the puck all the time. But as Smith was playing in God mode, I grew to like it more then I thought it would. I've only seen I think 2 goals that results from a mishandled puck, but plenty more opposition plays broken up so I will willing to live with it.
At the same time, I prefer to have a D man take the puck and make the pass. Sure it looks cool when a goalie makes a tape to tape pass and the crowd goes wild. But often Smith just shoots it off the glass and it results in a board battle the Flames often lose. I've also seen quite a few time where he stops the puck behind the net, a D is skating to retrieve it, and he fires it right past them off the glass. What's the point of that? You have a good puck moving D who is right there. Would you prefer a player to pass the puck? Or a goalie with bulky equipment with a large stick? I know which one I prefer regardless of how good the goalie is at passing.
I like how Smith breaks up dump ins and stops the forecheck. But I would much prefer if afterwards, he lets the D play it. Sure pass it up if no one is there you or see a line change. But when you have a D skating up to get it, and the goalie fires the puck away, that's got to be frustrating for the D.