Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson
Try as I might, I still can’t feel good about the goaltending.
Smith was excellent in 47 GP before his injury last season, but afterwards, he was pretty bad in 8 GP. At age 36, I don’t think it’s borrowing trouble to say we should expect Smith will be injured at some point.
Rittich, the likely backup, had quality starts 62.5% of the time last season and I’ve been through his game by game save percentages. But I just don’t trust him. I don’t feel confident he could take the starter’s role and perform well for a big chunk of the season. I don’t feel confident Gillies or Parsons could do it either.
I feel reasonably confident the forwards are the best we’ve seen in a while and the defence can be fine despite the loss of Dougie Hamilton. But I just feel like goaltending could sink the season.
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I agree that goaltending is the primary concern now that the core forwards and defence seem set for the near future. However, i dont want to see the flames spend any more assets on goaltending. I hope to see a slough of prospects with the occassional free agent signing in the next few years.
On the subject of Mike Smith health, i agree that Rittich isnt a starter but i love him as a backup, and while Gillies isnt a guy wom i trust to start for a full season, i do think he has the ability to catch lightning in a bottle and drive us into the playoffs. If/ when Mike Smith misses games, I hope Gillies is used as the starter and Rittich continues as backup.
#trusttheprocess