Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike F
Don't disagree about Dansk vs. Gilles and Rittich. But IMO, one of the latter two has to make a strong showing in the remaining preseason games. If not, the Flames need to get a credible 2nd goalie to play with Smith. They can't afford to throw away any points in what will be a tight Pacific Division.
As has been pointed out, Toronto will have to choose between McElhinney and Sparks. Picking up McBackup would be a big upgrade for Calgary - in 3 of his last 4 seasons he's put up .934, .917, and .914 sv%s, playing an average of 23 games in those seasons.
The last time the Flames had a backup who had a >/=.914 sv% playing more than 10 games. . . . Roman Turek in 2003/04!
|
When I was playing in goal, I hated friendly games, because my team was never really trying hard in our own zone and in front of me. Nobody wanted to get injured, especially if the real season was about to start in week or two. Forwards where not blocking shots. Defensemen were not covering bodies or making space so I could see the shot. Lazy skating, risky passes, odd man rushes. Its simply different. And its really hard to go out there and give 100% effort if noone in front of you is willing to do the same in terms of playing defence. You let in 2 or 3 which were really hard to stop and you get pissed even more. It can get really frustrating and you can see many goalies struggling throught the league at this point. What was the score of DET vs CHI match last night? 8-6? Classic preseason game. Howard let in 6. Do you think wings fans are calling for his head because of it?