Quote:
Originally Posted by timbit
But he did, with a perfect shot.
Is that on Smith?
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Yes, that was on Smith. Smith is a 6'5 220 pound goaltender. The man is a mountain, yet he continually gets beat cleanly on straight angle shots. On Rinaldo's goal Smith is clearly inside the blue paint of the crease, making himself small and giving holes to shoot at. Yes, Rinaldo made a good shot, but Smith should have played this better and given the 4th line knuckle duster nothing to shoot at. This is one of the problems with Smith. He is a below average fundamentals goaltender. His angles suck because he plays so deep in the net and he doesn't use his size like he should. We've seen it time-and-time again. A guy this big should be giving shooters nothing to shoot at.
Quote:
Originally Posted by timbit
Based on your parameters, how did the current Vezina winner do tonight?
Did he outplay Smith?
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Yup, Rinne had a tough game going, but he still managed to keep his team in the lead. That's right, at no time did the Flames ever have the lead, because Rinne continued to make saves on the Flames homeplate chances. Looking past this one game, you have Rinne still posting a .929 S% and a 2.11 GAA for the season. Smith? A .885 S% and a 3.38 GAA. Thank god for that shut out, or those numbers look even worse.
Here's the real kicker to me. If the Flames and the Oilers trade goaltenders the Flames are probably 6-1, or possibly undefeated. They have really suffered at the hands of their goaltending. Conversely, the Oilers would be winless and a bigger laughing stock than they already are. The Oilers have relied on Talbout to cover up on their defensive gaffs, and they have suffered through many more than the Flames have. That is the big difference. All goaltenders can stop the pucks that are shot at them. Good goaltenders can control or eat up the rebounds so they don't have to make the big saves. Good goaltenders also have the ability to make the big save, and prevent a goal from happening. We don't get that from Smith. He's a puckstopper and nothing more. Smith has poor angle coverage, poor rebound control, poor lateral movement, and poor hands. His go-to move is the "downward facing snow angle" which he uses he loses control of the puck. He just isn't a good goaltender and the results with the Flames, and from the rest of his career, are proof of that. Treliving needs to finally resolve this so the team can move forward.