I have mentioned in the past my problem with Smith’s demeanour in games. Even when we first got him. Some call it intensity and competitiveness. But I have never liked it when goalies lose their cool or are vocally criticizing teammates.
I always prefer goalies that have a calming nature to their game. Was one of the best features of kipper. Good goal, bad goal, big save, easy save... it didn’t matter. He reacted the same way every time. He got up and took a drink of his Gatorade and got back to work. It’s why he rarely had stretches of letting in lots of bad goals. He kept his composure and would usually recover from a bad goal.
Guys like Smith, Elliott, and hiller have been the opposite. The second they let in a bad goal or a goal gets deflected by one of their own teammates... they look to the sky, or slam their stick or shrug their arms at teammates. That’s not a calming influence and never helps the goalie or their team mates get better. When smith lets in one bad goal... everyone knows he’s going to let in more... he never recovers during the game. Ever.
For reasons like these I would like whatever goalie the flames target next to be a calm, cool and collected style of goalie the way kipper was. I know his natural ability is not something that is easily found but I just want a goalie that focuses on stopping pucks and keeping in a focused state. Not someone who is trying to make breakout passes and is telling players how to defend. I would avoid guys like Lehner for this reason. He, like smith, is too reactionary/hot tempered and is not a calming influence to the team.
I actually believe Rittich is a good option going forward and I think has real potential to become a starter. He plays a tight game and his rebound control is good. Would love for the flames to approach kipper himself to come in as the new goalie coach to pass on his mental approach to Rittich as well as future flames goalies.
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