[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by The Boy Wonder

I tend to agree with you except where you believe the goalie coach isn't part of the problem.

I don't think the fact that he has survived multiple coaching changes means anything other than he's managed to stick around. to me it doesn't speak to how well he has done his job. Maybe there was nobody else available, or maybe the new coach just said: "screw it, I don't have my own goalie coach guy so i'll just keep him around" but to point to the fact that he sticks around as something positive is guesswork just as much as saying he is bad at coaching goalies.

This is generally true, and I am sure I harbour my own biases. I am just not that keen to rush in and join the frothing Lynch mob.

results and facts lead to the truth:

and the truth is that, for whatever reason, goalies have not performed well under his tutelage. now to what extent is he responsible for that? that is guesswork, but we can assume its greater than zero.

It has been brought up several times now that Rittich seems to be doing just fine under Sigalet. It is and exaggeration to subsume all the Flames's goalies under the same rubric of failure.

Also, a couple weeks back Hrudey did a little 30 second thing about varlamov and his new goalie coach in Colorado who was doing some new and unorthodox things with him to get him seeing the puck better, using all white pucks, practicing with horse blinders on, etc.

And sigalet is one of the longest tenured goalie coaches in the league, which makes me think that potentially he isn't adapting or very cutting edge in his approach...

More pure baseless, vacuous assertions stemming from thin air.

The way he makes our goalies play so far back in their nets is worrisome given the recent equipment changes.

I think this is over-exaggerated, and it is not something that I have seen as especially different from how numerous other goalies in the NHL play the position. I am quite sure that Smith has always played deep, and in part this makes a lot of sense because he is so big. It's what big goalies tend to do. It is not something that has ever stood out as anomalous in Rittich's game. I could be wrong, but tend to think is more a product of confirmation bias than anything.

I'm not saying that sigalet isn't doing things like varlamovs coach during practice but I think a shake up is needed.

By "shakeup" am I to presume that you would welcome change for the sake of change? I am not about to suggest that goaltending coaches are not important—clearly, they are as evidenced by how many there are. However, in the list of things that make demonstrable improvements to a team's overall play, or in the disparity of skill and ability from one coach to another I tend to think that the impact a goalie coach has is pretty small. Also, in the list of things that fans are utterly clueless about, the performance of goalie coaches is very high. It is right up there with team trainers and therapists.

Its easier to fire a coach than to fire a player. which is why if there is some goaltending savant over in europe, I would be bringing him in for an interview asap

Yes, and that is part of the problem in my opinion. Fans want the goalie coach fired because it is easy. I am most concerned about whether or not it is the right thing to do. It may be, but I remain unconvinced mostly because I have so little information about the situation. We all have so little information—why are there such strong feelings from so many posters with so little information? I think the answer is obvious.