Quote:
Originally Posted by Aarongavey
That would not be average though. Over the past 2 seasons 61 goalies have played in at least 41 games in a single season (basically half the games). Only 2 have had a worse save percentage than .900 (both last year, Anderson at. 898 and Darling at .888). So a .900 SV percentage would be closer to worst in the league type performance.
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Given the defensive gong show that was playing in front of Smith for most of October, a .900 save percentage would have been miraculous. It was almost like the puck had a cloaking device which made it invisible to the Flames' skaters when an opposing player had possession. No goalie looks good in those circumstances.
I seem to remember one of the coaching staff saying that there was no point even trying to evaluate the goaltenders until the team got their defensive play together. I think that's reasonable. On that basis, I'm prepared to throw out everything up to and including the Pittsburgh game. That leaves a six-game body of work, with Smith getting four of those starts and Rittich two.
For me personally, Smith's poor performance in the last two weeks is the main cause for worry. I agree that he's earned a demotion to backup; I'm just not sure yet if Rittich has earned a promotion. We'll have to see if Rittich can handle the heavier workload this time around.