Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
In fairness, those guys had impeccable pedigrees.
I disagree that the expectation was that Gillies wouldn't be in play by now. He's 24 and was drafted 6 years ago. That's when goalies should be coming into the NHL IMO. He has OK AHL numbers (I don't know NHLe numbers for goalies but my suspicion has always been that the lack of D and generally loose team play in the AHL saws off with the quality of shots in the NHL).
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I think we are thinking the same. If Gillies had progressed properly, he SHOULD be ready next year and SHOULD have been close enough this year to bring him in early, in case Smith implodes, which he has.
I don't think the Flames saw this type of implosion from both Smith AND Gillies.
It was a tough debate going back into the Summer. I think half the board thought the Flames should have gone out and acquired a veteran goalie who could be a 1A/1B type like Hutton or Halak in case Smith falters.
The other half of the board thought we needed to give Gillies/Rittich the back up spot and didn't want them blocked. The Flames gambled with this decision and now it's up to Rittich to save the day.