Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleeding Red
Of course, I cannot be sure that Sigalet was or was not held to the same standard as the other coaches.
But, I think common sense says that Flames management has not been looking at their goalies for the last 4 years thinking "Hey, we have the absolute worst goalies in hockey, but at least Sigalet got them playing up to mediocre standards. He's a wizard, let's keep him and fire everybody else!"
Hartley was let go because of the perception that he couldn't get the players to the next level. GG was let go for almost the same reason. Cameron was let go for bad special teams. Sigalet was kept on for turning "bad" goalies into mediocre ones?
If Smith ends the year as the statistically worst goalie in the NHL, is that ALL on him, or does Sigalet bear some responsibility?
If the Flames miss the playoffs, is that all on the players, or does the coach bear some responsibility?
Seems like different standards, but I can't be 100% sure.
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I'm all for Sigalet being shown the door in the offseason but I don't think you can blame him for the decline of Smith. It's pretty apparent that Smith has lost some quickness and can no longer compensate for playing as deep in the net as he does. At 35 years old there's no way a goaltender coach is going to be able to totally change the style of a veteran goaltender and that's what Smith needs. Really if Smith wanted to prolong his career he probably should have started changing his game prior to the trade to Calgary. He's a big guy and if he came out of the net further and took away the angles he may have been able to play a few years longer. Right now he's just giving up too much net and pucks are getting by him because his reflexes aren't as quick as they used to be and it's also possible the equipment changes have played a role in accelerating his decline.