[TheIronMaiden]

Spoiler!

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I'm really sick of reading this narrative.

Last year after Smith went down

- The Flames got totally whallopped at Boston in all areas. Rittich didn't stand on his head but was solid. That was all we would have asked of Smith.
- The Flames dominated Nashville and Rittich was completely solid. Then he screwed his SV% for the game making a fancy pass down the middle of the ice, with a multi goal cushion that made it purely academic.
-The Panthers scored some goals on Rittich, most of which was atrocious coverage by Gio himself. Watch the goals, no goalie is pitching a shutout in that game. Loss.
-Rittich played the best game of his career at home VS Boston, and was the only reason they got a point. OTL
- Rittich played a legitimately bad game in Vegas against the Golden Knights. The kind of game every goalie is prone to once or twice a season. It was his first and worst game of his career. Loss, first one that was on him and not on the team in front since Smith went down.
- Then Rittich stood on his head for a period and a half against the Avalanche. Flames were playing awful and ultimately a penalty parade and some odd man rushes with perfect execution cost Rittich goals against. As with the Panthers game, Rittich was left out to dry. He did have a minor meltdown on his final goal against - the closest thing to your narrarive - but it was one bad foal after the team had completely let him down.
- then Gulutzan, genius that he was, decided that Rittich's losing streak was on Rittich because Gillies won a game against the Avs 4 nights earlier - a game the Flames played MUCH better defensively and the Avs played MICH worse overall. This got Gillies the next start, where he cost the team with soft goals. And then Gulutzan went to Gillies again in Pittsburgh, probably the best game TJ Brodie played in the 2017-18 season, which Gillies cost the team with multiple bad goals against - a game I firmly believe Rittich would have handily won.
- Rittich then won his next two starts over Buffalo and Ottawa with great SV%s in both, as the team's overall play was back to being competent. Rittich's two game win streak warranted a third game (and probably win) in a row but the next game Mike Smith returned and proceeded to cost the Flames a win with soft goals against New York - a game they should absolutely have won.

I'm sure Rittich probably did take some mental notes on how to handle being a starter, but that sequence of losses was a team meltdown, not a Rittich meltdown. He had one bad goaltending performance after Smith went down, Gillies got a few of the softer starts to pad his stats (Dallas was an offensively useless team last year too) and then the team was quick to pin losses on Rittich.

Even this year Rittich had a 4 game streak of starts without a win. He wasn't overwhelmed or not ready, the timing just worked out that way.

I see your point, and obviously a goaltenders performance does not happen in a vacuum. The Flames were terrible, and completely fell apart, that was in no way Rittichs fault. I don't think that anyone pushing the narrative that Rittich is to blame for losing last year in February. All the same, results are that in 9 games last February he had a .873 Sv% and a 4.05 GAA. Sure lots of that was his teams fault, the Flames sucked last February. All the same, those numbers are awful.

Is it coincidental that he put of bad numbers at the same time that he was given the reigns? Who knows for sure, my assumption is that he did not step up to the challenge, ( forget where but there was an article written about the change in his personality during this period). What we do know is that if that happens again you can put a fork in the Flames championship hopes. So I return to my point ( which is purely speculation) that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Edit found the article in question: https://theathletic.com/658758/2018/...lames-starter/

“I took the pressure on me,” said Rittich, who lost five of his first six starts after becoming the go-to guy. “I don’t want to do the same mistake this year. I’m just enjoying and having fun when I’m in the net.”

According to Sigalet, once Rittich was in the No. 1 chair, he altered his regimen and tightened up. He just wasn’t himself. “So it’s just staying on top of him to stay loose, stay calm – don’t change what’s given you success.”