Quote:
Originally Posted by crapshoot
I have the same views on Mike Smith as general consensus here on the boards, but I'm just gonna say one thing that crossed my mind. If David Rittich were to go down with an injury just before or during the playoffs I would actually be more comfortable in rolling the dice with Mike Smith in net rather than any random backup goalie that would be available for a reasonable price.
Smith has been crap this season, but he has also had a bunch of really good games. The ability to play well is not the main issue, but consistency is, and he's a battler who plays with tons of emotion and has a tendency to rise with the challenge througout his career. He has also put his team on his back during the playoffs before. In a desperate situation I'd rather sink or swim with a guy like that than a Curtis McElhinney or whoever might be available, no matter what the regular season stats might say.
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Obviously spending major assets on your backup is silly, but I'd imagine a goalie like Talbot or McE can be had for very little.
McE showed at points this season that he can win you games, and we've see what Talbot can do in front of a tire-fire. IMO, for a 4th (5th even?) the gamble that Talbot is suffering from a case of the 'get me out of here's, seems very worth it if this can be had.
Playing games with Detroit over-valuing Howard, giving up assets for the dice-roll in Bob or anything else that would re-estabilish a 1A-1B is a problem for next year. While this debate has raged on, Rittich has solidified himself as a #1 more and more.
The lost cost to upgrade goaltending for 8-10 games needs to be low. But, if it's one of those type of guys, there's a
chance one of them can run with it infront of this team. Smith has played better, but the offence still gets a gift every game.
Smith just physically can't do it anymore.