Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
You’re in Klimchuk territory with Ramo here Scorp. He’s not even in the conversation.
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Disagree. He almost has to be, by default. He was an around-league-average goalie for three seasons with the Flames and played the majority of the playoffs in a year where Calgary won a series. Only Ramo, Kiprusoff, Vernon, and Lemelin can say that.
After Kiprusoff, Vernon, and Lemelin, who else would it be?
Bouchard - didn't really consider him because he was mostly an Atlanta guy. If we're taking those achievements into consideration, sure, fine. But he didn't move the needle much in Calgary.
Hiller - one average season and one horrific season in which he was by far the worst goalie in the NHL. Not even close to Ramo.
Brathwaite - posted solid numbers on some brutal teams. I'm inclined to take Ramo over him because of his playoff experience, but Brathwaite's RS numbers are slightly better. They started roughly the same number of games over the same amount of seasons.
Elliott - one year of mediocre and inconsistent goaltending isn't enough to beat Ramo.
Smith - similar to Hiller, although with a slightly better second year. Still, Ramo never had a year that was close to being as bad as Smith's 2018-19.
Turek - maybe if he played every game like the first 12 of 2001-02. As it stands, he wasn't anything special and his numbers were quite poor for the era. Gets points for taking the pay-cut, but it's not enough. Didn't do anything in the playoffs, either, but only because of the guy in front of him -- although, if his time in St. Louis was any indication, he could have contributed to an early exit if he'd played in 2004.
Kidd - backed up Vernon for a year before starting for three years. Was pretty spectacularly bad in the playoffs. Usurped by Tabaracci as the playoff starter in 1996, which says a lot. His regular-season stats were pretty consistently below-average, with the exception of in 1995, a year in which he proceeded to post an .856 in the playoffs.
IMO it goes:
Kiprusoff (576 GP) - the best ever
Vernon (527 GP) - close second
Lemelin (302 GP) - consistent starter for years with playoff success
Ramo (111 GP) - average starter for three years with playoff success
Brathwaite (138 GP) - average starter for three years
Kidd (178 GP) - inconsistent starter with some good years
Turek (152 GP) - inconsistent and overpaid starter for two years
Smith (89 GP) - All-Star to well-below-average in two years
Hiller (78 GP) - above-average starter to historically bad in two years
Elliott (49 GP) - inconsistent starter for a year with no playoff success
Man, it's a really ugly list. At their Flames peak, I wouldn't want anyone after the top-3 as a starter today.