Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Mike Smith's... woes? He blows? Eating crows? Who knows! (Also David Rittich exists!)

Split98 · 03-06-2019, 11:02 AM

Here's Smith talking about goaltending if anyone missed it:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...s-goaltending/

I think his biggest issue is smugly opening with laughing that 'pundits' opinion don't matter with "well that's important then". He's right about 1 thing though: The Ws are pretty consistent. But he's disingenuous when he sluffs off anyones concerns as over-reaction. He's been much better lately, but his goaltending would have sunk this season if Rittich didn't step in. To his point though, Rittich is a Flames goalie... and Flames goaltending has gotten the job done more games than not.

To take a W as 'pretty good' and accept no criticism about anything that happened during the game isn't going to sit well with the 'pundits' who hope your name isn't attached to the ticket they paid for. Because what he's not addressing is the highlight reel of gimmies he's offered up throughout the season. Those are games people have paid to be at and those are 2 points that matter, even in our position right now. If we finish near the top of the conference, regular season mishaps are forgiven but they aren't forgotten. Those gimmies need to stop, and Iggy night was too familiar for a lot of fans. More worrisome is our saviour in Rittich hasn't been too confidence inspiring lately either.

The question is, how many 'blips' need to happen in a 7 game series before we realize goaltending is the problem. Throughout the year, the Flames have managed very well despite 1-2 gimmies a game (less so lately, albeit). However, those hurt a lot more in the playoffs and without our score-at-will top-6, that easily could be 1 of 4 games to the opposition over a few 'blips'.

There's reason to worry, but it's good to hear that they aren't letting panic control the dressing room. There's nothing that can be done about the situation now, so what he's saying is the best we can hope for. It's good to hear that he can let that roll off his back, as I don't think fans are complaining about it to hurt the guy. We want him to respond to terrible games with great goaltending we've seen from him before.

But he has to understand why fans hate seeing him in net as hard as that is to make peace with. He's single-handedly cost games, or made them a lot more exhausting than they needed to be. His terrible starts to begin the season could be the storyline of an exhausted Flames team in the playoffs, for all we know.

Either way, 'blips' aren't what fans want to hear. Especially when they've seen how many 'blips' he wants us to ignore.

03-06-2019, 11:02 AM	#1807
Split98 Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ontario Exp:	Here's Smith talking about goaltending if anyone missed it: https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...s-goaltending/ I think his biggest issue is smugly opening with laughing that 'pundits' opinion don't matter with "well that's important then". He's right about 1 thing though: The Ws are pretty consistent. But he's disingenuous when he sluffs off anyones concerns as over-reaction. He's been much better lately, but his goaltending would have sunk this season if Rittich didn't step in. To his point though, Rittich is a Flames goalie... and Flames goaltending has gotten the job done more games than not. To take a W as 'pretty good' and accept no criticism about anything that happened during the game isn't going to sit well with the 'pundits' who hope your name isn't attached to the ticket they paid for. Because what he's not addressing is the highlight reel of gimmies he's offered up throughout the season. Those are games people have paid to be at and those are 2 points that matter, even in our position right now. If we finish near the top of the conference, regular season mishaps are forgiven but they aren't forgotten. Those gimmies need to stop, and Iggy night was too familiar for a lot of fans. More worrisome is our saviour in Rittich hasn't been too confidence inspiring lately either. The question is, how many 'blips' need to happen in a 7 game series before we realize goaltending is the problem. Throughout the year, the Flames have managed very well despite 1-2 gimmies a game (less so lately, albeit). However, those hurt a lot more in the playoffs and without our score-at-will top-6, that easily could be 1 of 4 games to the opposition over a few 'blips'. There's reason to worry, but it's good to hear that they aren't letting panic control the dressing room. There's nothing that can be done about the situation now, so what he's saying is the best we can hope for. It's good to hear that he can let that roll off his back, as I don't think fans are complaining about it to hurt the guy. We want him to respond to terrible games with great goaltending we've seen from him before. But he has to understand why fans hate seeing him in net as hard as that is to make peace with. He's single-handedly cost games, or made them a lot more exhausting than they needed to be. His terrible starts to begin the season could be the storyline of an exhausted Flames team in the playoffs, for all we know. Either way, 'blips' aren't what fans want to hear. Especially when they've seen how many 'blips' he wants us to ignore. Last edited by Split98; 03-06-2019 at 11:04 AM.