[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Demko and Dvorak were both rated higher consensus than the picks we missed them in. It was very much a "smartest guys in the room" type of arrangement.

Well, no. That is just not true. Mason McDonald was the highest ranked goalie by Red Line heading into the 2014 Draft. I suspect a big part of the reason for that were the concerns about Demko's hips:

However, at Red Line, we see him as just one of a closely ranked top four grouping. Overall, we find the netminding class to be a mediocre bunch without a true top-end talent, albeit with decent depth through the middle rounds. We expect to see probably eight to 10 goalies selected in the first three rounds in Philadelphia next week.

For Red Line, the No. 1 guy, by a whisker, is Mason McDonald, who combines great length and wingspan with really good flexibility and athleticism for a gangly kid. He barely got to play in the season's first half while backing up a veteran, but blossomed after a midseason trade. McDonald showed improved techniques, strong lateral movement and a willingness to challenge shooters aggressively. For our money, he has the most long-term upside.

NHLCS had McDonald #2 behind Demko.

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Yeah, maybe no one picked out point on the board but it's disingenuous to post two comments worrying about Demko's hips when by and large everyone was SCREAMING about not taking Demko there.

Here is the entire reaction to the McDonald pick as it played out in real time:

[Spoiler-tags for size —I skipped about a dozen posts in the thread that were responses to previous posts, but this represents a fair cross section of the reaction here to McDonald v. Demko]

Spoiler!

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Mason McDonald... goaltender early in the 2nd for Calgary.

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

EFFF. Terrible terrible terrible.

Stupid goalies and way too high. God damnit.

Originally Posted by dammage79

Alright, Kamenev or McKeown then! So cool the Flames are getting another good one with 34!

Oooooo McDonald. Okay..

Originally Posted by Table 5

Hmm, not a fan of drafting a goalie this high.

Originally Posted by Gaskal

A goalie? Kinda surprising.

Originally Posted by Imported_Aussie

ugh bad pick. McDonald. When there are good defensive prospects on the board

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Goalie!
Argh

Originally Posted by Matty81

Demko seemed like the better goalie prospect.

Originally Posted by expatflame

who?

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Oh my. I like that pick. MacDonald has really impressed me. A little early perhaps but I like the fact that they grabbed him.

Originally Posted by Bezer

Ya not thrilled with that pick but I guess they know better than us.

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Wow if Vancouver gets McKeown...

Originally Posted by SebC

Did we even get the best goalie? Consensus seemed to be Demko.

Originally Posted by Savvy27

I'm pretty surprised they took a goalie so early. He was excellent in the top prospects game, but obviously for his age group he is a top guy. Good to keep the stable stocked, since it's so hard to know if a guy like Gillies or Ortio will be able to hold down the number one position and be a top guy in the league.

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Not a huge fan of this pick, prefer goalies to be taken later. I was in for Demko but not familiar with him as all.

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Nucks take Demko

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

Really not liking that pick considering who was available. Goalies are too much of a risk to take that high.

Originally Posted by Dorkmaster

Heard that Mason McDonald was one of the top goaltenders in the draft. Forget which draft guide had him as their #1 goaltender for the draft.

Surprised that we went goalie but we'll see how it turns out.

Originally Posted by Poe969

We have decent goalie depth and no depth on D. Why take a goalie?

Originally Posted by Matty81

I think he was picked largely on the u-18s because he only played 29 games this season and didn't look great (albeit behind two bad teams).

Sub .900 save percentage in those 29 games

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...php?pid=160381

Originally Posted by SebC

Canucks take Demko. I think we'll be talking about this for a while.

Originally Posted by Savvy27

I think that the Flames staff would be very, very familiar with a Boston College goalie. If they didn't take him, I'd guess there is a pretty good reason.

Originally Posted by The Swedish Flame

I am confused.

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Demko goes to the Canucks. He's the guy I wanted in this round, so we'll see how our guy plays out. Good twist to this round.

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

On Demko, there are rumors he will need sugery on both his hips so thank God the Flamesa re staying far away from him.

McDonald imo is the best goalie prospect in the draft, glad to have him.

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

The Flames know Demko well and hey still took McDonald, so I trust them.

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

Demko is seriously overrated.

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Demko certainly benefited playing behind a good team. McDonald played behind 2 awful teams.

Originally Posted by 868904

I don't know why so many on here wanted Demko, it's not like he played great for BC when it mattered. Flames saw him lots. I remember the game thread for the frozen four and everyone was saying Demko was no good....and now, he's going to the other no goods.

Originally Posted by saXon

Goalies are a long shot anyways. It'll be 3-4 years before we see if they'll pan out at the NHL level. Have to roll the dice to keep the goaltender depth strong.

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I wasn't that impressed by Demko in the Boston College games I watched.

Flames needed another goalie prospect and MacDonald was the top goalie on some lists.

Interested to see who we get at 54 now.

Originally Posted by N26

I saw McDonald in the QMJHL first round against Halifax and he was excellent. PEI was getting vastly outplayed, ridiculously outshot and hugely outscored. Halifax scored 28 times in 4 games. And yet much of the talk was about McDonald. He was awesome. I'll take him

Originally Posted by AC

A bunch of goalies went in the span of a few picks. Glad we took the best one according to the scouts.

So, no. No one was "screaming about not taking Demko there." I think most of the frustration about the McDonald pick stemmed from the fact that the Flames picked a goalie—ANY goalie—in the top-fifth of the second round. There was a lot of concern about the depth of the prospect pool on the blue line, and most posters were hoping the Flames would have picked a defensman like Andreas Englund, Julius Bergman, Roland McKeown or Jack Dougherty. A number of posters correctly identified Demko as a better prospect, but this was not an off-the-board draft shock like you imagine it to have occurred.

My point is this: most of us think we remember what happened in NHL entry drafts from nearly a decade ago with crystal clarity. But I think the lesson here is that our memories are very much deeply coloured by what has happened in the years since the draft. Like I said above: people remember a freak-out about Demko or Dvorak or Point that simply did not happen. People remember this because all of our memories are incredibly flawed, and easily susceptible to more current events.