Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducay
Is it our goaltending coaching? Marky has devolved into Mike Smith-level puck handling decision making in the last year or so. Wonder if there is correlation to Smith doing the same
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Markstrom has always been a bit of an adventure with puck handling, but I know when the Flames signed Smith they made a point of discussing how much they liked him handling the puck. Saving wear & tear on the D core etc. Then, perhaps unsurprisingly, Rittich started handling the puck more with Smith helping him out (I recall them working on it during practices), and its just been something our goalies - except Vladar to this point- have done. I assume its just an organizational mandate. As in the GM likes it and the goalie dept wants this too. All IMO of course.
What happened last night? That was something a little out of left field but Markstrom tried this a few years ago when the team was underperforming and he took a knee to the head as I recall.