[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I do think a lot of fans won't watch unless the Flames are winning, and they will probably formulate the bulk of their opinion based on Wolf's SV% and win/loss record.



However, most fans will watch, and I do think they will formulate their opinion more on what they see as opposed to the stats.



For instance, is Wolf giving up a goal on the first shot on net often? Does one squeak by him at the end of periods/games? Does he allow bad goals, or other deflating goals? Or does he provide steady goaltending with occasional elite-level saves?



This is a rebuild. There are still some fans that expect the Flames to finish somewhere close to the playoffs somehow, so if Wolf does what I expect him to do (sub .900SV%, I expect closer to .855), then perhaps some people will point the finger at Wolf (and/or Vladar) as the reason the Flames missed. However, most people are going to just watch the games, and then base their opinions on what they actually see instead of just counting stats.


Flames are built for 3-1 losses, not 10-1 losses, so that will probably help Wolf's (and Vladar's) numbers, but I would be shocked if they were even close to .900 this season. This is a team that has to work hard every night to keep it close, and they will have bad games in which turnovers at the worst time happen, and this is not a tight defence to begin with at the best of times. I actually expect that we will see an improved Wolf and Vladar (once Vladar adjusts after his surgery).


There will always be a few loud contrarian voices no matter what, and that's fine. I do think that most people will just evaluate Wolf on what they see, not just on his (ugly) stat-line this season.

I doubt anyone looking at the Flames roster are going to specifically blame goaltending for a weak record. Especially after looking at the D corp. Yikes.