[wired]

Originally Posted by stemit14

If everything goes as most people think this year for the flames, it will be a rough season to be in the flames net. The defence is very thin at this point or, at the very least, it is untested. Some of the young defencemen acquired over the last year could surprise and the defence may be better than most would think. However, assuming it is as poor as it looks on paper, how should the coaching staff/management handle starts from the goaltenders?

There is the old “win and you’re in” method with an unproven tandem. Where it’s as simple as whichever goalie pulls off a win, gets the next start. I’m not a huge fan of this method when developing a young goalie because I think it promotes a pressured environment but not a confidence building one. And wins could be hard to come by even if the goalie plays well.

I prefer for a plan where Wolf is essentially in the backup role to start the season but he never goes more than a week without playing. Early in the season, try to give him the “easiest” starts. By that I mean against lower-scoring or weaker opponents. Most importantly though… don’t let him sit for long. Even if the team is on a winning streak with Vladar, I think it’s very important for Wolf to get regular starts throughout the season. If he struggles consistently in those starts after a couple months, they can consider sending him down to the Wranglers (although I would prefer they keep him up and let him work through it).

If he shows consistency and plays well for the first couple months, the transition to more frequent starts can happen. Make it more of a 50/50 tandem with Vladar through the middle of the season. If Wolf is playing better than Vladar by the 3/4 mark of the season, start giving him more games than Vladar - essentially flipping the start frequency of Wolf/Vladar from the start of the season. If not, keep it at an even 50/50 split.

This system might seem unfair to Vladar but it does give him the starting role to begin the season - if he outplays Wolf, he gets to keep it but Wolf still gets his regular starts. My hope would be that Wolf plays no less than 30 games this season if he stays healthy.

Is Vladar not hurt? I thought he had surgery and would not be available to start the season.