Quote:
Originally Posted by ComixZone
Remember Steve Mason?
Not saying that it’s an outright fair comparison, but I think expectations for Wolf may be a tad high/premature at this point.
He’s a young guy. Let’s not bury him if he comes out and only puts up a .900 save % this coming season. If he has a sophomore slump, which would probably be more in line with the norm, we shouldn’t panic.
Goalies, and goalie development, are unpredictable.
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There's a decent probability that he takes a bit of a step back, especially if the d-core struggles, which is quite likely to happen (eventually losing Andersson; Bahl might not play as well; Parekh has a lot to learn; one of the core gets injured; younger guys don't step up).
But Steve Mason isn't a good comparison, as the guy lost confidence after his rookie year and couldn't get out of his head or deal with the pressures that the team put on him after he dragged the franchise into their first ever post season appearance.
Wolf has had to beat the mental side of the game since he was a kid with his size and the lack of confidence hockey people have had in him. It's now a massive strength.
I'm not disagreeing with your premise that his numbers may not be as good, and the team probably will take a step back, but he's not Steve Mason.