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Originally Posted by shadowlord
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Kudos to Francis for the swipe at Edmonton. At least he got that right.
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Originally Posted by Eric Francis
"As Rittich disappeared down the hallway to the dressing room nobody threw a jersey onto the ice or booed the netminder or the decision...
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But my God, what an utter piece of tripe that article is. Francis attempted to promote this narrative in the first intermission that the pull was somehow a "turning point" on the season, and the Peters was jeopardizing Rittich's confidence and his NHL career.
He followed this up in Peters's post-game press conference by propagating this narrative: he asked the coach, "Bill, when you pull a young goalie—especially early in the game and you don't give him a chance to come and rebound—do you worry about what it will do to him moving forward?"
Peters shut that #### down.
And now, we have this:
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Originally Posted by Eric Francis
"Yes, both goals were uncharacteristically sizeable lapses by the typically stable sophomore. But no, he never should have been given the hook. No way, no how.
"Given how razor sharp he’s been all season long to catapult the Flames to tops in the west, he deserved the chance to make amends. His teammates likely wanted the same, as they’ve previously cherished the chance to bail him out as the team did in Philadelphia a month earlier..."
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First off, get your facts straight, ambulance chaser. This is written as if to suggest that the team worked to make amends for Rittich's gaffes in the Philadelphia game, when what actually happened was that Smith was relieved presumably because he tweaked something, and the team responded by tearing apart the Flyers in the third period. Did they do it for Rittich? Did they do it for Smith? Did they do it for themselves? I don't know, but I am certain that Francis doesn't either.
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"Oh sure, it was one hook, one game in an 82-game marathon. There’s a solid chance he’ll treat it like a common cold and get over it. But given the importance of doing everything possible to maintain the youngster’s confidence and mojo as the playoffs creep ever closer, one wonders if this was a moment Flames fans won’t be able to forget.
"More to the point, one wonders if Rittich will be able to forget it..."
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What a melodramatic sensationalist. Nobody but Eric Francis "wonders if Rittich will be able to forget it." Hell, Rittich himself leaves no doubt about it:
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Originally Posted by David Rittich
"I’m going home to sleep and I want to be ready for the next practice and game and be better than tonight."
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The blowhard continues ...
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Originally Posted by Eric Francis
"Peters then said he wouldn’t know his starter Saturday until Saturday. He was fibbing, as the answer is obvious. You start Rittich."
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He wasn't "fibbing," Francis. Peters was not giving you the satisfaction of an answer to your question because you foolishly tried to make him look bad in public.
Edmonton is no good, and so is this crap editorial by Eric Francis.