Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil
Thanks I hadn't heard that before. I guess my question should have been, when is Sigalet's coaching going to be quantifiable or warrant criticism? This article has him at 16 goalies now.
Perhaps it's not the style he has them playing, but he's unable to prepare them mentally? The bottom line is goaltending remains the Flames #1 issue until Smith/Lack show otherwise.
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The problem is that you're using 16 goalies as a benchmark to his success because the article states 16 goalies have come through the organisation.
The actual number of goalies that have played at least one game for the Flames since Sigalet was hired is 7.
Hiller, Ramo, Ortio, Backstrom, Elliott, Johnson, Gillies.
Of those 7, only 4 played more than 6 games during Sigalet's tenure.
Of the 3 that didn't play more than 6 games, 2 were prospects and 1 was a 38 year old who hadn't played a single game all season (and was acquired in Feb).
Of those 4 that did play a substantial amount, 1 had his career best and worst season(Ramo), 1 posted the 3rd best numbers and worst numbers of his career (Hiller), and 2 posted SV% within .5 of their career average on a team that struggled from top to bottom for the first half of the year.
All told, Sigalet had coached two goaltenders that have been trusted as number 1 goaltenders in the past, Hiller and Backstrom. Of those, both had previously lost their starter jobs on their teams and only one played a significant amount of time for the Flames (giving us one of his best seasons and his worst).
Of the 7 goalies, only 2 still have jobs in the NHL, 1 is a prospect, and the rest are in Europe.
The narrative that Sigalet is the problem is a convenient but ultimately wrong one when you actually look at it. It's made up by fans so they have a scapegoat, something to point to and say "If we only fixed that, we'd be so much better." It's no different than the whipping boy. There's always one problem player that if we just improved, we'd be better. There's always some front office position that is somehow the problem (coaching, scouting, development, GM, president) that if somehow we fixed it, everything would be better, but it's rarely based on something real.
The real problem is that we've had garbage to work with, a high level of turnover, and quite frankly haven't been that good of a team in front of these guys for a full season yet.
So can you blame Sigalet for our woes? Sure, but it looks silly doing it.