Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814
Rittich looks like he can be a starting goalie. Which is awesome, those are hard to find.
Kiprusoff's GAA was 1.69 (nice). He was Dominik Hasek, and we got him for a 2nd.
Rittich isn't that. I like him and I'm all aboard giving him the job. Kiprusoff is one of THE most talented goalies to ever play the game. These comparisons aren't fair to Rittich, though it's good to remind him where the bar is.
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Rittich might not be as athletic as Kipper. But (1) he is very athletic (2) he is exceptional at reading the play and anticipating the shot correctly and getting square to a shot quickly.
There is also a lack of goalies with star staying power in today's game. What goalies have been better this year that Rittich? Maybe a couple of Gibson, Rinne, Vasilevsky, Andersen, Bishop.
A good comparable for Rittich is probably the hamburgler, Murray or maybe even Kipper. Ie - one good season of work.
Ottawa took a chance based on one good season of Hammond and signed him for 3 x $4m. Murray got 3x3.75. I could see the flames trying something similar (2x3 or 3x4) and Rittich being very happy with that because its a win-win. It guarantees a good retirement if he's a one hit wonder (like hammond) and guarantees a huge payout when he hits ufa if he's not a one hit wonder. Don't forget too that Rittich will likely have the warm fuzzies for the team that plucked him out of no where and gave him a chance - he's more likely than most to give the flames a "discount" on his next contract.