[wingmaker]

Originally Posted by Split98

The Calgary Flames need their starting goaltender to play well, not Mike Smith. If he's going to be the guy anointed with that role, I hoped it would be based on results. Not salary, not expectations, not this long of a rope.

We already have a better option in Rittich, and until we see Smith outplay Rittich it's a dice roll I'd wish we stopped taking. I'd be downright pissed if I paid to see a home game Smith started. Especially the most recent ones where we all saw it coming. I'm getting pretty tired of letting Smith work it out as I'm watching a hockey team, not Mike's re-bound story (is it even coming?).

This may be early into this season, but he's been downright awful since last January. I don't think I need to approach a year of goaltending being an issue before I hope it's addressed.

Here's his game log:
http://www.espn.com/nhl/player/gamel...018/mike-smith

October - Yay! We have a goalie

November - Stinkers against Vancouver AND Toronto in the same month, mixed with great games against Pittsburgh, Columbus and Arizona. Confidence rising, but a wariness looms after 2 games you really wanted to win.

December - Unless Smith has a GAA under 2, we're not winning games this month. Goaltending finally isn't our problem!

January - We're scoring! And I'm legitimately scrolling NHL leaderboards to see where Smith is stacking up.

February - The rebound in Chicago was good, but I'm getting the feeling that Mike is going to need some res-- oh good, he's injured. No problem, Rittich has looked great all year!

March - After a month off, it looks like they were still rushing him back. He opened with a stinker, followed up by shutting out the Oilers, then finished the season pretty awful. It was all but over when they rushed him back, but he put the nail in the coffin himself at home in front of SJ. Another game where the team has to score 5 to win, so they lost 7-4.

For me, we have a goalie that has only shown a few months of good work, and is walking into his 2nd month of awful. I'd love for him to get back to where he left off last Christmas... but that's a pretty long "BRB" to be patiently waiting for...

I'm all for keeping our 1st round pick and having a goaltender battle in January being another feather in Calgary's cap... but until Rittich puts up a Smith-like performance in net, Rittich is your best chance to win games right now. The Kings are a great game for Smith to try and regain his starters role, as we at least have a better chance at scoring another 6 against [insert goalie here] than we do Gibson.

Until Treliving makes a trade, the Flames need Smith. Even if you anoint Rittich the starter, you will have to play Smith a decent amount of the time. Workhorse goalies are rare and usually get there over time. Expecting Rittich to all of a sudden start 60+ games is a huge roll of the dice. Even if it worked in the first couple months, it could massively backfire in the spring. That means even if you give Rittich 50% of the starts or slightly more, Mike Smith is still starting another 30 games at least this year. So yes, unless a trade happens, the Flames need Smith playing at least well enough to not loose them games.