Most of the blame goes on Irving though. If i remember correctly he was brutal in heat camp. In the first couple of weeks of the AHL season Ward came out and said that one of his goalies during practices was atrocious. He also said that goalie would be in the pressbox for the next game. Guess who was in the pressbox. Irving should have stepped into heat camp and taken that #1 job on day 1. He is to blame for that.
As for saying he only played 12 games when called up, that was probably more games played than other back-ups in the league. Most goalies played "shinny" during the lockout and Irving got to play and practice on a pro team. He should have been ready.
I get that. If the rumours are true, the big impact on his life last season was his newborn baby and apparently it took his head out of the game. That is entirely on him to be able to balance work / family.
Personally, I would have given him another year to figure things out but I also understand that logjam that is forming in the Flames goaltending position: Ramo, Berra, MacDonald, Gilles, Brossoit, Ortio. Adding Irving to that list only complicates things.
In relation to Leland's development (or lack there of), does anyone know if he had to deal with a lack of an AHL goalie coach early in his career?
The only reason I ask is because I remember J.S. Giguere on a HNIC after hours segment saying he didn't have a dedicated goalie coach when he was with the St. John's Flames.
I know the Heat have a dedicated goalie coach now, but does anyone know how long it took Calgary to realize that they'd keep burning through goaltending prospects without a proper goalie coach?
Saint John.
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He went to Finland on a “probation” contract with Jokerit, a.k.a. a month-long tryout for a job. So yeah, a save like this is a pretty good thing for a guy stating his case.
Last edited by Southern_Canuck; 08-30-2013 at 03:42 PM.
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Just looking at the situation at Jokerit, their backup goalie has moved on so there is a spot for Irving to win. Not saying he will be the backup but their other goalie has some pretty decent stats.
@DarrenHaynes_CP: Leland Irving will start Jokerit's season opener on Saturday. In exhibition play, Irving posted a perfect 4-0 record, 0.75 GAA and .974 SV%.
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@DarrenHaynes_CP: Leland Irving will start Jokerit's season opener on Saturday. In exhibition play, Irving posted a perfect 4-0 record, 0.75 GAA and .974 SV%.
Good for Irving. I really hope he rebuilds his career.
Invited to Lightning camp. They're already pretty strong in net, but glad to see his name out there.
Quote:
Irving will be the sixth goaltender in Tampa Bay's camp, including starter Ben Bishop, backup Evgeni Nabokov, as well as Andrei Vasilevskiy, Kristers Gudlevskis and Allen York, who is on an AHL deal with Syracuse.
However, hearing his name always reminds me of how many picks the Flames wasted drafting goalies in the first round. Hopefully, that was the last. The development path is just too lengthy and unpredictable.
When you have a goalie like Kipper back when he was in Vezina form, it doesn't make a ton of sense to use a high draft pick on a goalie especially when your prospect pool was as dreadful as it was back then.
It probably hurt Irving's development as well, because try as he might, Kipper would still block him.
I hope he is able to snag a job somewhere.
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