Jon Gillies (3rd rounder 2012)

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by herashak

that sucks

Kidd was an awesome goalie prospect back when he was coming up. He just plateaued extremely early in his career. It wasn't like we reached for him when we took him over Brodeur, Kidd was supposed to be the next great goalie like Belfour or Cujo. It just never happened.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by herashak

that sucks

at the time, Kidd was thought to be a better goalie than Brodeur.

So yeah, it sucks - but it also illustrates that anything can happen with goalie development.

[Enoch Root]

This is going to sound very Orange Julius, but I had an interesting conversation with someone today who has direct access and knowledge of the Friars team.

We were talking about the 3 Flames prospects and how soon they might turn pro. When I suggested that he is ready to make the jump next year IMO, they agreed and added that he isn't a fan of school - not much of a student. I suggested this is very good news for Flames fans. They agreed with me that that there is a good chance that he turns pro after this season.

I stand by my prior prediction that Gillies will play a game for the Flames in 2014.

Not going to say publicly who I was speaking with, but mods can PM me if they like.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

This is going to sound very Orange Julius, but I had an interesting conversation with someone today who has direct access and knowledge of the Friars team.

We were talking about the 3 Flames prospects and how soon they might turn pro. When I suggested that he is ready to make the jump next year IMO, they agreed and added that he isn't a fan of school - not much of a student. I suggested this is very good news for Flames fans. They agreed with me that that there is a good chance that he turns pro after this season.

I stand by my prior prediction that Gillies will play a game for the Flames in 2014.

Not going to say publicly who I was speaking with, but mods can PM me if they like.

Interesting...I think it is going to be quite the time around here once the College hockey season ends. I was so focused on the obvious seniors signing deals with the Flames (Arnold, Agostino) and hoping that Gaudreau would leave a year early and sign next spring, but I didn't even think about Gillies signing a deal at that time.

Would be crazy to have all four of those guys sign and join the Heat/Flames down the stretch.

Feaster is going to have to hang on to those contract spots....I believe we currently have 5 remaining as long as Sieloff doesn't play 10 NHL games this season.

[sureLoss]

Weisbrod already stated this summer that if Gillies kept up his play the Flames would be willing to let him go pro.

[Da_Chief]

At the pace he's on, he needs to face better competition. Basically a SO/1 goal game every other game so would make sense for him to turn pro next year.

[FlamesAddiction]

I'm really starting to think Gillies might be our best prospect outside of Monahan.

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Honestly, I don't think there's really an argument to be made that he isn't the best prospect. He's 6-5, with a quick glove hand, blocker, and is getting quicker laterally (He's Luongo fast side to side now). There really is not a lot to shoot at because he's so big.

If he keeps progressing as he has been, he could develop into one of the top 5 or so goalies in the NHL. He is the best goalie prospect we've had since Trevor Kidd.

yeah but how can he be better than the good looking flames prospect we have in boston college? Gilles is a great prospect to be sure but that kariya kid has got to be our best.

edit: gaudreau

[Gary83]

Originally Posted by handgroen

yeah but how can he be better than the good looking flames prospect we have in boston college? Gilles is a great prospect to be sure but that kariya kid has got to be our best.

edit: gaudreau

Gillies is the safer bet to make the NHL, no telling how Gaudreau's play with translate to the NHL.

Excited for both of them regardless.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Gary83

Gillies is the safer bet to make the NHL, no telling how Gaudreau's play with translate to the NHL.

Excited for both of them regardless.

Goalies are much harder to translate than forwards IMO

[EYE_Overstand]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Goalies are much harder to translate than forwards IMO

i think he was referring to the Goalie vs Size thing not goalie vs forward

[devo22]

Jon Gillies ‏@JGillies32 thank you for all of the support about the record, but a shutout is a team stat and this record is truly a product of my teammates #Friars

good character guy.

[GreenLantern]

Good on him, but what else would he say? IM DA MAN, OHHH YEEEAAA!! JANKO IS THE BIG LANKYOWSKI!!!

On the flip side, he didn't have to say anything, so good for you John Gillies.

[FlamesAddiction]

A friend of the family who has some inside connections told me that many people he knows in hockey circles consider Gillies to potentially be a generational talent. I don't know how he defines that though.

I avoided posting that for a while because I know people often get carried away when projecting prospects, so take with a huge grain of salt. He knows I am a Flames fan and could just be building me up (he never says anything bad about the Flames when I talk to him).

[kirant]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I avoided posting that for a while because I know people often get carried away when projecting prospects, so take with a huge grain of salt. He knows I am a Flames fan and could just be building me up (he never says anything bad about the Flames when I talk to him).

I think a lot of what your friend says reflects a lot of CP's opinion. Caged Great has also been pumping his tires in other topics and even called him a possible top 5 starter:

Originally Posted by Caged Great

If he continues to progress as he has been, he could very well be a top 5 goalie in the league, if not a perennial contender for the Vezina. With all of his secondary skills being well above average he, at the worst, should develop into an average starter.

I like goalies a lot (hence my user name), and from the prospects I've watched there were only a couple that I liked as much with their game before they became NHLers (Miller, Lundqvist, Quick, and Fredrik Andersen were the others) If he becomes as good as any of those guys in the NHL then we're going to be set in net for a long long time.

Goaltending is a hard thing to project (See: Irving), but it seems a lot of people are seeing the exact same thing out of Gillies.

[MissTeeks]

http://www.ncaa.com/video/icehockey-...k-ferris-state

Number 4 in NCAA Plays of the Week.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by fotze

I don't think there was a point where I was ever anything but lukewarm on Irving and I don't seem to remember a stretch of games where he played really good.

To be fair, that requires him to actually play in a stretch of games first.

I always thought Irving got the short end of the stick, especially considering the revolving door of tenders we have now. Not that I thought he'd be amazing or anything, I just personally thought we never saw enough of him to make any real judgment on it. I guess the organization felt different, which is fine.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by fotze

I don't think there was a point where I was ever anything but lukewarm on Irving and I don't seem to remember a stretch of games where he played really good.

It could easily be different for each person...but I think CP did like him a lot before last season. I mean, CP seemed to lose its collective excrement when he wasn't signed partway into the 2012 offseason:

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=119058

I did a search not too long ago about CP's prospect opinions from years back. At one point, it seemed Irving was the Flames' #1 prospect in 2006, though that is likely more "new toy syndrome" more than anything else.

http://www.calgarypuck.com/archive/Future.htm

...Dear god, were the Flames bare cupboards.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by MattyC

To be fair, that requires him to actually play in a stretch of games first.

I always thought Irving got the short end of the stick, especially considering the revolving door of tenders we have now. Not that I thought he'd be amazing or anything, I just personally thought we never saw enough of him to make any real judgment on it. I guess the organization felt different, which is fine.

I thought Irving was given loads of opportunity to show some consistency and resiliency. He followed up one good season in the AHL with one poor one. He allowed career AHL'er after career AHL'er to wrestle the starter's job away. Some would say that Ward should have started Irving regardless - but how frustrating would that be for the rest of the prospects needing development thinking they have to be perfect out there to win the game?

Ortio is getting the majority of starts now because he has earned Ward's trust, and has done fantastic. MacDonald is the backup. Irving was just the opposite. Flames went through a lot of backups in Irving's time, and rarely did one NOT steal Irving's starter role, right? These were career AHL goalies - some of which were career AHL backups. Irving seemed to never have that mental resiliency a goalie NEEDS. I couldn't imagine him at the NHL level for a long period of time - his game always fell apart nearly every year.

I think the Flames did everything they could to help him along. Goalie coach. Time up on the Flames. They didn't sign backups who stole his job in an effort to give him confidence. It was always the same story with him it seemed - inconsistency, and a backup that would wrestle his job away. Last season you saw two career AHL goalies wrestle his job away - one breaking an AHL record. the Heat were a very good defensive team, and you could see how easily goalies could shine on that team. Why couldn't Irving for a long period?

You have to show patience to goaltending prospects - but if anything, I think the Flames had too much patience and faith in him. I wish they actually played Taylor more on the Flames last year to see if he could get himself settled down and composed at the NHL level - he was lights-out at the NHL level. However, even in his case who I feel was a MUCH better goalie in technique, skill and mental toughness - he would probably have topped out as a half-decent backup.

Let's see if Ortio keeps this up, and what happens when he has a bit of a skid in the AHL (and it will happen - happens to everyone). Let's see how Ward reacts, and let's see how Ortio responds. I think he is much more resilient than Irving, and has much better fundamentals.

Where on the depth chart do people feel Irving would have fit in this season - if everything was kept the same? Berra, Ramo, Ortio, MacDonald, Brossoit, Irving - that would be my guess. Tough to give him development time in that situation, without stealing development time from someone else. I think it was past time to cut bait with Irving, though I wish him well.

Now look at Gillies who has yet to have a bad game really. Now that is crazy to me. Mentally tough, resilient, outstanding size, outstanding technique and skill, great composure, and consistent. His consistency is what amazes me the most thus far in his NCAA career.

[Chingas]

https://twitter.com/jgillies32/statu...86596024414208

Gillies groin injury? Anyone have any info on this?