Joni Frickin Ortio

[shermanator]

Apologies if this is a Fata, but I just wanted to start this thread after watching 5 solid starts in a row by Ortio.

I don't know where he slots in the depth chart after Ramo returns, whether he's a backup, or the #1 guy, or a 1A / 1B, but I have not been this impressed with a Flames drafted and developed goaltender ever (although after Irving and McElhinney, the bar was not set ultra high). If he is the backup, then I predict that the days of playing a backup equalling a loss are over.

I know it's very early in his career, but just wanted to give the kid a little kudos.

[burn_baby_burn]

He has played well. I would hope that they would continue to play him on a regular basis once Ramo does return. I hate to make Kipper comparisons, but it is hard not to considering all the similarities. He seems to be very calm and collected like Kipper was, which I think is a good thing.

[cKy]

I have nothing to add except the tags are terrible.

'Kipper who' ??? Ohh you know, he was just that player who saved this franchise, no biggie.

[undercoverbrother]

Their numbers are close. I am not sure Ramo was the "starter", but I am not a fan of players losing their "job" due to injury.

[CalgaryFan1988]

I hope when Ramo returns he takes back his starter position and MacDonald backs him up. Ortio goes back to Abbotsford and continues to play great.

They deserve to win down there, after the season they have been having IMO.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by cKy

Ohh you know, he was just that player who saved this franchise

From?

I think the tag was intended to be a joke...

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

From?

I think the tag was intended to be a joke...

I'm sure cky is talking about the speculation of Calgary losing their team, before '04 happened.

[Hatter]

The way these Finnish goalies read the game is mindblowing.

Once Ortio gets a little stronger to hold the line he's gonna be a good one.

[kermitology]

He looks like a young Kiprusoff, except that he's plays really small in his net. He's down early and has trouble getting back on his feet. Very solid fundamentals though.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by cKy

I have nothing to add except the tags are terrible.

'Kipper who' ??? Ohh you know, he was just that player who saved this franchise, no biggie.

It was meant to be a joke.

But, if that's the path you want to go down, Ken King was the one who saved this franchise. Kipper was the biggest piece towards becoming respectable on the ice again, but he did not save the franchise.

[Table 5]

Still has a long way to go to replace Kipper, but I have to say I've been very impressed by how steady Ortio has been in net. Usually with all our previous younger goalies, they were either scrambling around, out of position, and/or panicking as soon as something went wrong. You could just tell they were newbies.

Ortio on the hand has been boringly reliable, in his physical and mental game. I'm not even excited about him. I just figure he'll do his job like a good Finn and that's that.

[moon]

Originally I preferred to have Ortio stay in Abbotsford and have a full season as a starter down there. But with them deciding to bring him up with the trade/injury I think I would prefer to keep him here and have him play about 75% of the games with Ramo getting 25%.

While Ramo never got to be the full time starter we have seen a lot of him already and he hasn't shown much to indicate he can be anything more than a back-up. I think since he is here already might as well try to get a sense if Ortio is ready for the NHL and maybe even if he is ready or projects to be a starter or if he is just another band-aid to fill in during the rebuild.

[devo22]

while I've also been very happy with Ortio's play, you also have to give credit to the team in front of him. The Flames' average of shots against per game is 28.4 this season - with Ortio in net, they have only given up 23.3 shots per game.

[t0rrent98]

I don't want to be a debbie downer but if Ortio had the kind of team that McE and Irving had in the past, I don't think he'd last this long. His career would be over IMO.

[Scoutski]

Originally Posted by t0rrent98

I don't want to be a debbie downer but if Ortio had the kind of team that McE and Irving had in the past, I don't think he'd last this long. His career would be over IMO.

Are you suggesting the teams in front of McElhinney and Irving were worse? I get that the Flames have done reasonably well lately especially considering their shots against totals, but even though those older teams didn't live up to the hype, they were better than the current team.

[moon]

Originally Posted by t0rrent98

I don't want to be a debbie downer but if Ortio had the kind of team that McE and Irving had in the past, I don't think he'd last this long. His career would be over IMO.

This team is much worse than the teams that McE and Irving had.

I think Irving was much better than what a majority of posters here gave him credit for but the teams in front of him weren't any more of a problem than this team would be for Ortio.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by moon

This team is much worse than the teams that McE and Irving had.

I think Irving was much better than what a majority of posters here gave him credit for but the teams in front of him weren't any more of a problem than this team would be for Ortio.

The thing about McElhinney (and Irving to a lesser degree), is that the teams just played with no confidence in front of them. The teams might have been technically better, but they could never seem to get much going in front of the back-ups. Part of this had to do with the ability of the back-ups, but a lot of it was psychological I think.

Right now, a few of the players on the team have played with Ortio in the AHL and have confidence in him. If the team was still as veteran heavy as it was, this might not be the case. Plus there is the fact that the team has been playing in front of "unproven" goalies all year long, so they don't have the safety net of having a Kiprusoff to bail them out.

As good as Kiprusoff was in his prime, I think it was a mistake to not to have a rotation where players could get used to different scenarios.

[moon]

I may not remember it quite perfectly but I thought that guys like Joseph and Toskala were fine as back-ups in their short time here and didn't have the same issues as McE, Irving, Karlsson and I guess Taylor had in terms of teams performance.

Now whether that was because those guys had a track record so the skaters felt better playing in front of them or because they played well and guys felt better playing in front of them may be an issue but I do think that the problems that guys like Irving, Taylor, McE and Karlsson had were mainly on them.

I do think that Ortio seems to do a better job of controlling the puck through rebounds and covering up which can help minimize any issues of skaters being jittery in front of them. Karlsson, Irving and especially Taylor let way too many pucks bounce off of them in front of the net allowing for mistakes to happen.

Ortio could have had the same problems the other guys did but I think his style and ability to control the puck (not stickhandle) would have given him a better shot behind those teams than what we saw from the other failed back-ups.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

I hope when Ramo returns he takes back his starter position and MacDonald backs him up. Ortio goes back to Abbotsford and continues to play great.

They deserve to win down there, after the season they have been having IMO.

Just posted this in the PGT's... Ortio's development would be great to have some playoff experience in the AHL.

Let Mac ride the bench while Ramo gets some more games under him.

Can't wait to see this goalie duo next year.

[northcrunk]

Ortio deserves to stay in the NHL based on his play. Ramo has not secured the #1 spot this far into the season and Ortio has looked much more solid. I would give Ortio the majority of the starts remaining and give Ramo 25%