Opening Night Backup - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Freddy · 09-26-2018, 09:19 AM

All of our goalies are inconsistent in the preseason, so nothing changes in my opinion. Rittich backs up Smith and let regular season performance/record help management making decisions moving forward. The team in front of the goalies has been defensively inconsistent too. No reason to panic.

Mass_nerder · 09-26-2018, 09:20 AM

Gillies has been the better of the two, but neither has been spectacular.

dissentowner · 09-26-2018, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty81

Gillies has earned it so far. Rittich has been bad.

So disappointing to see the flames spend so many decent draft picks on highly rated goalie prospects recently like parsons, gillies and mcdonald and seeing them all fall flat as pros.

With a 36 year old starter it puts the team in a position where they will need to spend significant assets to acquire a starter next year.

What a dumb post throwing Parsons name in there. He had a tough year last season with injuries which elevated severe depression and that is what you judge him on? I mean go ahead and throw out the amazing career before that including a Gold medal and Memorial Cup championships. He is so old too right? You can totally tell at this age he is going to be a bust, like that Price guy in Montreal who struggled his first few years in the NHL, what a total bust that guy was,

Finger Cookin · 09-26-2018, 09:39 AM

It will be Rittich because of player control and contractual considerations. And that's fine.

ComixZone · 09-26-2018, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

It will be Rittich because of player control and contractual considerations. And that's fine.

I don't understand this train of thought. The risk of exposing Rittich on waivers is minimal. Who is actually going to claim him? He's not an NHL quality goalie - what team would claim him and keep him at the NHL level?

Bingo · 09-26-2018, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComixZone

I don't understand this train of thought. The risk of exposing Rittich on waivers is minimal. Who is actually going to claim him? He's not an NHL quality goalie - what team would claim him and keep him at the NHL level?

If they still see Gillies as the tandem guy next year it may be Rittich more because they want Gillies to play 50 games this year than fear of losing Rittich on waivers.

On merit I start the season with Gillies personally.

DeluxeMoustache · 09-26-2018, 09:46 AM

I am not sure what people think goalies are supposed to do.

Did you see what Monahan did with time and space? Roofed it. Great goal.

When the Flames give up multiple 10 bell opportunities, opening up a clear path to the net, opponents have time and space all alone, and put some well placed shots past Rittich, he ‘struggles’.

That first period last night was a defensive atrocity and it is impossible to judge how a goaltender should play behind a NHL defense.

I’m not saying Rittich is the answer by any means but you could easily argue that based on what he could reasonably be expected to stop, he didn’t look any worse last night than Smith last game

Geeoff · 09-26-2018, 09:49 AM

I think NHL backup is not a bad developmental position. There are NHL starters that spent time as backups. Goalies are voodoo though LOL

tvp2003 · 09-26-2018, 09:49 AM

Two preseason games left. Give Smith one, split the other between Rittich and Gillies.

If Rittich struggles again, send him down now (knowing nobody else is going to want him at this point) . If he bounces back, then send down Gillies. Smith will carry the bulk of the load to start the season, and if Rittich continues to be inconsistent during the regular season you send him down and give Gillies a shot.

If both struggle (or worst case scenario, Smith is injured), you sign a Mason or Lehtonen (or Glass) -- I can't imagine all of them getting scooped up anytime soon. To bring them in now (just to open the gate) is virtually pointless IMO.

flambers · 09-26-2018, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by transplant99

Who is going to take him and keep him on their NHL roster?

No one would claim him, and management knows this.

I agree, however this is how the Flames have managed their assets.

If the two goalies are close, player and or goalie who requires waivers will stick around.

Bingo · 09-26-2018, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Two preseason games left. Give Smith one, split the other between Rittich and Gillies.

If Rittich struggles again, send him down now (knowing nobody else is going to want him at this point) . If he bounces back, then send down Gillies. Smith will carry the bulk of the load to start the season, and if Rittich continues to be inconsistent you send him down and give Gillies a shot.

If both struggle (or worst case scenario, Smith is injured), you sign a Mason or Lehtonen (or Glass) -- I can't imagine all of them getting scooped up anytime soon. To bring them in now (just to open the gate) is virtually pointless IMO.

Agreed but with one caveat ...

Start Gillies. I think he needs the bullets from the opening face off and not after both teams have settled into the game. Last night the Sharks were pretty much on the ropes when he entered the game and the Flames had settled down.

Parallex · 09-26-2018, 09:54 AM

Throwing this out there... Mike Stone and Rittich to Ottawa for Condon and D-man for the farm.

Ottawa doesn't need a (relatively expensive) experienced back-up, they DO need an experienced D-man (and if they want to make a play at keeping Mark Stone a gesture like getting his brother might go a long way). Calgary does need an experienced back-up and I think Rasmus has shown he's worthy of the roster spot currently being blocked by Stone. The money works out pretty close and the reserve list balances out.

Geeoff · 09-26-2018, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

I am not sure what people think goalies are supposed to do.

Did you see what Monahan did with time and space? Roofed it. Great goal.

When the Flames give up multiple 10 bell opportunities, opening up a clear path to the net, opponents have time and space all alone, and put some well placed shots past Rittich, he ‘struggles’.

That first period last night was a defensive atrocity and it is impossible to judge how a goaltender should play behind a NHL defense.

I’m not saying Rittich is the answer by any means but you could easily argue that based on what he could reasonably be expected to stop, he didn’t look any worse last night than Smith last game

The difference is that Rittich hasn't established himself as an NHL backup, so his position is much more up for grabs than Smith. Also, backup goalie has traditionally been a position in which the Flames have struggled, so it's important to get this right.

DeluxeMoustache · 09-26-2018, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flambers

I agree, however this is how the Flames have managed their assets.

If the two goalies are close, player and or goalie who requires waivers will stick around.

Or if the guy who doesn’t require waivers looks better, how about this?

3 goalies. What could possibly go wrong?

David Struch · 09-26-2018, 10:07 AM

I'd probably be a lot easier to trade for a goalie from the Eastern Conference, sure a Henrik Lundqvist, Cory Schneider or a Sergei Bobrovsky would be great but realistically maybe a Jimmy Howard or Craig Anderson is within the realm of possibility?

flambers · 09-26-2018, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Or if the guy who doesn’t require waivers looks better, how about this?

3 goalies. What could possibly go wrong?

We will need to wait and see what happens with the final cuts.

No chance they go with 3 goalies.

My bet it's Rittich, however both backups have struggled in my opinion.

JohnnyO · 09-26-2018, 10:10 AM

Maybe we need a new goalie coach, or goalie scout? We are turning into the Canucks and becoming a goalie wasteland.

Have we ever developed a goalie? I can only think of Trevor Kidd and that wasn't anything spectacular, considering the goalie who was drafted shortly after him. (You always go with the French Canadian Kid in Net)

JetsFlamesFan · 09-26-2018, 10:23 AM

You can hardly blame Rittich for what happened last night. The defense was atrocious in front of him
But having said that, an NHL goalie had to stop at least one or two of those. Rittich is not an NHL backup righr now, period. He should not be starting the season with the Flames. For all the good moves Treliving has made, he still hasn't been able to address the situation in net and that makes me concerned for this season. We're gonna have to find our next starter from outside the organization IMO to have a chance at winning the cup within our window. Or we're gonna have to throw our young guys to the wolves and hope we get lucky. I think we can all agree on one thing: our season is done if Smith goes down.

Erick Estrada · 09-26-2018, 10:23 AM

It's one thing to see Mike Smith look not so great in preseason a he's probably treating it like warmup but a guy like Rittich should be playing like it's a regular season game seeing he knows he's playing for a job. If Gillies is playing better in camp I would rather see him as the backup and send Rittich down as I'm just not sure if he's going to be reliable enough. If by chance a team pickup in up via waivers it's not like it's a huge loss.

activeStick · 09-26-2018, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by transplant99

It will be Gillies IMO.

He had one rough outing but has been OK otherwise.

Rittich has been flat out bad and Parsons is just too green at this point.

I can see your point of view, but Gillies being waiver exempt likely means he goes down while Rittich stays up. I also don't think Gillies has been a whole lot better than Rittich.