[GT] Battle of Alberta: Youngsters trying to earn opening day roster spots in Edmonton

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Go back and look for words like average.

You won't see them.

Really? You mean where I said "I disagree. I got to see a lot of him. There were games he was lights out, but those were few and far between. Most nights he was an average goaltender who gave up too many soft goals. Same guy you see in Calgary."

or

"Prove me wrong Bingo. Since you can see how great players are without seeing them, because your spreadsheet says so, give me those incredible stats that show he's anything but a middling goaltender. What you're seeing is the same Mike Smith that Arizona fans watched for years."


Come on Bingo. Jesus.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Go back and look for words like average.

You won't see them.

Originally Posted by New Era

I disagree. I got to see a lot of him. There were games he was lights out, but those were few and far between. Most nights he was an average goaltender who gave up too many soft goals. Same guy you see in Calgary.

I see them

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Are you under the impression that new era was calling Smith average?

If he were, he wouldn't have been called out by multiple posts, but his post was nothing but hyperbole.

I dont have a dog in the fight but these are literally his last 2 posts on the subject.

I disagree. I got to see a lot of him. There were games he was lights out, but those were few and far between. Most nights he was an average goaltender who gave up too many soft goals. Same guy you see in Calgary

Prove me wrong Bingo. Since you can see how great players are without seeing them, because your spreadsheet says so, give me those incredible stats that show he's anything but a middling goaltender. What you're seeing is the same Mike Smith that Arizona fans watched for years.

So....yeah.

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by New Era

Welcome to the goaltending that made the Arizona Coyotes the Arizona Coyotes. Smith sucked balls in Phoenix, and with the exception of a good 20 game stretch to open last season, he's sucked balls in Calgary

This is the one that had me rolling my eyes along with Bingo. New Era may have changed his tune to "middling", but the one I've quoted was ridiculous and not on par with anything I've seen Bingo post.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Announcers claimed Tkachuk was on the ice for the last face off but my stream took a hit so they were all blurry.

Not surprisingly, the Edmonton announcers are no good. They must have seen the 9 on Dube's jersey and thought it was Tkachuk.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1046155999684378624

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by MisterJoji

That team is going to live and die by McDavid and Talbot. Doubled up their SOG’s but still lost. Also here’s some standings from last year’s preseason standings (division place):

Edmonton (1st)
Chicago (2nd)
Islanders (1st)
Vancouver (2nd)
Florida (2nd)
Carolina (3rd)

Winnipeg (7th)
Washington (8th)
Pittsburgh (7th)
Nashville (5th)
San Jose (5th)
Tampa (6th)

Let those losers have their preseason banner. Turned out so well last year.

Pretty much.

Good teams and more specifically, good players, know when to turn it on and have an extra gear or two beyond their preseason play.

The news headlines are going to look pretty different in a month when everyone has locked into regular season mode and got some meaningful games under their belt.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Superfraggle

This is the one that had me rolling my eyes along with Bingo. New Era may have changed his tune to "middling", but the one I've quoted was ridiculous and not on par with anything I've seen Bingo post.

Smith posted a 2.31 GAA in October (11 games) and a .184 GAA in January (9 games). 20 games he was great. Other than that he put up 2.78, 2.62. 3.57, and a 3.43 GAA. Outside of those 20 games, that was a 3.10 GAA. That's equivalent to 44th in the league. He sucked outside those 20 games.

[Enoch Root]

Separate the good games from the bad games for any goalie and you end up with similar results

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Mike F

.916 was 16th among goalies with at least 35 starts. You're saying Smith is average, he saying he's middling. . . . Is there really a big gulf between your positions that makes his eyeroll worthy?

Where the hell do you see middling in this?

Originally Posted by New Era

Welcome to the goaltending that made the Arizona Coyotes the Arizona Coyotes. Smith sucked balls in Phoenix, and with the exception of a good 20 game stretch to open last season, he's sucked balls in Calgary.

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by New Era

Smith posted a 2.31 GAA in October (11 games) and a .184 GAA in January (9 games). 20 games he was great. Other than that he put up 2.78, 2.62. 3.57, and a 3.43 GAA. Outside of those 20 games, that was a 3.10 GAA. That's equivalent to 44th in the league. He sucked outside those 20 games.

You use averages strangely. I would think that the 3.10 average would have to include some good games along the way. October probably weren't all great either.

My bigger objection was the implication that Mike Smith was the problem with the Phoenix Coyotes. Those were generally terrible teams. My impression was always that he was one of the brighter spots on the Coyotes, rather than the reason they were terrible.

Using terms like "sucked balls" likely contributed to my reaction as well. Not generally a term I associate with people to be taken seriously.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by New Era

Really? You mean where I said "I disagree. I got to see a lot of him. There were games he was lights out, but those were few and far between. Most nights he was an average goaltender who gave up too many soft goals. Same guy you see in Calgary."

or

"Prove me wrong Bingo. Since you can see how great players are without seeing them, because your spreadsheet says so, give me those incredible stats that show he's anything but a middling goaltender. What you're seeing is the same Mike Smith that Arizona fans watched for years."


Come on Bingo. Jesus.

You started this whole thing out saying "suck balls" twice.

That's how we got here.

Just own it or move on.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by New Era

Smith posted a 2.31 GAA in October (11 games) and a .184 GAA in January (9 games). 20 games he was great. Other than that he put up 2.78, 2.62. 3.57, and a 3.43 GAA. Outside of those 20 games, that was a 3.10 GAA. That's equivalent to 44th in the league. He sucked outside those 20 games.

He took his save percentage down almost ten points after the injury. Beyond that you can parse almost any goaltender's stats that way in a league ... doesn't change the end of season save percentage.

He was much better than .916, but finished at .916 which is all that matters.

[Johnhitbox]

Can’t we all just get along?

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Where the hell do you see middling in this?

Originally Posted by Bingo

You started this whole thing out saying "suck balls" twice.

That's how we got here.

Just own it or move on.

Because I didn't judge him on just one post - I read everything he posted and came to a conclusion.

And if you're going to take the high handed "Just own it or move on", you said "Go back and look for words like average. You won't see them" Well you were wrong. Clearly. They were there multiple times in the course of your discussions; posts you directly replied to. Are you going to own that, or just cherry pick the posts you want to base your position on? Because if you are going to do the latter, you've lost any moral high ground

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Superfraggle

You use averages strangely. I would think that the 3.10 average would have to include some good games along the way. October probably weren't all great either.

My bigger objection was the implication that Mike Smith was the problem with the Phoenix Coyotes. Those were generally terrible teams. My impression was always that he was one of the brighter spots on the Coyotes, rather than the reason they were terrible.

Using terms like "sucked balls" likely contributed to my reaction as well. Not generally a term I associate with people to be taken seriously.

Fair enough. Smith was not "a bright spot for the Coyotes." People think this because of his all star nomination the year he carried a no-name team deep into the playoffs. Smith lost as many games for the Coyotes as he won. Mike Smith is a real Jekyll and Hyde goaltender. He can have games where he stops everything in sight, then has a string of games where he doesn't stop anything, or single handedly gives up the victory with a bonehead play. For the most part he was at best a mediocre goaltender playing on a mediocre team with a bunch of young guys that would get rattled as a result of a bad goal, or Smith bitching someone out. If anything, Smith was a bigger than life personality on a team that was desperate for a face to sell (see Shane Doan as well). His play did not match his celebrity.

[Johnhitbox]

Can’t we all just get along?

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by Johnhitbox

Can’t we all just get along?

I vote we all turn on this guy. His pic is a clown and he's missing an apostrophe in his signature comment. Get him!

[Brick]

I think that Dillon Dube makes the team.

[dammage79]

Not going to take stock in W's and L's in the pre-season. I'll leave that to perennial pre season cup champs in Edmonton. This is all about new players earning spots and watching the core get their feet under them.

I am not concerned about Smith but I do wonder if they want to find a more established back up just in case he does take a step back. I like Gillies a lot but I've said before there is a sizeable gap between Smith and then Rittich and Gillies. I don't think that's a good gamble to walk into what I like to think is an important season for the team and more so for Treliving.

As far as the skaters go. Valimaki has made a solid impression and I could see him making the team as the 3rd pairing LD over Kulak.

Andersson has done enough as well but Stone being in the way kind of crimps that decision. Easier to move a guy like Kulak IMO.

Question is. Out of the depth guys like Lazar, Hathaway and Peluso. Who goes?

I want to say Lazar hasn't stepped up enough to warrant staying. Hathaway has a bit more jam and speed.

Not sure about Peluso.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by New Era

Welcome to the goaltending that made the Arizona Coyotes the Arizona Coyotes. Smith sucked balls in Phoenix, and with the exception of a good 20 game stretch to open last season, he's sucked balls in Calgary.