I don't blame the Flames trying to get Smith going, he played well in Anaheim too. Makes sense they'll go with him.
He definitely did. I was pretty sure this is what we'd be seeing as a result, and it's not the best to see. If there's a game where he comes back online, this has the makings of that kind of game. Gotta hope to see it, as much as I worry we won't.
Flames need Smith playing well. Period. Even if they gave Rittich more starts, they still need Smith playing well.
The guy has a starter's mentality. You give him the benefit of the doubt for at least another month. Not really that hard to understand. You are dealing with human beings. If Smith starts playing like he can, this team will be in a good spot. If he doesn't, they could miss the playoffs. You don't throw a guy out after one bad month when the stakes are that high.
The Calgary Flames need their starting goaltender to play well, not Mike Smith. If he's going to be the guy anointed with that role, I hoped it would be based on results. Not salary, not expectations, not this long of a rope.
We already have a better option in Rittich, and until we see Smith outplay Rittich it's a dice roll I'd wish we stopped taking. I'd be downright pissed if I paid to see a home game Smith started. Especially the most recent ones where we all saw it coming. I'm getting pretty tired of letting Smith work it out as I'm watching a hockey team, not Mike's re-bound story (is it even coming?).
This may be early into this season, but he's been downright awful since last January. I don't think I need to approach a year of goaltending being an issue before I hope it's addressed.
November - Stinkers against Vancouver AND Toronto in the same month, mixed with great games against Pittsburgh, Columbus and Arizona. Confidence rising, but a wariness looms after 2 games you really wanted to win.
December - Unless Smith has a GAA under 2, we're not winning games this month. Goaltending finally isn't our problem!
January - We're scoring! And I'm legitimately scrolling NHL leaderboards to see where Smith is stacking up.
February - The rebound in Chicago was good, but I'm getting the feeling that Mike is going to need some res-- oh good, he's injured. No problem, Rittich has looked great all year!
March - After a month off, it looks like they were still rushing him back. He opened with a stinker, followed up by shutting out the Oilers, then finished the season pretty awful. It was all but over when they rushed him back, but he put the nail in the coffin himself at home in front of SJ. Another game where the team has to score 5 to win, so they lost 7-4.
For me, we have a goalie that has only shown a few months of good work, and is walking into his 2nd month of awful. I'd love for him to get back to where he left off last Christmas... but that's a pretty long "BRB" to be patiently waiting for...
I'm all for keeping our 1st round pick and having a goaltender battle in January being another feather in Calgary's cap... but until Rittich puts up a Smith-like performance in net, Rittich is your best chance to win games right now. The Kings are a great game for Smith to try and regain his starters role, as we at least have a better chance at scoring another 6 against [insert goalie here] than we do Gibson.
I don't think I'd lump this start with last year's finish together. He came back early to try and save a season but wasn't ready.
This year is this year though, and if it continues they'll quickly abandon the "save Smith" mantra for a "plug the leaking hole!" philosophy.
I sure hope they do, and I have all confidence they will. A really odd feeling to finally have TBQH.
It seemed like they rushed him at the time, but him finishing the season always seemed odd to me. If he was hampered by the injury, I thought that SJ was going to end the season for him. Mathematically, they were out after the LA game - but he still played (very well) against the Oilers to end the season. They already shut down Tkachuk, so it was pretty clear they were starting to hibernate.
Doesn't mean he didn't just play through it hoping to end the season as he did with Edmonton, but I'd assume if it was still bothering him enough for those results he'd have been shut down earlier.
I don't think I'd lump this start with last year's finish together. He came back early to try and save a season but wasn't ready.
This year is this year though, and if it continues they'll quickly abandon the "save Smith" mantra for a "plug the leaking hole!" philosophy.
Except he wasn't very good after his hot start to the season last year either. People tend to forget he started to spiral a long time before his injury. I want him to get it going so i think it's wise to try to play him a bit more and see if the wheels come back on or completely fall off.
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I think Smith starting in Anaheim is a good coaching decision though. It’s an arena that Smith looked outstanding in while breaking the Honda Center curse last October. It could be a solid move from a confidence managing perspective.
...but I don’t think confidence is an issue with Smith. I think he’s beyond “bouncing back” at this stage and is what he is. I do understand the team needing to see if they can’t get him to rebound though, but in my eyes he doesn’t have much rope left. If he crumbles tomorrow...
Yeah, I can't help but look at that LA game as a better venue for him to work things out. He put up a .727 to end the season last year against Anaheim too, so he's 50/50 on what he can bring against that team.
I worry too that having a great duo is going to be harder to nurture if you let Smith get lit up again. I think what we saw against Colorado and Pittsburgh was enough embarrassment to start giving him the easier games right now.
Or, maybe the Ducks playing B2B means this IS considered the easier of the 2 starts. Will be interesting to see how much LA takes out of Anaheim tonight.
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I wonder if someone needs to sit down with Smith and tell him the weight of the world isn't on his shoulders then, because I see the same "save the season" play out of him this year. Maybe he is trying too hard.
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I won't wade into the AHL vs NHL for development issue, but I think Dube has been considerably more effective than Czarnik with the ice time he's received.
If CP had a brain that weird, weird image would be at the heart of its cerebellum.
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