[PGT] Blues 3 - Flames 1

[Karl]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Yeah, one of the top teams in the league. SO costly. The horror. The horror.

Winning mostly in spite of Smith, and you know it.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Saint Troy

Miller, Rinne, Crawford, Lundqvist...but they were younger, Rittich is 26. Look, I get what you are saying, but Smith is consistently letting in a beer league goal per game, and it’s not like the Flames have a 10 point cushion in the standings.

Well, no. Rinne and Crawford played a tonne in the AHL before they ever became NHL starters. It is extremely rare when it happens. Like I said, I think the coaches take this very seriously, and if it's the right decision then good for them for not panicking and deep-fixing their potential future starting goalie. It doesn't work MUCH more often than it does.

[dino7c]

Flames are "one of the top teams in the league"

yeah fourth place sounds good

14th place is 4 points back...can't be giving away points

couple more losses and the Flames are back in the bubble

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by dino7c

has everything to do with the team in from of him...he was well on his way to losing his last start until he got hurt letting in four of five shots

If Smith was on a bad or even average team he would be getting absolutely lit up. Blues had very few chances this game, they went 16 mins or so without a shot and then hit a crossbar.

But he is NOT ON A BAD TEAM. This makes a huge difference.

Their softy was probably the Blues first decent chance in over a period and it was caused by a bad rebound

11-7 is not a good record on a quality team like the Flames

Mike Smith's play is not much worse than Jusse Saros's, nor Phoenix Copley's. It just does not seem important enough to make a change at any cost right now.

[shadowlord]

Originally Posted by bigpete

Haha ya I heard that too. He also offered this gem:

"Sometimes Mike Smith gets beat by goals that go in"

What other type of goal is there?

I only know of one goal that didn't go in. Game 6 Stanley Cup, and dammit, it was in.

[gamesaver]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

But he is NOT ON A BAD TEAM. This makes a huge difference.


Mike Smith's play is not much worse than Jusse Saros's, nor Phoenix Copley's. It just does not seem important enough to make a change at any cost right now.

He is getting payed a lot of money to be a STARTER for this team. He is not payed to be coasting behind the elite lineup the Flames have this year. Same goes for Neal. Just because the team as a whole is doing well does not mean individuals that underperform should be given a pass.

[MisterJoji]

Originally Posted by Karl

Winning mostly in spite of Smith, and you know it.

Exactly. He has been extremely fortunate that the team is one of the highest scoring teams in the league. He picked up W’s against:

Vancouver saving 16/20
Colorado saving 16/21
Columbus saving 13/16
Philly saving 10/14

Now throw in the games like Montreal where his late 3rd period abysmal goal against cost the team at least 1 point. Or St. Louis loss where he saved 19/24, or his absolute softie against Anaheim.

Guy is a quality human being, great teammate but is done as an NHL goaltender.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Right now the team is in a good spot even with a big question mark in goal. If they can manage to stay the course under the current conditions, where is the incentive to spend assets to make a change? We're still not close enough to that tipping point just yet.

Out of 21 starts this year he's had maybe like 1 good streak of a handful of games. Outside of that it's basically like 1 good start every 3 games.

Also, the whole "let's keep playing him because we're not a bad team and can outscore crap goaltending" schtick died a few weeks back when Willsy started shoving it down everyone's throats ad nauseum.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by gamesaver

He is getting payed a lot of money to be a STARTER for this team. He is not payed to be coasting behind the elite lineup the Flames have this year. Same goes for Neal. Just because the team as a whole is doing well does not mean individuals that underperform should be given a pass.

Mike Smith's salary is irrelevant. It's a sunk cost for the season and doesn't really factor in to whether or not their record would be any different. Recognizing that the Flames are not in a position to make significant changes to the roster right now is not nearly the same as giving underperforming players a pass.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

Out of 21 starts this year he's had maybe like 1 good streak of a handful of games. Outside of that it's basically like 1 good start every 3 games.

Also, the whole "let's keep playing him because we're not a bad team and can outscore crap goaltending" schtick died a few weeks back when Willsy started shoving it down everyone's throats ad nauseum.

I think the number of games Mike Smith plays also helps to ensure that Rittich keeps winning. We can't say for sure if things would be different had Rittich played 30 games up to this point, but given that the coaches seem reluctant to play him more suggests that this is certainly a factor.

[Split98]

Allen made some good saves, and their D got in the way of a bunch of great chances. But the Flames didn't show up to play 60 this afternoon - and they certainly didn't play enough to put 4 back.

A large chunk of this loss sits on Smith's shoulders. We know the offence is there to make up for it, but this game is 1-1 with Rittich in net - maybe even an easy W if you consider how back-breaking it is to play with that in net.

Easy to think this a pretty easy one to put behind them. Everything we saw today is something we know we have the answer to.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

And this is precisely why I don't think making an upgrade in goal is especially urgent. Not now. Not for what it would cost.

How many points, in your honest opinion, has Mike Smith cost this team?

Your unwavering defence of this man, in spite of all evidence, is honestly baffling.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

How many points, in your honest opinion, has Mike Smith cost this team?

Your unwavering defence of this man, in spite of all evidence, is honestly baffling.

God, I AM NOT DEFENDING MIKE SMITH! Just stop it.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I AM...DEFENDING MIKE SMITH!

Aha! Busted! Smith defender!

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I’m as mad as anyone that we lost but the flames only scored one goal. And I don’t blame Smith for all three against.

Maybe the game is different if he doesn’t let in that early softy but the flames came out flat anyways.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Mike Smith's salary is irrelevant. It's a sunk cost for the season and doesn't really factor in to whether or not their record would be any different. Recognizing that the Flames are not in a position to make significant changes to the roster right now is not nearly the same as giving underperforming players a pass.

A new backup isn't a significant change

At this point, I'd go with whatever a 5th gets you rather than what Smith has put together this year.

[zamler]

No team comes out balls on fire every game a good goalie settles things down.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by zamler

No team comes out balls on fire every game a good goalie settles things down.

If we deserved to lose regardless of Smith’s play what’s all the complaining about then?

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I’m as mad as anyone that we lost but the flames only scored one goal. And I don’t blame Smith for all three against.

Maybe the game is different if he doesn’t let in that early softy but the flames came out flat anyways.

The first goal? That is a deliberate area that players train to shoot for now. Goalies will need Darth Helmet... um... helmets soon.

Smith wasn’t the reason Calgary lost.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Split98

A new backup isn't a significant change

I beg to differ. With how often goalies are traded in-season I think these are some of the most difficult changes to make for a team.

At this point, I'd go with whatever a 5th gets you rather than what Smith has put together this year.

For those who are certain that an upgrade in goal is urgent and easily attainable, then you also must think that Flames management is either unable to see something that is patently obvious, or they are intentionally ignoring it.

Why do you think the Flames have not yet traded for another goalie?