Mike Smith's... woes? He blows? Eating crows? Who knows! (Also David Rittich exists!)

[Erick Estrada]

Francis with his old and tired contrarian act on 960 this morning telling us how hard Mike Smith has worked as well as a bunch of other excuses and how he didn't ruin Iginla's retirement night. The funny thing is that if the fans all liked Mike Smith and nobody was blaming him for Saturday then Francis would be doing just that.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by 442scotty

Although no one on the team will ever say or admit it, playing Smith puts a lot more stress on everyone which is going to take its toll eventually at which point the team starts to get a “what’s the point” line of thinking and everything starts to fall apart. If we are thinking that Smith has fallen off the wagon again you can bet it’s at the back of the players minds...

This is just your own imagination that you are projecting onto the players. None of us know their feelings or thoughts about how the goalies are playing. Stop pretending that you have some special insight into what ferments in other peoples‘s minds.




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[Shazam]

I have no doubt Smith is a hard worker, and he is very well liked by his teammates. It doesn't mean he's a good goaltender.

[neo45]

My concern is that the brain trust thinks Smith’s puckhandling is a difference maker in a 7 game series and is willing to ignore what everyone is seeing in hopes of gaining some sort of edge in playoffs.

I would rather his play ruins 10 regular season games than even one playoff game this season, so I am looking at this Minnesota game as a blessing in disguise. Hope Rittich re-earns the net, which he never should have lost in the first place.

Rittich’s “bad stretch” was better than Smith’s entire season outside two or three strong games.

[The Boy Wonder]

Someone posted the stats in the pgt from Saturday on around page 17 with the details of sv% in close games (with score +\- 1 goal)

In those stats it shows that smith is the worse goalie all season.

I have been extremely vocal in my disdain for having smith in as our goalie since the offseason and my opinion hasn’t changed but I will say this:

We have 17 games remaining

Mostly against mediocre teams

Why not use smith to allow rittich to be as fresh as possible for the start of playoffs.

If rittich can regain some form, which he definitely did in his last couple starts, and can get back to being the starter by the time playoffs roll around I think it is better for everyone.

Smith cannot be our game 1 starter or else I feel like an Elliott esque collapse will be coming. Smith is not significantly better than any of the other starters or backups in the west, so even if we lose out and have to play Vegas, we are underdogs if he is the starter


Give smith ~7 games the rest of the way and 10 for rittich

[Shazam]

Barring a total meltdown from Smith, he will start game 1 in the playoffs. And then he we make some incredibly stupid mistake, and then we will see what happens next.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

This is just your own imagination that you are projecting onto the players. None of us know their feelings or thoughts about how the goalies are playing. Stop pretending that you have some special insight into what ferments in other peoples‘s minds.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The NHL isn't much different than beer league and pick up hockey games across Canada. Goalies are a necessary evil. Nobody really likes those weirdos.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Barring a total meltdown from Smith, he will start game 1 in the playoffs. And then he we make some incredibly stupid mistake, and then we will see what happens next.

The terrifying scenario is an 0-2 start at home due to Smith’s play and then Rittich has to come in on the road with an insane amount of pressure and try to claw us back.


If this org has ignored Smith’s gaffes so far, why are we so convinced they will be quick to yank him after one playoff game?

It’s like this disaster is happening in slow motion

[colbym72]

Originally Posted by neo45

The terrifying scenario is an 0-2 start at home due to Smith’s play and then Rittich has to come in on the road with an insane amount of pressure and try to claw us back.


If this org has ignored Smith’s gaffes so far, why are we so convinced they will be quick to yank him after one playoff game?

It’s like this disaster is happening in slow motion

Oh my god they have not ignored it. They gave the job to Rittich for a long time after Smith was unable to find his game early. He is getting the start tonight. They are not going to jeopardize the season. R-E-L-A-X

[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by Fan in Exile

Fair enough. For me, Smith has some good games but he is not more reliable than Rittich. Of course play fluctuates and he may have better stats over a stretch of games but he's nowhere close on the season or the past year, and Smith lets in bad backbreaking goals at very inopportune times that cost the team games. That is the kind of goaltending that will lose us a series we would otherwise win. My concern is with people who believe that Smith is somehow the better option because of his experience. He just can't be relied upon at this point.

That really is the nightmare scenario that would end a stellar season isn't it? Sad thing is its entirely predictable.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Updated recency stats ...

		Last 5	Last 10	Last 15	Last 20
Smith	34	0.914	0.911	0.896	0.903
Rittich	36	0.871	0.891	0.902	0.908

Smith's bad start against Minnesota brings Rittich back to the top of the two for 15 and 20 games back. Smith still leads the last 5 and last 10.

If Rittich starts tonight and plays well he will fix up the last five number quite a a bit as he's burning off the first of three straight rough starts in February.

Game scenarios that are "Within 1 Goal" (per Natural Stat Trick):

		Last 5	Last 10	Last 15	Last 20	Season
Smith	34	0.899	0.906	0.885	0.900	0.894
Rittich	36	0.893	0.913	0.921	0.927	0.921

Rittich's worst five game stretch is where he "played as bad" as Smith's 34 game season. And that includes games against Tampa and San Jose.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by neo45

If this org has ignored Smith’s gaffes so far

They have? They moved over to giving Rittich most of the starts in November after Smith #### the bed against Montreal. It took Peters about 6 weeks into the season to finally pull the plug and give Rittich a shot but I would have probably did the same thing based on the experience of both.

People who don't like Smith are letting Rittich getting pulled against San Jose after his screw up get them worked up too much. He had just let in another soft goal before that and that's why he was pulled. His other screwup against Philly put the Flames down 2-1 just like Saturday and he wasn't pulled either.

Expecting Peters to immediately pull Smith after how he was playing before Saturday is just silly. This isn't like Gulutzan immediately pulling Elliott in game 4 after he fell apart in game 3.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Game scenarios that are "Within 1 Goal" (per Natural Stat Trick):

		Last 5	Last 10	Last 15	Last 20	Season
Smith	34	0.899	0.906	0.885	0.900	0.894
Rittich	36	0.893	0.913	0.921	0.927	0.921

Rittich's worst five game stretch is where he "played as bad" as Smith's 34 game season. And that includes games against Tampa and San Jose.

That’s pretty damning. I think Smith plays worse with pressure.

Aren’t his home game stats also considerably worse than his road stats?

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

That really is the nightmare scenario that would end a stellar season isn't it? Sad thing is its entirely predictable.

Hah. That's exactly NOT the nightmare scenario.

The nightmare scenario is Rittich starts and loses the first two playoff games at home, and Smith needs to go in and win 4 of 5.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by neo45

That’s pretty damning. I think Smith plays worse with pressure.

Aren’t his home game stats also considerably worse than his road stats?

Both goalies's home stats are considerably worse than their road stats.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by neo45

The terrifying scenario is an 0-2 start at home due to Smith’s play and then Rittich has to come in on the road with an insane amount of pressure and try to claw us back.


If this org has ignored Smith’s gaffes so far, why are we so convinced they will be quick to yank him after one playoff game?

It’s like this disaster is happening in slow motion

The more likely scenarios have the Flames going into the First round playoff series against a team that has a pretty significant paper advantage in Goal.

Dubnyk / MAF / Bishop


Maybe if Arizona sneaks into a WC spot then Kuepner (15-3-3 since January) might be considered a toss up. or a strong Colorado roster with ho-hum Varmalov in net.

Either win or lose round 1 the #1 story for the Flames will be the play of the goalie.... either 26 year old near rookie with no playoff experience shining or folding under playoff pressure or aging mediocre starter finishing or saving his career.

No matter how good a team is in today's NHL they can't carry a below average goalie in the playoffs.

[The Boy Wonder]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Both goalies's home stats are considerably worse than their road stats.

So maybe we SHOULD start smith rest of the season so we can get road team status throughout the playoffs???

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by neo45

The terrifying scenario is an 0-2 start at home due to Smith’s play and then Rittich has to come in on the road with an insane amount of pressure and try to claw us back.


If this org has ignored Smith’s gaffes so far, why are we so convinced they will be quick to yank him after one playoff game?

It’s like this disaster is happening in slow motion

I mean its not a disaster yet, but yes, its a concern.

For all the great things the coaching staff has done this year, if they continue to favour preparing Smith as the guy for the playoffs its a real head scratcher. I understand trying to get his confidence up but we've seen a more than ample sample size that suggests Rittich should be the guy they roll with as the starter. They should be going to Rittich for most of the remaining games and maybe give Smith the occasional start. Trying to force Smith into the starting role could result in exactly the nightmare scenario you've painted.

[SuperMatt18]

Stats for all strengths within 1 goal or tied.

October

Mike Smith
Home - .866
Road - .915

David Rittich
Home - 0 GP
Road - .935

November
Mike Smith
Home - .860
Road - .912

David Rittich
Home - .857
Road - .952

December
Mike Smith
Home - .893
Road - .958

David Rittich
Home - .892
Road - .944

January
Mike Smith
Home - .900
Road - .849

David Rittich
Home - .913
Road - .951

February
Mike Smith
Home - .911
Road - .930

David Rittich
Home - .667 (1GP)
Road - .927

2018/2019 Total
Mike Smith
Home - GP 19, .878
Road - GP:15, .912

David Rittich
Home - GP: 15, .885
Road - GP: 21, .940

So first thing that stands out is that this organization really needs to figure out why our goalies have struggled on home ice. While Rittich has been amazing on the road and much better than Smith in that breakdown, he's been just as leaky on home ice.

And it's an ongoing problem now for this team. We are going on two seasons of this now since it was the same story for these goalies last year.

2017/2018 Total
Mike Smith
Home - GP: 34, .902
Road - GP: 21, .932

David Rittich
Home - GP: 6, .870
Road - GP: 15, .920

Also probably why we tend to see more of Mike Smith of home ice. Rittich just hasn't been good in this building in his two seasons here, and they may be protecting him from the fan base that is starting to be a little impatient when it comes to our goaltending.

I do think this is something our management team needs to figure out and look into why they may be struggling on home ice. Does the team play a less structured style on home ice? Is it all mental from our goalies? Is there something with tracking the puck against the red back drop of the C of Red?

[GioforPM]

I don't know why people think that giving Smith some starts in a row while he was playing well and winning (and Rittich wasn't playing as well) was "preparing him for the POs". I think the fact Rittich has started the majority of games in the season, leaving aside the first few games when Smith was the designated starter at the start of the season, tells you who the number one is.

The Flames aren't home and cool enough to make roster decisions based on playoff preparation. However, that, said, prior to the trade deadline lots of posters said "you always need two goalies for the POs". If so, doesn't it make sense to give both guys some games in a row?