[Signing] Flames sign Jonas Hiller (2yrs, $4.5mil AAV)

[sun]

Originally Posted by Savvy27

Hiller on Fan960:
Why Calgary:

-Didn't seem like any other team was as interested which made the Flames more appealing

lol

[boogerz]

Good signing to push Ramo, and/or bide time for Ortio.

I'm surprised other teams weren't more interested though. NYI could probably use Hiller at this term and AAV more than the Flames

[t0rrent98]

If I had to guess, I'd say his mask would be almost similar to this design.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by t0rrent98

If I had to guess, I'd say his mask would be almost similar to this design.

Front of stadium and empty parking lot? Hope not

[FAN]

Originally Posted by SebC

This is kind of a "9th place" type of signing. It improves us short term but doesn't help with the rebuild.

You know I hear this all the time from fans. It's like if the player isn't young and figures into the future he doesn't help with the rebuild and if the player improves the team in the short term it doesn't help with the rebuild. A lot of GMs believe that prospects develop best in a winning environment. Burke and Treliving believes in that as well.

In short, this signing is intended to help with the rebuild by shoring up the team's goaltending.

[djsFlames]

No I believe Hiller said there were other teams interested, just that he didn't really care much for the other options (probably destinations where he'd be buried behind a proven starter).

[FlameZilla]

This has to be one of the better signings of the day. Term and AAV are perfectly reasonable.

He may not be an elite NHL starter, but he is a very solid starting goalie. 326 career games and a career .916 save percentage. Never posted a year below .910. That is the consistency we need between the pipes. Every time I watched him play I wished the Flames had him.

I like that he's one of the rare RH-catcher goalies. We can legitimately mix things up in net and give opposing offences different looks in goal by playing Ramo or Hiller strategically, or just riding the hot hand. Maybe he can mentor Mason McDonald a bit in his early development too.

With that in mind, he's probably off to greener pastures in 2 years when Ortio and hopefully Gillies start to push for his job. Maybe he agrees to stay on as a solid backup, as Roman Turek did when Kipper emerged as the player he became.

[saillias]

This is my favourite signing of the day. I thought we were looking for a backup, but it turns out we have a goalie who is probably better than Ramo.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by SebC

This is kind of a "9th place" type of signing. It improves us short term but doesn't help with the rebuild. I still like the term though - at least this contract will never be a boat anchor.

Thinking back to minor hockey....remember that deflating feeling when your goalie was a sieve?

[Azhouse]

Originally Posted by SebC

This is kind of a "9th place" type of signing. It improves us short term but doesn't help with the rebuild. I still like the term though - at least this contract will never be a boat anchor.

If the Flames make it to 9th place with the current lineup Hartley should win the Jack Adams.

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

No I believe Hiller said there were other teams interested, just that he didn't really care much for the other options (probably destinations where he'd be buried behind a proven starter).

Translation, Calgary offered me the most money

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Translation, Calgary offered me the most money

Meaning the same thing every free agent says every year....

[swo2k1]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

No I believe Hiller said there were other teams interested, just that he didn't really care much for the other options (probably destinations where he'd be buried behind a proven starter).

Yeah, I believe in the Herald article he mentions that Calgary was the best chance for him to start and play a lot as most teams were already set in goal.

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, for anyone who thinks the Flames intentionally made the team worse yesterday, this signing completely disproves that. The Flames went into last year with an unknown Ramo with Joey MacDonald in net, and played Reto Berra for over 1/3rd of the season. Hiller to go with a somewhat more known Ramo is a substantial upgrade in the nets.

Now the team may not have improved relative to it's competition, but I do think this should help them be more competitive. I think a team can lose games, it's competing hard night in and night out that they need to do. Not winning because your best players aren't good enough isn't the same as not winning because your best players don't compete hard enough often enough. I personally think that is what plagues the Oilers, their best players aren't as good as they think, and their compete level isn't consistent enough.

[Atodaso]

Just thought of how ironic it would be to watch Hiller end the drought and get the Flames their first win in Anaheim in over a decade. Poetic justice!

[Henry Fool]

Definitely a signing with upside, but we'll have to see if he's still a solid starter after his struggles. As I understand he was outplayed by every other goalie on the Ducks last season.

[Fire]

Hiller is not really an improvement over Ramo, at least the Ramo of the second half. He's not the same goalie from 2008-09. He's a big improvement over Berra and McDonald though.

[googol]

From what I've been hearing, Hiller doesn't seem to have the best attitude towards his teammates and fanbase. He didn't come out with the team to celebrate teemu selanne's retirement and apparently was sulking when he lost his starting job in the playoffs.

I thought we wanted guys with good character on this rebuilding team?

[Bill Bumface]

^He's a goalie.

Goalies are weird.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by t0rrent98

If I had to guess, I'd say his mask would be almost similar to this design.

I live the flat finish on his mask(s).

Originally Posted by googol

From what I've been hearing, Hiller doesn't seem to have the best attitude towards his teammates and fanbase. He didn't come out with the team to celebrate teemu selanne's retirement and apparently was sulking when he lost his starting job in the playoffs.

I thought we wanted guys with good character on this rebuilding team?

Meh, unless I know the source I don't out much into these claims.