[News] Wolf named AHL MVP and goaltender of the year

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by HitterD

Which Crosby lost to Ovechkin, lol

Heh, I forgot about that.

[CroFlames]

To be fair, Ovechkin was already a man that year. Lost a year because of the lockout.

Any other year, Crosby would have got it.

Of course, if it wasn't for TWO generational talents in the same year, the Calder was Phaneuf's.

[IceBergYYC]

Every year will be the year of the Wolf from now on. May he guide us to glory

[Reggie Dunlop]

The immortals like Pentti Lund, Mike Karakas, Johnny Quilty and Russ Blinco....

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I'm as hopeful and excited about a top prospect as anyone, but I don't think you rush to unload a NHL goaltender under value when the replacement has only played one game against a listless Sharks team.

He could get lit up.

Size still might be an issue.

Hoping it isn't, but lets see it play out.

My counter would be what is the risk here exactly? Vladar was hot garbage last season - it would be really tough for Wolf to be any worse than that. There is also a risk in not moving him along after two dominant, unheard of seasons in the AHL.

Fans and actual management can be so scared about brining in a rookie goalie that "might get lit up" but in reality, Wolf's floor is probably not as bad as what we got from both goalies last year, and his ceiling, cap hit and potential in general should make his status as the uncontested backup a lock imho.

[dammage79]

I've felt for a long time a team could ruin a development by keeping them on the farm for "over-rypening".

Yeah it makes sense and is practical, but some players need to be quenched like a sword right out of the oven. I.e thrown into the deepend and you let him swim. I believe Wolf is that one player the Flames have you have to let him roll on the tidal wave he's riding right now.

Am I saying give him 63 starts? No? But I think sub 40 starts would be a marker.

Between 30-40. I believe in this player. I believe he has the stuff. He's proven it at every level. Repeatedly over spans of seasons at each stop. ImO, there's nothing left for him on the farm other than stagnation.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

My counter would be what is the risk here exactly? Vladar was hot garbage last season - it would be really tough for Wolf to be any worse than that. There is also a risk in not moving him along after two dominant, unheard of seasons in the AHL.

Fans and actual management can be so scared about brining in a rookie goalie that "might get lit up" but in reality, Wolf's floor is probably not as bad as what we got from both goalies last year, and his ceiling, cap hit and potential in general should make his status as the uncontested backup a lock imho.

But with waivers they have the ability to avoid all the biggest pot holes.

They don't have to just go with Vladar ... they can trade him if Wolf is ready.
They don't have to trade Vladar before camp ... they can let it play out.

Why give away that flexibility?

If Wolf is ready, and they think he is ... they move Vladar when their price is met (before camp or after the season begins with an injury).

If he isn't ready you're not scrambling to find a capable backup for the season.

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by Bingo

But with waivers they have the ability to avoid all the biggest pot holes.

They don't have to just go with Vladar ... they can trade him if Wolf is ready.
They don't have to trade Vladar before camp ... they can let it play out.

Why give away that flexibility?

If Wolf is ready, and they think he is ... they move Vladar when their price is met (before camp or after the season begins with an injury).

If he isn't ready you're not scrambling to find a capable backup for the season.

He's ready.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

He's ready.

He probably is, but there is no point in pulling that trigger ahead of Training Camp.

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[Reggie Dunlop]

Is Vladar going to be everyone's whipping boy now?

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I've felt for a long time a team could ruin a development by keeping them on the farm for "over-rypening".

Yeah it makes sense and is practical, but some players need to be quenched like a sword right out of the oven. I.e thrown into the deepend and you let him swim. I believe Wolf is that one player the Flames have you have to let him roll on the tidal wave he's riding right now.

Am I saying give him 63 starts? No? But I think sub 40 starts would be a marker.

Between 30-40. I believe in this player. I believe he has the stuff. He's proven it at every level. Repeatedly over spans of seasons at each stop. ImO, there's nothing left for him on the farm other than stagnation.

Well, there’s playing time, which pretty much every goalie in the NHL throughout history has mentioned as being important when it comes to staying sharp and playing well.

Even if you give Wolf 30 games in the NHL, you ought to give him another couple dozen in the AHL.

He wants to play, and he wants to play well. What goaltender wants to man the door for 50 games?

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Well, there’s playing time, which pretty much every goalie in the NHL throughout history has mentioned as being important when it comes to staying sharp and playing well.

Even if you give Wolf 30 games in the NHL, you ought to give him another couple dozen in the AHL.

He wants to play, and he wants to play well. What goaltender wants to man the door for 50 games?

How much playing time did Kipper get in the season he was traded to Calgary. I distinctly remember him mentioning that practicing every day with nhlers despite not playing at all helped him get better. Now I'm not saying call wolf up and play him 0 games. I'd rather the opposite and he played 60 in the big. Let's be real though, Wolf has outgrown the ahl. The risk of i****y playing meaningless AHL games isn't worth sending him down at all imo.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Is Vladar going to be everyone's whipping boy now?

You can’t have a fan board without one.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Is Vladar going to be everyone's whipping boy now?

Hope not, he's done nothing wrong other than existing in a period of time where the next in line is coming in a hurry.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by HitterD

Fingers crossed Bedard is what he is advertised to be, but he can easily fall short of such lofty expectation.

Fingers crossed? Not Flame. Hope he's brutal.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

How much playing time did Kipper get in the season he was traded to Calgary. I distinctly remember him mentioning that practicing every day with nhlers despite not playing at all helped him get better. Now I'm not saying call wolf up and play him 0 games. I'd rather the opposite and he played 60 in the big. Let's be real though, Wolf has outgrown the ahl. The risk of i****y playing meaningless AHL games isn't worth sending him down at all imo.

Guess the flip side is if you never give him a chance he’s going to jump ship the first chance he gets.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

How much playing time did Kipper get in the season he was traded to Calgary. I distinctly remember him mentioning that practicing every day with nhlers despite not playing at all helped him get better.

What a weird example. Kiprusoff was already 27-years-old, had played 47 NHL games and two full seasons in the AHL, and he had already played NHL playoff games and won a series.

Now I'm not saying call wolf up and play him 0 games. I'd rather the opposite and he played 60 in the big. Let's be real though, Wolf has outgrown the AHL. The risk of i****y playing meaningless AHL games isn't worth sending him down at all imo.

That's ridiculous. I agree that he has probably "outgrown" the AHL, although he would not be the first goalie to do so and to continue playing AHL games to stay game-ready—not by a long shot. Especially with the farm team playing in the same building, there is no risk at all having Wolf shuttling back and forth. Wolf is only 22. He has a LONG way to go yet and plenty of runway to get there.

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[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

What a weird example. Kiprusoff was already 27-years-old, had played 47 NHL games and two full seasons in the AHL, and he had already played NHL playoff games and won a series.


That's ridiculous. I agree that he has probably "outgrown" the AHL, although he would not be the first goalie to do so and to continue playing AHL games to stay game-ready—not by a long shot. Especially with the farm team playing in the same building, there is no risk at all having Wolf shuttling back and forth. Wolf is only 22. He has a LONG way to go yet and plenty of runway to get there.

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2 full ahl seasons and then a small number of nhl games spread over a handful of seasons is relevant to what was being discussed. Kipper managed to still develop despite playing fewer games after outgrowing the ahl. It's not a perfect example but I'd say it's easier to relate to Kipper for most fans on here than a guy like Saros , Rask or many others who outgrew the ahl.

Krahn stayed in the ahl to play more games and never got close.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by Bingo

But with waivers they have the ability to avoid all the biggest pot holes.

They don't have to just go with Vladar ... they can trade him if Wolf is ready.
They don't have to trade Vladar before camp ... they can let it play out.

Why give away that flexibility?

If Wolf is ready, and they think he is ... they move Vladar when their price is met (before camp or after the season begins with an injury).

If he isn't ready you're not scrambling to find a capable backup for the season.

I just think that, like you said, Wolf is ready. For proper development, he should be playing somewhat regular NHL minutes (and I have no way of proving this, it's just my opinion).
His development is exponentially more important than Vladar's trade value. Issues such as waiver requirements, trade value, etc. are peanuts when you consider the fact that Wolf could be a franchise netminder.

[jayswin]

I'm so not worried, and in fact excited about our goaltending situation. I feel it's really set up nicely, while many are worried. You have a very highly touted prospect that could turn into a star.

That prospect plays in Calgary at the same rink as the Flames and we can send him up and down at will all season, giving him as many starts up and down as we desire (or he earns). That's an amazing scenario and I think we'll see him a tonne in the NHL this season.

Then you have a serviceable back up as well, that could eventually be traded for something in season if the prospect lights it up to the point of requiring a full time NHL spot. It's a win win win.