Our preseason goaltending situation

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Itse

That's not a bad number for a rookie goaltenders first season, nor a bad number for a guy like MacDonald.

I would go with three goalies for as long as it takes for a clear #1 or an obvious weakest link to show up.

... Why wouldn't you just keep two goalies for say 42ish games and then call up the third (and demote the weaker of the first two)?

I think keeping three goalies on staff is wasteful. Someone will end up sitting too much when they could be playing games for the Heat and we'll lose a roster spot that could go to a skater (which we'll almost certainly need more then a third goalie).

[moon]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

Honestly, I'm just happy that after the Kiprusoff era there are three or four guys battling for his job, not just one or two.

Shows some foresight from the organization to go out and acquire Ramo and Berra. Don't know if either of them will do much in the NHL but at least they've put more bullets in the gun.

I would prefer they brought in one guy that was good enough to take over than a bunch of meh guys. Not sure having 4 guys none of which may be good enough to be a starter shows much foresight at all.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Parallex

... Why wouldn't you just keep two goalies for say 42ish games and then call up the third (and demote the weaker of the first two)?

I think keeping three goalies on staff is wasteful. Someone will end up sitting too much when they could be playing games for the Heat and we'll lose a roster spot that could go to a skater (which we'll almost certainly need more then a third goalie).

I would imagine that Ramo and Berra should be able to pass through waivers fairly easily all season long if you are worried about them not getting enough games.

The Flames have plenty of forwards that could move up and down as well due to age/ability if you need to manage the roster that way as well.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by moon

I would imagine that Ramo and Berra should be able to pass through waivers fairly easily all season long if you are worried about them not getting enough games.

The Flames have plenty of forwards that could move up and down as well due to age/ability if you need to manage the roster that way as well.

I think the jist of what he is saying is that carrying 3 goalies in the team is just not good roster management as it means we now can only carry 2 other depth players (likely one forward and one D). It gives us less simple options to deal with things like flus or minor injuries. Also, we have 8 D that would have to pass through waivers in order to be assigned to the Heat and I would really hate to lose someone like Cundari because we couldn't figure out if we were going to go with Ramo/MacDonald or Ramo/Berra fast enough.

As a short term situation I think it'll be fine but the Flames are going to need to make a decision on Berra really quickly. If he is going to stay with the big club and platoon with Ramo then MacDonald needs to be traded. If Berra is going down to the Heat to fight it out with Ortio and Brossoit then it is probably better to get that started sooner rather than later so that someone else can come up and join the big club.

[moon]

If the team was competing for a play-off spot I would agree but this season should be about development/evaluation so if we have to play a McGrattan more than necessary if a forward goes down late to best evaluate the goalies we have I don't see a problem with it.

That said even though I have zero faith that either Ramo or Berra will turn into anything worthwhile I don't see the need to bring McDonald back if both guys are here this season. Sure nice to have an NHL vet to help the transition but both goalies are older vets that should be familiar enough with pro hockey to not need as much support as a young rookie might.

[strombad]

Was it just me, or did anyone else find that Ramo ends up on his rear a little much? I mean, when goalies go down and there's a scramble I'm used to them being on their knees, but I've never seen a goalie sit on the ice as much as he seemed to in his little stint.

Maybe it was just a one-game thing and we won't see it again in Saskatchewan and I'll just look like a crazy person....

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by moon

If the team was competing for a play-off spot I would agree but this season should be about development/evaluation so if we have to play a McGrattan more than necessary if a forward goes down late to best evaluate the goalies we have I don't see a problem with it.

That said even though I have zero faith that either Ramo or Berra will turn into anything worthwhile I don't see the need to bring McDonald back if both guys are here this season. Sure nice to have an NHL vet to help the transition but both goalies are older vets that should be familiar enough with pro hockey to not need as much support as a young rookie might.

I'm not really worried about overplaying McGrattan. My bigger concern is potentially losing a guy like Cundari, that has the potential to help the team in the long run, just so we can keep evaluating the goalie situation.

Like you I do not see much value in having MacDonald stick around. I would rather watch Ramo/Berra sink or swim this season as a part of the rebuild.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Wolven

I'm not really worried about overplaying McGrattan. My bigger concern is potentially losing a guy like Cundari, that has the potential to help the team in the long run, just so we can keep evaluating the goalie situation.

Like you I do not see much value in having MacDonald stick around. I would rather watch Ramo/Berra sink or swim this season as a part of the rebuild.

I would not worry about losing Cundari on waivers. Flames have one of the worst collection of D players going into next season. If he can't beat out Butler, Russel or Smith for the 6/7th spot i can't see any team claiming him off waivers.

[foshizzle11]

Originally Posted by Itse

82 games split three ways is about 27 games per goalie.

That's not a bad number for a rookie goaltenders first season, nor a bad number for a guy like MacDonald.

I would go with three goalies for as long as it takes for a clear #1 or an obvious weakest link to show up.

This is a good idea but doesn't seem like the kind of logic NHL coaches tend to use.

I would like to see this as well, until someone shows they are the true number one, rotating after poor performances and/or key losses. Or approximately 3 games would be good.

[Stay Golden]

MacDonald
Berra
Ramos
Ortio

[FlamesAddiction]

This is going to be a rebuilding and development year, so I am more concerned with how our goaltending adapts to the NHL and how they progress after a full season as opposed to this season's results. For this reason, I hope we go with Ramo and Berra (or Ortio). They are the ones that this team should be developing.

MacDonald is not part of the future and he (or a similar goalie) should have been brought in on a PTO only.

[19Yzerman19]

^Agree.

Does it honestly matter this year? Give Ramo his shot, see if he can make it once he's used to the NHL rink. Maybe he really hits his stride 20 games in and proves to be an NHL average starter. Stranger things have happened. If not, well, no one expects this team to do anything this season anyway.

Posters in this thread seem to be employing roughly the same baffling logic as the Panthers did in picking up Tim Thomas.

[19Yzerman19]

EDIT: Delete, double post.

[Geeoff]

I don't trust any of our goaltending options this year...

[Caged Great]

I would waive Mac and have him backup in abby. I doubt anyone would claim him, and just run with Ramo/Berra. If either of them get to the point of being unbearable to watch, then recall Mac and waive the problem.

[Henry Fool]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

I don't trust any of our goaltending options this year...

Why should you? They've done nothing yet. The best anyone can hope is that they'll earn our trust over time.

[Robo]

Our goalies still look better than Luongo

[Northendzone]

we could ahve (insert name of all time BEST goalie here) in net for us this year and we are still not making the playoffs.

I hope they have someone young in net and i hope that he progresses throughout the season.

the next couple of years are not going to be pretty, but as long as there is some type of improvement then we are headed in the right direction.

[MissTeeks]

Scott Cruickshank‏@CruickshankCH1m

#Flames coach Bob Hartley shoots down a three-goalie rotation: "No, no. Totally no. I hate three goalies. It’s a nightmare."

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

This is going to be a rebuilding and development year, so I am more concerned with how our goaltending adapts to the NHL and how they progress after a full season as opposed to this season's results. For this reason, I hope we go with Ramo and Berra (or Ortio). They are the ones that this team should be developing.

MacDonald is not part of the future and he (or a similar goalie) should have been brought in on a PTO only.

Agreed. MacDonald is not a #1 goalie and never will be. We're rebuilding folks. We're gonna lose lots of games this year ... its a given. The sooner we find our future #1, the better. Stop pissing around by playing MacDonald who will never be our future #1 and lets start the tryouts now. We should trade MacDonald and let Berra and Ramo fight it out for the first half of the season and then re-evaluate our goalie situation. Then if its not working out for either one of those two (hopefully its only one) then bring Ortio in for a go.