I feel sorry for goaltenders.
Forwards and defencemen can have 'bad shifts'. Even bad games. Sure, they get criticized for it if it happens much too often, but they can often hide themselves within a game somewhat. Goalies don't have that luxury. You take a single minute off, and let in a bad goal, and suddenly they must feel like the whole weight of the world is on their shoulders and know that the entire world is going to see those highlights over and over again. No wonder so many young goalies that seem so promising just fizzle out quickly.
Heck, even Kipper who people often regard as even a more important player to Calgary's '04 run and the relative success of the team after that than Iginla had to experience the bronx cheer at home during a bad stretch. I felt absolutely terrible for him - both for what he had given to the Flames prior to that, and how he must have felt during that stretch.
Ramo has proved to be a very solid - even an excellent goalie - for at least good stretches. Much more so than everyone on the list in the last 10 years not named Kipper and arguably Hiller now.
Even if you definitely feel Hiller has proved himself to be the bona fide starter for the Flames, ake this into consideration: Hiller has definitely been more of a favorite of Hartley's, but Hiller has also struggled during a few stretches this season. Without Ramo being there and shouldering the load enough during those stretches, can you imagine how much more difficult it would have been for Hiller to work through those stretches? The pressure he would have been under? Could he have regained his composure as quickly and regrouped as well if he didn't have Ramo coming in to take over for a while?
It isn't just about the wins and losses. Yes, having a capable backup in Ramo getting you wins is HUGE (and seems so very underrated suddenly, which is a bit of shock to me given the history of backups in this organization), but the effect a very good backup has on your starter is perhaps even more important. In hindsight, it makes me think that Kipper was even more 'special' than he was ever given credit for.
As for Hiller 'definitely' being the better choice moving forward, there are a few things to contemplate. Hiller has been known for letting in weak goals throughout his career, finally being displaced in Anaheim by two upstarts. When he is 'on', he is definitely good enough to help a team win a championship, but he has never been as rock-solid as many other #1s in the league (though every single goalie hits a rough patch here and there). Ramo is 5 years younger according to Hockeydb. He is roughly the same age as Kipper was before he finally got his shot on the Flames and went with it. Before that, you could argue that Kipper didn't look better than Nabokov or Toskala.
From a 'style' standpoint, I much prefer a "Ramo" goalie over a "Hiller". You can win with either. However, I always prefer the 'catcher' over the 'blocker'. Hiller is a Giguere type - a blocking goalie. Ramo is a Kipper type - a goalie that (mostly) absorbs the shots - though I do think he has at times given up poor rebounds, but he has also provided some good stretches where he has basically swallowed-up everything that went his way.
However, what do I know. Ortio is younger and I think he is at the very least in the conversation to become the backup next year. Perhaps having a 'blocker' and a 'catcher' on the team has its' benefits when trying to decide which goalie to use for certain teams (for instance, teams that are known for driving the net would probably experience less success against a catcher, and teams with snipers from the perimeter/slot would have less success against a blocker - in theory anyways).
I don't know what the right answer is, but I just don't see how Ramo is suddenly an expendable throw-away asset. If some team wants to pay through the nose to solidify themselves in goal a bit more, then I guess we can trade Ramo. However, a 3rd round pick would not interest me in the least as I really believe it is difficult to draft a good backup with a 3rd round pick to begin with. Heck, how many goalies has Calgary drafted with higher picks that totally bombed? How many have they traded for? How many have they signed? Unless it is an offer that you simply can't refuse, it makes very little sense to me to trade Ramo away now, even if the plan is to let him walk in the off-season (which I am not even sure is a plan anyways).
|
