Let's talk about the goaltending situation.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Someone will be gone by the trade deadline - I don't see a problem with him on the 4th line for half a season while he works on his 200 ft game.

And there are always injuries. I don't think it's a problem.

He can do that in the AHL up the lineup getting minutes a lot of touches.

Scoring is going to be a big part of his game, and not getting enough touches on the 4th line doesn't really help him develop.

[Enoch Root]

I forgot about Morton.

Rooney and Morton fighting for one spot. Klapka and Duehr fighting for one spot.

Coronato and Pelletier the leading candidates for the other two.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

He can do that in the AHL up the lineup getting minutes a lot of touches.

Scoring is going to be a big part of his game, and not getting enough touches on the 4th line doesn't really help him develop.

He would get 15+ minutes a night (would likely be on the 2nd PP unit). For half a season, that is not going to inhibit his development. He's already dominated the AHL, it's time for him to hang with the big boys.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

He would get 15+ minutes a night (would likely be on the 2nd PP unit). For half a season, that is not going to inhibit his development. He's already dominated the AHL, it's time for him to hang with the big boys.

I agree he belongs, I don't think he touches 15 minutes in the NHL if he is on the 4th line.

Just looking back to how Huska was yoyoing Sharngovich around last year and kind of stapled him to the 4th line, Conroy said that was the first time he butt in and told him to play him up the lineup.

[CliffFletcher]

I think Mantha will be on a short leash. If he doesn’t produce, he’ll get bumped to the 4th line or press box.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I think Mantha will be on a short leash. If he doesn’t produce, he’ll get bumped to the 4th line or press box.

Sounds like what would happen if Keenan was coaching

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I think Mantha will be on a short leash. If he doesn’t produce, he’ll get bumped to the 4th line or press box.

There isn't much reason for anybody to be on a short leash this year.

[activeStick]

Just watched the Cooley interview. Lol guy is awesome.

[Electricprez]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

I don’t see it that way. I see him as projecting more confidence than Eddie Lack

Put his choice of words in context of his personality and it makes sense

This looks like a really good time for the organization in terms of goaltending depth. I can get behind all of Wolf, Vladar, Cooley and Ignatjew. Very execution and too bad only two guys really can be on the big club

I just meant in terms of the humour and self deprecation. Not a slight to Cooley at all. I love this interview

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Bonded

There isn't much reason for anybody to be on a short leash this year.

There’s only so much ice time to go around. And in his last two stops Mantha’s ice time went down as the season progressed until he was a healthy scratch. If Coronato forces his way into the top-6, Mantha is the obvious choice to get pushed down.

[SuperMatt18]

Cooley looked great last night but I look at his career numbers and just don't see how there is an NHL goalie there.

He's never played more than 27 games in a single season going back to his junior aged days. And he's not that young - he's 27 years old.

But maybe that's part of it - the sample is pretty small at every level, so it's possible he's just a hidden gem.

In 3 NCAA seasons he only played 32 games - .927 save percentage.

Then across his 4 pro-seasons:
- ECHL: 25 Games played - .916 save percentage
-AHL: 66 Games played - .900 save percentage
-NHL: 6 Games Played - .870 save percentage.

It's actually remarkable that a goalie that has played only 129 games over the past 7 seasons is somehow playing NHL games and potentially looks like he could win a full time NHL job this year.

I hope he proves me wrong and our scouts and goalie staff saw something in this guy that they could unlock but I'm going to remain a bit pessimistic until I see a larger sample.

[dino7c]

Goalie numbers often have a lot to do with the team in front of him

David Rittich had a .921 last season and NJ was tripping over themselves to get .905 Markstom. Thats not to say Cooley is the new Kipper but it will be interesting to see if he can make a push.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Goalie numbers often have a lot to do with the team in front of him

To be honest it's less the actual save percentage numbers.

It's way more the volume of games played.

129 games in 7 seasons is crazy low, that's an 18 game per season average.

For comparison Wolf has played 156 games in just the last 3 seasons.

[CSharp]

Cooley looked good in the pre-season game against the Oilers last night. I don't think the goalie position matters at all for this next 2 years. I hate to ship Vladar out but I think it's necessary and get a prospect or draft pick back rather than losing him for nothing. If Wolf and Cooley suck through this season, who cares. Bolstering the high draft position is the goal here (no pun intended).

[Savvy27]

From what Kevin Woodley was saying on 960 about Cooley, it seems like the Flames and other teams are intrigued by him because he has been playing high level hockey despite appearing to have limited or no training in some areas of goaltending. It's as though his athleticism is so strong that they just need to see what he can do after the technical side of his game is trained to an NHL level.

Last night he showed off some pretty impressive athleticism. I'm very curious to see what they can do with him

[dammage79]

Thing I noticed about Cooley last night. His butterfly went post to post. That's a rare trait. Like his skates touched the posts in a tight butterfly. He's got long legs.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Wolf-Ignatjew, please.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Thing I noticed about Cooley last night. His butterfly went post to post. That's a rare trait. Like his skates touched the posts in a tight butterfly. He's got long legs.

I noticed that as well and he wasn't out of position in net like Markstrom is. He's also athletic enough to recover back in position immediately. If he continues like this, he's a capable backup at the least.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by CSharp

Cooley looked good in the pre-season game against the Oilers last night. I don't think the goalie position matters at all for this next 2 years. I hate to ship Vladar out but I think it's necessary and get a prospect or draft pick back rather than losing him for nothing. If Wolf and Cooley suck through this season, who cares. Bolstering the high draft position is the goal here (no pun intended).

I can assure you management doesn't feel this way

[Yanda]

I am not worried if we lose Cooley on waivers, there are other project goalies out there