The Goalie Battle

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by The Boy Wonder

Have you even watched a single first period of a mike smith start so far this season?

he is so far behind the play and he doesn't make the saves that you expect him to make.

Its also more unbelievable given that it isn't just a slow start to this season, he had a slow end to last season and played poorly then too.

I will be watching for the Boo-birds tomorrow night if smith lets in a soft goal early

You sound like you want this to happen.

And do I hate the "have you ever watched" argument. Obviously wingmaker has watched Mike Smith play and he's noted something about it. He's not wrong that shots are slipping right through him when he thinks he has them, which is correct a lot of the time (more than him being "behind the play").

[The Yen Man]

I'm tired of Smith spotting the other team an early lead because he can't stop basic shots to the net. I get he played well after in the game against the Sharks, but he still put the team behind the 8-ball early in the game. Sit him and run with Rittich for awhile. Worst case scenario, Rittich plays as bad as Smith.

[Toonage]

Worth noting that Smith shouldn't have even faced that shot that beat him. Flames went full Oilers on defense. Harsh but fair.

[The Yen Man]

Yah, but he did. And it was a stoppable shot. It wasn't a grade A chance in my mind. It was shot he could clearly see, but Smith being the sieve that he is, let it in.

[Toonage]

nm

[Table 5]

Another really solid article by Darren Hayes. With all the debate surrounding analytics on this site lately, I think this piece did a really nice job demonstrating the importance of context when analyzing performance data.

[The Yen Man]

Look, I want Smith to succeed too. But I just think it's a bit unfair to Rittich who's playing way better to still get shafted because Smith is seemingly getting preferential treatment to "find his game". If Rittich falters, then sure go back to Smith.

Plus, I just don't like how Smith keeps throwing his team under the bus. Own up to your suckage. Stop blaming everyone else. Even when begrudgingly criticising himself, he ends up pulling down the team with him.

[David Struch]

How awesome would it be if David Rittich was the answer to the Flames goaltending woes.

David Rittich currently makes $800,000 and is an RFA at season's end, so his next contract will likely be in the 1 million neighbourhood.

Add in Jon Gillies and his one way $750,000 contract next season and Calgary is paying less than 2 million for their goaltending duo next year!

[Robbob]

I see people keep saying that first shot was a weak goal to let in, but I think it was a perfect shot on a butterfly goalie. 18 inches off the ice, post and in. I would be more agreeable if it went five hole. It was just a good shot. The silver lining for me is he looked like he was able to put it behind him and battle. Mike Smith 2 weeks ago doesn't do that.

[stemit14]

At this point... it just feels like smith has lost the confidence of the team in front of him and it will take a insanely huge run of him being a superstar goalie to get their confidence in him back. Even last game...although the played well for the majority of the game... he still let in a terrible goal from Kane early on once again.

The players are probably thinking the same thing that the fans are thinking... that Smith will let in at least one bad goal every game. I bet lots of players had the same thought we all had after that Kane goal: “here we go again.”

What’s more is that even in the games when he has not been absolutely terrible... he has not looked calm or comfortable in the net. Feels like every half-decent chance against him is a big scoring chance because his reaction time and positioning have been so terrible.

And this hasn’t just been for this year. I remember thinking he was looking worse and worse starting in mid-December last year... well before his injury. At this point, Smith has been a good starting goaltender for about 2.5 months since he came to Calgary. The rest of the time he has been awful. For all this talk of trying to get Smith going... I would argue that this is just what he is and the first two months of last season was an outlier for him.

Would much rather try to start leading with Rittich from now on.



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[Flames Draft Watcher]

Love when fans think they know exactly what the players inside the room are thinking

[Robbob]

The team was bad last December. That was the month that up until new years Sam was leading the team in points that month. From mid Dec to his injury in Feb Smith had a SV% of .925.

He was lights out until the All-star break going 7-4-3 .938 SV% 1.99 GAA. First game back was the Vegas game where they went from 2-1 lead to 3-2 loss in the final minute. The whole team seemed to come apart at the seams after that.

[wingmaker]

Originally Posted by stemit14

AI remember thinking he was looking worse and worse starting in mid-December last year... well before his injury. At this point, Smith has been a good starting goaltender for about 2.5 months since he came to Calgary. The rest of the time he has been awful. For all this talk of trying to get Smith going... I would argue that this is just what he is and the first two months of last season was an outlier for him.

This is complete revisionist history.

[Fan in Exile]

I'm okay with a 2:1 start ratio for our two goaltenders but the Flames have it backwards right now. That Smith has twice as many starts as Rittich to this point of the season given their respective performance is just shooting ourselves in the foot.

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by wingmaker

This is complete revisionist history.

Obviously I’m just going by what I remember from last season but his “at least one bad goal per game” started around that time. Maybe I’m wrong about how it started. I just recall discussing it with others during Christmas that he was starting to let in in more and more weak goals.

Even if it was a month later when his injury happened... it’s still a much larger sample size of smith being a bad starting goalie for the flames. His age also doesn’t help his case since lots of goalies seem to hit a wall around 36-37 and don’t recover to their previous consistency.


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[The Boy Wonder]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

You sound like you want this to happen.

And do I hate the "have you ever watched" argument. Obviously wingmaker has watched Mike Smith play and he's noted something about it. He's not wrong that shots are slipping right through him when he thinks he has them, which is correct a lot of the time (more than him being "behind the play").

Why would I want to see him booed. In fact I was saying that as a reason to maybe protect smith and let him have road starts for a couple. (I know with schedule it’s not possible) but I just think that whatever positive steps he’s taken in the last 2 periods could be negated if he gets booed

Also it is semantics to say that “the puck is slipping through when he thought he had it” vs. “He’s behind the play” I would argue that he might be letting them through because he is behind the play and not tracking the puck.

[GioforPM]

I still don't think that first SJ goal was terrible. A similar shot just went in against Hellebyuck and everyone just praised the shooter.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by The Boy Wonder

Why would I want to see him booed. In fact I was saying that as a reason to maybe protect smith and let him have road starts for a couple. (I know with schedule it’s not possible) but I just think that whatever positive steps he’s taken in the last 2 periods could be negated if he gets booed

Also it is semantics to say that “the puck is slipping through when he thought he had it” vs. “He’s behind the play” I would argue that he might be letting them through because he is behind the play and not tracking the puck.

Now I question whether you saw the SJ goal. He was square to the shooter and it slipped under his pads. He thought he had it, and so did everyone else except the fans behind him.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by David Struch

How awesome would it be if David Rittich was the answer to the Flames goaltending woes.

David Rittich currently makes $800,000 and is an RFA at season's end, so his next contract will likely be in the 1 million neighbourhood.

Add in Jon Gillies and his one way $750,000 contract next season and Calgary is paying less than 2 million for their goaltending duo next year!

Smith was clearly an interim solution, presumably in hopes that one of the prospects would be ready to take over (or a better option comes along). Let’s hope things are unfolding as planned with Rittich.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I still don't think that first SJ goal was terrible. A similar shot just went in against Hellebyuck and everyone just praised the shooter.

No way. Totally different shots. Not every shot that goes in is the same.

Firstly, Vrana is on his off wing, pulls the puck a touch to change the angle, shoots it through the defenseman, and picks a tiny spot top corner blocker side.

Kane was coming in, I believe Smith saw it off the stick, and Kane put it between his pad and glove. Big league shot but stoppable.

Also on Smith, timing was worse than bad. First minute, first shot