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Old 04-16-2019, 09:01 AM   #1
zunie75
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Default Do the Flames play different with Rittich in net vs Smith?

I read a few interesting comments about how the Flames players seem to play a very different game when they have Smith in net vs Rittich. Has anyone else noticed this, are there stats to support that they have better offensive stats with Rittich in net?

Smith has be great in the playoffs so far, but would Rittich shake things up and provide a spark to get our team going?
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:05 AM   #2
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Smith lets our D become a little more relaxed in our zone IMO. With his puck handling ability the team seems to sit back and let him get it.

Rittich isn't very good at that making our D play more tighter in the zone IMO.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:09 AM   #3
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Smith lets our D become a little more relaxed in our zone IMO. With his puck handling ability the team seems to sit back and let him get it.

Rittich isn't very good at that making our D play more tighter in the zone IMO.
Agreed, for the most part. How do you replace Smith at this point tho? He's done nothing but show up and give us a chance. I'd be interested to see if putting in Rittich has a positive psychological effect on the team but man, how pissed would you be if you're Smith and you sit for game 4?
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:10 AM   #4
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During the regular season you could tell that we played a lot tighter with Smith wether or not his puck moving ability helped. Likely because he would average 1 or more muffins a game. With Rittich they had more confidence in his ability to stop the puck.

However, Smith was lights out game 1 and 2 so I don’t really think this is an issue. I think we do go to Rittich for game 4 just to shake things up because we know Smith has been shown to be fragile and regardless of how the team played in front of him he did let in 6.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:11 AM   #5
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Agreed, for the most part. How do you replace Smith at this point tho? He's done nothing but show up and give us a chance. I'd be interested to see if putting in Rittich has a positive psychological effect on the team but man, how pissed would you be if you're Smith and you sit for game 4?
They played poor but he still had a sub .900 save percentage. Yeah the team #### the bed in front of him but he definitely didn’t have a good game either.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:12 AM   #6
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Agreed, for the most part. How do you replace Smith at this point tho? He's done nothing but show up and give us a chance. I'd be interested to see if putting in Rittich has a positive psychological effect on the team but man, how pissed would you be if you're Smith and you sit for game 4?
https://twitter.com/user/status/1118022211296579584

To me it seems like Smith is a leader and a ultimate team player. I think he would understand if Peters gives Rittich a shot to see if the boys respond differently.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:15 AM   #7
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They played poor but he still had a sub .900 save percentage. Yeah the team #### the bed in front of him but he definitely didn’t have a good game either.
It would have been double digits yesterday if it wasn't for Smith. The team left Smith out to dry, Christ he had like what 30+ slot shots.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:25 AM   #8
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It would have been double digits yesterday if it wasn't for Smith. The team left Smith out to dry, Christ he had like what 30+ slot shots.
This...

By no means am I a Smith fan, but I sat behind him for 2 periods. It was like the Harlem Globetrotters in our zone most of the time. D-Zone coverage was really bad.

Heck, I coached my son's Travel team to 26-1 record this year, the close games were won by a touchdown, and they never dominated like that.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:27 AM   #9
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I thought the reason why Smith was left in the game is because Rittich is nursing some sort of injury.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:36 AM   #10
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Agreed, for the most part. How do you replace Smith at this point tho? He's done nothing but show up and give us a chance. I'd be interested to see if putting in Rittich has a positive psychological effect on the team but man, how pissed would you be if you're Smith and you sit for game 4?
I'm not sure I care about pissing off anyone, I just want to win.

I'm not convinced removing Smith at this stage would be a good move though. He's clearly not been the problem, and I'm not a big Smith fan.

Last edited by The Cobra; 04-16-2019 at 09:54 AM.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:36 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto-matic View Post
Smith lets our D become a little more relaxed in our zone IMO. With his puck handling ability the team seems to sit back and let him get it.

Rittich isn't very good at that making our D play more tighter in the zone IMO.
That's what i'm thinking. If we go back to Rittich, then we may tighten up more defensively. I think this would actually lead to us playing our system more effectively which allows for our offense to open up but still enables our D to jump up in the rush when needed.

With Smith in net, everything we do seems to be very chaotic.
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Old 04-16-2019, 09:38 AM   #12
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To me it seems like Smith is a leader and a ultimate team player. I think he would understand if Peters gives Rittich a shot to see if the boys respond differently.
I said in the GT that I wouldn't pull Smith unless he wanted a break, and it looks like he didn't.

As for his save percentage - this is an example where a one game save percentage means nothing. I don't see Rittich doing any better. This is all on the skaters.
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Old 04-16-2019, 10:06 AM   #13
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Agreed, for the most part. How do you replace Smith at this point tho? He's done nothing but show up and give us a chance. I'd be interested to see if putting in Rittich has a positive psychological effect on the team but man, how pissed would you be if you're Smith and you sit for game 4?
Agree, but on the contrary, how would you feel being Rittich? Benched for nothing after saving the season when Smith dropped the ball.
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Old 04-16-2019, 10:16 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Otto-matic View Post
https://twitter.com/user/status/1118022211296579584

To me it seems like Smith is a leader and a ultimate team player. I think he would understand if Peters gives Rittich a shot to see if the boys respond differently.
See, I get the exact opposite impression from that. He didn't want to come out of a game that was already over even though getting Ritter some playoff experience would have been a good thing. It is his net and he is going to do everything in his power to play at all times. Also, while I agree he is a leader I remember multiple times where he threw the team under the bus after a game when it was his stinky play that was the issue. Now I am not saying he shouldn't start game 4 but saying he is the the ultimate team player seems ridiculous to me and not remotely accurate.
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Old 04-16-2019, 10:35 AM   #15
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I feel they don’t skate as hard with Smith. Just waiting for a pass. For whatever reason we don’t compete as hard. I really hope for Rittich next game. Not saying Smith has been bad, because he’s been one of, if not our best player. But the team needs a wake up call. I believe Rittich provides that.
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Old 04-16-2019, 10:41 AM   #16
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Yeah it seems strange to bench Smith (who has been pretty damn good this series all things considered) but if you're going to get shelled anyway...
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Old 04-16-2019, 10:55 AM   #17
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I feel they don’t skate as hard with Smith. Just waiting for a pass. For whatever reason we don’t compete as hard. I really hope for Rittich next game. Not saying Smith has been bad, because he’s been one of, if not our best player. But the team needs a wake up call. I believe Rittich provides that.
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Old 04-16-2019, 12:12 PM   #18
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Agree, but on the contrary, how would you feel being Rittich? Benched for nothing after saving the season when Smith dropped the ball.
Or was he benched for being the second best goalie down the stretch, when they had about the same number of games?
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Old 04-16-2019, 12:59 PM   #19
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Switching to Rittich lets the players off the hook. The lackluster performance in the last two games is squarely on the players, not on the goaltending. Switching the goalies sends the wrong message and smacks of desperation. The players and coaches need to figure out how to play better.
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Old 04-16-2019, 01:07 PM   #20
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You don't turn this ship around by removing the team's best player through three games.

This is on the skaters. They have to find a way.

I always think of a Bob Hartley story at this time of year - he was talking to Patrick Roy before the Avs went on their Cup run with Ray Bourque. He said 'Patrick, you need to steal us one game every series. I'm going to win one game with my matchups. The other two are up to the players."

I don't consider game 1 to be the Stolen game. I'd suggest it probably has to be game 4, or this is going to be a real short trip.
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