[News] Flames recall Gillies

[Robbob]

Lack is 1.4 (rounded up) and Murphy buyout was 100k. So really 1.5. Johnson was a 2.5M cap hit. I think that million in savings will go a long way to either pay for bonuses or upgrade at the deadline if they are okay with bonus overage.

[GioforPM]

Chad Johnson is currently sporting a 3.55 GAA and a .885 SV% over 8 games (6 starts). He's not much of an upgrade over Lack, if at all. His valuable streak aside, he wasn't that great last year, especially after teams discovered the hole on his glove side.

[TheFlamesVan]

Originally Posted by Azhouse

Retain Chad Johnson?

I'd rather have Lack and Jagr than Johnson.

[Azhouse]

Johnson is making $2.5 mil this year. I thought it was the $1.7 again. I see your point. I am not to hyped with Lack though.

[TheFlamesVan]

Originally Posted by Azhouse

Johnson is making $2.5 mil this year. I thought it was the $1.7 again. I see your point. I am not to hyped with Lack though.

No one is, but it was a smart, risk free move for all of the reasons posted above.... such as:
- our prospect tendys get regular starts to continue their development.
- signed a legend player/coach to help on the wing with available cap space.
- Lack maybe gets 15 games if he is mediocre, but Smith will play the majority so it barely even matters. If your season comes down to how the backup goalie played, several things have gone seriously wrong.

I don't even think it's fair to call Lack a failure yet... 2 tough games.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Gillies was sent back down. Looks like Smith is good to go.

Pat Steinberg
@Fan960Steinberg

With Smith joining the team in Philly, Gillies back to Stockton today. #Flames

[Geeoff]

I really hope they aren't rushing Smith. Flames need a backup who can play 25. If they are afraid to start Lack twice, they need to move on IMO.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

I really hope they aren't rushing Smith. Flames need a backup who can play 25. If they are afraid to start Lack twice, they need to move on IMO.

It sounded to me like Smith was pretty close last game.

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

I really hope they aren't rushing Smith. Flames need a backup who can play 25. If they are afraid to start Lack twice, they need to move on IMO.

Yeah not sure why a team that's supposed to be going for it this year would sign a reclamation project like Lack. There was probably at least a dozen better options available.

Did he cost anything? No. Neither did Bartowski. Case and point.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

Yeah not sure why a team that's supposed to be going for it this year would sign a reclamation project like Lack. There was probably at least a dozen better options available.

Did he cost anything? No. Neither did Bartowski. Case and point.

Lack cost the organization Kanzig, the small buyout for Murphy, and a downgrade from a 6th round pick to a 7th. Minimal cost but still a cost

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

Yeah not sure why a team that's supposed to be going for it this year would sign a reclamation project like Lack. There was probably at least a dozen better options available.

You ask the question, and then answer it yourself:

Did he cost anything? No.

There were not ‘at least a dozen better options’ that didn't involve trading away significant assets or taking on a significant cap hit.

Lack was a cheap way to plug a hole, and he hasn't failed yet. The Detroit game was a disaster all round; can't hang that on the goalie, especially when Gillies came in and performed just as badly. Every team has games like that. Hell, Pittsburgh got shellacked 10-1 last month, and Matt Murray was in net for six of those goals. As the cliché goes, you burn the tape and move on.

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

You ask the question, and then answer it yourself:



There were not ‘at least a dozen better options’ that didn't involve trading away significant assets or taking on a significant cap hit.

Lack was a cheap way to plug a hole, and he hasn't failed yet. The Detroit game was a disaster all round; can't hang that on the goalie, especially when Gillies came in and performed just as badly. Every team has games like that. Hell, Pittsburgh got shellacked 10-1 last month, and Matt Murray was in net for six of those goals. As the cliché goes, you burn the tape and move on.

Pickard, Enroth, McBackup, Johnson, Bernier, off the top of my head. Then there's Euro goalies, Ramo, Ortio (only half joking) sure there's at least 5 other guys better than Lack, and in the same price range

[TheFlamesVan]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

Pickard, Enroth, McBackup, Johnson, Bernier, off the top of my head. Then there's Euro goalies, Ramo, Ortio (only half joking) sure there's at least 5 other guys better than Lack, and in the same price range

Pickard - only one on the list who I would tend to agree about. Except he cleared waivers, so obviously we are missing something there.
Enroth - ..........HA!
McBackup - Toronto needed him as bad as we did. No deal to be had.
Johnson - $2.5mil to sit = no Jagr
Bernier - $2.75mil to sit = no Jagr

[Corral]

The Calgary Flames should know better than most NHL teams that riding one goaltender for too many regular season games never pays off in the end. We had a decade of that, and made too little of having the best goaltender in the world between the pipes.

I agree that signing a reclamation project was a bad idea - surely it was almost certain that Smith would have to play 70 games for the Flames to make the post season. Bad management decision.