Mike Smith's... woes? He blows? Eating crows? Who knows! (Also David Rittich exists!)

[CaptainCrunch]

Keep him as a backup, nobody is going to take him and sending him to the AHL is useless.


I figure this team could be 6 to 8 points better with good goaltending. The team in front of him more often of not is clearly the better team on the ice.


I can't believe that the rest of the team isn't incredibly frustrated.

[ricosuave]

Great post op, by the way.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

As a said in the game thread, there's no way Peters has the sole call on who the #1 goalie is. Smith is the GM's guy. Treliving has a history with him. Traded for him. Signed him for two years. Is hanging his hat on Smith as the #1. And he'll be the one who makes the call to move to a tandem system, or, if it comes to that, make Rittich the #1.

As to why Treliving has stuck with Smith as the #1 so far, the NHL has a deeply ingrained old boys culture. The capital that veterans build up with GMs and coaches lasts a long, long time. Too long, IMHO.

Well that is really depressing. He stuck with GG for 18 months too long and we all know how that experiment turned out.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I was never an Elliot fan
But I also barely watched that season as life got crazy
So I probably didn’t say much of anything about him
As for other plugs? If you can’t even remember it is weak of you to bring it up

I may have defended Russell but I certainly was also aware of his flaws
So please stop describing me inaccurately as a poster if you can’t back it up
I may not criticize the same players you do or defend ones you hate but that should be ok too unless you’d like to simply outline what opinions it is ok for me to have and not have. Perhaps you could provide that to the entire moderation team for us to follow

If I could go back and find the players I would, but that isnt an option on the forum anymore. I do remember myself disagreeing with a lot of your comments on players.

I dont think it's really fair for you to expect me to remember every last player we see differently about without being able to look at posting history. Can you remember every player I dislike? That's a weak excuse.

And I've never said what opinions you can have, not really sure where that was brought up. I simply said I've disagreed with yours in the past.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Dion Phagoof

The fact that "The Wizard" went into the season with a broken down Mike Smith as our #1 proves he should be fired.

I have only 2 complaints with Tre. He has mishandled the goalie situation since he has been here and he has a penchant to sign aging UFAs to big contracts.

Well maybe a third...loyalty to players and coaches when it is obvious a real problem exists.

[RedHawk12]

Originally Posted by stemit14

I just can’t believe how much management/coaching has been willing to tolerate from smith. It’s ridiculous. It’s drives me crazy to hear the fan960 guys say things like “you need mike smith to get better” or “he is their number one” or “have to think about how to manage the goalies all season.” It’s stupid.

It is a very, very simple solution:

“Rittich, you are now the #1 goalie for this team. Smith, you are now the backup and if your play does not improve drastically in the next game we put you in (in December), we’ll have to find another backup goalie.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I see this a lot and I don't think it's that simple. Smith is human like the rest of us and has pride like the rest of us. You can't just bench him and expect him to take it like a boss. If any of us were managers at whatever job we have, then got demoted and are now second fiddle to some young intern who just got a promotion, I think well over 90% of us in that position would quit our job. Let me know I'd you disagree, I'd be genuinely curious about all your thoughts on this "pride" issue.

Also I don't think we can say "he's a professional so act like one". A lot of posters on here are professionals too. It's a natural feeling to feel embarrassed in that situation to the point where you would quit your job. My opinion only.

Sadly in professional hockey, Smith can't just quit and find a job elsewhere. The closest thing is retiring and maybe he's not ready for that.

That's where I think the GM needs to come in and just waive him. Force him and say "thanks for everything, but you're done".

[Stay Golden]

Smith suuuuuucks!
He has cost the Flames at least 8pts already this season because of his garbage goal tending!
3.51 GAA are kidding me that's trash. 51st in the NHL.
.877 save % 60th in the league.
There is no way Rittich should be backing up Smith.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

If I could go back and find the players I would, but that isnt an option on the forum anymore. I do remember myself disagreeing with a lot of your comments on players.

I dont think it's really fair for you to expect me to remember every last player we see differently about without being able to look at posting history. Can you remember every player I dislike? That's a weak excuse.
.

No but I’m also not calling you out for never criticizing player
You made claims about me as a poster that are simply not accurate
I don’t care really what you have said about players in the past but nor have i inaccurately described you repeatedly as a poster

[redforever]

Originally Posted by RedHawk12

I see this a lot and I don't think it's that simple. Smith is human like the rest of us and has pride like the rest of us. You can't just bench him and expect him to take it like a boss. If any of us were managers at whatever job we have, then got demoted and are now second fiddle to some young intern who just got a promotion, I think well over 90% of us in that position would quit our job. Let me know I'd you disagree, I'd be genuinely curious about all your thoughts on this "pride" issue.

Also I don't think we can say "he's a professional so act like one". A lot of posters on here are professionals too. It's a natural feeling to feel embarrassed in that situation to the point where you would quit your job. My opinion only.

Sadly in professional hockey, Smith can't just quit and find a job elsewhere. The closest thing is retiring and maybe he's not ready for that.

That's where I think the GM needs to come in and just waive him. Force him and say "thanks for everything, but you're done".

Yes you can. It is the nature of the business and management has signed you to put the best product on the ice.

[JBR]

The Flames would be comfortably in first place with adequate goaltending. It's stressful to sit in the Dome and clench tightly every time the opposition looks to direct the puck towards the net... from anywhere in or out of the zone.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by stemit14

I just can’t believe how much management/coaching has been willing to tolerate from smith. It’s ridiculous. It’s drives me crazy to hear the fan960 guys say things like “you need mike smith to get better” or “he is their number one” or “have to think about how to manage the goalies all season.” It’s stupid.

It's not stupid, it's correct.
The team is right to try and get him out of this slump. Best case scenario, he starts playing better, Rittich continues to play well and we roll with 2 good goalies through the season.

Having said that, there's a line they have to draw and this may be that point.
Giving up on him too soon is a bad move, waiting too long is also a bad move.

[Stay Golden]

The Flames have enough depth at forward, the D pairings are solid that they would be First in their division if it wasnt for Smith playing like trash and killing the team with his growing collection of soft & early goals netted against him

[Classic_Sniper]

Mike Smith is an absolute tire fire right now. I’ve never seen a goaltender give up so many goals that are going right through him. Pucks are bouncing off his equipment and in. His fundamentals are completely letting him down right now and that’s why he himself can’t even explain why he’s giving these goals up.

At this point, David Rittich should be given a string of games to see what he can do because Mike Smith is giving the team every chance to lose right now. He’s won 5 and lost 8 whereas Rittich has won 5 and lost 1. Really easy to see who gives this team the better chance to win. Not even close really.

[Duffalufagus]

I will lead the Smith sucks parade. Good god. As Scorp said, he’s cost the team about 8 points (maybe 6 if you count him stealing the Nashville game -his only elite start).

But if you think Rittich is taking this team anywhere, including the playoffs, at minimum, I have some sweet Chestemere runoff land to sell ya.

[Gaskal]

Would you rather...

A.) Start Smith for 60+ games this season
B.) Endure one more season of Glen Gulutzan at the helm
C.) Endure two more seasons of Dave Cameron and the Brouwerplay

[SofaProfessor]

Treliving clearly can't hit on his goalie acquisitions so I have a suggestion. This is purely for entertainment value because that's all we've got right now anyway.

At the beginning of every game, fans in the concourse will be given a raffle ticket. 10 minutes prior to puck drop, 3 numbers are selected. Those fans will race to put on goalie gear and get onto the ice. First one in net gets to play for the night. Bill Peters will also throw weapons like chains and crowbars into the dressing room during the mad scramble to add some additional excitement.

[Flamescuprun2018]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

It's not stupid, it's correct.
The team is right to try and get him out of this slump. Best case scenario, he starts playing better, Rittich continues to play well and we roll with 2 good goalies through the season.

Having said that, there's a line they have to draw and this may be that point.
Giving up on him too soon is a bad move, waiting too long is also a bad move.

I agree with your take. With the team in a playoff position the Flames had enough rope to try and see if Smith could rebound.

But it sure feels like that line of patience has now been crossed.

The GWG tonite was so deja vu like the Elliott game 4 gaffe. We all knew then that we would not see Elliott in a Flames jersey again.

The biggest risk anointing Rittich number 1 now is all mental. He has been terrific as backup for two seasons but the pressure he now faces with Smith riding pine is a whole new ballgame.

Fingers crossed he can manage it. Because there is no relief coming from any where else.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

I appreciate your and Bingo's contributions to this site, but I cant think of a single time either of you have cracked down and harshly called out a player for a lengthy dog #### performance. I haven't seen either of you get heated about a bad player.

Honestly, you are barking up the wrong tree.

Jiri is not someone who spouts off without thinking before he posts. You might not agree with him, but he usually defends his point of view pretty well...case in point, his views on fighting and checking.

There are quite a few immature jerks here. Jiri is not one of them.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

Would you rather...

A.) Start Smith for 60+ games this season
B.) Endure one more season of Glen Gulutzan at the helm
C.) Endure two more seasons of Dave Cameron and the Brouwerplay

My head hurts. Those questions are too hard teacher.

[Jore]

Originally Posted by redforever

I have only 2 complaints with Tre. He has mishandled the goalie situation since he has been here and he has a penchant to sign aging UFAs to big contracts.

Well maybe a third...loyalty to players and coaches when it is obvious a real problem exists.

he's gone after half measures and the bargain bin since he's been here, and meanwhile we've missed out on tons of starting goalies who've moved around in the league and succeeded: andersen, talbot, jones, raanta, fleury, bishop... hell even guys like hutton, lehner, and halak this season

the goaltending coach seems not to have done any favours to the half-measures bt did acquire. like many others, i'm not sure exactly what jordan sigalet does (if that athletic article is anything to go by it's not much besides making the goalies feel better about themselves), but the evidence is piling up for him not being part of the solution.

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Mike Smith is an absolute tire fire right now. I’ve never seen a goaltender give up so many goals that are going right through him. Pucks are bouncing off his equipment and in. His fundamentals are completely letting him down right now and that’s why he himself can’t even explain why he’s giving these goals up.

At this point, David Rittich should be given a string of games to see what he can do because Mike Smith is giving the team every chance to lose right now. He’s won 5 and lost 8 whereas Rittich has won 5 and lost 1. Really easy to see who gives this team the better chance to win. Not even close really.

it was time to give rittich a string of games 4 games ago. it's been so ####ing obvious to everyone who's not this coaching staff apparently that a goalie who is top 3 in the league in save percentage and gaa gives you a better chance to win than a goalie who is last or bottom 3 in both categories.

in the goaltending battle thread someone posted how different pittsburgh's approach was to their goaltending, where they actually play the obviously better goalie over the obviously worse goalie. it's even more pathetic and inexcusable for us to have stuck with the obviously worse goalie and pissed away 8 points because our obviously worse goalie, who they keep starting, is ancient and on an expiring contract, while pittsburgh's starter is young, won them cups, and actually part of their long term plans. this organization is so incredibly dumb when it comes to goaltending