The Goalie Battle

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Hey Penguins, we will be happy to take your two time SC champion goalie off your hands seeing how you have demoted him to backup status.

Murrays the back up? Behind whom? Jarry or the other one?

I think that may have more to do with concussion issues. Murray's on a fast track to early retirement with how many he has sustained in such a short period of time.

[TheoFleury]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Murrays the back up? Behind whom? Jarry or the other one?

DeSmith

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Murrays the back up? Behind whom? Jarry or the other one?

I think that may have more to do with concussion issues. Murray's on a fast track to early retirement with how many he has sustained in such a short period of time.

Actually, it has nothing to do with his health and everything to do with the rough start he had to the season. His numbers were not good and DeSmith played well so Sullivan is riding his hot goalie that gives him the best chance to win. It totally makes sense, just like our coach....oh wait....

[dissentowner]

Here is what is happening in Pittsburgh

The Penguins, who snapped a five-game losing streak with DeSmith’s shutout the other night, haven’t exactly played well in front of Murray. And while his talented squad has made the playoffs 12 seasons in a row, Sullivan hasn’t taken these early-season games for granted and thus couldn’t afford to keep letting Murray try to play through his struggles.

Plus, it would be difficult for Sullivan to continue to preach accountability if he parked DeSmith and his .942 save percentage and 1.89 goals against average on the bench.

So, at the risk of further rattling his young franchise goalie, he gave the last two starts to DeSmith and told Murray, who has a 3.87 goals against average and an .886 save percentage, to focus on practice work with goalie coach Mike Buckley.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/p...s/201811120101

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Rittich hasn't historically had a good home record either.

Hasn't he only had something like 2 or 3 starts at home?

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Here is what is happening in Pittsburgh






http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/p...s/201811120101

Boy, this sounds awfully familiar to another situation that is going very differently.

[Jore]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

Boy, this sounds awfully familiar to another situation that is going very differently.

it's even worse here because murray, who is better than smith this season, has a long term future in pittsburgh and smith... well...

and the flames still insist on playing one of the worst goalies in the league more than a goalie with across the board superior statistics

[Corral]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

Edmonton says no. Talbot has potential to improve while I believe we are witnessing the end of Smith's career.

I wish we would stop paying millions to witness the end of a goaltender career in the flames net. Just play the youger guys FFS

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I am pretty sure Rittich knows better than everyone where he stands within the organization. Just because he is not starting the next game it does not mean that he is also not being rewarded with more opportunities.

People seem to forget that Rittich is a second-year goalie. He has a grand-total of 22 NHL starts on his resume, with only 16 of those in his rookie season. He is on track to start close to 30-games this year with the likelihood that it could be more. That on its own is a HUGE reward for a guy in his position.

For me, it's not about giving Rittich more games, but rather Smith fewer. If that means somehow acquiring another #1 goalie, then ok. But in the meantime, Rittich should be given a chance to run with it.

Maybe Rittich can take a Matt Murray trajectory. He played in 13 games as a rookie (not sure how many he actually started) before being given the 1A position.

Not all goalies have to toil as a back-up for a few seasons while slowly increasing their workload. Maybe Rittich isn't our guy either, but Mike Smith certainly isn't either.

[DoubleK]

1A/1B?

I'd settle for a consistent #2 at this point. This zero to hero to zero crap has gone on for too long.

[Mitt31]

Calgary is 10-7-1 right now, and that is in no great thanks to Mike Smith. They could easily be 13-4-1 right now with the way the team has played if we had goaltending early on.

Come New Years i don't want to see the team at .500 like we have in the past, the are too damn good to be there and then will have an uphill climb to make play-offs again.

Smith is a professional hockey player, sit his butt on the pine and play Rittich as your starter... and i dont mean until he loses.

Give Rittich the chance like they have given smith over and over and over. Start Salty for 8 of 10 weather he sucks in a game or not and see if he can get used to a heavy load.

If he shines.... Calgary will be in a dominating spot in the standings... if he somehow forgets how to play, then they are at no worse then where they will be with playing Mike Smith = .500 hockey.

[jlh2640]

Smith played well in San Jose. But I agree it should be Rittich Thursday

[Monahammer]

I thought smith was mediocre in SJ just got lucky not to face as many real opportunities as previous games. This shouldn’t be a conversation. Rotting has clearly been better and smith has Cost the team several games.

[Stay Golden]

Let Rittich run for a bit and see how he handles that role. Smith needs a reality check and Flames staff should reward Rittich's recent play.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Here is what is happening in Pittsburgh

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/p...s/201811120101

That's actually pretty frustrating to read. The Flames should look to how a successful franchise is handling their goalie situation. Over 9GP, Murray is 3.87 / 0.886 - so not too far off what we're giving Smith another chance to recover from.

I think it'd be silly to argue that Smith has a better chance at returning to form than Murray, but over there they "couldn’t afford to keep letting Murray try to play through his struggles". Why can we afford it?

Also,

DeSmith
10GP 2.04 / 0.938

Rittich
8GP 1.91 / 0.935

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Hasn't he only had something like 2 or 3 starts at home?

I was including last season since that was done with Smith's record too.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I thought smith was mediocre in SJ just got lucky not to face as many real opportunities as previous games. This shouldn’t be a conversation. Rotting has clearly been better and smith has Cost the team several games.

Smith wasn't merely mediocre. He absolutely bailed out the team several times. I think he had a way harder time than Rittich in his shutout. I'd bet high danger chances against were higher against SJ. And it was San Jose versus LA.

While it's true that Smith has had only 4 good nights, IMO he hasn't actually cost the Flames many wins because the team bailed him out in at least two games when he was bad (Vancouver, Colorado ) and in most of the losses not only were there bad performances by him, but also the team (Vancouver, St. Louis, Nashville, Pittsburgh). The Ducks game, yes, and maybe you could say he cost them a single point against Washington, maybe. I don't think SJ game was Smith costing a win.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Split98

That's actually pretty frustrating to read. The Flames should look to how a successful franchise is handling their goalie situation. Over 9GP, Murray is 3.87 / 0.886 - so not too far off what we're giving Smith another chance to recover from.

I think it'd be silly to argue that Smith has a better chance at returning to form than Murray, but over there they "couldn’t afford to keep letting Murray try to play through his struggles". Why can we afford it?

Also,

DeSmith
10GP 2.04 / 0.938

Rittich
8GP 1.91 / 0.935

Just so we are clear, this is NOT according to Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan. This is an interpretation of the situation by a beat reporter. From the article:

Originally Posted by Mike Sullivan

"When you think about pro sports, it's a hard business. Every player goes through ups and downs. And Matt is no different than any other player that’s come before him and will come after him. It’s about how you handle those ebbs and flows throughout the course of your career that helps you to have success.

"And I think Matt’s mental toughness and the experience, he can certainly draw on them in helping him get to where we all know he's capable of being.

"This by no means diminishes our faith and our trust in Matt Murray. We know he’s a real good goalie. He’s an accomplished goalie. I think sometimes we forget how young he is because he’s as accomplished as he is. So we’re going to work with Matt and help him through this process. It’s no different than any other player."

It should also be noted that Casey DeSmith has started only one more game than David Rittich, and both have started only three games since the end of October.

And not all goalies are created equal. Sullivan seems to think that Murray's age plays a part in their handling of him, whereas the Flames plan for the much older and more seasoned Mike Smith seems to be having him play through his struggles. There is no "right vs. wrong" way of handling these similar situations—a lot of that depends on the player.

[wingmaker]

The one hope for Mike Smith is that his problems appear to be between the ears. He isn't behind the play, or getting beat on shots due to a lack of athleticism or even endurance. Shots are just going through him. It's completely mental. I have to think that this is why the team might continue to give him a chance.

That said, Rittich is clearly better.

I totally get why fans want to ditch Smith and the importance of putting wins together. I have to think that as long as the team is bailing him out and putting up Ws, he will have some leash. If the team loses two or three more games on bad goals by Smith in the next few starts, Tre's gotta be on the line with the other GMs finding a goalie to spell off Rittich.

[The Boy Wonder]

Originally Posted by wingmaker

The one hope for Mike Smith is that his problems appear to be between the ears. He isn't behind the play, or getting beat on shots due to a lack of athleticism or even endurance. Shots are just going through him. It's completely mental. I have to think that this is why the team might continue to give him a chance.

That said, Rittich is clearly better.

I totally get why fans want to ditch Smith and the importance of putting wins together. I have to think that as long as the team is bailing him out and putting up Ws, he will have some leash. If the team loses two or three more games on bad goals by Smith in the next few starts, Tre's gotta be on the line with the other GMs finding a goalie to spell off Rittich.

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