Is Mike Smith the new Brian Elliot and is James Neal the new Troy Brouwer? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

bluck · 10-25-2018, 08:29 PM

Honestly, the similarities are just to close to overlook. Smith reminds me completely of Elliott and Neal reminds of the "I have no care factor and I got a big contract so I'm going to coast around" Troy Brouwer. Are we going to keep saying "Relax, it's early" until it's December? Really disappointing so far to watch those two players so far this year. I hope they can turn it around.

TheScorpion · 10-25-2018, 08:32 PM

I'm at the game and I was almost scared to check CP.

Rightfully so, it seems.

mdubz · 10-25-2018, 08:33 PM

Yes

sempuki · 10-25-2018, 08:34 PM

Is it time for fans to crack each other’s heads open and feast on the goo inside?

Atodaso · 10-25-2018, 08:34 PM

Sure, why not? Every team needs a scapegoat.

I see more of a team issue rather than a two player issue though. Whether that's chemistry or the new coach/system, who knows? It really is tough to jump to those conclusions before November, let alone December.

That being said, I've never been too high on Smith, personally. I think we'll see another goalie on this team before we make any significant run to playoff contention.

kermitology · 10-25-2018, 08:34 PM

Smith should probably just retire. He’s done. You’d expect Neal to care, but no. Sad state of affairs.

locsofblu · 10-25-2018, 08:36 PM

Yup. Errrrr no. Well maybe

browna · 10-25-2018, 08:39 PM

3 weeks+1 day into the season with a team that's won as many as they've lost. Gracious.
Whatever it takes I guess for people to feel good about themselves in making sweeping generalizations already, I guess.

Buck Murdock · 10-25-2018, 08:49 PM

Not possible...I read an article where Neal said he really, really, really wanted to win. We're seeing him at 100%.

djsFlames · 10-25-2018, 08:52 PM

Common denominator: Jordan Sigalet.

How this guy has survived what is probably over half a dozen goalies that plateaued or declined while in a flames jersey is beyond me.

Magnum PEI · 10-25-2018, 08:53 PM

I'm no fan of Neal, and I was against the signing, but he's waaay better than Brouwer, and probably makes more good plays than bad. Brouwer couldn't even receive a pass.

PepsiFree · 10-25-2018, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Common denominator: Jordan Sigalet.

How this guy has survived what is probably over half a dozen goalies that plateaued or declined while in a flames jersey is beyond me.

Maybe we over-inflate the role of a goalie coach?

Or management under-inflates it.

But one of the two ain’t right.

SmoggyFlamesFan · 10-25-2018, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by browna

3 weeks+1 day into the season with a team that's won as many as they've lost. Gracious.
Whatever it takes I guess for people to feel good about themselves in making sweeping generalizations already, I guess.

No. This right here is the problem. This thinking that "well it's still early to be making those generalizations."

The OP has a fair point. When I look at both of these players now, I think of the exact same thing. Yes, it IS a sample size of 10 games. Yes, we are a .500 club even with these bad defensive lapses and poor goaltending. We as a fanbase have had to deal with these kinds of issues year after year after year. Elite teams go up 6-3 not sink back down to .500. Elite teams do not have a goalie who is sub .900 Save %.

Neal on the other hand has been CONSISTENT as far as scoring is concerned every other team he has played for, but is looking old, slow, and disinterested very similar to Brouwer. Another posted mentioned in a previous thread that between Brouwer's 1.5 plus Neal's 5.75, that is 7.25M of cap space that has a total of 1 GOAL for the flames this year.

After 10 games, OP is not wrong. Call it overreaction if you want, but the numbers speak for themselves.

Erick Estrada · 10-25-2018, 08:59 PM

It's October. It's kind of tradition for the Flames to play poorly in October. On one hand it's a bummer that they just can't kick this habit. On the other I know that November will probably be more telling of the team's long term probability of success.

BigBird · 10-25-2018, 09:02 PM

Is Smith the new cloutier

calgarywinning · 10-25-2018, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sempuki

Is it time for fans to crack each other’s heads open and feast on the goo inside?

Definitely a Halloween type game! Nom Nom.

jonkaupp · 10-25-2018, 09:11 PM

While Neal isn’t really helping us win games at the moment, Smith is seemingly actively nose diving our season. So I don’t really care about Neal right now when the very obvious elephant in the room is our terrible goalie.

SuperMatt18 · 10-25-2018, 09:20 PM

Since Jan. 1 2018 Mike Smith has a .905 save percentage - so yeah it’s starting to look like he has a problem.

I do think that we need to get a new goalie coach though - every goalie seems to actively get worse once they spend about 6 months with Sigalet.

TheoFleury · 10-25-2018, 09:20 PM

I'm just happy we have our 1st rounder this year. Going to soften the blow as this team cant win with bottom 10 goaltending and defense.

Frank MetaMusil · 10-25-2018, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Common denominator: Jordan Sigalet.

How this guy has survived what is probably over half a dozen goalies that plateaued or declined while in a flames jersey is beyond me.

Can't be thanked enough. How the flying eff does this guy escape the guillotine every offseason?