Feb 25 practice notes. Maintenance for Gio. Smith starts vs Islanders.

[Monahammer]

Also I think it's ridiculous to say rittich looked shakey last game when Mike Smith has been the definition of shakey this season. No recent games have changed that imo. Still makes very questionable decisions routinely. I for one am sincerely hoping we do not see him on ice in the playoffs at all. Yuck.

[Duffalufagus]

I do t think Rittich liked shaky at all. He got burned and the post saved him on last minute breakaway, but he played well.

Still smith’s net right now.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Duffalufagus

I disagree. The five straight was telling imo. Smith is #1 right now. Not saying that can’t or won’t change, but throwing him in there for 5 straight was telling to me.

Just my thoughts. Enjoy the discussion.

The Flames don't have a "#1 goalie," and they have not had one since the end of October. The coaches have been deploying both goalies as a tandem since November, and I don't see any reason why that would not continue from here until the playoffs, unless one of them leaves no room for doubt about whether he will or will not be the guy to start games in April.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I again think there is a terrible double standard in the way the org approaches smith and rittich and disagree with it vehemently. Rittich played very well last game and deserves another start. Dont care at all about the back to back.

The coaches obviously care a lot. Because it is as important to them as it seems to be, then I think there is almost nothing to be gleaned from the deployment in tomorrow's and Wednesday's games.

Rittich looked fine last night. Smith has looked fine for a few games now. Stay the course. Dial back your vehemence.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Also I think it's ridiculous to say rittich looked shakey last game when Mike Smith has been the definition of shakey this season. No recent games have changed that imo. Still makes very questionable decisions routinely. I for one am sincerely hoping we do not see him on ice in the playoffs at all. Yuck.

A. I don't think Rittich was shaky. He wasn't tested hard but looked solid to me. Posts are posts.

B. That said, I don't understand what Smith's previous play, or his recent play for that matter, has to do with whether Rittich looked shaky or not. One has nothing to do with the other.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Back to back and Smith beat the Islanders last week.



Islanders are a team that likes to grind you on the forecheck, and they had a tough time getting their forecheck going with Smith in net last week so likely just going with that again.

Didn't realize it was a back to back. Makes more sense now. Just a matter of which team they decided to give to each goalie.

[browna]

My uneducated guess is Gio was part of the war room today. Not making decisions, but likely there in case a phone call or two had to be made by the captain and to give him some experience and insight into that situation.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by browna

My uneducated guess is Gio was part of the war room today. Not making decisions, but likely there in case a phone call or two had to be made by the captain and to give him some experience and insight into that situation.

Funny you say that. I came in to post the same thing.

I think the line of "the team is concerned about chemistry" came from a player wearing a letter today. Add in that you had at least one potential trade target not waiving to come to the Flames and I think you likely had a phone call from the captain to said player.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I can imagine that Rittich will get the next handfull of starts after tomorrow.

I think that will only happen if Smith loses tomorrow or doesn't look good.

[AC]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Funny you say that. I came in to post the same thing.

I think the line of "the team is concerned about chemistry" came from a player wearing a letter today. Add in that you had at least one potential trade target not waiving to come to the Flames and I think you likely had a phone call from the captain to said player.

Yesterday, I pulled the highlights from the 2-0 Flames win vs Minnesota (with the Dumba hit), and Gio was pissed at Zucker all game. Went after him a couple times.

Thought it would be kind of funny if Gio vetoed the trade.

[The Boy Wonder]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I think that will only happen if Smith loses tomorrow or doesn't look good.

As long as the plan is to start smith for a bit to rest rittich so he is fresh for playoffs.

Smith continues to be ranked between 60-67th out of all goalies in the counting stats (other than wins) and thats with his "good" play lately

But we knew Rittich goign into playoffs having played >60 games was not a recipe for success, so as much as I hate it, we have to start smith more down the stretch here

[browna]

Originally Posted by AC

Yesterday, I pulled the highlights from the 2-0 Flames win vs Minnesota (with the Dumba hit), and Gio was pissed at Zucker all game. Went after him a couple times.

Thought it would be kind of funny if Gio vetoed the trade.

Thought the same thing, simply because a guy like LeBrun and Russo aren’t rumour mongerers and were fairly surprised that it fell through and have no idea why, so it was some X factor.

Zucker gives some flippant answer to Gio as he assesses the fit over the phone, and Gio and or Treliving kyboshes the deal based on that. Never mind the history that AC dug up.

Zucker didn’t have an ntc, doesn’t kick in until next year, so it wasn’t that and this was the last time the Wild could trade him without his consent.

I’ll go with the Gio kybosh deal story until we are told otherwise!

We will see on Iginla night, of all nights.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by The Boy Wonder

As long as the plan is to start smith for a bit to rest rittich so he is fresh for playoffs.

Smith continues to be ranked between 60-67th out of all goalies in the counting stats (other than wins) and thats with his "good" play lately

But we knew Rittich goign into playoffs having played >60 games was not a recipe for success, so as much as I hate it, we have to start smith more down the stretch here

That's not quite true.
Smith is 47th for save percentage and 31st for GAA for all NHL goalies who have played 21 or more games, which is the NHL.com default for games played.
I am far from saying those are good stats, but it is not 60-67th.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by The Boy Wonder

As long as the plan is to start smith for a bit to rest rittich so he is fresh for playoffs.

The plan is to start whatever goalie is playing better. Right now that's Smith. Rittich will get his chance to take the net back.

Smith continues to be ranked between 60-67th out of all goalies in the counting stats (other than wins) and thats with his "good" play lately

Unless Smith goes on a big shutout run his overall stats aren't going to make a drastic improvement. They no longer matter to me as long as he plays better the rest of the way.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

The Flames don't have a "#1 goalie," and they have not had one since the end of October. The coaches have been deploying both goalies as a tandem since November, and I don't see any reason why that would not continue from here until the playoffs, unless one of them leaves no room for doubt about whether he will or will not be the guy to start games in April.

Who starts game 1 of the playoffs? I believe it’s Smith right now. It’s his job to lose and if he plays well he will get the majority of the remaining starts IMO. So to me, that’s your starter.

Neither of these guys are good enough to remove all room for doubt though.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Yeah if he plays well the rest of the season do we really care what he ranks in anything? Playing well and winning are the only two things I care about when it comes to goalies.

Both goalies will get starts down the stretch and whoever is playing better and has the coaches' confidence will start in the playoffs. It's up for grabs.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I again think there is a terrible double standard in the way the org approaches smith and rittich and disagree with it vehemently. Rittich played very well last game and deserves another start. Dont care at all about the back to back.

It's almost as if they're two different goalies in two very different parts of their respective careers. Of course there's a double standard.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Who starts game 1 of the playoffs? I believe it’s Smith right now. It’s his job to lose and if he plays well he will get the majority of the remaining starts IMO. So to me, that’s your starter.

Like I said: Rittich looks like he will start two of the next thee in four days, and I am unconvinced that Smith will get the majority of the remaining eighteen beyond that. The separation between both of them is razor thin right now: that's not a starting goalie. A starter would play 15 of the 20 regardless of the performance either goalie turns in.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Yeah if he plays well the rest of the season do we really care what he ranks in anything? Playing well and winning are the only two things I care about when it comes to goalies.

Both goalies will get starts down the stretch and whoever is playing better and has the coaches' confidence will start in the playoffs. It's up for grabs.

Yearlong rankings can tell you about the guys performance over the year. But going into the POs, the stretch drive performance tells a lot more that's interesting. It's the same with all kinds of stats - PK, PP, etc. A terrible start can skew those numbers.

It's the trends that are important now.