GDT: Calgary @ Pittsburgh - 5 PM MT - SN1

Johnny Hoxville

The Return of a Legend
Jul 15, 2006
37,549
9,343
Calgary
Rittich is 25 years old with plenty of pro experience in Europe and the AHL, he was our back-up this year and part of a back-ups job is to fill in when the starter is injured. If he can't handle this then we should be looking to move on from him not shelter him and bring in another guy.

I don’t totally disagree, but you’re still talking about a guy who has a total of 17 NHL games, and up until Smith was hurt, all of his starts were handpicked. There’s a big difference to how he’s being used now. I don’t think it’s wise to just throw a goalie in the deep end like how both of our young guys have. I know we’ve had no choice, but if Smith is gonna be out for a while, we should have gotten someone like Ramo or even Mason for cheap.
 
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Baxterman

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Aug 27, 2017
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I don’t totally disagree, but you’re still talking about a guy who has a total of 17 NHL games, and up until Smith was hurt, all of his starts were handpicked. There’s a big difference to how he’s being used now. I don’t think it’s wise to just throw a goalie in the deep end like how both of our young guys have. I know we’ve had no choice, but if Smith is gonna be out for a while, we should have gotten someone like Ramo or even Mason for cheap.

I don't think we should trade/release him based on this performance but I also don't think that it should wreck his confidence or be too much for him to handle.

Getting Ramo would have assured us no play-offs and even a cheap Mason costs more than we could afford and hurts us long term. I don't think we were good enough or high enough in the standing to make a move that is likely a prayer at best.
 
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Johnny Hoxville

The Return of a Legend
Jul 15, 2006
37,549
9,343
Calgary
I don't think we should trade/release him based on this performance but I also don't think that it should wreck his confidence or be too much for him to handle.

Getting Ramo would have assured us no play-offs and even a cheap Mason costs more than we could afford and hurts us long term. I don't think we were good enough or high enough in the standing to make a move that is likely a prayer at best.

Again in theory you have a point, but Rittich had what, 6 handpicked games before Smith went down? There’s way more pressure on him (and Gillies now), and for some it’s more than they’re ready for. I just don’t think either guy was ready for this.

I don’t regret dumping Lack because he was not effective. But we have a potentially damaging situation for 2 guys right now.
 

Johnny Hoxville

The Return of a Legend
Jul 15, 2006
37,549
9,343
Calgary
Excellent? He lost 4 straight, 5 of the last 6 and got pulled 3 times.

I think Rittich is more stable than Gillies but I wouldnt count on him at this point.

Honestly I don’t think either has been good. Rittich has been slightly more stable. Gillies has been more shaky but has also made bigger saves. Bottom line, both guys have struggled.
 

Mr Snrub

I like the way Snrub thinks!
Oct 12, 2016
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It's still far too early to say on either guy. They're pretty much even, I would've put Gillies a little higher as of this off-season but actually seeing him and not just listening to him make saves has lowered my opinion.

Again, though, it's silly to draw conclusions when they don't even have 30 starts between them.
 

Vordus

Registered User
May 9, 2014
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44
Calgary
I don't see the problem with either young goalie being put out there. Experience is experience. If they can't handle pressure or tough lossess, they're in the wrong business.

This experience should help one of, if not both goalies, eventually get better.
 
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Tical

Registered User
Jul 1, 2013
162
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I think both goalies will be fine. Go look at Tomas Vokoun's first start for Montreal. And the rest of his starts for quite some time. He, as with all promising young goalies, just needed the NHL experience to build on, to make mistakes and learn from them.
 

DFF

Registered User
Feb 28, 2002
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I think both goalies will be fine. Go look at Tomas Vokoun's first start for Montreal. And the rest of his starts for quite some time. He, as with all promising young goalies, just needed the NHL experience to build on, to make mistakes and learn from them.

It all depends on whether they can fix their flaws or not. Gillies has several obvious flaws if not fatal. His positioning and puck handling are terrible.
 

Tkachuky

Registered User
Dec 30, 2009
5,280
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In the Dome
Win the next 2, and hope for some help on the out of town...

Again, I still believe in a 3rd place in division spot. WC might be unattainable because of Central. We are fighting Ducks and Kings the way i see it.
 

Baxterman

Registered User
Aug 27, 2017
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Just heard the post-game presser.

If I had $100,000 for every time GG says "we weren't prepared to play" I could buy the Flames a new arena.

This is a serious problem they need to fix. This is a coaching issue as much as a team (player) leadership issue.

He didn't actually say that again did he?

How does he not realize that this makes him look bad if he consistently doesn't have them ready to play.
 
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Turning Mangiapanese

Registered User
Jun 18, 2011
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After the first couple of minutes it was a pretty good showing by almost everyone last night. Hate to pile on a rookie but this loss was on Gillies, he should've had all of those. Maybe not the OT goal but he should've at least been in position for that.
Still, not even mad because the Pens are just such a vastly superior hockey club that getting one point is alright.
 
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Janks

Pope Janks
Jan 7, 2010
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Calgary
After the first couple of minutes it was a pretty good showing by almost everyone last night. Hate to pile on a rookie but this loss was on Gillies, he should've had all of those. Maybe not the OT goal but he should've at least been in position for that.
Still, not even mad because the Pens are just such a vastly superior hockey club that getting one point is alright.
Agreed - would have been nice to win, but if we can grab 5 of 6 points against PIT, BUF and OTT - It'll be a good road trip.
 
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JPeeper

Hail Satan!
Jan 4, 2015
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Gulutzan really said the "weren't ready to play" excuse again?

Yeah, he has no idea what he's doing. Even if it were true he clearly has no idea to A) fix it and B) what is actually wrong so he uses the same excuse.

Only 14 more games of this goof as our coach.
 
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Janks

Pope Janks
Jan 7, 2010
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"We weren't ready to play"

Well why the **** not? You aren't making millions of dollars to teach these guys how to knit, **** sakes. Fire this idiot and fire his ****ty coaching staff too.
Agreed. Pretty tired of this excuse. You're running out of runway to get these guys ready to play and into the playoffs. If they aren't ready to play, you need to get them ready to play GG. No more screwing around.
 

Anglesmith

Setting up the play?
Sep 17, 2012
46,442
14,718
Victoria
Just heard the post-game presser.

If I had $100,000 for every time GG says "we weren't prepared to play" I could buy the Flames a new arena.

This is a serious problem they need to fix. This is a coaching issue as much as a team (player) leadership issue.

He didn't actually say that again did he?

How does he not realize that this makes him look bad if he consistently doesn't have them ready to play.

Gulutzan really said the "weren't ready to play" excuse again?

Yeah, he has no idea what he's doing. Even if it were true he clearly has no idea to A) fix it and B) what is actually wrong so he uses the same excuse.

Only 14 more games of this goof as our coach.

"We weren't ready to play"

Well why the **** not? You aren't making millions of dollars to teach these guys how to knit, **** sakes. Fire this idiot and fire his ****ty coaching staff too.

Agreed. Pretty tired of this excuse. You're running out of runway to get these guys ready to play and into the playoffs. If they aren't ready to play, you need to get them ready to play GG. No more screwing around.


Holy cow, guys. He never once said this in his presser. Just listened to the whole thing again to be sure.

What he did say was that they didn't get off to the start they wanted, but that's an objective fact. It's not even like they were getting run over early, either. Two pucks just happened to go in.

Overall, it didn't sound like Gulutzan was disappointed in how the team played at any point in the game.
 

Calculon

unholy acting talent
Jan 20, 2006
16,578
4,035
Error 503
The Flames were the better team for the most part yesterday. Goaltending aside, they deserved the win.

That's the confounding thing though; they clearly can be more than competitive but there's no consistency. So is it growing pains as they struggle to become legitimate contenders? Or are they not capable of playing the system regularly? And is that because of roster deficits or poor coaching? Or is there just some curse that forever dooms this franchise to be eternally mediocre?

Basically it won't be surprising if Gulutzan is simply fired or retained on a short leash should they miss the playoffs.
 
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Anglesmith

Setting up the play?
Sep 17, 2012
46,442
14,718
Victoria
The Flames were the better team for the most part yesterday. Goaltending aside, they deserved the win.

That's the confounding thing though; they clearly can be more than competitive but there's no consistency. So is it growing pains as they struggle to become legitimate contenders? Or are they not capable of playing the system regularly? And is that because of roster deficits or poor coaching? Or is there just some curse that forever dooms this franchise to be eternally mediocre?

Basically it won't be surprising if Gulutzan is simply fired or retained on a short leash should they miss the playoffs.
I think to your last sentence, it will probably depend who is out there on the market this summer.
 

Mr Snrub

I like the way Snrub thinks!
Oct 12, 2016
5,713
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If no one is available bring up Huska . Anyone is a better option than Gulutzan.

I think Huska is more valuable to us at the AHL level than he would be as our head coach. Would much rather have a good coach getting our AHL guys ready rather than have him stumble through taking over this team for the last 15 games. You don't just "call up" coaches like you do with players
 

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