Player Discussion Is Smith cooked? Edit: YEAH HE IS!

[Volica]

Stick a fork in'im

 

[Shootertutor31]

I know this won't be liked by many (even more-so being my first post), but I think you need to go back to Smith Saturday. Last nights game there was no question he was fighting the puck for the first 2 periods, but in the 3rd he looked to gain some of his confidence and control back. Peter's risks sending the wrong message to the team, but I don't think Rittich is the answer (yet) and in saying that, you have to treat Smith with kid gloves.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

The latter could be the cause of the former.

Absolutely it is. That's why I said it.

 

[JurassicTunga]

@TomOppolzer on twitter

 

[Mobiandi]

I defended him for a while, but he's been no bueno in his last few starts.

 

[JPeeper]

5-5-1 .872 SV%, 3.66 GAA

4-1-0 .927 SV%, 2.23 GAA

I'll let you figure out who our starter should be most nights and who our coach keeps starting*.

*The one massive blemish with Peters so far.

Like at this point come on. These next 2 games against divisional rivals will be the last straw for Smith as the starter if he has another one of these nights and Rittich plays well. My opinion anyway.

 

[BigRangy]

I know the Mike Smith from last Fall is in there somewhere. Just gotta find it and hopefully the Flames are still in the playoff race when he's found.

 

[RedHot]

I know the Mike Smith from last Fall is in there somewhere. Just gotta find it and hopefully the Flames are still in the playoff race when he's found.

That was a looong time ago. Throw in an injury, and this current iteration of Smith probably isn’t too far from the player he is today.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I disagree that it's technical issues, or mobility.

It's the six inches between his ears that's the problem.

I reaffirm that it's technical. 100% bad bad positioning and bad technique.

 

[Fire Treliving]

The worst part is that he's not showing any signs of improvement. If he was, I could at least tolerate Peters forcing Smith over Rittich and let hid ride the bad stretch out. He sucks now just as much as he did in game 1 (or preseason, for that matter).

The loss against the Ducks was coming, we can't always outscore Smith's terrible goaltending. It was bound to catch up with us.

Plus, I think it's time for us to finally see what we have in Rittich. Is he merely a backup? Or is he capable of being a legit starter?

 

[super6646]

He let in 1 bad goal. That doesn't end the game for a playoff team. Not even close. The team picked up from that goal, put more good shifts together, then allowed a PPG against on a good tip by Hornqvist. Again, a playoff team doesn't take that start and say "well, I guess this one's over, time to stop playing." A playoff team smells blood with the amount of chances they've created and how much pressure they've put the Penguins under. The Flames didn't do that, and haven't been doing that enough.

That said, they were doing a much better job of it up until the New York game. Even last game they didn't go away in the third. It's not like it's going to take something huge to roll back the clock to something that was just a couple weeks ago. Team just needs to wake up.

You still think that?

 

[DCDM]

Hard to say anything good about him at this point.

 

[Kranix]

He looks clunky and stiff.

 

[CraigsList]

I defended him for a while, but he's been no bueno in his last few starts.

I’ve defended him long enough.

He’s been terrible the last few games. It’s time for us to ride Rittich and see what he can do.

 

[Anglesmith]

You still think that?

Absolutely. The difference in the way the Flames have been playing since that Pittsburgh game has been terrific. Even when a soft goal goes in, they still go out and outplay the other team. They were unlucky not to come away with a different result last night for sure. Against Pittsburgh, they got behind and completely stopped playing. Since then, it's been a very different story. Wouldn't you agree?

 

[Fire Treliving]

I just heard that Neal and Smith had a little argument in the dressing room right after the game. Apparently Neal was not happy with something Mike Smith said about defensive miscues in the game. Neal told him and I quote "make a ####ing save".

I've heard they are friends off the ice but they've had words twice now in less than a week. Players are not happy with Mike Smith.

From a guy on Reddit who's proved to be pretty reliable over the summer.

 

[Volica]

Stick a fork in'im

Stick two forks in him.

 

[JPeeper]

Smith is letting in goals that ECHL/beer leaguers should save. Like shots from outside the dot uncontested that just squeak in. Last nights against Silvferberg, the other night against Colorado he let two in like that, the Kamenev one and then the Soderberg one. That's just 3 in the last 2 games that any goalie in the professional world would make.

You can't trust any shot to be saved by this guy right now, no matter how routine the shot.

Just watched the post-game presser and Peters didn't blame Smith for anything, when asked about the first goal he pointed to Hanifin making a dumb play, and he said Smith played well in the 3rd. I say this because Peters called out Lack earlier in his coaching career and when he came to Calgary he said he learned from his mistakes regarding that so I interpret this as Peters not throwing his goalie under the bus, not necessarily that Peters is fine with Smith's performance this year. He just wants to keep it in the dressing room and I am 100% fine with that. The last thing nutcase Mike Smith needs is the coach calling him out then the media going after Smith, dude will be even more nuts than he already is.

 

[HighLifeMan]

It's not just that Mike Smith is consistently letting in 1-3 extremely soft goals a game...It's the fact that he simply can't make a big save when this team needs it the most. Need we look any further than Getzlaf scoring last night (Smith was certainly not to blame on that goal, but a save there would have been huge). One big save at a timely point in the game is all that is needed with the way this offense is currently rolling. The fact that he has started 11 games this season with the way he has performed is a scary thought. He is single handedly the biggest concern this team has and it needs to be addressed.

 

[Flameshomer]

The thing that pisses me off most about Smith is that he has been completely incapable, throughout his career, of admitting when he is making mistakes/playing poorly. The above posted rumor strikes me as definitely true- we've seen video evidence of Neal not being afraid to give it to smith, and we've seen Smith give it to the defenders when it was clearly his own damn fault.

I think the changed pads have taken away the only thing he ever truly was good at- being a large blocker in net. That's why people are scoring five hole or under arm so often- Smith has never had to make reflex saves or really try to swallow rebounds before, and now that he's having to do so he's failing miserably.

 

[The Gnome]

The first goal last night was truly alarming. 10/10 times that should be an easy save. No one in front of him, easy angle, wrist shot from almost the blue line. My 9 year old son could've stopped that.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Man up admit you suck Mike.

Or else waive him and send him to the AHL

Wanna see defensive miscues? Say hello to your #1D Oliver Kylington

 

[Flameshomer]

The first goal last night was truly alarming. 10/10 times that should be an easy save. No one in front of him, easy angle, wrist shot from almost the blue line. My 9 year old son could've stopped that.

The first goal was definitely terrible, but I think the second goal was equally alarming. He let out a terribly juicy rebound right into a prime scoring area from a shot that came from the blue line, wasn't very hard, and wasn't screened. Even if hamonic had been in position, or Backlund had been right on top of Henrique, there's a solid chance Henrique still would have been able to get a stick on the puck and put it on net, where Smith was certainly not in position to stop a second shot.

Getzlaf's goal, while more of a breakdown by the whole team, was still a backhand shot from almost behind the net. Great shot, but goalies of decent caliber routinely make that save too. Johnny tries to pick that exact corner pretty regularly and has only sniped it twice. It only really looks like not his fault in comparison to the other goals, but really he should have saved it.

Mike Smith is oilers quality.

 

[super6646]

The first goal was definitely terrible, but I think the second goal was equally alarming. He let out a terribly juicy rebound right into a prime scoring area from a shot that came from the blue line, wasn't very hard, and wasn't screened. Even if hamonic had been in position, or Backlund had been right on top of Henrique, there's a solid chance Henrique still would have been able to get a stick on the puck and put it on net, where Smith was certainly not in position to stop a second shot.

Getzlaf's goal, while more of a breakdown by the whole team, was still a backhand shot from almost behind the net. Great shot, but goalies of decent caliber routinely make that save too. Johnny tries to pick that exact corner pretty regularly and has only sniped it twice. It only really looks like not his fault in comparison to the other goals, but really he should have saved it.

Mike Smith is oilers quality.

Oilers quality? f***, even I don't think their goalies have been this bad as smith this year for f*** sakes.

 

[viper0220]

If Smith has a injury or if he is hurting somewhere he should just come out and say it.