What to do about the Goalies?

[Bouma Fett*]

Not to mention Ramo isn't worth almost 4 million a season, and he likely won't be willing to take less salary next year than this year.

If other options are off the table then sure, Ramo on a one year deal. But I'd rather try to grab someone else

 

[Skobel24]

I went with Reimer because I feel that he is the best combo of cost and ability.

But as long as it isn't Ramo back I am pretty happy with whatever option the team goes with.

As to the options you listed:

Ramo has shown that he is at best a bad starting goalie and at worst just a flat out bad goalie. There is zero reason to think he is going to improve and zero reason to think he will come in for a reasonable (sub-2 million) deal. Time to cut bait with a guy we know isn't good enough.

Hiller, better option than Ramo, but again a guy that has shown this past year he just isn't good enough.

Don't mind Howard but that deal is scary and I am not sure he would be much better than a Bernier/Reimer/Anderson option and pretty much a sure thing to cost more.

Ward older that what I would like and would cost more for Reimer. Not sure he is any better.

Bishop, can't see the Bolts trading him and if they do it won't be cheap to get him. The asset cost that it would take to deal for him is way too much.

Gillies was very erratic in his short time in the AHL and it is way too early to tell if he will be anything in the future let alone throwing him in right now. Hopefully he can improve with a season in the NHL but I don't hold much hope for him.

Ward will not cost more than Reimer.

 

[Lunatik]

Ward will not cost more than Reimer.

I think it could be close. I think both will get in the $4 million range. I'd take either (or Bernier) before Ramo for another year.

 

[Skobel24]

I think it could be close. I think both will get in the $4 million range. I'd take either (or Bernier) before Ramo for another year.

I have nothing against Ramo, but I doubt he takes a one year deal this offseason. That's why I don't want him back.

 

[Lunatik]

I have nothing against Ramo, but I doubt he takes a one year deal this offseason. That's why I don't want him back.

I don't want someone for 1 year, I don't think Gillies is ready to start in the NHL until 2018, maybe 2019; so I'd like to sign someone for 3 years to provide stability until Gillies is ready but Ramo has shown fatigue while carrying the majority of the workload and he really isn't all that great.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I don't want someone for 1 year, I don't think Gillies is ready to start in the NHL until 2018, maybe 2019; so I'd like to sign someone for 3 years to provide stability until Gillies is ready but Ramo has shown fatigue while carrying the majority of the workload and he really isn't all that great.

Jeez I'm getting old.

 

[moon*]

Ward will not cost more than Reimer.

I guess we will see but as mentioned Ward still seems to be living off that Carolina Cup run and has been a fairly high paid guy his whole career.

Reimer seems like a guy willing to take a deal in a spot where he can prove that he is a starter over getting one last pay day.

 

[Volica]

No idea where the Flames should go in the goalie market.

One thing we know, is that BT was involved in all the young goalie shuffling that happened last year. Which I think he'll likely repeat if any become available.

Not a great crop of free agents. Journeymen and has-beens (or never-beens) for the most part with some okay names here and there. None of the AHL goalies have proven ready or worthy of taking the helm in the NHL. Ramo and Hiller have been backup worthly, while both making starter-esque money (outside of a couple good streaks).

Dunno. Maybe Montreal can trade us Price for a song

 

[Fig]

No freaking idea.

But if management goes off and pries someone jaw dropping like Rask from the Bruins... I might have to go build a monument.

Seriously, I like what management's imagination of the team and subsequent action has revealed. Most fans haven't come close at all in predicting his moves. Frolik was probably the closest and even that was mostly wishful thinking out loud. Most of us look at the market and go, "That's all that's available. I want the best one." Management doesn't necessarily do that.

 

[Johnny GODreau]

No freaking idea.

But if management goes off and pries someone jaw dropping like Rask from the Bruins... I might have to go build a monument.

Seriously, I like what management's imagination of the team and subsequent action has revealed. Most fans haven't come close at all in predicting his moves. Frolik was probably the closest and even that was mostly wishful thinking out loud. Most of us look at the market and go, "That's all that's available. I want the best one." Management doesn't necessarily do that.

Are you saying the Flames are getting John Gibson ?!

 

[Fig]

Are you saying the Flames are getting John Gibson ?!

Might be hard. Burke should have wrapped that one up long ago. I'm sure he has incriminating evidence of those management guys. This must mean those guys also have incriminating evidence on Burke.

 

[Ynnek]

Option 1 Ramo but for 2 years. Gillies needs more time.

 

[Lunatik]

Option 1 Ramo but for 2 years. Gillies needs more time.

Ramo needs to go back to the KHL.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Ramo needs to go back to the KHL.

Because he had five bad games at the start of the season? Not like he cost us more than one of those games anyway. Our Defence was CHL level.

His sv% has been over .925 since and our defensive coverage has been spotty at best this year. He's just the scape goat right now for mental mistakes and bad starts that are the teams fault, not his. He makes the saves he needs to make.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

To me Ramo is like 20-25 best goalies in the league. Is he ideal? No. But I just think we need to focus our resources on improving our top-six forwards. It's a more pressing issue. IMO the guys I listed that are available are just lateral moves at best.

I shudder to think what it would cost to acquire Bishop or another guy. The only move I like is our first (not top 5) for a young star like Mrazek but that will never happen.

 

[moon*]

Because he had five bad games at the start of the season? Not like he cost us more than one of those games anyway. Our Defence was CHL level.

His sv% has been over .925 since and our defensive coverage has been spotty at best this year. He's just the scape goat right now for mental mistakes and bad starts that are the teams fault, not his. He makes the saves he needs to make.

No because he is a 29 year old goalie with a career .906 save percentage, a GAA of 2.83 and a season high of 40 games started.

Not once in his career has he ever put up numbers indicating he could be even an average starter, let alone a good starter.

I love how we have to throw out those first games of the season as though they don't matter. I bet all goalies would like to throw out their worst games, it would be interesting to see if Ramo's ok numbers while taking out his worst 5 games look so great if the other goalies get to remove their worst games.

If Ramo is getting a break for the so-called defensive lapses of the team why does he not get blame for the team having to repeatedly save his ass. I can't think of another goalie that relies on defensemen making saves while he way out of position overplaying shooters for the 1000th time.

I also can't think of a single game where Ramo won the game for the Flames this year or last. So the defense can't be the cause of all of his problems.

The fact is this is Ramo's best year by far and the stats, even the cherry picked ones, aren't that great.

How much more does Ramo have to show that he is not a good starting goalie before his fanboys will stop making excuses for him?

I have not once ever heard a legitimate arguement in favor of Ramo that didn't start with: "if you look at the X games" or "if you take out the games in which he a. was adjusting to NA, b. was adjusting to coming back from injury, c. the Flames team was supposedly bad, d. don't make my argument look good". I don't see other goalies having to have the same number of parameters thrown out when evaluating them. It is just are they good or not.

And I would love to the see the ribbing many (me included) Flames fan would give Oiler fans if (and when because I have seen it) they were to make the same excuses for their guys to try and make them look better.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

I think worst case scenario is Ramo for a year or two.

I'm still hoping we can swing for another goalie, though why anyone wants Cam Ward is beyond me. He lets in more soft goals than any goalie I watch regularly.

I'm hoping Bishop comes up as available due to cap reasons if Tampa re-signs Stamkos, but I feel like that won't be for another season probably. I loved him in Ottawa, as their team wide defensive play at the time was even ******** than ours is now and he excelled.

Out of the other guys listed I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have Craig Anderson, but I don't think he's available from Ottawa. Not until one of their young guys takes over.

Howard would be an okay upgrade assuming we don't have to give up much for him, or can send some salary back. Mrazek has taken the job from him, but his career numbers are better than Ramo's. This season not so much though which worries me.

Reimer could be a nice "free" addition, but depends on term and overall cap hit. Not too many teams looking for a starter if he wants to move on from Toronto.

 

[Lunatik]

I think worst case scenario is Ramo for a year or two.

I'm still hoping we can swing for another goalie, though why anyone wants Cam Ward is beyond me. He lets in more soft goals than any goalie I watch regularly.

I'm hoping Bishop comes up as available due to cap reasons if Tampa re-signs Stamkos, but I feel like that won't be for another season probably. I loved him in Ottawa, as their team wide defensive play at the time was even ******** than ours is now and he excelled.

Out of the other guys listed I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have Craig Anderson, but I don't think he's available from Ottawa. Not until one of their young guys takes over.

Howard would be an okay upgrade assuming we don't have to give up much for him, or can send some salary back. Mrazek has taken the job from him, but his career numbers are better than Ramo's. This season not so much though which worries me.

Reimer could be a nice "free" addition, but depends on term and overall cap hit. Not too many teams looking for a starter if he wants to move on from Toronto.

you **** on Ward then want Craig Anderson? Anderson is the worst starting goalie in the NHL and how he even has that job is beyond me. he goes on the occasional hot streak, but when not on one is if ****ing terrible.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

you **** on Ward then want Craig Anderson? Anderson is the worst starting goalie in the NHL and how he even has that job is beyond me. he goes on the occasional hot streak, but when not on one is if ****ing terrible.

Agree to disagree. As a Sens fan who watches most of their games, he is a game changer.

He absolutely has bad games from time to time but so does any goalie in the NHL. His amazing streaks are absolutely worth it.

Just purely off of numbers, Cam Ward hasn't had a higher than .915 save percentage since 2010-11. Career save percentage of .908, not that different from Ramo.

Anderson by comparison his LOW of the past decade is .911, including a season where he would have been a Vezina finalist if not the winner if he hadn't been hurt (2012-13). Career average of .915 save percentage.

Carolina has been trying to find a cheap replacement of Ward for years. Ottawa shipped off a younger goalie who was pretty decently hyped and kept Anderson by comparison.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

What ever we do I just hope we have a clear #1 & #2 by start of the season.
I do think Howard is a good possibility.

 

[Johnny GODreau]

We need Lack.

 

[Lunatik]

Agree to disagree. As a Sens fan who watches most of their games, he is a game changer.

He absolutely has bad games from time to time but so does any goalie in the NHL. His amazing streaks are absolutely worth it.

Just purely off of numbers, Cam Ward hasn't had a higher than .915 save percentage since 2010-11. Career save percentage of .908, not that different from Ramo.

Anderson by comparison his LOW of the past decade is .911, including a season where he would have been a Vezina finalist if not the winner if he hadn't been hurt (2012-13). Career average of .915 save percentage.

Carolina has been trying to find a cheap replacement of Ward for years. Ottawa shipped off a younger goalie who was pretty decently hyped and kept Anderson by comparison.

C'mon FF you're better than throwing out SV% without context. Comparing decent Ottawa teams to terrible Carolina ones is pointless and SV% is a product of the team. But this year is a good example of what healthy Ward can do and despite his low SV% he has Carolina close to a playoff spot.

Anderson's amazing streaks might be worth it to you, but his terrible streaks are not to me. Not to mention he already refused to sign with the Flames when we wasted a pick on him. Carolina seeking a cheep replacement speaks more about the organization than Ward, they are always trying to cut salary.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

C'mon FF you're better than throwing out SV% without context. Comparing decent Ottawa teams to terrible Carolina ones is pointless and SV% is a product of the team. But this year is a good example of what healthy Ward can do and despite his low SV% he has Carolina close to a playoff spot.

Anderson's amazing streaks might be worth it to you, but his terrible streaks are not to me. Not to mention he already refused to sign with the Flames when we wasted a pick on him. Carolina seeking a cheep replacement speaks more about the organization than Ward, they are always trying to cut salary.

Personally I find GAA to be more of a team stat than save percentage overall, but I was going off of Save Percentage mostly because of people tossing around Ramo's career stats in here.

Maybe its just I really don't like Cam Ward. I think he's incredibly overrated, lets in a ton of deflating softies, and Carolina pushing for a playoff spot is more in line with the absolute collapse of the Eastern Conference as we know it. So many of last years playoff teams are falling apart.

As to the bolded, that was way before I followed more than "Yay Flames win!" as a kid so I often forget that fact.