GDT: A Gameday Thread, featuring CGY and COL, Generic Monahan Edition.

[Raucherhusten]

If that were true he would have started Francouz against NYR like he said he would. The team didn't sign Francouz just to keep him in the minors/on the bench. This is Bednar's decision.

No it's not. We pay our goalies almost 10M salary. They have to get their shit together. It's not on Francouz to save this team, it's on Bednar and Co to get the other 2 going. One of those 2 will be gone by the end of the season and we need to know who. I'm 99% certain that Sakic is playing the long game and Francouz is a part of it.

 

[Raucherhusten]

Only the first two games here are hell. The rest of the games not so much. If things get bad tonight with Varly I would consider starting Francouz in MTL. If he can have a great game in front of that crowd then...

And what if not? Is it really the right time to throw him to the wolves? We are still in a playoff position so for me it's too early to hit the panic button. Of course this could change in the next 2-3 weeks.

 

[forsbergavs32]

Varly and Alberta don’t mix, fully expecting a spanking

 

[The Kingslayer]

And what if not? Is it really the right time to throw him to the wolves? We are still in a playoff position so for me it's too early to hit the panic button. Of course this could change in the next 2-3 weeks.

Throwing him to the Wolves would be asking him to start against the Lightning or something. Montreal is a winnable game for our team. I wouldn't be opposed to him starting that game if Varly shits it tonight. I don't see it happening(Francouz starting) but I wouldn't be opposed to it if those things happen. I wouldn't even consider it a panic move. A panic move would be to trade Jost or our first round pick. This team needs to play the players that are gonna give them the best chance to win. If Grubs and Varly aren't able to do it why not give Francouz a look? I see no harm in it.

 

[Foppa2118]

No it's not. We pay our goalies almost 10M salary. They have to get their **** together. It's not on Francouz to save this team, it's on Bednar and Co to get the other 2 going. One of those 2 will be gone by the end of the season and we need to know who. I'm 99% certain that Sakic is playing the long game and Francouz is a part of it.

Why would Sakic sign Francouz with the plan of not playing him in the NHL, so he can resign him to play in the NHL next year? That's a terrible way to evaluate a goaltender.

Bednar is fighting for this team's playoff lives, and possibly his own job. I wanted to see him start Francouz against an eastern team like NYR with Varly out, but I understand why he's nervous about going with an unproven goalie against a Western team with both NHL vets available.

 

[Raucherhusten]

Throwing him to the Wolves would be asking him to start against the Lightning or something. Montreal is a winnable game for our team. I wouldn't be opposed to him starting that game if Varly ****s it tonight. I don't see it happening(Francouz starting) but I wouldn't be opposed to it if those things happen. I wouldn't even consider it a panic move. A panic move would be to trade Jost or our first round pick. This team needs to play the players that are gonna give them the best chance to win. If Grubs and Varly aren't able to do it why not give Francouz a look? I see no harm in it.

Let's say Varly has a bad game tonight and Franc starts at MTL. And let's say Franc also looks shaky in his first start and gets pulled. What happens next? Francy is kind of a wildcard atm - maybe even our last straw we can pull. Right now we are not in "must win" territory so i would wait with that move. But then again it MIGHT work. Or not. Difficult situation.

 

[AvsFan29]

Varly doesn't like sitting on the bench. He knows what he needs to do to stay off the bench. I hope the team gives him a chance to shine.

 

[Raucherhusten]

Why would Sakic sign Francouz with the plan of not playing him in the NHL, so he can resign him to play in the NHL next year? That's a terrible way to evaluate a goaltender.

Bednar is fighting for this team's playoff lives, and possibly his own job. I wanted to see him start Francouz against an eastern team like NYR with Varly out, but I understand why he's nervous about going with an unproven goalie against a Western team with both available.

For me Franc's contract looks like a tryout contract. To see if he can play on the smaller rink and if so to bring him back next year to be (at least) our backup. We have two proven NHL goalies on our roster. Who would have thought that both are struggling big time? I know that i did not.

Again, if this trend continues i see Franc starting a few games down the road. DAMMIT at least i hope so. For now they are trying to get at least one of them going. But i can also see them losing their patience soon and then it's Francy's time to shine. Or not. We'll see i guess.

 

[the_fan]

Let's say Varly has a bad game tonight and Franc starts at MTL. And let's say Franc also looks shaky in his first start and gets pulled. What happens next? Francy is kind of a wildcard atm - maybe even our last straw we can pull. Right now we are not in "must win" territory so i would wait with that move. But then again it MIGHT work. Or not. Difficult situation.

We trade for Henrik Lundqvist

 

[Ararana]

We trade for Henrik Lundqvist

Just have him and Landy stand at the goal line. Every shooter would get too distracted by all the beauty to hit the net.

 

[Raucherhusten]

We trade for Henrik Lundqvist

LOL. Brilliant.

Maybe Tim Thomas has still some juice left.

 

[Foppa2118]

For me Franc's contract looks like a tryout contract. To see if he can play on the smaller rink and if so to bring him back next year to be (at least) our backup. We have two proven NHL goalies on our roster. Who would have thought that both are struggling big time? I know that i did not.

Again, if this trend continues i see Franc starting a few games down the road. DAMMIT at least i hope so. For now they are trying to get at least one of them going. But i can also see them losing their patience soon and then it's Francy's time to shine. Or not. We'll see i guess.

I have to go back to the numbers I posted earlier. Varly had a 2.23 GAA and .930 save percentage in early December.

Then during the course of his next 7 games, either he struggled a bit, or the team struggled a bit, or both.

So we're really talking about a stretch of 7 games, and he wasn't the problem for all of them. At least a few of those games he gave up a lot of goals, but none of them were bad goals. It was the team making dumb mistakes in front of him.

Either way I agree, they need to find a way to give Franc a game against an Eastern opponent so they can evaluate him more.

 

[dahrougem2]

I don't know how well Varly will play in this game. He usually looks a little rusty his first game back, and struggles against Calgary sometimes.

Can we be honest about his numbers though? They're not great right now but they got submarined in December.

He had a 2.23 GAA and .930 save percentage in early December, then had seven games where he and the team struggled a bit. Another stretch of good play, and he could bring his numbers back up by February.

- TheHockeyNews

What does "honest about his numbers" even mean? A bad seven game stretch is just as much a part of his season as the rest of the games.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

What does "honest about his numbers" even mean? A bad seven game stretch is just as much a part of his season as the rest of the games.

Exactly.. This is exactly what Varly does. He looks the best goaltender in the world and then back to earth.

 

[Raucherhusten]

I have to go back to the numbers I posted earlier. Varly had a 2.23 GAA and .930 save percentage in early December.

Then during the course of his next 7 games, either he struggled a bit, or the team struggled a bit, or both.

So we're really talking about a stretch of 7 games, and he wasn't the problem for all of them. At least a few of those games he gave up a lot of goals, but none of them were bad goals. It was the team making dumb mistakes in front of him.

Either way I agree, they need to find a way to give Franc a game against an Eastern opponent so they can evaluate him more.

I'm not a numbers guy. But it seems to me that you have much more confidence in Varly than i do. Varly's numbers might be OK but the eye test (at least mine) tells a different story. With the exception of the first month he looked shaky, playing with zero confidence, fighting the puck all the time, giving up way too many juicy rebounds and swallowing at least one "meh" goal almost every game. It would be unfair to say that he is losing us games, but he also isn't capable of winning us games. He is just THERE. And for the money he gets that's not good enough.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I'm not a numbers guy. But it seems to me that you have much more confidence in Varly than i do. Varly's numbers might be OK but the eye test (at least mine) tells a different story. With the exception of the first month he looked shaky, playing with zero confidence, fighting the puck all the time, giving up way too many juicy rebounds and swallowing at least one "meh" goal almost every game. It would be unfair to say that he is losing us games, but he also isn't capable of winning us games. He is just THERE. And for the money he gets that's not good enough.

He’s an average to slightly above average goalie in this league. He has the ability to win games on his own, but also the ability to lose them. Just kinda depends on which Varly shows up that night.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'm not a numbers guy. But it seems to me that you have much more confidence in Varly than i do. Varly's numbers might be OK but the eye test (at least mine) tells a different story. With the exception of the first month he looked shaky, playing with zero confidence, fighting the puck all the time, giving up way too many juicy rebounds and swallowing at least one "meh" goal almost every game. It would be unfair to say that he is losing us games, but he also isn't capable of winning us games. He is just THERE. And for the money he gets that's not good enough.

That's how he looked during those seven games in December. And not all of them IMO.

You don't think he passed the eye test earlier in the season? He was in the Vezina conversation. The leading candidate for a lot of people.

 

[Raucherhusten]

That's how he looked during those seven games in December. And not all of them IMO.

You don't think he passed the eye test earlier in the season? He was in the Vezina conversation. The leading candidate for a lot of people.

Oh i do. Like i said he was good to great in October. But since then it's all downhill. To be honest i can't remember the last time he had a BIIIIIG SAAAAVE. He is not costing us games but he is not winning us ones either. For me he is as meh as it gets. And he needs to do better.

 

[Foppa2118]

What does "honest about his numbers" even mean? A bad seven game stretch is just as much a part of his season as the rest of the games.

Exactly.. This is exactly what Varly does. He looks the best goaltender in the world and then back to earth.

The point is we're talking about seven games. And I don't agree he was bad for all of those seven games. I posted three games worth of goals he gave up during that stretch earlier, and none of them were bad. The team was really bad during that stretch too.

I remember last year someone was pointing to his save percentage in November/December after that blow out loss to Vegas, and saying that good goaltenders don't have save percentages below .910 or something. I made the same argument that it's a small sample size, and he could have a good finish to the year, and end up with good numbers.

That's exactly what he did when he and Nate were the biggest reasons they made the playoffs, and Varly finished with a .920.

 

[dahrougem2]

The point is we're talking about seven games. And I don't agree he was bad for all of those seven games. I posted three games worth of goals he gave up during that stretch earlier, and none of them were bad. The team was really bad during that stretch too.

I remember last year someone was pointing to his save percentage in November/December after that blow out loss to Vegas, and saying that good goaltenders don't have save percentages below .910 or something. I made the same argument that it's a small sample size, and he could have a good finish to the year, and end up with good numbers.

That's exactly what he did when he and Nate were the biggest reasons they made the playoffs, and Varly finished with a .920.

You are literally the only one to bring up these seven games.

 

[Foppa2118]

You are literally the only one to bring up these seven games.

I know that's why I'm bringing it up. You're talking about his numbers like he's been bad all year. They were great seven games ago.

 

[forsbergavs32]

Interesting thing I just noticed, Lando is only 3 goals behind Ovie for the league lead

 

[Foppa2118]

Interesting thing I just noticed, Lando is only 3 goals behind Ovie for the league lead

Can you imagine if he wins the Richard? Landy's always been one of my favorite players, but I don't think anyone would have seen that coming.

 

[dahrougem2]

I know that's why I'm bringing it up. You're talking about his numbers like he's been bad all year. They were great seven games ago.

I'd prefer not to pick and choose segments of games when analyzing players.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'd prefer not to pick and choose segments of games when analyzing players.

I agree, but when the board is talking about Varly struggling, or pointing to his numbers, it's important to put that in context and remember he was in the Vezina conversation and had a 2.23 GAA and .930 save percentage seven games ago.

That changed within a month while the team was also playing poorly, and it could change again in another month.