Berra vs Bishop...How/why the heck did you give that scrub a look over Berra?

[BigGoalBrad]

Hey Blues fans,

Good luck next Thursday night will be fun to watch our teams meet its been a couple years now!


So anyways I am starting this thread because I am shocked that Ben Bishop is not only still playing pro hockey, but on an NHL roster, and even played (horribly of course) for the US at the WCs last year. He is soooooooooo bad.

Not only this but you guys also drafted one of the best goalies outside the NHL in Berra around the same time as Bishop

I like Maine in college so I have followed his career but I never liked him and always thought he was terrible and overrated and I guess just got a look in the pros due to being so big and covering so much net. At Maine I really thought he was awful and wasn't 10% the goalie that Jimmy Howard was.


So I attended the WCs in Stockholm in the Spring and saw Berra play the games that Gerber didn't start for Switzerland. He was amazing and lights out. How the hell did you give Bishop a look on the big club and in your system instead of Berra?



And I am not wrong about Berra if Calgary wanted him in the J Bo deal the guys a great goalie Bishop is total trash and the worst goalie on NHL rosters right now hands down.

Click to read more...

 

[Captain Creampuff]

I do believe Bishop took a top 3 pick team to one of the best records in the NHL currently.

 

[ToniJ1960]

Hey Blues fans,

Good luck next Thursday night will be fun to watch our teams meet its been a couple years now!


So anyways I am starting this thread because I am shocked that Ben Bishop is not only still playing pro hockey, but on an NHL roster, and even played (horribly of course) for the US at the WCs last year. He is soooooooooo bad.

Not only this but you guys also drafted one of the best goalies outside the NHL in Berra around the same time as Bishop

I like Maine in college so I have followed his career but I never liked him and always thought he was terrible and overrated and I guess just got a look in the pros due to being so big and covering so much net. At Maine I really thought he was awful and wasn't 10% the goalie that Jimmy Howard was.


So I attended the WCs in Stockholm in the Spring and saw Berra play the games that Gerber didn't start for Switzerland. He was amazing and lights out. How the hell did you give Bishop a look on the big club and in your system instead of Berra?



And I am not wrong about Berra if Calgary wanted him in the J Bo deal the guys a great goalie Bishop is total trash and the worst goalie on NHL rosters right now hands down.

The worst goalie in the NHL is 11-2?

 

[BlueDream]

Yeah because Berra is really tearing it up so far...

He had 1 good game and then two bad ones. I don't get why he is being praised? Couldn't care less what he did in Europe, this is the NHL now.

 

[rumrokh]

Yeah because Berra is really tearing it up so far...

He had 1 good game and then two bad ones. I don't get why he is being praised? Couldn't care less what he did in Europe, this is the NHL now.

You obviously weren't paying attention because he's great and Bishop is total trash.

 

[illninofan*]

I remember when a good deal of our fanbase shuddered at the thought of a Halak/Bishop pairing a season or two back, and we "needed" Brian Elliott instead.

 

[BlueDream]

You obviously weren't paying attention because he's great and Bishop is total trash.

That gif is gold.

 

[superblues]

The worst goalie in the NHL is 11-2?

Apparently.

 

[kimzey59]

First off, Bishop is a fairly good goalie. He's currently sitting 11-2 with a .927 SP and a 2.12 GAA behind a team that last year allowed the 5th most goals in the League and allowed the most goals in the League the year before that.

Secondly, Berra has yet to show that he is even backup caliber in the NHL. He's played 3 games and has a GAA over 3 and a SP under .900. If he doesn't get substantially better; he won't be in the NHL past his current contract, if he even lasts that long(European players have this annoying habit of skipping out on their contracts when things don't go their way).

Now, as for your actual question; Bishop came up through the ranks, earned his chances and worked for the looks we gave him. Berra stayed in Switzerland, demanded a 1-way contract to even come to NA and refused to spend any time in the AHL if he was deemed not ready. The Blues rightfully refused to accept those demands and went with the guy who was willing to work for his chance. Calgary gave in because they literally had no other choice with Kipprusoff retiring. They had no NHL ready bodies in their system and were desperate to get some mature goalies to even have a competition in camp. I think you just need to face the fact that Calgary made a desperate and absolutely bat **** crazy trade in the Bouwmeester deal and the Blues made out like bandits in the process. So far, the only thing Calgary has to show for that trade is a prospect that they probably reached for.

 

[542365]

The worst goalie in the NHL is 11-2?

Only because he's big, though, so it doesn't count. He needs to earn it.

11-2-0 .927 SV 2.12 GAA.

Berra wasn't great in the AHL, and had one good game followed by 2 bad ones in the NHL. Bishop would likely light it up in Europe, too, because he's a good goaltender.

 

[Alklha]

First off, Bishop is a fairly good goalie. He's currently sitting 11-2 with a .927 SP and a 2.12 GAA behind a team that last year allowed the 5th most goals in the League and allowed the most goals in the League the year before that.

Secondly, Berra has yet to show that he is even backup caliber in the NHL. He's played 3 games and has a GAA over 3 and a SP under .900. If he doesn't get substantially better; he won't be in the NHL past his current contract, if he even lasts that long(European players have this annoying habit of skipping out on their contracts when things don't go their way).

Now, as for your actual question; Bishop came up through the ranks, earned his chances and worked for the looks we gave him. Berra stayed in Switzerland, demanded a 1-way contract to even come to NA and refused to spend any time in the AHL if he was deemed not ready. The Blues rightfully refused to accept those demands and went with the guy who was willing to work for his chance. Calgary gave in because they literally had no other choice with Kipprusoff retiring. They had no NHL ready bodies in their system and were desperate to get some mature goalies to even have a competition in camp. I think you just need to face the fact that Calgary made a desperate and absolutely bat **** crazy trade in the Bouwmeester deal and the Blues made out like bandits in the process. So far, the only thing Calgary has to show for that trade is a prospect that they probably reached for.

Berra wasn't demanding a 1-way contract because he wouldn't have even been eligible to sign a 1-way deal. Wanting to know that you'll get a chance is another matter completely. People can sit and say "well he should come and prove it" all they want, but life isn't that simple. Asking someone to give up their life in Europe and take less money to "prove themselves" when you can't even offer them a starting spot in the AHL is a joke.

Jake Allen has shown how difficult it can be to "prove yourself" in the AHL. His development was looking suspect up until he was lucky enough to get an NHL shot last season. Not saying we should have given him any assurances, but being critical of him when we didn't even offer him the AHL starting spot is crazy.

 

[bleedblue1223]

What?

 

[Celtic Note]

I remember when a good deal of our fanbase shuddered at the thought of a Halak/Bishop pairing a season or two back, and we "needed" Brian Elliott instead.

I wasn't one of those. I was pretty frustrated that we traded Bishop.

 

[SteenMachine]

Well fellow Blues fans, we sure did learn a lesson about running that silly NHL franchise of ours.

 

[Alklha]

I wasn't one of those. I was pretty frustrated that we traded Bishop.

We didn't really have much of a choice since he was due to be an UFA that summer. He outplayed Elliott at camp that season, and initially it looked a good decision to go with Elliott considering his performance that season. Could regret that it resulted in Bishop getting traded.

The flip side to that is if we had Halák/Bishop last season then there is a decent chance we don't see Jake Allen. While Bishop could have meant we let Halák walk at the end of the season, we'd probably be looking for a backup rather than going Bishop/Allen.

 

[bleedblue1223]

We got Vannelli out of the Bishop trade and we still have Allen.

 

[Alklha]

We got Vannelli out of the Bishop trade and we still have Allen.

For a goalie that was totally unproven at NHL level and was due to be an UFA in a few months, getting a second was an amazing deal for us at the time.

 

[Colt 55]

You obviously weren't paying attention because he's great and Bishop is total trash.

Thank you, for making my day

 

[Colt 55]

As an aside, didn't we used to suck horribly at drafting goalies?

 

[Blue Dot]

Bishop looked good w/OTT and he has been great for TB. size, skill and still young.

Berra could be gold one day, very raw right now. Niemi took time to round out. i won't say he can't end up better than Bishop but to call Bishop the worst goalie on the league over the likes of DD in EDM and so on...

in terms of STL giving up on both of them...sometimes a team falls victim to being too good at drafting and scouting. there was a time Kipper had to be given up by SJ because their current G and pipeline was solid.

ANH waived Bryz so he could be a starter. sure he has struggled but many loved him in PHX.

ANH is going to have to give up on some good goalies in the near future too. Hiller, Fasth, Anderson, Gibson...the fact is three of them will end up moved at some point down the road. I suppose then someone will show up on their boards being like "What were you doing?"

It's not like STL gave up Bishop and Berra to hold onto Labarabera.

 

[bleedblue1223]

As an aside, didn't we used to suck horribly at drafting goalies?

No, we just sucked horribly at drafting.

 

[TheOrganist]

I think MarshmontMcSlewfoot was simply trying to facilitate a rational, logic-filled debate.

 

[Colt 55]

No, we just sucked horribly at drafting.

Good ole days of Marek Schwarz

 

[Chojin]

I really don't get this thread. Is it sarcasm?

 

[LGB51]

First off, Bishop is a fairly good goalie. He's currently sitting 11-2 with a .927 SP and a 2.12 GAA behind a team that last year allowed the 5th most goals in the League and allowed the most goals in the League the year before that.

Secondly, Berra has yet to show that he is even backup caliber in the NHL. He's played 3 games and has a GAA over 3 and a SP under .900. If he doesn't get substantially better; he won't be in the NHL past his current contract, if he even lasts that long(European players have this annoying habit of skipping out on their contracts when things don't go their way).

Now, as for your actual question; Bishop came up through the ranks, earned his chances and worked for the looks we gave him. Berra stayed in Switzerland, demanded a 1-way contract to even come to NA and refused to spend any time in the AHL if he was deemed not ready. The Blues rightfully refused to accept those demands and went with the guy who was willing to work for his chance. Calgary gave in because they literally had no other choice with Kipprusoff retiring. They had no NHL ready bodies in their system and were desperate to get some mature goalies to even have a competition in camp. I think you just need to face the fact that Calgary made a desperate and absolutely bat **** crazy trade in the Bouwmeester deal and the Blues made out like bandits in the process. So far, the only thing Calgary has to show for that trade is a prospect that they probably reached for.

Take a look at Berra's career regular season stats

http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8473499

It's weird imo as a overall career so far, his stats him meh to below average at best. Berra had a good run in the WC last year, besides that the numbers don't look so good at all for him.