Thank you for the honest response. I would counter with saying that stalock on all fours meant nothing on that goal, every goalie on a wrap around, takes the bottom of the net away, and then time allowing tries to hug the post. Fiddler made a perfect shot, and roofed the puck from 3 feet away. Show me a goalie who consistently stops that shot.
This is sort of my point. Sure stalock didn't steal any goals, it wasn't a good game, but the expectations for what a backup goaltender should stop, are way out of proportion.
I agree completely with your second paragraph. This was a team loss, not a game that stalock lost with horrible softies. Which is why it's so annoying to see people actually pretend, or argue seriously, that they want to waste time, effort, and resources on a new backup goalie. It's absurd.
I'd have more faith in Jones stopping that shot. I think most ppl here would. Stalock was stuck in a bad position bc he decided to cover the pass instead of the shooter and then couldn't react. The way he did it (down on all fours) left the whole top of the net open. He couldn't get over and hug the post, reach up and grab the puck effectively, etc. Fiddler didn't need a perfect shot on that goal. Stalock played that really badly IMO.
I agree with you that it's early to be calling for a new backup. Stalock has played two games so far this season. He's been bad but so have many ppl on the team in the two games he's played. I think part of it is that ppl are frustrated with the team. Another part is that Stalock hasn't been good this whole calendar year. Again, that's partly on the team bc the team hasn't been good.
Stalock's 2015 sv%/GAA by game: .833/1, .903/3, .714/2, .853/5, .870/3, .865/5, 1.000/0, .857/2, .889/2 , .939/2, .950/1, .800/5. .914/3 (and he was .857/3 on 12/30/14). He played decently at the end but by then the Sharks were out of the playoffs anyway.
http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/staloal01/gamelog/2015/
Niemi was very inconsistent over that period as well but had 20 games with a 9.00 or over out of 34 games plus a shutout on 12/31 (vs 5/13 or 14 for Stalock) and ppl were still very critical of him. I know that it's harder for many goalies to be a backup bc you don't get regular starts and the team last year was bad but I think part of the criticism of Stalock is bc he hasn't consistently played well for a while now.
IMO part of the reason that ppl criticize Stalock more than Jones (they do criticize Jones) is that Jones is the shiny new toy (that isn't quite as shiny as in the beginning), part of it is that Jones has been playing better (on average) than Stalock, part of it is that ppl want to give Jones a chance bc they haven't seen enough of him yet but part of it is that IMO we need our backup to be better than Stalock has been.
ETA: I just checked the stats for this season and, so far, Jones's worst game has been better than either of Stalock's games. Stalock: .848/5, .833/4; Jones's worst game (NYR): .857/4. Jones's second game against the Kings was also bad: .862/4. But his other games have been good (NSH) to excellent (ANA, WSH, NJD, CAR). Stats aren't everything and Stalock had to play at our worst (NYI) and against Dallas, whereas Jones's best games were against Carolina or when the Sharks were playing well. He didn't do well when the Sharks had all their injuries either. But he did better than Stalock.
