GDT: Game 28: Arizona Campbells @ Calgary Smiths | 7:00 p.m. MST | FS-A | 98.7 FM

[Neighborhood Coyote]

Rough game to watch. I also am just done with the constant scratches of Duclair. He is one of the only guys on the team that can actually bury a chance.

Well, we got shut out AND gave up the most shots in a game that we have. Is that somehow due to Duclair not being good defensively, Tocchet?? Bah.

Goligoski on that second goal was just ridiculous lol. Richardson was already behind the net about to go after the Flame's player then for some unknown reason, Goligoski decides to fly in to the rescue from his position in front of the net. Of course, leaving it completely wide open! Thus giving the Flames an easy goal on poor Wedgewood. Then he rolls his eyes? What was that even all about? Madness.

I could understand if they scratched Duclair if he was the only one that played poorly.. but it isn't the case. So many players have done worse and haven't had to sit a game while also putting up worse numbers. Just mind boggling.

Positive notes... Wedgewood looked pretty good. I actually enjoyed when Nash and McConnell (spelling?) were ripping on Smith a bit. Didn't know they had that in them lol. (EDIT: Another Positive! OEL is actually looking better recently and that's pretty exciting! Love to see that.)

 

[Mosby]

We don't have enough depth to sustain the injuries we've had. It's crazy that we'll be 30 games into the season before we see our full lineup (Hammer, Raanta, Chychrun).

 

[Neighborhood Coyote]

We don't have enough depth to sustain the injuries we've had. It's crazy that we'll be 30 games into the season before we see our full lineup (Hammer, Raanta, Chychrun).

And who even knows if more injuries won't happen before that! It has been crazy with the injuries this season. I am realllly hoping Chychrun can get back to his form quick. I don't wanna place too much expectation on him but he's just the kind of player who has that upside that is exciting for this team.

 

[ClassLessCoyote]

Pretty sad that Arizona AND Buffalo are still by far the worst teams in the league.

And Buffalo has Eichel too.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

it is just painful to watch some of these line combinations. Richardson, Rieder, Cousins and Martinook are absolute anchors to anything involving offense. Last night was absolutely boring and reminded me of soooo many games last season. i knew we werent going to score.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

well..."if"...

Unfortunately, my premonition was correct here...

 

[Bonsai Tree]

Yup. That's the same guy who took the team on his back to get us into the Western Conference finals that shut us out. The one who we disparaged for the past few years. He may be the final cog that takes the Flames into the Cup finals.

 

[SniperHF]

I seem to recall quite a bit of praise for his actual play on ice last season.
Disparaging him for the other stuff (as well as his past performances like his near all time bad season in 14-15) was totally warranted.

 

[TheLegend]

I seem to recall quite a bit of praise for his actual play on ice last season.
Disparaging him for the other stuff (as well as his past performances like his near all time bad season in 14-15) was totally warranted.

He's already had a couple of stinkers in Calgary this year.

This was the first game against us since the trade so he had a ton of incentive.

The one thing that did get a chuckle out of me was McConnell and Nash referencing the "Mike Smith stare" a few times. So which one of you is one of them????

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Yup. That's the same guy who took the team on his back to get us into the Western Conference finals that shut us out. The one who we disparaged for the past few years. He may be the final cog that takes the Flames into the Cup finals.

I wouldn't use a shutout of a team that Smith loathes as a predictor of future overall success for the Flames.

 

[Neighborhood Coyote]

Flames have as good of a chance as others if the playoffs go well. We have all seen Smith get hot and play well but we have also seen him go cold. So it's really just up in the air at this point, to me.

As a team mate/player... he comes off in a negative way to me. To have the announcers you just spent many years under call you out a couple of times kind of speaks to that. Doesn't seem like he built up much good will back here. Not that he wanted any, haha.

 

[Mosby]

We'll save the lighting up of Smith's for his first appearance back at Gila River.

 

[_Del_]

Yup. That's the same guy who took the team on his back to get us into the Western Conference finals that shut us out. The one who we disparaged for the past few years. He may be the final cog that takes the Flames into the Cup finals.

He pretty well earned whatever disparagement he received the last few years.
I didn't look at the previous years in which he was merely mediocre or outright bad, but here's a quick summary on why despite "putting the team on his back" occasionally and willing us to a loser point last year, he also sported these nifty stats which you never seem to bring up.
21 of 55 games played in which he failed to register a save percentage above .900. That's a well over a third of games played last year in which he was way below average.

Mike Smith was pretty good last year. Yet, despite many games with 30-40 or 58 (!) saves, we can still look at the game log and see why his save percentage was average at best. Because he has zero consistency.

3GA/30Shots against .900 sv%
3/30 .900
4/17 .765
4/33 .879
4/27 .852
4/22 .818
3/29 .897
3/27 .889
3/21 .857
4/32 .875
5/31 .839
3/24 .875
3/27 .889
4/26 .846
4/33 .879
6/29 .793
4/14 .714
4/39 .897
4/30 .867
4/33 .879
4/28 .857

That's a lot of games at .900 or below. He had several more less than .910

It's 21 of 55 games he played that he failed to climb above .900! Over a third of every game he played!

Everyone seems to forget about those games because the team was so bad he was the only reason we were in some of the other games.

 

[cobra427]

He pretty well earned whatever disparagement he received the last few years.
I didn't look at the previous years in which he was merely mediocre or outright bad, but here's a quick summary on why despite "putting the team on his back" occasionally and willing us to a loser point last year, he also sported these nifty stats which you never seem to bring up.
21 of 55 games played in which he failed to register a save percentage above .900. That's a well over a third of games played last year in which he was way below average.

Smith might be the difference between our miracle 70 point season last year and our current high 40's pace with a way more talented team.

 

[cobra427]

We don't have enough depth to sustain the injuries we've had. It's crazy that we'll be 30 games into the season before we see our full lineup (Hammer, Raanta, Chychrun).

True, we don't have much depth but only Hammer is proven. We don't know what Chych will be or tun into good or bad and Raanta is still unproven as a starter. It will be nice to have them back but all teams have injuries too.

 

[Murf]

So is last night what a game looks like when players play well without the puck? When they play a two-way game? When (insert cliche here)?

 

[Jakey53]

it is just painful to watch some of these line combinations. Richardson, Rieder, Cousins and Martinook are absolute anchors to anything involving offense. Last night was absolutely boring and reminded me of soooo many games last season. i knew we werent going to score.

Every player can't be blue chippers on offense. You need guys like Martinook, Reider and Richardson. Why do you think our PK has been so good, it sure the hell isn't because of Keller, Domi and Duclair to name a few. Martinook and Rieder are playing much better of late after a very slow start.

 

[Jakey53]

True, we don't have much depth but only Hammer is proven. We don't know what Chych will be or tun into good or bad and Raanta is still unproven as a starter. It will be nice to have them back but all teams have injuries too.

I hate using injuries as an excuse. Like you said, every team has them.

 

[SniperHF]

Every player can't be blue chippers on offense. You need guys like Martinook, Reider and Richardson. Why do you think our PK has been so good, it sure the hell isn't because of Keller, Domi and Duclair to name a few. Martinook and Rieder are playing much better of late after a very slow start.

The PK has been better lately but it was pretty brutal early. They may just be rounding into form and have learned the system and thus the PK will be better the rest of the season. Or it could just be a good few weeks + better goaltending. Need to see more.

So is last night what a game looks like when players play well without the puck? When they play a two-way game? When (insert cliche here)?

I'm not sure that's 100% what has been happening but it might be a component. Teams generally tighten up as the season progresses. Keller can't carry an offense an entire season as a rookie and the rest of the guys for the most part haven't stepped up yet. OEL is getting there and Fischer has had a good couple weeks.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

It was nice to actually see a system in play. Unfortunately, it was Calgary's system. Pinching defensemen with high coverage by the forward. Crisp passing without the recipient being caught by surprise.

 

[BigMac1212]

I'm impressed that the Coyotes didn't get shutout until they faced Mike Smith for the first time. Even during the slow start, they score a goal in each game.