GDT: Game 4: COL @ LA **Hollywood Nights** 10PM ET / 8PM MT

[UncleRisto]

Bednar called Miska the MVP of their AHL team from last year during yesterday’s presser.

The organization really seems to think this guy is a capable third stringer. Does that mean they see back-up upside? None of the fans do... But it'd be interesting to see someone actually pan out better than expected.

 

[Pokecheque]

Well, there’s no doubt Miska was great for the Eagles when they needed him to be. But that just means he’s an ECHL goalie who overachieved for one season in the AHL. I held out hope that he’d surprise everyone but it’s obvious he does not belong on an NHL roster in any form.

 

[Avsavsavsavsavs]

Miska didn't play great but he has above average numbers and has won considerably more than he's lost in every level. I thought he had a strong 1st period and overall first outing. I think the team gave up on the game just like they did in game 1 against the Kings when they almost clawed their way back into it.

I think the biggest complaint about the last 2 games was the absolutely abysmal amount of penalties called and how it pretty much destroys the flow and slows down a game entirely.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

The organization really seems to think this guy is a capable third stringer. Does that mean they see back-up upside? None of the fans do... But it'd be interesting to see someone actually pan out better than expected.

Good AHL goalies are the good third string NHL goalies. Obviously this is an odd year with the taxi squad and all but historically speaking, it’s rare to see an NHL team carry 3 goalies therefore the top goalies in the AHL tend to be the best third stringers out there.

fans get obsessed with the idea of having a veteran NHL guy who has fallen out of favor but I’ve never really understood that. Why not get a youthful AHL starter with good numbers who is on the up-trend instead of an aging has been on the downtrend.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Well, there’s no doubt Miska was great for the Eagles when they needed him to be. But that just means he’s an ECHL goalie who overachieved for one season in the AHL. I held out hope that he’d surprise everyone but it’s obvious he does not belong on an NHL roster in any form.

Lol.

.924 AHL starter with a 16-6-3 record who is considered team MVP for one season. Plays one game which happened to be his first in almost a year because of this pandemic, let’s in 2 average goals (not even awful ones) along with an abundance of phenomenal saves and all of a sudden the entire AHL season was for nothing and he’s an ECHL’er.

HFboards.

Grubauer let in a wrister from a further distance than Miska did in game one and assisted another one on himself. You must have wanted to send him to beer league.

 

[Foppa2118]

The organization really seems to think this guy is a capable third stringer. Does that mean they see back-up upside? None of the fans do... But it'd be interesting to see someone actually pan out better than expected.

There appears to be a disconnect between the Avs and the fans regarding goaltending in general.

Joe has been very blasé about the idea of needing some insurance with a decent 3rd goalie. Which seems very odd to me after losing both goalies lat year, and knowing that Frankie has had that problem before.

 

[Pokecheque]

Lol.

.924 AHL starter with a 16-6-3 record who is considered team MVP for one season. Plays one game which happened to be his first in almost a year because of this pandemic, let’s in 2 average goals (not even awful ones) along with an abundance of phenomenal saves and all of a sudden the entire AHL season was for nothing and he’s an ECHL’er.

HFboards.

Grubauer let in a wrister from a further distance than Miska did in game one and assisted another one on himself. You must have wanted to send him to beer league.

Hold on bro, I need a moment to process the mountains of hyperbole you're throwin' at me here.

I think I've said before that Grubauer hasn't been great to start this season, and frankly, I don't think he's a legit franchise goalie. But he IS an NHL goalie. Miska is not. That's my opinion, you can disagree if you want.

"Abundance of phenomenal saves?" Um...I hate this acronym with a passion, but lol, as you say. He didn't make any spectacular saves. He did make one extremely lucky save during that 5-on-3 kill flopped over on his side, but thankfully it was the Kings player who rifled it off of him, he didn't really have to move or anything. I didn't see anything "phenomenal" out there.

It's been well-established that Sv% and GAA are not great bellwethers for goalies. It's really hard to gauge goalies quite frankly, but I can say, even with the extremely small sample size, that Hunter Miska is not an NHL goalie. He fought the puck repeatedly on the most routine of shots and was poor positionally, including those two goals, which Bednar pointed out. It ain't his fault, but it is Sakic's fault for thinking he could go chintzy on the goalie position again. Miska should never have been promoted from the AHL. That's where he belongs.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Hold on bro, I need a moment to process the mountains of hyperbole you're throwin' at me here.

I think I've said before that Grubauer hasn't been great to start this season, and frankly, I don't think he's a legit franchise goalie. But he IS an NHL goalie. Miska is not. That's my opinion, you can disagree if you want.

"Abundance of phenomenal saves?" Um...I hate this acronym with a passion, but lol, as you say. He didn't make any spectacular saves. He did make one extremely lucky save during that 5-on-3 kill flopped over on his side, but thankfully it was the Kings player who rifled it off of him, he didn't really have to move or anything. I didn't see anything "phenomenal" out there.

It's been well-established that Sv% and GAA are not great bellwethers for goalies. It's really hard to gauge goalies quite frankly, but I can say, even with the extremely small sample size, that Hunter Miska is not an NHL goalie. He fought the puck repeatedly on the most routine of shots and was poor positionally, including those two goals, which Bednar pointed out. It ain't his fault, but it is Sakic's fault for thinking he could go chintzy on the goalie position again. Miska should never have been promoted from the AHL. That's where he belongs.

I never claimed he’s an NHL goalie. I’m calling you out for saying he’s an ECHL goalie because of one game.

And yes, 3rd string goalies do belong in the AHL. When NHL goalies get hurt, AHL goalies fill in.

 

[UncleRisto]

Good AHL goalies are the good third string NHL goalies. Obviously this is an odd year with the taxi squad and all but historically speaking, it’s rare to see an NHL team carry 3 goalies therefore the top goalies in the AHL tend to be the best third stringers out there.

fans get obsessed with the idea of having a veteran NHL guy who has fallen out of favor but I’ve never really understood that. Why not get a youthful AHL starter with good numbers who is on the up-trend instead of an aging has been on the downtrend.

Yeah, no of course. It's just feels strange that he's neither a prospect nor that AHL veteran. But I guess there are more of these university guys popping up playing here and there on teams.

 

[The Shermanator]

If anyone actually thinks Miska was the problem last night then you've got your own problems.

 

[henchman21]

Miska was bad for 2 years for Tucson and lost his job there to where Arizona didn’t qualify him. The Avs brought him in as an extra and he played well for the Eagles, mid season getting a contract. He had one good professional season and flunked out of another org. Let’s not play like he’s been an AHL all star for years. He’s not a good goalie and looked bad last night. The Avs were lucky they were not down big last night. It wasn’t the phenomenal saves, it was the Kings missing, hitting posts, and MacK being god mode in the first. The tape is out there and teams will exploit his weaknesses big time. He’s not a good goalie and shouldn’t be a 3rd option.

And yeah @Cousin Eddie many have wanted to throw Grubs to the beer league for a while.

 

[henchman21]

If anyone actually thinks Miska was the problem last night then you've got your own problems.

He wasn’t the reason they lost, but a NHL goalie at very least takes that game to overtime. Could easily win 2-1. Two of those goals were real weak and from poor positioning and goalie play. He was really deep in the net on both.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Miska was bad for 2 years for Tucson and lost his job there to where Arizona didn’t qualify him. The Avs brought him in as an extra and he played well for the Eagles, mid season getting a contract. He had one good professional season and flunked out of another org. Let’s not play like he’s been an AHL all star for years. He’s not a good goalie and looked bad last night. The Avs were lucky they were not down big last night. It wasn’t the phenomenal saves, it was the Kings missing, hitting posts, and MacK being god mode in the first. The tape is out there and teams will exploit his weaknesses big time. He’s not a good goalie and shouldn’t be a 3rd option.

And yeah @Cousin Eddie many have wanted to throw Grubs to the beer league for a while.

I didn’t say he was an AHL all star. I certainly didn’t say he’s an NHL’er. I’m saying it’s laughable to call him an ECHL’er. He was one of the best goalies in the AHL last year. Maybe it was a fluke, but it wasn’t a big enough fluke to currently categorize him as an ECHL’er.

As for your opinion on him last night I disagree. Even if the two bad ones he let in were next level bad it’s still a solid performance for a guy who hasn’t played an organized game of hockey in almost a year.

 

[henchman21]

I didn’t say he was an AHL all star. I certainly didn’t say he’s an NHL’er. I’m saying it’s laughable to call him an ECHL’er. He was one of the best goalies in the AHL last year. Maybe it was a fluke, but it wasn’t a big enough fluke to currently categorize him as an ECHL’er.

As for your opinion on him last night I disagree. Even if the two bad ones he let in were next level bad it’s still a solid performance for a guy who hasn’t played an organized game of hockey in almost a year.

He’s a low end 1B in the AHL. There are 20+ goalies better than him. If he was a hot shot, good AHL goalie, Arizona wouldn’t have let him go. He’s a warm body to help a real prospect.

He did as good as I think you can expect, but it is clear as day that a better team would eat him alive especially with tape now. He’s small, not aggressive and slow. Freeze frame when he sets up... his toes are at best on the crease line, he looks tiny, and then when you press play... he’s slow to move around. If he plays 8 games, the Avs will lose 6 or 7.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

He’s a low end 1B in the AHL. There are 20+ goalies better than him. If he was a hot shot, good AHL goalie, Arizona wouldn’t have let him go. He’s a warm body to help a real prospect.

He did as good as I think you can expect, but it is clear as day that a better team would eat him alive especially with tape now. He’s small, not aggressive and slow. Freeze frame when he sets up... his toes are at best on the crease line, he looks tiny, and then when you press play... he’s slow to move around. If he plays 8 games, the Avs will lose 6 or 7.

I feel like you think that I believe Miska should be promoted to NHL starter so he can work towards a vezina or something. I’m not saying the Avs should be excited over Miska or anything. I don’t think he’ll ever be an NHL goalie. I’m saying he held his own last night, had a hell of an AHL season last year and that it’s not fair to currently classify him as an AHL goalie.

I’m sure those small details you described about him are probably accurate. Heck I don’t know goalie fundamentals. I’m not arguing against any of those things you say. I’m just saying that another poster went way overboard on the fact that our AHL goalie filled in for an injured NHL player and that it wasn’t that horrible. You see it happen a handful of times a year on almost every team.

 

[henchman21]

I feel like you think that I believe Miska should be promoted to NHL starter so he can work towards a vezina or something. I’m not saying the Avs should be excited over Miska or anything. I don’t think he’ll ever be an NHL goalie. I’m saying he held his own last night, had a hell of an AHL season last year and that it’s not fair to currently classify him as an AHL goalie.

I’m sure those small details you described about him are probably accurate. Heck I don’t know goalie fundamentals. I’m not arguing against any of those things you say. I’m just saying that another poster went way overboard on the fact that our AHL goalie filled in for an injured NHL player and that it wasn’t that horrible. You see it happen a handful of times a year on almost every team.

I think you meant ECHL goalie instead of AHL. I’m fine with him in the system and being in the AHL as a 1B. He just should be nowhere near NHL ice. Him as a 3 is a disaster. I really hope he doesn’t play another game.

So I’m really saying he should be at best a 4 in an org, or ideally a 5. I think you believe him playing in the NHL isn’t a big deal. I think losing these points is a big deal in a shortened season

 

[Pokecheque]

I never claimed he’s an NHL goalie. I’m calling you out for saying he’s an ECHL goalie because of one game.

And yes, 3rd string goalies do belong in the AHL. When NHL goalies get hurt, AHL goalies fill in.

He’s an AHL backup at best. He should not be a third goalie is what I’m saying. He probably shouldn’t be a fourth goalie either. I’m glad he was the AHL’s Hamburglar for part of one season but there was nothing to indicate he was ready for the big leagues.