Is Mike Smith the worst goalie in the league?

[Bleedred]

I currently have Smith down for 20 stoppable goal on 55 allowed. That’s not a league high, probably because he was benched for the better part of a couple weeks recently or at least relegated to backup temporarily. If he had played a few more games, I think that count would be up to 23-25 if he didn’t get sat for Rittich for a span.

But as far as soft goal percentage to goals against goes, he probably has the worst out of goalies that have played at least 10 games. 36% of the goals he’s allowed this year are stoppable. That’s 20 out of 55 and probably about 12-15 of them have been really ugly short side goals with little to no angle, that slowly leak through him and roll over the goal line.

 

[DJJones]

I currently have Smith down for 20 stoppable goal on 55 allowed. That’s not a league high, probably because he was benched for the better part of a couple weeks recently or at least relegated to backup temporarily. If he had played a few more games, I think that count would be up to 23-25 if he didn’t get sat for Rittich for a span.

But as far as soft goal percentage to goals against goes, he probably has the worst out of goalies that have played at least 10 games. 36% of the goals he’s allowed this year are stoppable. That’s 20 out of 55 and probably about 12-15 of them have been really ugly short side goals with little to no angle, that slowly leak through him and roll over the goal line.

How do you determine a stoppable goal?

Just your own opinion or what?

 

[Bleedred]

If there was a highlight reel full of the 10 softest goals of the year so far, I think Smith might have 4 or 5 of them.

 

[crackdown44]

Hart is sporting a sub-.900 in A. No guarantee he turns into a full time nhl starter. NHL Goaltending is like nfl qb play. Impossible to predict if guys can transition to the show.

Gillies was supposed to be “our guy”. Parsons now. Go check their numbers lol. Undrafted free agent goalie Nick Schneider has run away with the starting job in Stockton. I give up

 

[Bleedred]

How do you determine a stoppable goal?

Just your own opinion or what?

It’s not completely black or white. I’ve tried to explain before. Pucks that go through the goalie clean are stoppable. There are times where I won’t ding the goalie on it if it happened on a one timer and he was not in position. Short side goals are usually stoppable, but not a rule. Need more context. Like a one timer, or a deflection maybe. If a goalie gets beat through the 5-hole while deked or sliding, I won’t nail the goalie on that one.

One area where my stoppable definition differs from others the most is on screens. A lot of people wanna absolve goalies of goals that happen through the slightest of screens. I say if the goalie is screened by a random skater that’s 20, 30 or 49 feet out, that’s more on the goalie. If there’s a maze of traffic or a body in front of him on a shot from distance, I won’t give him a stoppable goal on it. And any goalie error that causes a goal like a stickhandling gaffe would also be considered stoppable, even if the way the shot went in wasn’t.

I’m also usually giving a stoppable goal if the goalie is off his angle or just gets beat to the outside. I’m noticing a lot of goals just going to the outside of the goalies blocker or just past the arms or inside the arms this year. Think that could be the chest protector reduction.

 

[Hoek]

Pretty sure this is the second thread this season we've had on this. So I guess the answer is yes?

 

[RedHot]

People are acting like Smith saves the flames every game during his 6 game win streak. Like come on. The flames were absolutely dominant in those game, often outshooting the opponent 2-1.

The shots in the Chicago game were something like 41 to 24, and the flames won 3-2.

 

[cliffclaven]

Cam ward has to be up there. 13gp 4-4-4 .885 4.00ga. It would probably help if he had more than 1 actual defenseman though.

 

[Sheppy]

Schneider?

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Pretty sure this is the second thread this season we've had on this. So I guess the answer is yes?

The last one was titled, "Mike Smith is so bad"....so he likely has declined even more since then if he's going from "so bad" to "the worst."

Linky:
Mike Smith Is So Bad

 

[Halakitlikethat]

Better question is was that the worst goal of the season?

What the hell is he doing on that goal lmao

 

[Bounces R Way]

A Groin too Far: the Mike Smith Story

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

No that belongs to Philadelphia and you can pick any goalie you want in Philadelphia

 

[Connor McConnor]

He can go from worst goalie in the league to best goalie in the league within a week. He's always been an extremely streaky goalie and is the biggest reason the Flames are not a cup contender for me.

 

[PhysicalGraffiti]

I know he's struggled, but guess I didn't consider him to be the worst in the league.

I'm also a big fan of his personally, so that may cloud my judgement.

 

[blankall]

No that belongs to Philadelphia and you can pick any goalie you want in Philadelphia

Stolarz looked great. There is something about the Flames that inspires other goalies to stand on their heads. It wasn't as though the Flames were making bad shots. Stolarz was stopping all sorts of deflections.

 

[madmike77]

Gillies was supposed to be “our guy”. Parsons now. Go check their numbers lol. Undrafted free agent goalie Nick Schneider has run away with the starting job in Stockton. I give up

The Flames have the worst luck drafting and developing goalies. I thought either Gillies or Parsons would seize the reins but Gillies has taken a huge step back this year and Parsons can’t stay healthy.

I honestly never understood what they saw in Schneider. He had pretty bad junior numbers, but at the moment he may be the best of the bunch. I think unfortunately they’re going to need to waste another pick on a goalie this year.

 

[DJJones]

The Flames have the worst luck drafting and developing goalies. I thought either Gillies or Parsons would seize the reins but Gillies has taken a huge step back this year and Parsons can’t stay healthy.

I honestly never understood what they saw in Schneider. He had pretty bad junior numbers, but at the moment he may be the best of the bunch. I think unfortunately they’re going to need to waste another pick on a goalie this year.

Maybe a or 4th or 5th. Calgary should never use a 3rd or higher. They're cursed. Just accept that we'll pay for a UFA or get lucky with one of our walkons.

 

[Bleedred]

Schneider?

Getting there. He's only started 6 games this year and relieved in 2 others. The 19 games that Smith has played this year is already quite a limited sample size, which makes Schneider's even smaller. I can tell you this. Schneider is a .904% goalie since November 17th of 2016. That also includes his .950% playoff series last April. And that's exactly 100 games now. If you shave that series off, he's a .902% regular season goalie since November 17th of 2016 and that's 96 games. He's been an .863% goalie in the regular season going back to December 29th of 2017, which is I think 17 or 18 starts and 2 relief appearances.

I know that Smith has been better than that since November of 2016, because when I ran those numbers, only a handful of goalies had been worse than Schneider since that date with at least 75 games played and those guys were Cam Ward, Petr Mrazek and I don't even remember the other couple guys. Might have been Darling, but Darling was good in the first season Schneider fell off. Even with a minimum of 40 games played in that time, there were only like 9 or 10 worse.

 

[Bleedred]

I feel like Calgary will trade for Corey Crawford this offseason.

I'm just getting that feeling right now. Unless Bowman refuses to part ways with him because he has this fantasy of competing next year or his recent vertigo bout scares them off.

 

[Bleedred]

Cam ward has to be up there. 13gp 4-4-4 .885 4.00ga. It would probably help if he had more than 1 actual defenseman though.

There's a very good case to be made that Ward is the worst goalie in the NHL, because if you go back to the 2012-2013 season, I'm pretty sure he has the worst save percentage since then, of goalies that have been in the league every year since or even most of the years since.

To be the ''Worst'' anything at any position, consistency is required, just like it is to be the best and Ward has been consistently bad for years now.

 

[Pens x]

Matt Murray says don’t forget about him for worst goalie.

At least Smith and the Flames didn’t have to make up an injury so that Smith could get some time away from the game for a break.

I guess he’s been overworked in his 11 games this year and the grueling schedule of being injured or resting for 33 games last season.

 

[Snakepit]

What the hell is he doing on that goal lmao

Going theory right now is he messed his groin up again. He finished that period but then didn't come back to the bench, and now it looks like the they called up a goalie.

Would explain his... odd position I suppose

 

[cliffclaven]

There's a very good case to be made that Ward is the worst goalie in the NHL, because if you go back to the 2012-2013 season, I'm pretty sure he has the worst save percentage since then, of goalies that have been in the league every year since or even most of the years since.

To be the ''Worst'' anything at any position, consistency is required, just like it is to be the best and Ward has been consistently bad for years now.

To be fair, tho... look at the D core he’s had to play with

 

[flamesforcup]

Even his 6 game winning streak he looked bad. He was always flopping every where still gave up a couple softies and flopped around like Hasek for every routine save. The Flames literally gave up nothing those 6 games and he still looked shaky.