Injury Report: Mike Smith's groin injury

[Anglesmith]

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[The Gnome]

It sucks man, the guy has been the heart of the team this year and blown away my wildest expectations. The silver lining is he likely gets some much needed rest and Rittich gets his chance in the spotlight. Hoping for a speedy recovery, we need this guy as much as anyone on the team.

 

[Mobiandi]

I get the sense that this was wear and tear that accumulated over time. If it didn't happen against the Isles it might've happened soon after. He could use some time off

 

[InfinityIggy]

If Smith is out for an extended period, we could be in serious trouble.

 

[The Gnome]

If Smith is out for an extended period, we could be in serious trouble.

Completely depends on how Rittich handles starting duties. Based on his small sample size, there is some hope at least. But I agree, everyone seems to be over the moon at the idea of Rittich getting more starts, while forgetting that we'd be a basement team without Smith this year. Again, hopefully his absence isn't lengthy. gives Smith some rest (which he clearly needs), gives Rittich more looks, and is something we can handle for a week or two.

 

[Calculon]

A two to four week break for Smith shouldn't be the end of the season. And this is exactly the kind of opportunity Rittich and Gillies need to showcase whether or not they can handle starting duties for when Smith's contract ends.

 

[Boomstick]

Schedule is tough this week and beyond. Bruins and Preds this week. It's going to be tough sledding without Smitty. Guy's been amazing.

 

[Master Bill]

 

[Deen]

This hurts even more knowing we don't have our 1st. Rittich needs to step up big for us if Smith is out for an extended amount of time. For what it's worth, Gully said they always planned on giving this start to Rittich.

 

[Volica]

The best part about this recall is that TSN has it listed that he’s coming in from the Abbotsford Heat.

Don’t ever change.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I get the sense that this was wear and tear that accumulated over time.

Yup. 35 year old goalie with a long history of injury starting so many games. Kind of expected this day to come tbh. Really unfortunate it happened in the last 5 seconds of a game.

Mostly glad it's not in the playoffs and that the Flames have Rittich to step in. Still think it's gonna be a pretty significant loss if the injury is over 2-3 weeks. Smith playing the puck has been such a massive part of our defensive structure. The rest of the team will need to step their game up, especially the defense.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Sucks to lose him for a bit potentially, but short of Rittich and Gilles completely falling flat on us, I kinda like the opportunity to see how the two compare and see their NHL potential longer term.

Parsons has a way to go, so I'm eager to see if either of them show they have some potential to replace Smith someday down the road.

 

[Tkachuky]

Well, here is a chance for one of the guys to step up and prove themselves. Hope they don't get peppered and damage their morale.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

The sky is falling, our season is over.

 

[DFF]

Opportunity is here....it's do or die

Come on down....the next Kipper or Joni

 

[Ace Rimmer]

The sky is falling, our season is over.

Any other season, I'd agree with this.

Rittich is easily the mostest solidest backup goalie we've had since, Noodles? Joseph? One of those guys anyways.

Best case scenario is that he makes a tough decision easy when Smith's contract ends.

 

[Anglesmith]

I understand why Rittich has earned such a vote of confidence from fans with his play with the Flames so far. But expectations should probably be kept in check. If this is going to be a significant time frame, then it's unlikely that Rittich will play flawlessly until Smith comes back. He may struggle and look pretty ordinary. But hopefully we don't rely on him to be Mike Smith.

 

[Mobiandi]

Kipper got injured for like a month when he came here in 03-04. Rittich just needs to channel his inner McLennan/Turek and keep us afloat in that time and we'll back in the cup finals against Tampa in no time

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I understand why Rittich has earned such a vote of confidence from fans with his play with the Flames so far. But expectations should probably be kept in check. If this is going to be a significant time frame, then it's unlikely that Rittich will play flawlessly until Smith comes back. He may struggle and look pretty ordinary. But hopefully we don't rely on him to be Mike Smith.

Even assuming he's not as good as Smith's ridiculous .944 play on the road, maybe he posts better than Smith's .905 home save percentage in our last few home games. Even an "ordinary" home save percentage would be an improvement.

 

[Mr Snrub]

Even assuming he's not as good as Smith's ridiculous .944 play on the road, maybe he posts better than Smith's .905 home save percentage in our last few home games. Even an "ordinary" home save percentage would be an improvement.

Smith's home SV% has more to do with him getting hung out to dry more frequently at home. Entire team does not show up to the Saddledome more often than not, likely a mental hurdle, not Smith underperforming.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Smith's home SV% has more to do with him getting hung out to dry more frequently at home. Entire team does not show up to the Saddledome more often than not, likely a mental hurdle, not Smith underperforming.

We're going to have to agree to disagree. Sounds to me like a story made up to fit the numbers. It's been my eye test this year that Smith's let us down at home a lot. I'm not saying he's been bad - he hasn't - but he hasn't been great at home, and he's been freakin' amazing on the road. By the way, since that was my opinion I went and looked up the deeper numbers, and they bare this out as well. I don't know how much value these numbers hold to you, but:

In 1658.92 home minutes Smith has an xGA of 73.33, and has allowed 80 home goals.
In 1095.02 road minutes Smith has an xGA of 60.68, and has allowed 36 road goals

That's
3.32 expected goals against per game on the road, but 1.97 GA per game on the road
and
2.65 expected goals against per game at home, but 2.89 GA per game at home

Maybe it's a classic case of a goalie being better when he's seeing more action.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I do think Rittich could be the real deal, but one thing I know is we’re about to find out.

 

[Mr Snrub]

We're going to have to agree to disagree. Sounds to me like a story made up to fit the numbers. It's been my eye test this year that Smith's let us down at home a lot. I'm not saying he's been bad - he hasn't - but he hasn't been great at home, and he's been freakin' amazing on the road. By the way, since that was my opinion I went and looked up the deeper numbers, and they bare this out as well. I don't know how much value these numbers hold to you, but:

In 1658.92 home minutes Smith has an xGA of 73.33, and has allowed 80 home goals.
In 1095.02 road minutes Smith has an xGA of 60.68, and has allowed 36 road goals

That's
3.32 expected goals against per game on the road, but 1.97 GA per game on the road
and
2.65 expected goals against per game at home, but 2.89 GA per game at home

Maybe it's a classic case of a goalie being better when he's seeing more action.

I'm willing to look at numbers up to a point but I think xG stats are voodoo. Too many variables go into a scoring opportunity to be able to assign them concrete statistical values down to a hundredth of a goal, the best evidence of this is how far off the xGA figures you cite are from Smith's actual GAA.

 

[Fig]

It's like putting diamonds in the rough against a grindstone. Let's see what emerges.

Smith needs rest, this forces Gully and everyone's hands. Let's hope something emerges so that we have two reliable goalies to work with for the rest of the season.

 

[crackdown44]

Ideally both Rittich and Gillies play great in relief. Not saying we should move one in the summer but if they both look good during this stretch, they’ll definitely have higher value if the team chooses to