He's had two stretches where was above average, yes. But he's also had two stretches where he was beyond bad. Not exactly AHL starter material, IMO.
1st 5 games: 4-1 2.17 .917
2nd 5 games: 1-3 3.83 .887
next 7: 4-3 2.31 .923
Last 11: 3-6-1 3.59 .891
As an OHL fan and goalie fanatic. I will partake in this discussion. I enjoyed following John Gibson and Michael Houser for many years. And have continued to do so. OHL fans often compared the two for many reasons. Goalies notoriously take longer to develop. If I am correct, Houser just turned 21 this year. I believe he is the only American to win the Canadian Hockey League goalie of the year, he has plenty of time to develop. The question really is: is houser in the right system to develop? Does Florida have a successful history of developing it’s young goalie prospects?
Playing behind a 40-25 Norfolk team, Gibson had the same exact inconsistent stretches as your rookie Houser. For the sake of this discussion, two of the bad stretches are as follows:
.795 Nov 29-Dec 20 5 starts. 1-3-0-1 and
.885 Mar 4-Mar 28 8 starts 3-5
At this level of hockey, these players put trust in the teamates in front of them that they know their assignments and where to be. When that breaks down, that is when we as fans see quick unnecessary goals/2 on 1's/3 on 1's. Ugly play which polarizes goals allowed by young goalies.
When you use words like "beyond bad" when describing a two stretchs equaling 4-9-1
and 3.71 and then with the same breath use very uninspired words like "above average" to describe two stretches going 8-4 2.24 for a rookie AHL goalie, you sound like a frustrated fan whose team had a very rough couple of years.
The truth is, Florida/SA have a nice gem of a prospect in Houser. Florida actually has many nice prospects but how many are rushed up to the NHL without spending 1,2,3 seasons in the AHL. When you consistently see 4-5 prospects spending mostly the entire year in the NHL when you know in any of the top 5 organizations those same players wouldn't have even sniffed the big league, definitely leaves some very disgruntled AHL season ticket holders.
Keep giving Houser starts and bring in a goalie with at least a handful of NHL starts, 25-28 years old (who is happy to play in the AHL but is hungry to move up without entitlement), and stick him in SA to challenge Houser and pass along some polish.
If they want Brittain, sign him and put him in the ECHL. Technically he's older than Houser (couple months maybe) but has zero pro experience v Houser's 2 years.