Player Discussion Smith or Rittich down the stretch?

[Punn]

Flames fans! Who do you think gets the bulk of starts down the stretch?

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[Rubi]

Rittich but it won't be overwhelmingly BSD.

 

[Lunatik]

Flames fans! Who do you think gets the bulk of starts down the stretch?

Depends who is playing better. When Rittich was playing better, he ended up with the bulk of the starts, now that Smith is, he will get them. If Rittich bounces back and starts outplaying Smith again, he will win the net back, if he doesn't it will still be Smith.

 

[Nanuuk]

Very hard to say. Win and your in. Both goalies have personalities that the team can rally behind. I think Smith's fire and puck-handling skills might just be what the Doctor has ordered. The veteran presence under pressure could take us a long way. On the other hand, the sophomore goalie might not know any better (that he should wilt under pressure) and being the younger (more flexible, faster) he could also take us a long way.

So, veteran being spurred on by his passion and a young guy watching and learning or

young guy also playing with passion and a veteran leader cheering him on ready to go if he falters?

Interesting dynamic, but either way I am not concerned about the Flames goaltending the way some of the talking heads seem to be.

 

[Rubi]

Depends who is playing better. When Rittich was playing better, he ended up with the bulk of the starts, now that Smith is, he will get them. If Rittich bounces back and starts outplaying Smith again, he will win the net back, if he doesn't it will still be Smith.

I don't think Smith is currently playing better than Rittich. Rittich has been excellent in his last 2 games

 

[Lunatik]

I don't think Smith is currently playing better than Rittich. Rittich has been excellent in his last 2 games

Yeah, he was very good..... against the worst and 5th worst teams in the NHL, that both essentially iced AHL lineups

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Knock on wood and barring injury I would say it Smith’s net. But the rope is short and the team has lots of confidence in Rittich, so it’s a fluid situation.

Right now though there’s zero reason to not give Smith the bulk of starts.

 

[Mobiandi]

I don't really care. As long as one of them isn't shitting the bed, we're good.

That being said, I'm too lazy to check this but I feel like Smith's stats against playoff teams is pretty terrible so I would probably side with Rittich

 

[super6646]

50-50

 

[Lunatik]

I don't really care. As long as one of them isn't ****ting the bed, we're good.

That being said, I'm too lazy to check this but I feel like Smith's stats against playoff teams is pretty terrible so I would probably side with Rittich

It's more of a what have you done for me lately situation, looking up season stats is pretty pointless IMO. Smith was bad earlier in the year, but recently he's been very good against the Isles (x2), Pens, Coyotes, Anaheim and Florida. The Isles are a division leader and the Pens are Coyotes are very much in the thick of playoff races and as you know even though the Ducks aren't playing well, they have always played us very tough.

 

[Rubi]

Yeah, he was very good..... against the worst and 5th worst teams in the NHL, that both essentially iced AHL lineups

He still only allowed 2 goals in 43 shots total... Which is pretty damn good. Rittich is still the Flames #1 goalie despite Smith being on a bit of a hot streak... Well hot for him anyways.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

He still only allowed 2 goals in 43 shots total... Which is pretty damn good. Rittich is still the Flames #1 goalie despite Smith being on a bit of a hot streak... Well hot for him anyways.

I disagree. Smith was the starter to start, then it was Rittich. Now it’s ride the hot goalie.

 

[MonyontheMoney]

I’d say split them, honestly. I don’t see any reason to run one guy out significantly more than the other, unless one struggles.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

I don't think Smith is currently playing better than Rittich. Rittich has been excellent in his last 2 games

I don't think either is playing particularly better than the other, at least in any convincing fashion. That said, I don't think either are particularly bad either which is just fine for me. I'd hate to be riding a hot goalie until he burns out or gets injured, and then throw in a cold goalie into the fire when we need him the most. My preferred scenario is both getting equal starts down the final stretch.

 

[Rubi]

Flames have heavy schedule from now until the end of the season. They play 18 games in 35 days. I would think that Rittich plays approximately 10 of those games and Smith plays approximately 8 of those games... give or take one or two games.

All things being equal and both goalies are playing equally well I see Rittich starting in game #1 of the playoffs. He's the one who got us here and he's the one that deserves to start.

 

[Anglesmith]

Smith until something changes. Both have been good lately.

 

[Rubi]

It's more of a what have you done for me lately situation, looking up season stats is pretty pointless IMO. Smith was bad earlier in the year, but recently he's been very good against the Isles (x2), Pens, Coyotes, Anaheim and Florida. The Isles are a division leader and the Pens are Coyotes are very much in the thick of playoff races and as you know even though the Ducks aren't playing well, they have always played us very tough.

He had 3 very good games out of the last 5. He wasn't very good in the first Islander game where he let in 2 goals in 19 shots (.895 Sv%) and in the Pittsburgh game he let in 4 goals in 38 shots (.895 Sv%). He was average at best and to be truthful... below average. So lets not pretend that Smith is now better than Rittich. Plus I don't remember the last time that Rittich was so far out of the net, as in behind the net, that the opposition got a freebee with a shot on a wide open net. Smith playing the puck is way scarier than Rittich playing the puck. Doing this in the playoffs really makes me nervous.

 

[Anglesmith]

He had 3 very good games out of the last 5. He wasn't very good in the first Islander game where he let in 2 goals in 19 shots (.895 Sv%) and in the Pittsburgh game he let in 4 goals in 38 shots (.895 Sv%). He was average at best and to be truthful... below average. So lets not pretend that Smith is now better than Rittich. Plus I don't remember the last time that Rittich was so far out of the net, as in behind the net, that the opposition got a freebee with a shot on a wide open net. Smith playing the puck is way scarier than Rittich playing the puck. Doing this in the playoffs really makes me nervous.

I think you might be guilty of stat-watching here. We've had quite a few games lately where we absolutely dominate the shot-clock, and unless we accompany that with not giving up any quality chances all game (which we generally don't), that leads to poor save percentages for our goalies.

 

[Lunatik]

He still only allowed 2 goals in 43 shots total... Which is pretty damn good. Rittich is still the Flames #1 goalie despite Smith being on a bit of a hot streak... Well hot for him anyways.

Wow, Smith has been out best player over the last couple weeks and you are throwing shade? That's pretty sad dude.

 

[Rubi]

Wow, Smith has been out best player over the last couple weeks and you are throwing shade? That's pretty sad dude.

Not throwing Shade on Smith at all. He's been good and certainly is playing his best this season. I just think Rittich is still the better goalie and deserves to be the starter come playoff time.
Whats sad is you throwing shade on Rittich since without him we wouldn't be where we are now.

 

[Lunatik]

Not throwing Shade on Smith at all. He's been good and certainly is playing his best this season. I just think Rittich is still the better goalie and deserves to be the starter come playoff time.
Whats sad is you throwing shade on Rittich since without him we wouldn't be where we are now.

Not throwing shade at ell eh? I guess someone hacked your account when you posted this?

Well hot for him anyways.

Literally all I did is point out Rittich played 2 glorified AHL teams in his last two starts, which is 100% factual. It wasn't a statement on Rittich's level of play.

 

[Rubi]

Not throwing shade at ell eh? I guess someone hacked your account when you posted this?


Literally all I did is point out Rittich played 2 glorified AHL teams in his last two starts, which is 100% factual. It wasn't a statement on Rittich's level of play.

And all I was pointing out is that the last 10 games is Smith's first legitimate hot streak this season. He has 19 wins this season and 7 of them have occurred in the last 10 games. Prior to that he wasn't that great. I have more confidence in Rittich to continue his good play than Smith to continue his.

Edit: That saying, they could both end up playing very well for the rest of the season and I certainly hope thats exactly what happens. Just saying that I think Rittich deserves the first kick at the can come playoff time unless he's playing awful at the time.

 

[Sparky93]

Whoever is hot, same as it’s been all year.

 

[Lunatik]

And all I was pointing out is that the last 10 games is Smith's first legitimate hot streak this season. He has 19 wins this season and 7 of them have occurred in the last 10 games. Prior to that he wasn't that great. I have more confidence in Rittich to continue his good play than Smith to continue his.

Edit: That saying, they could both end up playing very well for the rest of the season and I certainly hope thats exactly what happens. Just saying that I think Rittich deserves the first kick at the can come playoff time unless he's playing awful at the time.

No what you were doing is throwing shade and taking an unnecessary cheap shot to try and enforce your opinion.

 

[Rubi]

No what you were doing is throwing shade and taking an unnecessary cheap shot to try and enforce your opinion.

Ok fine. Thats your opinion.