Time to start Ellis - Take 2

[Identity404]

He stacked the pad, what, 3 times out of 30 saves?



Why are we making such a big deal about this pad stacking anyway?

I thought the sarcasm was implied. Do I need to use the emoticon

 

[normalpsychology]

Cam Ward, could his new locker stall location be to blame?

“It’s a little bit different when you play seven years in the same stall and then get moved."

http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=653263

Also an interesting article here:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/49689-Where-does-Cam-Ward-rank.html

 

[PaulProteus]

Also an interesting article here:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/49689-Where-does-Cam-Ward-rank.html

From the article:

In relation to his goalie brethren, where does Cam Ward belong? Opinions vary drastically.

“Upper echelon, but not top five,” one Twitter user chimed in. “Cam Ward is a top tier goalie!” wrote another.

You would have thought the author might have noticed that @MSmithCanes was a team affiliated account.

 

[Joe McGrath]

The author of the article also wondered why a defense with Brian Campbell, Dimitri Kulikov, Jason Garrison, and Ed Jovanowski was better than the Hurricanes D, so it's pretty obvious he hasn't watched many/any Hurricanes games in the last few years. Not that he didn't make some valid points.

 

[PaulProteus]

The author of the article also wondered why a defense with Brian Campbell, Dimitri Kulikov, Jason Garrison, and Ed Jovanowski was better than the Hurricanes D, so it's pretty obvious he hasn't watched many/any Hurricanes games in the last few years. Not that he didn't make some valid points.

I winced when I read Faulk's name in there. Guilt by association.

 

[geehaad]

Someone needs to make Cam read that article. No doubt after that he'll be in mid-season form...

 

[OntarioFisherman*]

Lets see how Ellis does tonight.

“We’ve been sitting, and he’s played well when he’s been in. I thought I’d give him the opportunity to play a game at home here and give us a win tonight.” -Muller

 

[Citizen Cane]

Outcome tonight very good, but ironically I felt like Ellis was fighting it a little more than he was the last time out. Much better defense in front, and Ellis did fine. Hard to argue with a shutout, but my eyes tell he he wasn't quite as sharp. Plenty good, obviously.

I think the world of Cam, but my gut tells me he needs some competition and motivation (and time to get into NHL shape), and Ellis' play might be just the answer.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Outcome tonight very good, but ironically I felt like Ellis was fighting it a little more than he was the last time out. Much better defense in front, and Ellis did fine. Hard to argue with a shutout, but my eyes tell he he wasn't quite as sharp. Plenty good, obviously.

I think the world of Cam, but my gut tells me he needs some competition and motivation (and time to get into NHL shape), and Ellis' play might be just the answer.

Well that's just it, we've never had Ellis before. In previous years, if Cam started like this, we'd take riding it out until he's back into game shape over starting Peters a game or two a week.

He's won me over. Ride the hot hand until Cam becomes Cam again, if he does.

 

[OntarioFisherman*]

Well well well... I am not looking so crazy anymore am I??

 

[OntarioFisherman*]

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Well well well... I am not looking so crazy anymore am I??

Nope you're looking like this.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Well well well... I am not looking so crazy anymore am I??

If you still believe Ellis should be the starter, you're still crazy. That being said, ride the hot streak of this backup goaltender. It's the first time in a long while the Canes can do that with confidence.

 

[Lazyking]

Ward is going to get his game back and if he doesn't, Ellis will get plenty of chances with all the back to backs to put himself as the starter.

We aren't there yet but at the halfway mark, we could be.

Has to be said that the Canes did play their best team defense tonight so far.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Has to be said that the Canes did play their best team defense tonight so far.

Granted it was against a crippled offense, but that was probably the team's most stifling defensive effort in at least a couple of seasons. How many shots really challenged Ellis to make a save... about 5?

That said, he's certainly an upgrade on Boucher and given the density of this schedule, it should help to have him showing a strong game. We don't have to throw Ward out there for 4 games a week down the stretch if Ellis keeps it up.

 

[normalpsychology]

33 shots on goal tonight.

 

[My Special Purpose]

Ellis is definitely on fire right now, and he should probably get the majority of the starts for a while. But Friday's game was the first of 8 in 14 days, including a three-games-in-four-nights stretch and another of four-games-in-six nights. In this season in particular, we're going to need two reliable goalies. The weird part is that after 100 years of trying and failing -- often spectacularly -- we finally have the backup, and Cam has decided to crap the bed.

If Ellis doesn't play Saturday, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Ward and Ellis are probably going to split the next two in some way, shape or form.

 

[Lazyking]

Yeah, I'm thinking more and more that the backup is going to get at least 20 starts so if Ellis can continue to play well and Ward returns to some form we'll be in great shape compared to teams that will have to rely for 35 plus games.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

OT, but does Dan Ellis have Peedee the Pirate on his mask? Or am I seeing things?

 

[Clark Gillies]

We in Carolina are accustomed to the "#1 goalie" idea that translates into that goalie getting 80% of the starts.
While it works in some cases (Broduer, Luongo (not this year)) it is not always the case.
A goal tending tandem that is closer to a 50/50 split can work - you do not need a so called named #1.

I grew up in the late 70's early 80's watching the Islanders win 4 straight cups with Billy Smith and Chico Resch then Rollie Melanson split games close to 50/50 in the regular season. Smith got the hot hand in their first cup run and then was the main goalie in the playoffs during the stretch but it did not really affect the regular season rotation.

According to NHL stats - Smith's games played (not all seasons but I stretched out around the cup years and really the whole career is similar) ** playoff series were not all 7 games back then**

77-78 38 games (All Star)
78-79 40 games
79-80 38 games (Stanley Cup winner- 20 games)
80-81 41 games (Stanley Cup winner - 17 games)
81-82 46 games (All Star, Vezina, Stanley Cup winner -18 games)
82-83 41 games (Conn Smythe, Stanley Cup winner - 17 games)
83-84 42 games (Stanley Cup Finals - 21 games)
84-85 37 games

Even after carrying the load in the playoffs, winning the Vezina,and winning the Con Smythe it still didn't change in splitting time with the team's other goalie.

I don't want Ellis named as the #1. I want both Ellis and Cam to get between 20-28 starts depending on who is rolling better affecting the final number.

I think Cam goes tonight, if so Ellis should get Toronto on Tuesday.
If Kirk goes with Ellis because of the SO then Cam should go Tuesday.
Ellis will get at least 2 Starts out of 6 on the trip but I would like to see 3 out of 6.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

OT, but does Dan Ellis have Peedee the Pirate on his mask? Or am I seeing things?

I think it's an example of any resemblance being purely coincidental. If anything it reminds me more of the NYI fishsticks logo of years past (ie a fisherman, not a pirate) - the character's beard is grey, not black, and is a chinstrap beard rather than a full beard and he's not wearing a pirate's hat. Not Peedee. Interestingly, our primary logo doesn't seem to appear on his mask unless it's on the backplate.

Edit - found this blurb on Dave Art about the design:

The story

David about the design:

Dan is always so fun to work with, he sends me so cool drawings, I've told him he can start work here after his goalie carrier. I am so proud to be your painter Dan!

Dan had the coolest idea... he wanted something totally new for a Carolina mask... something describing the unique working situation the goalie has... so how about cool old fishermen (!) working in the wildest hurricane storm, just keeping their heads cool, even though it's the worst storm around them. That is a perfect connection to a goalie's unique working situation!

I love to work with a lot of details, so the whole design is built on that, and the closer you look the more you will discover. The fishermen just keep on working in the middle of the wildest storm. But hey...it seems to be trouble...a big submarine is coming! But the fisherman stays cool anyway...

Thank you all for checking out my paintings! Take care.

 

[DaveG]

If he did that as a Hemingway reference I'm already down with signing him to an extension.

 

[What the Faulk]

I'm Cam Ward's biggest fan, but it's hard to argue against Ellis right now. Still, they're not going to have prolonged success with Ellis out there. He's hot, so play him more than normal, but Cam Ward has to get going and the only way that will happen is through game experience. Scrimmages and practices are next to worthless when talking about that. I'd throw Cam out there tonight and if he lets in less than 2, he goes Tuesday. 2 or more and Ellis goes Tuesday. Simple as that.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

33 shots on goal tonight.

Pretty sure they just randomly threw up a SOG total for that game, because there was no way there were 60+ shots on goal that game. I wonder if the guy who maintained the scoresheet realized the shots actually have to be on net for them to officially count as a "shot".

So the shinpad blasts or the "high and wide" shots shouldn't be credited, which there were a lot of last night. Both teams played really well defensively. Got the sticks and bodies in the right places.

 

[normalpsychology]

Pretty sure they just randomly threw up a SOG total for that game, because there was no way there were 60+ shots on goal that game. I wonder if the guy who maintained the scoresheet realized the shots actually have to be on net for them to officially count as a "shot".

So the shinpad blasts or the "high and wide" shots shouldn't be credited, which there were a lot of last night. Both teams played really well defensively. Got the sticks and bodies in the right places.

Indeed there were. Ottawa faced 35 shots and Ellis faced 33 (and gave up none). And I'm pretty sure they counted shots on the goals the same way they always count shots on goal. Or maybe we should go back through and see what Ward's save % would be if they exclude shinpad shots or high and wide ones. I really would be scared to see what it would be