The Puck Stops Here
Next entry: Top Defenceman So Far This Season
Previous entry: Tampa Circus Continues
Calgary’s goaltending Issues
by PuckStopsHere on 11/16/08 at 05:11 AM ET
Comments (6)
The Calgary Flames are not having a particularly bad season. They currently have a 9-9 record (with one regulation tie point). This is not a particularly good season either. If the season ended now, they would hold down the eighth and final playoff spot in the west. The main reason they have been held back is goaltending.
Miikka Kiprusoff has proven himself to be an elite goalie in the past. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2005/06. He was a nominee for the Vezina in 2003/04 and 2006/07. Since then, he has not been an elite goaltender. Last year his goals against average grew to 2.69 and his saves percentage dropped to .906. This made him an average NHL starter. So far this season, he has a 3.49 GAA and a .885 saves percentage. Those numbers just won’t do.
Despite those numbers, he has played almost every minute of the season for Calgary. The Flames have so little faith in Curtis McElhinney, their backup goalie that he hasn’t played much at all despite sub-par performances from Kiprusoff. If McElhinney is not considered good enough to play in these circumstances then what good is he? Shouldn’t Calgary find a backup goalie that they have enough faith to play ... ever?
That alone will not solve the problem. Calgary needs good goaltending. The most likely place that they will get it is Kiprusoff. He has provided it before. It is reasonable to expect he can do it again.
The current goaltending situation is not working. Kiprusoff is playing poorly and there is no backup considered worth playing. Both of those situations much change or Calgary will be in for a long season.
NOTE: The first comment seems to imply that I think McElhinney has not played at all. He has two games played. One game started. That is not ´playing much. When Kiprusoff is not playing well, a team should have faith in their backup to play him more than this.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: Calgary+Flames, Curtis+McElhinney, Miikka+Kiprusoff,
Comments
The defence is another issue entirely. That’s why it wasn’t mentioned.
Kiprusoff has not played well enough yet. Given that, I would be more iwlling to try backup goalies.
It isn’t a good thing to overplay Kiprusoff in the regular season - assuming you will have a playoff run where you need him.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 11/16/08 at 02:59 PM ET
Looks to me like a classic case of contract-itis.
Someone needs to take away Kipper’s champagne and caviar diet and put him back on Tim Horton’s.
The biggest quandry to me: To make a fantasy trade for Kipper or not?
I think not…
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 11/16/08 at 03:06 PM ET
The defence is another issue entirely. That’s why it wasn’t mentioned.
What is the above statement supposed to mean? Are you trying to suggest that Calgary’s pourous defense doesn’t have any impact on Kipper’s numbers? How can you give an honest critique of how a goaltender is faring if you don’t take a look at the defensemen and how good/bad a job they are doing in front of him?
For example, Luongo in Vancouver is having a fantastic start to the season. Yes, he’s playing well, but he also has a healthy defense in front of him (which wasn’t the case last season and consequently, his numbers were inflated).
Thanks for confirming what I already knew, which is you haven’t watched the Flames much if at all this season, and you simply scanned stat sheets and box scores to put together this so-called article.
Posted by dash_pinched from Rumour Mill Bay on 11/16/08 at 05:32 PM ET
Calgary’s defence has not been great. Its built on two very good pieces in Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr, but there hasn’t been any depth beyond that. That said, it is clear that Kiprusoff has not played well. You can’t have an .885 saves percentage and claim you are playing well - and saves percentage is the most team indepandant goaltender stat the NHL publishes.
Incorrectly interpreting this comment to mean I have never seen a Calgary game in my life - and then using that to boost your argument is rather immature. But by all means, go ahead and do it.
Which game should I have watched to see that Kiprusoff is playing well? Was in the San Jose game where he allowed 4 goals on 20 shots? His 6 goal game against Chicago? How about the 6 goal game against Nashville?
Its not fair to say that Kiprusoff is the only thing that hasn’t worked out this season on the Flames, but he is the most obvious and probably simplest to fix. A Vezina winning goalie should be doing much better than he has been.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 11/16/08 at 06:08 PM ET
If you really want to avoid confusion about who is implying what, you should probably delete the “he has played every minute of the season for Calgary” part.
Posted by Matt from Alberta on 11/23/08 at 12:04 PM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Most Recent Blog Posts
The Flip Side To Best Teams Pre-Lockout
Future Hall Of Famer Brendan Shanahan Retires
About The Puck Stops Here
The Puck Stops Here was founded during the 2004/05 lockout as a place to rant about hockey. The original site contains over 1000 posts, some of which were also published on FoxSports.com.
Who am I?
A diehard hockey fan.
Why am I blogging?
I want to.
Why are you reading it?
???
Email:
Donate to Kukla’s Korner
Ah no, McElhinney started the game in Columbus and also played the last two periods in that 6-1 debacle against San Jose this past Thursday.
Kipper can play better, but his defense is slow and terrible. Why no mention of this in the “article”? Aucoin is nothing more than a pylon, and Sarich isn’t much better. Overall, the Flames defensive zone coverage has been brutal all season.
Sorry to be blunt, but have you watched any Flames games this season? This story looks like box scores and stats were scanned and the conclusion “Kipper stinks” has been reached. Also, Sutter won’t be trading Kipper, moves need to made, but Kipper is staying put.
Just not a very good article overall.
Posted by dash_pinched from Rumour Mill Bay on 11/16/08 at 10:17 AM ET