It has been a quite a while since I have written a post, but that is 95% due to the fact that news and events in the league travels so fast that news from 3pm today is already old news 5 hours later. Its just so hard to not feel like you're beating a dead horse when trying to find subjects to write about. With that in mind I'm going to go back to something what was a common theme in my preseason power rankings, which as I stated there is how I expected teams to be at the end of the season. But that theme was that there are a lot of good to very good teams in the league, but most have questionable net minders.
It is hard to ignore all the goalie story lines that have popped up throughout the season. There are a few I had predicted, and a few that came out of left field. So what the plan here is to pick a few of them and evaluate what is going on and see if there is any kind of fix to be had, whether short term or long term.
Lets just start in Philly as they are the big story now where goal-tending in concerned. They have had 6 different goalies spend time in the net this year...6 goalies! In only 32 games!!! That is some crazy shit if there ever was. Vegas had some major goalie issues early last season but I think this one tops it. They're also not getting wins no matter who is in goal, unlike Vegas. Coming into the season the expected goalie tandem was going to be Brain Elliott and Michal Neuvirth. Brian Elliott, while not a great starting goalie, can get the job done. But at 33 time has caught up to him very quickly, even in his prime he was never anywhere near a top 10 goalie.
Neuvirth on the other hand had shown glimpses of brilliance in net. I'll always remember the scare he gave Washington a few years back in the 1st round of the playoff and his incredible 44 save shutout. But we need to get him wrapped in bubble wrap because he just has never been able to stay healthy for any meaningful stretch of games. And now after going through Pickard, Stolarz, and Alex Lyon, it seems we may have finally entered the Carter Hart era in Philly.
Carter Hart has been put up on the pedestal as the savior of Flyers goal-tending for years to come. There are good reasons to have these expectations as well. In the last 2 years playing in the World Junior Tournament, he was backed Canada to a Silver and Gold Medal. And now, in his 1st year as a pro, he is getting his shot to take over the net for a long time to come. After being the youngest goalie to earn a win in their debut since Carey Price. He looks to have a bright future in the league, but just throwing him in net wont fix all of the problems that the Flyers have, he will need some support. Otherwise a potentially great career could be going to waste.
Now for a team that many believe to be a true contender out west, the Calgary Flames. They currently are sitting atop the Pacific Division to the surprise of many, I don't think anyone expected that at the beginning of the season. But here they are with 47 points and 22 wins. That's 3 points behind and 1 win behind the Jets for 1st in the whole Western Conference. But they're not without their problems, most of which reside in the net. This is something that has plagued them since Mikka Kiprusoff retired many moons ago.
They came into the season with Mike Smith set to be their starter and he was. But after the 1st month of the season he was 4-4-1 with a .878 SV%- that just does not cut it in this league. So they then turned to David Rittich who in his own 1st 9 games, including where he came in in relief of Smith, had a 6-1 record with a .933 SV%...that cuts it in this league. But that's not where it ends in Calgary. There have been some reports of dysfunction in the locker room when it comes to Smith and new free agent acquisition James Neal. They have gotten into it publicly on the ice during an ice and in arena time out; as well as in the locker room.
Both are very intense guys and all reports that I have heard is they're actually very good friends, going back to before Neal joined the Flames. But damn if this doesn't cause tension in a room that should be loose to play its best. For his whole career though Mike Smith has been a very streaky and intense goalie. When he is hot, he is hot though, and that's what he was after Thanksgiving. From then on he went 6-0 with a .936 SV% and 1 shutout. But he hasn't played since allowing 4 goals against the Flyers, where Rittich took over in the 3rd, the team stormed back and got the win in Overtime. And in the 4 games since that, Rittich has gone 2-1-1 with a .929 SV%, and the OTL was a SO lose to the Lightning, just for reference.
The bottom line for the Flames though is that they are find ways to win games. If they could get their goalie situation a little more steady that will only benefit them though. And not to worry, Mike Smith will be a Free Agent after this season is over anyhow...and Rittich will be a Restricted Free Agent. For prospects they also have Tyler Parsons, of USA Hockey fame in the World Juniors, and Nick Schneider, who while mediocre at best in the WHL has some promising numbers this season in the AHL. So the future of who mans the net in Calgary for the long term may not be so far off.
But these aren't the only teams having goalie problems this season. Keep and eye out for The Goalie Conundrum Part 2 as we look at some other teams who have had unexpected goalie problems this season. But until then enjoy the holidays everyone and most importantly, the World Junior Championship!
