Filling The Sticks In Calgary
With the retirement of Miikka Kiprusoff, the Calgary Flames are left without a starting goalie. At a time when the Flames are rebuilding the franchise, this is a headache that Jay Feaster can really do without.
So who can step up and take the number one spot? The Flames played four goalies last season. Kiprusoff and Joey MacDonald took most of the games, while Leland Irving and Daniel Taylor played eight between them.
This leaves Feaster with two likely outcomes, does he promote MacDonald to the number one spot and allow Irving or Taylor to back him up? Or does he spend some money and bring in another experienced goalie.
Either option is risky. The Flames aren't exactly on solid ground right now. MacDonald is only entering his second season with the Flames but he's an experienced goalie, having defended the nets for Detroit, Boston, Toronto and the Islanders, as well as some affiliates. I've no doubt he'd make a decent number one goalie.
The other option is that the Flames could pick up one of the excellent UFAs currently on the market. Seven Days favourite Tim Thomas may be on trail at Florida but no deal is done yet. Thomas may have sat out last season but a phased return with MacDonald taking a few games could quickly see the multiple Vezina Trophy winner back at his best.
Either way, it's going to be an interesting season for the Flames, eager to regain the glory days of the late 80s.
So who can step up and take the number one spot? The Flames played four goalies last season. Kiprusoff and Joey MacDonald took most of the games, while Leland Irving and Daniel Taylor played eight between them.
This leaves Feaster with two likely outcomes, does he promote MacDonald to the number one spot and allow Irving or Taylor to back him up? Or does he spend some money and bring in another experienced goalie.
Either option is risky. The Flames aren't exactly on solid ground right now. MacDonald is only entering his second season with the Flames but he's an experienced goalie, having defended the nets for Detroit, Boston, Toronto and the Islanders, as well as some affiliates. I've no doubt he'd make a decent number one goalie.
The other option is that the Flames could pick up one of the excellent UFAs currently on the market. Seven Days favourite Tim Thomas may be on trail at Florida but no deal is done yet. Thomas may have sat out last season but a phased return with MacDonald taking a few games could quickly see the multiple Vezina Trophy winner back at his best.
Either way, it's going to be an interesting season for the Flames, eager to regain the glory days of the late 80s.
Comments
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated and may take a while to appear. This is because the authors are busy/lazy/away.