Amid the heady rumors of Marian Hossa and Jaromir Jagr being courted by Edmonton, the most amazing moment of 2008 (re: Oilers) received the attention of a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream (hat tip: John Candy).Hossa's agent Ritch Winter suggested Hossa's concern about being an Edmonton Oiler came down to goaltending.I remember questioning my own ears when I heard it, because the Oilers goaltending situation has improved since the day Roloson flew over. Plus, if Garon and Roloson aren't clients of Winter that's just really bad form and the "elephant in the room" for the Northwest division is in Calgary.The Oilers' starter last season performed reasonably well compared to the division's #1's:07-08SPNiklas Backstrom (MIN) 58gp, .920Roberto Luongo (VCR) 73gp, .917Mathieu Garon (EDM) 47gp, .913Jose Theodrore (COL) 53gp, .910Mikka Kiprusoff (CGY) 76gp, .906The Flames needed to address goaltending, at the very least bringing in a quality backup to give Kipper some rest (which is likely a lot of the problem). Calgary now have Curtis McElhinney as backup and that Irving kid is waiting in the wings. Colorado decided to undertake an experimental approach to their goaltending and now have a combination in goal that resembles Tom and Dick Smothers.The Oilers? It looks for all the world like they acquired a guy at the right time. Garon is just 30 now, his SP's have been solid save for the Black Hole of LA (which is currently trying to swallow LaBarbara) but even a closer look there suggests he was performing at a level superior to other candidates:06-07 Los Angeles SP'sGaron .907 in 32gpSean Burke .901 in 23gpBarry Brust .878 in 11gpDan Cloutier .860 in 24gpThe Kings were a mess and Garon wasn't Luongo but he wasn't Yutaka Fukfuji either. His career SP in the is .906 and in the AHL it's .915 and he's certainly earned a chance to grab that number one slot. His salary is $1.1M and that has a tremendous chance to be a bargain.The danger here is in signing him to a big contract. He does not have the kind of resume you'd like to see in a top flight free agent making the big money. I suspect the biggest decision for this Tambellini fellow this season will have to do with Garon and when/if to sign him long term. Goaltending can make qualified people look positively stupid. The improvements up front, along with fewer grenades on the blue should mean a slight improvement for Garon this season. Prediction for 08-09: 52gp, 2.75 .915Source
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Reasonable Expectations for 08-09 (Garon)
Amid the heady rumors of Marian Hossa and Jaromir Jagr being courted by Edmonton, the most amazing moment of 2008 (re: Oilers) received the attention of a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream (hat tip: John Candy).Hossa's agent Ritch Winter suggested Hossa's concern about being an Edmonton Oiler came down to goaltending.I remember questioning my own ears when I heard it, because the Oilers goaltending situation has improved since the day Roloson flew over. Plus, if Garon and Roloson aren't clients of Winter that's just really bad form and the "elephant in the room" for the Northwest division is in Calgary.The Oilers' starter last season performed reasonably well compared to the division's #1's:07-08SPNiklas Backstrom (MIN) 58gp, .920Roberto Luongo (VCR) 73gp, .917Mathieu Garon (EDM) 47gp, .913Jose Theodrore (COL) 53gp, .910Mikka Kiprusoff (CGY) 76gp, .906The Flames needed to address goaltending, at the very least bringing in a quality backup to give Kipper some rest (which is likely a lot of the problem). Calgary now have Curtis McElhinney as backup and that Irving kid is waiting in the wings. Colorado decided to undertake an experimental approach to their goaltending and now have a combination in goal that resembles Tom and Dick Smothers.The Oilers? It looks for all the world like they acquired a guy at the right time. Garon is just 30 now, his SP's have been solid save for the Black Hole of LA (which is currently trying to swallow LaBarbara) but even a closer look there suggests he was performing at a level superior to other candidates:06-07 Los Angeles SP'sGaron .907 in 32gpSean Burke .901 in 23gpBarry Brust .878 in 11gpDan Cloutier .860 in 24gpThe Kings were a mess and Garon wasn't Luongo but he wasn't Yutaka Fukfuji either. His career SP in the is .906 and in the AHL it's .915 and he's certainly earned a chance to grab that number one slot. His salary is $1.1M and that has a tremendous chance to be a bargain.The danger here is in signing him to a big contract. He does not have the kind of resume you'd like to see in a top flight free agent making the big money. I suspect the biggest decision for this Tambellini fellow this season will have to do with Garon and when/if to sign him long term. Goaltending can make qualified people look positively stupid. The improvements up front, along with fewer grenades on the blue should mean a slight improvement for Garon this season. Prediction for 08-09: 52gp, 2.75 .915Source
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Some good points. Looks like the Flames are going to have a tough time in net this year unless Kipper can turn things around. It's still early, but he hasn't looked like a 7 million dollar goalie in about 2 years.
Are you interested in posting for NHLFreak.com? I need some differing perspective, we are mostly Oiler fans, and if are interested in joining a team of blog writers, and a blog that will have high exposure, I'd be happy to have you join the team.
Let me know speedmetal@gmail.com
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