Posts About "Jon Gillies"
Flames' Goaltending Has Real Depth
March 27th, 2020 There are a lot more goalies in the system than you might be aware of. Learning more about these players and where they stand in terms of contracts, might help you decide where you stand on the goalie controversy. NHL Goalies David Rittich The 27-year-old, Czechoslovakian native has spent his career with the Calgary Flames. He...
Flames Need Net Depth for Season Success
September 17th, 2018 The Calgary Flames missed the postseason in 2017-18 and did so due to the conflation of several smaller challenges that snowballed on them. While no one factor caused their season to unravel, the single largest factor was their goaltending. While Mike Smith was superb in the first half of the season, they didn't get what they...
Flames Scramble Without Mike Smith
March 3rd, 2018 In hockey, good goaltending can cover up for a lot of a team's deficiencies. But it's incredibly difficult to cover up for deficient goaltending. While it's difficult to characterize the Calgary Flames' goaltending without Mike Smith as deficient, it's safe to say that the team is a lot better with him than without him. A recent...
Have the Flames Fixed Their Crease Carousel?
December 22nd, 2017 Since the franchise began in Atlanta in the 1972-73 season, the Calgary Flames have only had stable goaltending for two distinct periods. The first was during the tenure of Mike Vernon throughout the 1980s and very early '90s, the second was during the decade that Miikka Kiprusoff tended the twine. Since Kiprusoff retired at the...
Flames Future Bright Between the Pipes
October 20th, 2017 The long, tedious process of finding a consistent number-one goaltender ended for the Calgary Flames when they acquired Mike Smith from the Arizona Coyotes. Although Smith has been nothing short of spectacular so far, he's 35 years old and likely won't be re-signed when his contract expires at the end of the 2018-19 season. With...
Calgary Flames 2017-18 Bold Predictions
October 1st, 2017 The Calgary Flames have completed their preseason schedule and now can turn their attention to the regular season. After making a handful of key changes to their roster, expectations are high for the Flames. Here are a few bold predictions for how the 2017-18 season will unfold for the gentlemen in red sweaters. Sam Bennett Bounces...
Flames Face Looming Decisions In Net
September 24th, 2017 In hockey, teams often live and die by their goaltending. Good goaltending can cover up for a lot of a team's shortcomings, but very few things can cover up for bad goaltending. Because of the challenges in projecting young goaltenders to higher levels, quite often clubs accumulate a lot of netminders and then hope one or two turn out....
Stockton Heat Could Ignite the Flames
May 29th, 2017 The Calgary Flames have many talented players playing for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Stockton Heat. Many of these players could very well be key players in the Flames' future. Some of the prospects appear to be NHL ready, whereas some of them may never be in the NHL. In this article, I discuss who I think is NHL ready,...
What to Do About Flames' Goaltending?
May 9th, 2017 Once again the Calgary Flames enter the offseason with a tough situation involving goalies. General manager Brad Treliving thought he had solved that issue last year when he went out and acquired Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson. There were some bright spots in goal but for the most part, it was terribly inconsistent and often...
Flames Goalies for Sale at Deadline?
January 17th, 2017 Chad Johnson has earned the title of top goalie for the Calgary Flames this season. However, Brian Elliott is one season removed from leading the NHL in save percentage and has recently played very well in games where the rest of his team has simply not shown up. Could either be traded? It might sound unlikely but don't forget that...
Can Elliott Be Flames' Top Goalie?
January 16th, 2017 When I think of Calgary Flames netminder Brian Elliott, I often think back to the 2003 film Seabiscuit. In the film, a thoroughbred horse with strong bloodlines fails to live up to expectations and is turned into a staking horse to push better horses in their training. Only when he's given up on by his original owners does Seabiscuit...
3 Flames Takeaways From the 2016 Young Stars Classic
September 21st, 2016 The 2016 Young Stars Classic has finished up in scenic Penticton, British Columbia. Viewed since its inception in 2010 as the traditional kick-off for the hockey season, this year's edition saw prospects from the four Western Canadian clubs do battle for supremacy. The Calgary Flames won two of three games over the weekend event, with...
5 Flames Prospects Poised for NHL Jobs
August 26th, 2016 The Calgary Flames have progressed through their rebuild quite a bit over the past few seasons, owing a large part of their recent successes to the emergence of the young, home-grown talent. With Flames-drafted players such as Sam Bennett, Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau anchoring their roster, Calgary seems poised to continue some of...
