Did Anyone hear the Ray Shero interview

[KG]

I love all the talk of players "wondering" if they are going to remain Penguins, or staring into darkness sad at the thought that they might leave, etc etc etc. THEY are the ones who decide it. I mean, if for example, Staal said "making 5 million a year is enough for me" there would be no chance he gets traded. In this situation if someone gets moved it will be because of $$$, not because they want to stay at all costs and get moved out anyway.

If Staal could make $7mill on the open market in his next contract or say here for $5mill....You can't expect anyone to leave that kind of money on the table. This is a business. Staal will make new friends on his new team...

[SteelCityFan]

One thing that is going unsaid in the Pittsburgh media, and MM touched on this with Shero. Mark Andre Fleury. He was great this season. But he was Gordie Laxton in the playoffs. He was good last year in the playoffs, but Roloson was better. And against Montreal the year before, he was not good.

Yeah he won a cup. No one can take that away. So did Chris Osgood. So did Anti Niemi. So did JS Gigure. Are they elite, franchise goalies?

If you don't think JS Gigure was an elite goalie then you must of just recently started watching hockey. He won the Conn Smyth in 2003 even though his team lost in the finals to New Jersey, and won the Cup in 2007. He was the epitomy of an elite goaltender. Osgood was on three cup winning teams. Hard to do if you're just an average goalie.

Again, neither Dan Bylsma or Ray Shero is responsible for MAF's complete meltdown in the playoffs this year. Or in the Montreal series. If he was even average in either, we likely move on.

More garbage. Somebody already posted in this thread that something like 20 of Philthy's 30 goals came from within 15 feet of the net. Ever heard of a thing called defense? I'm not saying that MAF doesn't lose focus and let in a weak goal every now and then, but to say he's the reason we lost is asinine. We don't even get a sniff at two cup appearances without him.

[owtahear]

One thing that is going unsaid in the Pittsburgh media, and MM touched on this with Shero. Mark Andre Fleury. He was great this season. But he was Gordie Laxton in the playoffs. He was good last year in the playoffs, but Roloson was better. And against Montreal the year before, he was not good.

Yeah he won a cup. No one can take that away. So did Chris Osgood. So did Anti Niemi. So did JS Gigure. Are they elite, franchise goalies?

If you don't think JS Gigure was an elite goalie then you must of just recently started watching hockey. He won the Conn Smyth in 2003 even though his team lost in the finals to New Jersey, and won the Cup in 2007. He was the epitomy of an elite goaltender. Osgood was on three cup winning teams. Hard to do if you're just an average goalie.

Again, neither Dan Bylsma or Ray Shero is responsible for MAF's complete meltdown in the playoffs this year. Or in the Montreal series. If he was even average in either, we likely move on.

More garbage. Somebody already posted in this thread that something like 20 of Philthy's 30 goals came from within 15 feet of the net. Ever heard of a thing called defense? I'm not saying that MAF doesn't lose focus and let in a weak goal every now and then, but to say he's the reason we lost is asinine. We don't even get a sniff at two cup appearances without him.

Steel City, I saw Mario's first home game, live. So....Didn't just start watching hockey. First off, Gigure was great when it was easy to be a goalie. But, he was also a 3 year wonder.

MAF went to the finals and also won a Cup. Gigure is not an elite goalie.

[DontToewsMeBro]

One thing that is going unsaid in the Pittsburgh media, and MM touched on this with Shero. Mark Andre Fleury. He was great this season. But he was Gordie Laxton in the playoffs. He was good last year in the playoffs, but Roloson was better. And against Montreal the year before, he was not good.

Yeah he won a cup. No one can take that away. So did Chris Osgood. So did Anti Niemi. So did JS Gigure. Are they elite, franchise goalies?

If you don't think JS Gigure was an elite goalie then you must of just recently started watching hockey. He won the Conn Smyth in 2003 even though his team lost in the finals to New Jersey, and won the Cup in 2007. He was the epitomy of an elite goaltender. Osgood was on three cup winning teams. Hard to do if you're just an average goalie.

Again, neither Dan Bylsma or Ray Shero is responsible for MAF's complete meltdown in the playoffs this year. Or in the Montreal series. If he was even average in either, we likely move on.

More garbage. Somebody already posted in this thread that something like 20 of Philthy's 30 goals came from within 15 feet of the net. Ever heard of a thing called defense? I'm not saying that MAF doesn't lose focus and let in a weak goal every now and then, but to say he's the reason we lost is asinine. We don't even get a sniff at two cup appearances without him.

So 10 goals in 6 games were from above the slot. That's still way too many. From watching the series you don't need much more than the eyeball test to realize our defense was beyond terrible, but so was Fleury. Maybe part of the reason our defense was playing terrible is because they had a scared goaltender? When Fleury lets in a shot like that blue-line slapper in Game 6, that is COMPLETELY deflating for the whole team. I know what that feels like to have a goaltender you don't trust and it plays a huge part in your team's mental composition. I don't think it was a coincidence our best (relative term, now) defensive outing came in the game Fleury was the strongest.

[tfrizz]

One thing that I didnt like was RS Blaming the salary cap for his woes. When, in reality, our d today could still look like tbe 09 team.

I think he's starting to get a bit defensive because of the criticism. His D signings have not worked out. We were soft. Simple as that. He can throw all the stats he wants like here:

http://triblive.com/sports/penguins/1181635-85/penguins-team-shero-difficult-bylsma-goals-players-think-allow-built

But fact remains that Flyers physically rolled over us. Full-year stats like the above (51 wins, good PK overall) are meaningless because we are too talented for most teams, but when it comes to beating certain teams it is that we find we have some problems. We couldn't handle the Flyers. From the same article:

Now consider this: Of the 30 goals the Flyers scored in six games against the Penguins, 20 came within 15 feet of the net.

“I don’t know that we deterred them from the net,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “I don’t know that we made it as hard on that group as we needed to.”

Still, Shero insists team toughness is not a concern.

“I don’t think we were easy to play against,” Shero said. “Physically, we play the game the right way. We defended the right way.”

I'm sorry, Ray, but you're full of crappies. All you have to do is listen to Bylsma and Orpik's exit interviews. Although subtle, their comments on the toughness of team's D left no doubt in my mind they felt it was lacking.

I still like Shero and support him, but he screwed the pooch a little, IMO.

He did and didn't screw the pooch. He was working with what was available, though I couldn't help but think "man, the Pens really could've used that" as I watched Hal Gill play for the Preds last night. The guy's only got one speed - slow - but he's a positionally sound defensive defensemen who hold no qualms about clearing the front of the net. When he and Scuderi left in free agency, the Pens lost their shutdown defense and replaced it with a non-physical puck mover (Martin) and a good shot-blocking but positionally poor defender (Michalek).

[tfrizz]

Or he might have been staring at the ceiling with a longing look... as the feeling of complete failure by his team and himself sunk in.

Just saying. That is probably FAR more likely than Staal thinking about his new team next year.

I really like Staal and want to keep him a long time, so I am hoping you are correct sir.

The only thing about that is I believe GMRS is beginning to come to the realization that keeping Crosby + Malkin + Staal while fielding a well-rounded, competitive team under the salary cap is going to be a nearly impossible task. They already make up 1/3 of the salary cap, and who knows what happens with the new CBA.

[tfrizz]

One thing that is going unsaid in the Pittsburgh media, and MM touched on this with Shero. Mark Andre Fleury. He was great this season. But he was Gordie Laxton in the playoffs. He was good last year in the playoffs, but Roloson was better. And against Montreal the year before, he was not good.

Yeah he won a cup. No one can take that away. So did Chris Osgood. So did Anti Niemi. So did JS Gigure. Are they elite, franchise goalies?

You don't need an elite, franchise goalie to win the Cup if you play a good system and have good players infront of him. But, you can't pay a ton of money to your goalie if thats what your tryin to do.

Look at Mike Smith.. Dude was garbage until he got in PHX. Same with Bryz. Is Bryz good, sure, but hes not the 51 million dollar goalie Philly thinks he is. IF MAF played in PHX right now they might have gone undefeated

I hear this name thrown around at lot when talking about goaltending in Phoenix, and after a bit of research I have to agree. Sean Burke is a BIG reason the Coyotes are successful in net. He's only been coaching for 3 seasons, and in that time they've done the following:

2009-10: Ilya Bryzgalov posts a career-best 42-20-6 record and 2.29 GAA. He also posted a .920 save %, just shy of his career-best mark of .921.
2010-11: Ilya Bryzgalov hits the 30-win plateau for the second time is his career, and for consecutive seasons no less, with a record of 36-20-10. It also included a respectable 2.48 GAA, and a .921 save % to tie his career best.
2011-12: Mike Smith goes from "unclaimed on re-entry waivers" in the 2010-11 season to "potential Vezina candidate" in 2011-12 - enough said.

[tfrizz]

One thing that is going unsaid in the Pittsburgh media, and MM touched on this with Shero. Mark Andre Fleury. He was great this season. But he was Gordie Laxton in the playoffs. He was good last year in the playoffs, but Roloson was better. And against Montreal the year before, he was not good.

Yeah he won a cup. No one can take that away. So did Chris Osgood. So did Anti Niemi. So did JS Gigure. Are they elite, franchise goalies?

This, except I would differ that he was good in last year's playoffs. In fact, I would argue that he was inconsistent in the two Cup Final runs as well - great one night and bad another. He was good enough in those years, but hardly the kind of consistent puck stopper you see on other inferior teams.

He also bested Chris Osgood in the finals.

The first Cup run was perhaps the best 3+ months of hockey Fleury ever played. His game was at an elite level almost every night. He only put up a save % under .926 three times in the regular season after returning from injury - one of which was his first game back. Through the playoffs, he was under a .920 save % 7 times in 20 games and was above a .930 save % 11 times in the span.

Other notes during this stretch:

• This marked the first time in his NHL career that Fleury actually had a goalie coach, as the Penguins brought Gilles Meloche in off their scouting staff to work with Fleury while he rehabbed.
• It was also made quite public that Ty Conklin was doing a lot of coaching/tutoring of Fleury. The three areas that were most talked about were: positioning/technique, puck handling, and mental toughness.

Give the fact that Fleury has not progressed much more than natural maturation in the past 5 years under Meloche's coaching, I'm inclined to think that Conklin was a huge reason Fleury played so well over that stretch.

[offsides]

Or he might have been staring at the ceiling with a longing look... as the feeling of complete failure by his team and himself sunk in.

Just saying. That is probably FAR more likely than Staal thinking about his new team next year.

I really like Staal and want to keep him a long time, so I am hoping you are correct sir.

The only thing about that is I believe GMRS is beginning to come to the realization that keeping Crosby + Malkin + Staal while fielding a well-rounded, competitive team under the salary cap is going to be a nearly impossible task. They already make up 1/3 of the salary cap, and who knows what happens with the new CBA.

Not sure if impossible, but it will be very very hard. This three star center stuff isn't working out real well in the playoffs. Could be an interesting summer for GMRS to say the least.

[tfrizz]

Sorry, not buying the clutch n grab excuses anymore

I buy it, but that doesn't make it a valid excuse. Everyone else has adjusted to the clutching and grabbing, why can't the Pens?

[tfrizz]

One thing that is going unsaid in the Pittsburgh media, and MM touched on this with Shero. Mark Andre Fleury. He was great this season. But he was Gordie Laxton in the playoffs. He was good last year in the playoffs, but Roloson was better. And against Montreal the year before, he was not good.

Yeah he won a cup. No one can take that away. So did Chris Osgood. So did Anti Niemi. So did JS Gigure. Are they elite, franchise goalies?

If you don't think JS Gigure was an elite goalie then you must of just recently started watching hockey. He won the Conn Smyth in 2003 even though his team lost in the finals to New Jersey, and won the Cup in 2007. He was the epitomy of an elite goaltender. Osgood was on three cup winning teams. Hard to do if you're just an average goalie.

Again, neither Dan Bylsma or Ray Shero is responsible for MAF's complete meltdown in the playoffs this year. Or in the Montreal series. If he was even average in either, we likely move on.

More garbage. Somebody already posted in this thread that something like 20 of Philthy's 30 goals came from within 15 feet of the net. Ever heard of a thing called defense? I'm not saying that MAF doesn't lose focus and let in a weak goal every now and then, but to say he's the reason we lost is asinine. We don't even get a sniff at two cup appearances without him.

So 10 goals in 6 games were from above the slot. That's still way too many. From watching the series you don't need much more than the eyeball test to realize our defense was beyond terrible, but so was Fleury. Maybe part of the reason our defense was playing terrible is because they had a scared goaltender? When Fleury lets in a shot like that blue-line slapper in Game 6, that is COMPLETELY deflating for the whole team. I know what that feels like to have a goaltender you don't trust and it plays a huge part in your team's mental composition. I don't think it was a coincidence our best (relative term, now) defensive outing came in the game Fleury was the strongest.

And maybe part of the reason Fleury was "scared" is because the defense was so terrible. It's a two-way street.

[DesertPenguin]

Shero isn't going to stand pat, but I don't think J Staal is going anywhere this summer either. Next summer, maybe, if he has to, but not now. Our team defense was awful in the series. He's not going to trade away his best defensive forward, who by the way gave the best and most consistent performance of the whole team.

I am praying the CBA gets addressed quickly so RS has the flexibility to make the moves he needs to make. Once he knows his cap number, he can get to work retooling the defense. His interview indicates to me that, with the return of clutch and grab, his defense needs less slick skating puck movers and more big bodied crease clearers.

Letang, Orpik and Engelland will return. Despres is ready, he makes 4. Despres has some size and physicality to him, so that helps. He's 6'4" 220 lbs and has room on his frame to add more. He won't be counted on for big minutes early on though, so the rest will need to be spread around to others.

Niskanen is not a physical player, but he seems to excel in Bylsma's system, which he himself knows, and will be motivated financially to return. I'd like to see that happen. I'd be a little afraid to see him in the top 4 without a very sound partner, but as a #5 with Engo, hes a good pair.

Strait or Lovejoy will be the #7. I don't care which. Given Lovejoy's struggles in this series, my thinking is Strait gets the nod. We will also have Morrow and Harrington in the A ready to fill in if there are injuries.

That leaves one spot for either Martin, Michalek or a free agent. If you can move them, I'd do it. Everyone is pointing towards Suter as that replacement, but I think thats the wrong move. He is 6'1" 195lbs. He is not the physical presence we are looking to add. We need someone that is in the 220 range and uses it. I'm pouring through the list of free agents right now and no one really stands out, but Suter is not the answer. Id rather spend 4-5 mil on a guy and save the rest for Staal, Sid, and in the future Geno, Dupuis, Kunitz etc etc etc Anyone have any ideas?

[Pavel Bure]

Shero isn't going to stand pat, but I don't think J Staal is going anywhere this summer either. Next summer, maybe, if he has to, but not now. Our team defense was awful in the series. He's not going to trade away his best defensive forward, who by the way gave the best and most consistent performance of the whole team.

I am praying the CBA gets addressed quickly so RS has the flexibility to make the moves he needs to make. Once he knows his cap number, he can get to work retooling the defense. His interview indicates to me that, with the return of clutch and grab, his defense needs less slick skating puck movers and more big bodied crease clearers.

Letang, Orpik and Engelland will return. Despres is ready, he makes 4. Despres has some size and physicality to him, so that helps. He's 6'4" 220 lbs and has room on his frame to add more. He won't be counted on for big minutes early on though, so the rest will need to be spread around to others.

Niskanen is not a physical player, but he seems to excel in Bylsma's system, which he himself knows, and will be motivated financially to return. I'd like to see that happen. I'd be a little afraid to see him in the top 4 without a very sound partner, but as a #5 with Engo, hes a good pair.

Strait or Lovejoy will be the #7. I don't care which. Given Lovejoy's struggles in this series, my thinking is Strait gets the nod. We will also have Morrow and Harrington in the A ready to fill in if there are injuries.

That leaves one spot for either Martin, Michalek or a free agent. If you can move them, I'd do it. Everyone is pointing towards Suter as that replacement, but I think thats the wrong move. He is 6'1" 195lbs. He is not the physical presence we are looking to add. We need someone that is in the 220 range and uses it. I'm pouring through the list of free agents right now and no one really stands out, but Suter is not the answer. Id rather spend 4-5 mil on a guy and save the rest for Staal, Sid, and in the future Geno, Dupuis, Kunitz etc etc etc Anyone have any ideas?

This is what you've got
Kubina - Old and over the hill but for the right price would look good on the 3rd pairing
Stuart - If it's at his current price tag no. For 750k less then yes.
Jackman - Will probably make around his current price tag
Sarich - Good one on one but how much did playing in Calgary taint him
Gill - Older but still effective, question is do you want to pay him over 2M
Aucioin - Again older but at the right price can be good
Zannon - Haven't watch him play a lot but 116 hits in 56 games
That's really all you've got in terms of physicality that isn't totally useless otherwise.

[Staggy]

If we traded Staal next summer then we might get a 3rd round pick, at best. Either signing or trading him this summer are the two likeliest scenarios.

[DesertPenguin]

Shero isn't going to stand pat, but I don't think J Staal is going anywhere this summer either. Next summer, maybe, if he has to, but not now. Our team defense was awful in the series. He's not going to trade away his best defensive forward, who by the way gave the best and most consistent performance of the whole team.

I am praying the CBA gets addressed quickly so RS has the flexibility to make the moves he needs to make. Once he knows his cap number, he can get to work retooling the defense. His interview indicates to me that, with the return of clutch and grab, his defense needs less slick skating puck movers and more big bodied crease clearers.

Letang, Orpik and Engelland will return. Despres is ready, he makes 4. Despres has some size and physicality to him, so that helps. He's 6'4" 220 lbs and has room on his frame to add more. He won't be counted on for big minutes early on though, so the rest will need to be spread around to others.

Niskanen is not a physical player, but he seems to excel in Bylsma's system, which he himself knows, and will be motivated financially to return. I'd like to see that happen. I'd be a little afraid to see him in the top 4 without a very sound partner, but as a #5 with Engo, hes a good pair.

Strait or Lovejoy will be the #7. I don't care which. Given Lovejoy's struggles in this series, my thinking is Strait gets the nod. We will also have Morrow and Harrington in the A ready to fill in if there are injuries.

That leaves one spot for either Martin, Michalek or a free agent. If you can move them, I'd do it. Everyone is pointing towards Suter as that replacement, but I think thats the wrong move. He is 6'1" 195lbs. He is not the physical presence we are looking to add. We need someone that is in the 220 range and uses it. I'm pouring through the list of free agents right now and no one really stands out, but Suter is not the answer. Id rather spend 4-5 mil on a guy and save the rest for Staal, Sid, and in the future Geno, Dupuis, Kunitz etc etc etc Anyone have any ideas?

This is what you've got
Kubina - Old and over the hill but for the right price would look good on the 3rd pairing
Stuart - If it's at his current price tag no. For 750k less then yes.
Jackman - Will probably make around his current price tag
Sarich - Good one on one but how much did playing in Calgary taint him
Gill - Older but still effective, question is do you want to pay him over 2M
Aucioin - Again older but at the right price can be good
Zannon - Haven't watch him play a lot but 116 hits in 56 games
That's really all you've got in terms of physicality that isn't totally useless otherwise.

Hall Gill on a 1-2 year deal would be a nice stop gap until Despres is ready for bigger minutes and Morrow and Harrington arrive. The more I think about it, the more I feel that adding Despres alone will help out. He didn't look out or place in the playoffs, despite being thrown into an impossible situation coming up from the Baby Pens mid way through the series. He threw some nice hits and was calm under pressure. Given a full season in the NHL, and I think hes a big part of the answer.

Would it be that bad to come into next season with

Orpik - Letang
Despres - Michalek/Martin
Niskanen - Engelland
Strait
?

Given a year to grow into the position, Despres could be top 4 caliber.

[owtahear]

One thing that is going unsaid in the Pittsburgh media, and MM touched on this with Shero. Mark Andre Fleury. He was great this season. But he was Gordie Laxton in the playoffs. He was good last year in the playoffs, but Roloson was better. And against Montreal the year before, he was not good.

Yeah he won a cup. No one can take that away. So did Chris Osgood. So did Anti Niemi. So did JS Gigure. Are they elite, franchise goalies?

If you don't think JS Gigure was an elite goalie then you must of just recently started watching hockey. He won the Conn Smyth in 2003 even though his team lost in the finals to New Jersey, and won the Cup in 2007. He was the epitomy of an elite goaltender. Osgood was on three cup winning teams. Hard to do if you're just an average goalie.

Again, neither Dan Bylsma or Ray Shero is responsible for MAF's complete meltdown in the playoffs this year. Or in the Montreal series. If he was even average in either, we likely move on.

More garbage. Somebody already posted in this thread that something like 20 of Philthy's 30 goals came from within 15 feet of the net. Ever heard of a thing called defense? I'm not saying that MAF doesn't lose focus and let in a weak goal every now and then, but to say he's the reason we lost is asinine. We don't even get a sniff at two cup appearances without him.

So 10 goals in 6 games were from above the slot. That's still way too many. From watching the series you don't need much more than the eyeball test to realize our defense was beyond terrible, but so was Fleury. Maybe part of the reason our defense was playing terrible is because they had a scared goaltender? When Fleury lets in a shot like that blue-line slapper in Game 6, that is COMPLETELY deflating for the whole team. I know what that feels like to have a goaltender you don't trust and it plays a huge part in your team's mental composition. I don't think it was a coincidence our best (relative term, now) defensive outing came in the game Fleury was the strongest.

Exactly. The way people go out of their way to NOT criticize Fleury speaks to people worried about his psyche. He is a great talent no doubt. But his concentration wanes. Perhaps less clowning in practice on their shoot out contests, and being more focused is better. I would switch goalie coaches. And get a a competent backup so MAF doesn't burn himself out.

The defense was bad yes. But a "franchise goalie" while not supposed to make all the stops, should make most of the stops. And everyone talks about the Grossman goal, but how about the horrific 1st goal he let in Game 3? That was just a killer and fed the frenzy.

[AlexPKeaton]

Fleury is no longer a "great" goalie. He is the second biggest headcase goalie in the league behind Luongo. Maybe ahead of Luongo. Fleury is a solid regular season goalie and a crap playoff goalie now. I have no faith that he will ever again be good in the playoffs after this historically bad performance following the 2 prior seasons of sub-par performances. I would dump him if we had any goaltender talent at all in the system. RS needs to start drafting goalies.

[RisslingsMissingTeeth]

Interesting interview. I'll repeat what I've said in other threads. Malkin is gone.

As for the defense, I think Ray is playing his cards close to the vest. I think you will see him trying hard to deal anyone but probably Letang. The problem in all of this is that once it gets out there, you have to deal with some hurt egos in case it doesn't work out.

Why didn't he ask about Nisky?!?

[MRandall25]

Fleury is no longer a "great" goalie. He is the second biggest headcase goalie in the league behind Luongo. Maybe ahead of Luongo. Fleury is a solid regular season goalie and a crap playoff goalie now. I have no faith that he will ever again be good in the playoffs after this historically bad performance following the 2 prior seasons of sub-par performances. I would dump him if we had any goaltender talent at all in the system. RS needs to start drafting goalies.

Lol.

Cup ring.

[offsides]

Interesting interview. I'll repeat what I've said in other threads. Malkin is gone.

As for the defense, I think Ray is playing his cards close to the vest. I think you will see him trying hard to deal anyone but probably Letang. The problem in all of this is that once it gets out there, you have to deal with some hurt egos in case it doesn't work out.

Why didn't he ask about Nisky?!?

Not that I'm thrilled about it, but you could be right. Just can't keep them all and have a well balanced team in the cap world.

[penny lane]

evgeni carried the team in 2008 when Sid had his high ankle sprain. Jordan is a clutch player, but a #2 center, who , depending on Sidney's heatlh must be ready to step into a #1 center slot. I don't know.

If Flower is terrible, solution keep the 3 centers, get your ave to better goalie yearly.

[sil]

Fleury is no longer a "great" goalie. He is the second biggest headcase goalie in the league behind Luongo. Maybe ahead of Luongo. Fleury is a solid regular season goalie and a crap playoff goalie now. I have no faith that he will ever again be good in the playoffs after this historically bad performance following the 2 prior seasons of sub-par performances. I would dump him if we had any goaltender talent at all in the system. RS needs to start drafting goalies.

Malkin also had a bad playoff this year, and showed 'headcase' status by throwing his elbow at every flyer he could in his frustration. He's had one good playoff in his career (MAF has had two), and our prospect system also has no center-depth. Is it easier for you to 'have faith' that Malkin will have no problem one day being the same dominating forward he was in 3/4 of the 2009 playoffs...even though the other 7-playoff series he's been in have shown rather poor effort and consistency?

[SteelCityFan]

One thing that is going unsaid in the Pittsburgh media, and MM touched on this with Shero. Mark Andre Fleury. He was great this season. But he was Gordie Laxton in the playoffs. He was good last year in the playoffs, but Roloson was better. And against Montreal the year before, he was not good.

Yeah he won a cup. No one can take that away. So did Chris Osgood. So did Anti Niemi. So did JS Gigure. Are they elite, franchise goalies?

If you don't think JS Gigure was an elite goalie then you must of just recently started watching hockey. He won the Conn Smyth in 2003 even though his team lost in the finals to New Jersey, and won the Cup in 2007. He was the epitomy of an elite goaltender. Osgood was on three cup winning teams. Hard to do if you're just an average goalie.

Again, neither Dan Bylsma or Ray Shero is responsible for MAF's complete meltdown in the playoffs this year. Or in the Montreal series. If he was even average in either, we likely move on.

More garbage. Somebody already posted in this thread that something like 20 of Philthy's 30 goals came from within 15 feet of the net. Ever heard of a thing called defense? I'm not saying that MAF doesn't lose focus and let in a weak goal every now and then, but to say he's the reason we lost is asinine. We don't even get a sniff at two cup appearances without him.

Steel City, I saw Mario's first home game, live. So....Didn't just start watching hockey. First off, Gigure was great when it was easy to be a goalie. But, he was also a 3 year wonder.

MAF went to the finals and also won a Cup. Gigure is not an elite goalie.

[ShipHockey7]

Would you do it?

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2012/0 ... dan-staal/

[offsides]

Would you do it?

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2012/0 ... dan-staal/

Does the hockey world know?

Said analyst Glenn Healey: “This player is not going to ask to be traded but the hockey world knows something has got to happen.”