GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Philadelphia Flyers - 7:00pm ET - MON. Nov. 15, 2010

Well it seems that Murray and co. don't have a ton of confidence in Elliott to be the undisputed future #1 tender of this team, since they've rushed Lehner to the pros.

He's been good at every level (well, only NCAA and AHL). but he's never been dominant. Obviously everyone shares different opinions oin each position of the team, but I would prefer my goalie to be elite. It just gives you more confidence knowing you don't have to worry about the guy between the pipes each game.

You don't have to have a super-human goalie, it just doesn't hurt to have one . People in Ottawa want to have a great goalie because we've been let down by so many in the past...if Elliott just plays like the best goalie we've ever had (arguably Lalime, Emery, Tugnutt) then I don't think that's good enough.

I'm not writing him off, I just don't see him ever becoming amazing. To me he's a Chris Mason, Dan Ellis, or Dwayne Roloson (which actually isn't bad at all).

Big Ev wrote:Well it seems that Murray and co. don't have a ton of confidence in Elliott to be the undisputed future #1 tender of this team, since they've rushed Lehner to the pros.

He's been good at every level (well, only NCAA and AHL). but he's never been dominant. Obviously everyone shares different opinions oin each position of the team, but I would prefer my goalie to be elite. It just gives you more confidence knowing you don't have to worry about the guy between the pipes each games.

You don't have to have a super-human goalie, it just doesn't hurt to have one .

Let's get one then!

cash wrote:
I knew I was going to see this at some point, but it's just such a bad idea. Not that Alfie and Spezza aren't compatible, but even when Kovalev and Spezza (and Regin) haven't put any points up, they've been dominant. Last night they got neutralized by a very good, very prepared, very passionate, and very well-coached team, and they still had a point each. There is zero defensible logic in splitting those two, and only the one reason Imo to take Regin off that line, which is to put him with Alfie to get the Captain rolling again.

I blackball that idea

I think you run things based around Spezza right now, he's hot and he's the guy who can feed pucks onto Alfie's stick - because it isn't Fisher right now. Get a new vibe, change it up. Kovalev and Regin are hot as well, so they can flank Fisher and hopefully get their chemistry from last year.

Or Shannon with Fisher and Michalek - that's speedy at least. Or the FFS. Who knows...

I'll take a goalie who's sports between a .915 and a .920 - preferably closer to .920 obviously. I think Elliott is that guy personally.

Do you mean career or per season? Because not a lot of goalies finish their career with a .915-.920 SV%. Patrick Roy's is .910.

Big Ev wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Yeah CR, Elliott really is blossoming in front of our eyes - like Karlsson, Regin to name two others. It's a revelation, the guy is good.

Yes, he's good, but he'll never be amazing (IMO, and I sound like a broken record probably). Hopefully that's where Lehner comes in...or the team improves a lot and Elliott becomes Osgood.

To me, Elliott just doesn't have that it factor

I think you meant to say, the "I read it on Dobber's site factor".

Big Ev wrote:See I disagree with that, the big games are like the games vs Philly and Vancouver (obviously that was Leclaire though)...the winning streak was against some average teams (except MTL, can't remember if they were part of the winning streak). so to me those aren't "big games".

When I say "it factor' I mean a guy who really shines, like Halak or Quick, or Rask last season.

You can keep your "IT FACTOR". I'll use the "WIN FACTOR". Would it surprise you to know that Elliott has a better NHL career winning percentage that Halak, Quick or Rask.

You go ahead and wish you had someone else, but Elliott has been written off at every level, and yet somehow he just keep succeeding.

So everybody from Big Ev to Pierre McGuire can go ahead and doubt him, I'll enjoy watching all of you wondering how a goalie without the "IT FACTOR" just keeps winning.

LOL rooneypoo I have heard that term long before Dobber Hockey

Oglethorpe wrote:

Big Ev wrote:See I disagree with that, the big games are like the games vs Philly and Vancouver (obviously that was Leclaire though)...the winning streak was against some average teams (except MTL, can't remember if they were part of the winning streak). so to me those aren't "big games".

When I say "it factor' I mean a guy who really shines, like Halak or Quick, or Rask last season.

You can keep your "IT FACTOR". I'll use the "WIN FACTOR". Would it surprise you to know that Elliott has a better NHL career winning percentage that Halak, Quick or Rask.

You go ahead and wish you had someone else, but Elliott has been written off at every level, and yet somehow he just keep succeeding.

So everybody from Big Ev to Pierre McGuire can go ahead and doubt him, I'll enjoy watching all of you wondering how a goalie without the "IT FACTOR" just keeps winning.

LOL I was just using Halak as an example, but if you really want to say that you'd rather have Elliott over Halak then I'll just let you be.

Anyways, I hope Elliott will prove me wrong over the next couple of seasons and start winning some more games consistently (other than long streaks most of the time).

That's all I've got to say about our goaltending now...I really don't wanna start a big bru-haha over it.

Big Ev wrote:Anyways, I hope Elliott will prove me wrong over the next couple of seasons and start winning some more games consistently (other than long streaks most of the time).

That's all I've got to say about our goaltending now...I really don't wanna start a big bru-haha over it.

9 wins so far this year, 8 for Halak. Big difference is GAA, mind you Elliott has faced 127 more shots in only 39 more minutes. Hmm.......

Price is the best goalie this year IMO. End of 2nd period, 33 stops

marakh wrote:Price is the best goalie this year IMO. End of 2nd period, 33 stops

I have swam against the current on that debate and said that Montreal chose the right goalie for the future.

Should be interesting watching their careers over the years.

Big Ev wrote:See I disagree with that, the big games are like the games vs Philly and Vancouver (obviously that was Leclaire though)...the winning streak was against some average teams (except MTL, can't remember if they were part of the winning streak). so to me those aren't "big games".

When I say "it factor' I mean a guy who really shines, like Halak or Quick, or Rask last season.

no no... that winning streak got us out of the basement. They were very big games, regardless of the opponent.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Big Ev wrote:See I disagree with that, the big games are like the games vs Philly and Vancouver (obviously that was Leclaire though)...the winning streak was against some average teams (except MTL, can't remember if they were part of the winning streak). so to me those aren't "big games".

When I say "it factor' I mean a guy who really shines, like Halak or Quick, or Rask last season.

If Elliott didn't win vs. Boston that would have been considered a big game too, right?

That was also a big game and an outstanding performance. Added motivation included Daron and his 100th... 2 days later, he looked shaky early, even though it didn't bite him, but you could see he was unnerved in the opening 10 minutes (probably because his team did Cuss all during that time period).

My overall point is I guess the same as with any player and especially any goalie: Until he proves he can win when it matters most, I won't believe he has that ability.

CockRoche wrote:

marakh wrote:Price is the best goalie this year IMO. End of 2nd period, 33 stops

I have swam against the current on that debate and said that Montreal chose the right goalie for the future.

Should be interesting watching their careers over the years.

Price's stats were considered bad last year but they were still better than Elliott and Leclaire. I think the big issue was no so much one goalie over the other but that Montreal received so little for Halak.

Big Ev wrote:Well it seems that Murray and co. don't have a ton of confidence in Elliott to be the undisputed future #1 tender of this team, since they've rushed Lehner to the pros.
He's been good at every level (well, only NCAA and AHL). but he's never been dominant. Obviously everyone shares different opinions oin each position of the team, but I would prefer my goalie to be elite. It just gives you more confidence knowing you don't have to worry about the guy between the pipes each game.

You don't have to have a super-human goalie, it just doesn't hurt to have one . People in Ottawa want to have a great goalie because we've been let down by so many in the past...if Elliott just plays like the best goalie we've ever had (arguably Lalime, Emery, Tugnutt) then I don't think that's good enough.

I'm not writing him off, I just don't see him ever becoming amazing. To me he's a Chris Mason, Dan Ellis, or Dwayne Roloson (which actually isn't bad at all).

Nope, doing what's right for Lehner's development (he would stagnate in the CHL, having already dominated as an 18 year old) has nothing to do with the goaltending debate in Ottawa. If they rush him to the NHL next season and he hasn't proven the ability to dominate the A by that time, that would be meaningful; the decision to sign him and let him continue to develop at the proper level is not.

As far as the comparison goes, I would absolutely put him in a higher tier, now and definitely in the future. Imo he's got the potential to shut it down like Thomas, while playing more like Ward. I've always thought there were a lot of similarities between Ward and Elliott, not the least of which is their path to the pros.

dennycrane wrote:

CockRoche wrote:

marakh wrote:Price is the best goalie this year IMO. End of 2nd period, 33 stops

I have swam against the current on that debate and said that Montreal chose the right goalie for the future.

Should be interesting watching their careers over the years.

Price's stats were considered bad last year but they were still better than Elliott and Leclaire. I think the big issue was no so much one goalie over the other but that Montreal received so little for Halak.

I'm fairly certain that the talk last year was about the team's poor stats in front of Price. They didn't give him much run suppport and their record was far worse with him in net, despite the fact that his reg season numbers were actually quite close to Halak's---Price had a .912 sv% and 0 shutouts...that says a lot.

Also, Lars Eller is awesome, and to get another prospect with the potential to reach the NHL with him is not a bad deal. Look at what goalies are traded for....it's not much. That return was very good.