Dan Cloutier Gets Tryout With The Red Wings

Per TSN

I was just talking about this guy the other day at the Hounds game. One time in Guelph he fought his own brother.

Won the Memorial Cup with the Soo too IIRC.

Good for him. Poor guy got such a bad rap even though he was so good for the Canucks. Just like Lalime got a bad rap here. That guy was the best goaltender this franchise ever had and they ridiculed him out of town because of a couple of deflating losses.

It wasn't just a couple of deflating losses. Lalime was one of the most hot and cold goaltenders that I've seen. Able to stand on his head for long stretches (As I'm sure Philly remembers), but also able to let in soft goal after soft goal.

I started getting a sinking feeling in my stomach whenever someone had a clear shot at Lalime. I don't know how many unscreened shots I saw go in from the top of the circle.

Lalime had flashes of brilliance, but wasn't a great goaltender.

spader wrote:It wasn't just a couple of deflating losses. Lalime was one of the most hot and cold goaltenders that I've seen. Able to stand on his head for long stretches (As I'm sure Philly remembers), but also able to let in soft goal after soft goal.

I started getting a sinking feeling in my stomach whenever someone had a clear shot at Lalime. I don't know how many unscreened shots I saw go in from the top of the circle.

Lalime had flashes of brilliance, but wasn't a great goaltender.

Look at his career numbers in the playoffs for us. There was one year only where he had a GAA over 2 and that was in 2000 when we were swept by a much better Leafs team. Look at the rest of the years: 1.39 in 2001-02, 1.82 in 2002-03, 1.96 in 2003-04 with 0.946, 0.924 and 0.906 save percentages respectively.

The whole team was hot and cold in front of him. If a goalie is putting up those kinds of stats for you, it's probably not his fault that your team is losing.

Like I said, a couple of deflating losses and the guy gets run out of town like he's a leper. It was such a shame, such a classy guy, loved the team, loved the city.

Agree to disagree I guess. Every goalie lets in a soft one from time to time, but Lalime seemed to make a habit of making unbelievable saves only to let in an unscreened floater by him on the next rush.

I don't miss him. You can put up great numbers, but if you're letting little whiffers in clutch moments, you're not "the best goalie the team's ever had" or whatever was said.

Plus, who cares? PASCAL LECLAIRE

PS, doesn't that sound like Gerbs? Able to go on stretches where he stands on his head (think: throwing puck out of the zone against the Rangers!!!), then falling flat and letting in anything flicked his way. Flashes of brilliance but just not there.

mattshock wrote:I don't miss him. You can put up great numbers, but if you're letting little whiffers in clutch moments, you're not "the best goalie the team's ever had" or whatever was said.

Plus, who cares? PASCAL LECLAIRE

PS, doesn't that sound like Gerbs? Able to go on stretches where he stands on his head (think: throwing puck out of the zone against the Rangers!!!), then falling flat and letting in anything flicked his way. Flashes of brilliance but just not there.

Are you really favoring a goalie who hasn't even played a game for the organization over a guy who played five quite above average years here for us bringing us within 2.30 minutes of a Stanley Cup appearance? A guy who still has one of the best career playoff numbers out of any goaltender in the national hockey league.

I admit, he did let us down in those two game 7s, but as I recall, the team in front of him didn't do its part either, even in one of the games not managing to score a single goal while being held to under 20 shots.

You can't blame every loss on a goalie, just let you can't single them out for every team win either.

The facts speak very clearly for themselves. Patrick Lalime was and still is the best goaltender in this franchise's history.