CANUCKS CLAIM A GOALIE

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ClamRussel
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Post by ClamRussel »

The grass is always greener isn't it.....

Sabourin=Brochu?

Laugh if you will but I too remember Brochu being tops in the A and Burke & Moog going ga-ga over him....

Is Sabourin really an improvement over Flaherty or is it just a sexier choice because of age etc? I still maintain Flaherty could have been the perfect b/u who would be HAPPY playing 10% of the games and remaining positive about it.

We've still got the rights to Noronen and with Vincent & Schnieder coming down the pipe I wasn't too worried about the future at all.

Once again Flaherty gets screwed.

I'd be fine w/ this if the NEW guy was an improvement....but really, what has Sabourin done that says he'll be so much better than Wade? At least Wade has NHL experience.
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MarkMM
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Post by MarkMM »

ClamRussel wrote:The grass is always greener isn't it.....

Sabourin=Brochu?

Laugh if you will but I too remember Brochu being tops in the A and Burke & Moog going ga-ga over him....

Is Sabourin really an improvement over Flaherty or is it just a sexier choice because of age etc? I still maintain Flaherty could have been the perfect b/u who would be HAPPY playing 10% of the games and remaining positive about it.

We've still got the rights to Noronen and with Vincent & Schnieder coming down the pipe I wasn't too worried about the future at all.

Once again Flaherty gets screwed.

I'd be fine w/ this if the NEW guy was an improvement....but really, what has Sabourin done that says he'll be so much better than Wade? At least Wade has NHL experience.
I really don't think there's enough info on the guy from our end to make a call, but two things that might be at play, it seems Ian Clark had a hand in it, so maybe they've done some scouting on him and know something the rest of us don't, a fairly reasonable assumption.

Second, I really think it might be a matter of wanting another NHL-capable goalie, whether or not he's better than Flaherty may not have been the issue so much as that they just wanted to have an alternate choice rather than go with Flaherty out of default.
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Post by Canuck2 »

What I don't like about the move is that Nonis doesn't know very much about Sabourin. How can you go and get a guy for backup goaltending without knowing much about him yourself, it's a move like this that I shake my head at. I just hope Ian Clark isn't buddy-buddy with Sabourin and helping him out.
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Larionov
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Post by Larionov »

I was pulling for the old vet Flaherty, but let's be honest -- he really didn't set the world on fire in camp. He needed to play lights out in the pre-season to prove that he belonged back in the NHL, and he simply didn't do it. His play really left Nonis no choice but to try to upgrade our goaltending depth.

I too had read that Sabourin was playing really well in Pittsburgh, and that the only reason they didn't send Fleury down was because they didn't want to ruin his confidence, and weren't quite ready to admit what everyone else around the league is already whispering, that Fleury might be the biggest waste of a #1 pick since Daigle. The Pens have to be smarting that they lost him -- they too probably thought that Labarbera would go first to a goalie-needy club.

As for our lack of goaltending depth, look around the league. Someone else already posted a handy reference chart to the backups around the league, and with the exception of three teams, (Buffalo, Anaheim, San Jose), the pickings are awfully slim. Sure, we are in trouble if our #1 goes down, but that hardly makes us unique in the cap era.
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Jyrki21
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Post by Jyrki21 »

I don't understand the Canuck fans (not the ones here, but where I've read otherwise) who thinks the backup goalie is supposed to be a Vézina winner. There's a reason they're the backup.

What Marc Crawford also seemed to never understand is that when you have backups who post excellent stats like 2.52, .900 and look good in the process (hello, Johan Hedberg), that's more than adequate.

Sabourin will be fine, just as Skudra, Hedberg, and -- yes -- Ouellet would have been fine if ever given a real chance and not hounded by fans every time they surrender a goal. They're not supposed to be perfect. I hope and pray that Vigneault makes an attitudinal shift from Crawford's poisonous mismanagement here.
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DavidPratt_
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Post by DavidPratt_ »

Jyrki21 wrote:I don't understand the Canuck fans (not the ones here, but where I've read otherwise) who thinks the backup goalie is supposed to be a Vézina winner. There's a reason they're the backup.

What Marc Crawford also seemed to never understand is that when you have backups who post excellent stats like 2.52, .900 and look good in the process (hello, Johan Hedberg), that's more than adequate.

Sabourin will be fine, just as Skudra, Hedberg, and -- yes -- Ouellet would have been fine if ever given a real chance and not hounded by fans every time they surrender a goal. They're not supposed to be perfect. I hope and pray that Vigneault makes an attitudinal shift from Crawford's poisonous mismanagement here.

Actually, you reminded me of Maxime Ouellet. At least Ouellet had a decent junior and AHL career with some limited NHL experience. Why didn't they just re-sign the guy since they gave up a draft pick for him last year? He wasn't great at all last year, but he barely got to play.

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