Goalies
Yesterday I did my final overager analysis, looking at Drew Owsley. If only I'd continued to be a lazy slacker for a few more hours, the post would have been completely different. Oh well, gives me material for today.
Chris Driedger went to the Calgary Hitmen yesterday in return for a 3rd rounder, which seems pretty cheap for a goalie with a lot of potential, one who went to Hockey Canada's goaltending camp--one of only four WHL goalies. But he'll get a chance to play a lot and prove himself with the Hitmen, I wish him nothing but the best of luck (except against the Ams of course).
So there's speculation all over the place from the message boards to Alan Caldwell that pretty much say what I've thought as well--it will likely be an Owsley/Comrie tandem. And maybe tandem isn't the right word, I think Drew will mentor young Comrie, getting the majority of the starts for the first half of the season, then Eric will get more and more time. Depending on how the season is going, he may get a whole lot of starts the second half. If--God forbid--the team is doing very poorly Bob could even trade Drew at the deadline to a contender and hand it over to Comrie for the rest of the season. This also depends on Eric, he's very highly-touted, but he's still 16-years-old, that's a lot of pressure to come into the WHL and be expected to steal the show as a behbeh. Yes, Carey Price did it, but it was the 2nd half of his 1st season (and the playoffs) before he really took the reins.
4 comments:
Bob has shown that he has a lot of faith in his young goalies. I think we may see another goalie come into the picture before all is said and done. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see Drew go any more than the next fan, but I don't think this necessarily makes it more likely that he is staying. Just my uneducated, uninformed opinion though.
And God knows I'm wrong about most things when it comes to this team.
I am super-sad to see Driedger go. He's so talented and has such potential. I fear that the way the Ams groom their goalies for professional hockey (playing 60 games a year) means there is often an odd man out, and it requires a supremely confident goalie to open the door for two years till it's his turn. It's a lot to ask of a young man. Two years is like a lifetime of waiting when you're that age!
So though I'm sad Chris is gone, I know we'll all watch him blossom in Calgary -- I'm sure the change in scenery will go a long way to rebuild his confidence!
@Spokant I don't necessarily think it's a guarantee of anything either, just seems more likely than it did before Driedger was traded. With Bob there are never guarantees LOL
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