Remi Blanchard is now officially a Titan

[Porkchop]

hockeyfan99 said:

chsb said:

If I follow your thinking, the Titan were stupid to go in the playoffs in 2001 with a 17 YO Russo!

You are making judgment calls without even taking into account who is involved.

Tardif showed in game 7 against PEI last season that he has got a lot of nerves and balls.

He was better than Lafleur who was 1 year older.

I thought you would have learned after last year's Gougeon/Miller experiment that it is not a good idea for a team wanting to contend to rely on rookie starters. Your team could have been a lot better if your goaltending was as good as other teams who were actual contenders.

And I can't believe you are again bringing up the 1 game were Tardif played against Lafleur and claiming that makes him a better goalie. I also remember a game 3 yrs ago where Soucy had 4 pts in a Rocket win vs Crosby's 1 assist but surprisingly that didn't make him a better player either.

Tardif was better at 16 than Gougeon or Miller will ever be.......you gotta compare apples to apples.

[Porkchop]

hockeyfan99 said:

chsb said:

I must admit that it is very funny to compare Lafleur to Crosby in an example where the two other parties are Soucy and Tardif.

The gap between Lafleur and Tardif is nil while there is a huge one between Soucy and Crosby...
The case that I am enhancing is that Tardif performed better than Lafleur under pressure and that is exactly what we are referring to for the playoffs to come.

Regular season does not count when playoffs are on and Tardif will be our man.

The point was that your trying to compare Lafleur to Tardif based on one game is as ridiculous as comparing Crosby to Soucy based on one game.

And Lafleur proved over 49 games last season that he was the much better goalie between the two. Not knocking Tardif as he had a great rookie season and played very well in an important playoff game but again it was one game.

And if you want to use individual games there certainly haven't been any indications that Lafleur won't be the better goalie this season as

Lafleur played 1.5 gms with a 1.33 GAA and 0.950 (against strong Halifax team)

Tardif played 1 gm with a 4.00 GAA and 0.830 (against a rookie Lewiston team)

But I guess those numbers don't count since it isn't in favour of Tardif.

It's really hard to compare them anyway, based on last year with one as a starter for the whole 2nd half and the other as a rookie backup.......it'll be more interesting to see Tardif's 17 year old numbers against Lafleur's 17 year old numbers......

[mikeb]

porkchop said:

mikeb said:

The team could keep them both, couldn't they?

They could, or call em up part way through the year.......I think Jr. A or somewhere they could get plenty of icetime would be better than the pressbox here........good Q practices would probably do them good though.

They don't have to spend all their time in the pressbox. They could be in 1 game in 3 minimum which might be better for their development.

[mikeb]

porkchop said:

hockeyfan99 said:

The point was that your trying to compare Lafleur to Tardif based on one game is as ridiculous as comparing Crosby to Soucy based on one game.

And Lafleur proved over 49 games last season that he was the much better goalie between the two. Not knocking Tardif as he had a great rookie season and played very well in an important playoff game but again it was one game.

And if you want to use individual games there certainly haven't been any indications that Lafleur won't be the better goalie this season as

Lafleur played 1.5 gms with a 1.33 GAA and 0.950 (against strong Halifax team)

Tardif played 1 gm with a 4.00 GAA and 0.830 (against a rookie Lewiston team)

But I guess those numbers don't count since it isn't in favour of Tardif.

It's really hard to compare them anyway, based on last year with one as a starter for the whole 2nd half and the other as a rookie backup.......it'll be more interesting to see Tardif's 17 year old numbers against Lafleur's 17 year old numbers......

That would be no good either. Tardif will get lots of playing time as a 17YO and Lafleur got next to nothing. You also have to think of the teams that were in front of them.

[Captain Obvious]

porkchop said:

hockeyfan99 said:

I thought you would have learned after last year's Gougeon/Miller experiment that it is not a good idea for a team wanting to contend to rely on rookie starters. Your team could have been a lot better if your goaltending was as good as other teams who were actual contenders.

And I can't believe you are again bringing up the 1 game were Tardif played against Lafleur and claiming that makes him a better goalie. I also remember a game 3 yrs ago where Soucy had 4 pts in a Rocket win vs Crosby's 1 assist but surprisingly that didn't make him a better player either.

Tardif was better at 16 than Gougeon or Miller will ever be.......you gotta compare apples to apples.

Why was Miller starting ahead of Tardif then?

[Jason]

maybe cause of age? but if i remember correctly miller never played all that many games more then tardif did.

[IslandersHKY]

porkchop said:

hockeyfan99 said:

I thought you would have learned after last year's Gougeon/Miller experiment that it is not a good idea for a team wanting to contend to rely on rookie starters.

Tardif was better at 16 than Gougeon or Miller will ever be.......you gotta compare apples to apples.

I wasn't comparing Tardif to Gougeon what I said is that like last year's experiment showed it is not a good idea for a team wanting to contend to rely on a rookie starter as even the best players need time to develop. And I mean look at Victoriaville and Lewiston they also have equally terrific 17 yr old goalies but neither of them are going into the season with them as the starter.



And as a 17 yr old rookie starter my expectation is that Tardif will perform well ahead of the curve for his age but in comparision to the rest of the league which is full of 18 - 20 yr old starters, it probably puts him in the middle.

But I think it is unfair to be expecting Tardif as a 17 yr old rookie to be right up there with the best in the league like Bernier and Lafleur.

And I hate that this comes off of sounding as a knock against Tardif because it isn't. Its very likely he will be a top goalie in the future I just don't think he will be this season.

[mikeb]

hockeyfan99 said:

porkchop said:

Tardif was better at 16 than Gougeon or Miller will ever be.......you gotta compare apples to apples.

I wasn't comparing Tardif to Gougeon what I said is that like last year's experiment showed it is not a good idea for a team wanting to contend to rely on a rookie starter as even the best players need time to develop. And I mean look at Victoriaville and Lewiston they also have equally terrific 17 yr old goalies but neither of them are going into the season with them as the starter.



And as a 17 yr old rookie starter my expectation is that Tardif will perform well ahead of the curve for his age but in comparision to the rest of the league which is full of 18 - 20 yr old starters, it probably puts him in the middle.

But I think it is unfair to be expecting Tardif as a 17 yr old rookie to be right up there with the best in the league like Bernier and Lafleur.

And I hate that this comes off of sounding as a knock against Tardif because it isn't. Its very likely he will be a top goalie in the future I just don't think he will be this season.

Tardif might be but ..... it's taking a huge risk.

Blanchard was traded by Moncton at 18 because Moncton wanted an experienced goalie for the playoffs. There is an example of what some teams think about the need for experienced goalies.

[lhjmqfan]

Yes but don't forget that moncton was a Garanteed Memorial cup contender, it is different when your sure to be in the big dance.

[Captain Obvious]

mikeb said:

hockeyfan99 said:

I wasn't comparing Tardif to Gougeon what I said is that like last year's experiment showed it is not a good idea for a team wanting to contend to rely on a rookie starter as even the best players need time to develop. And I mean look at Victoriaville and Lewiston they also have equally terrific 17 yr old goalies but neither of them are going into the season with them as the starter.



And as a 17 yr old rookie starter my expectation is that Tardif will perform well ahead of the curve for his age but in comparision to the rest of the league which is full of 18 - 20 yr old starters, it probably puts him in the middle.

But I think it is unfair to be expecting Tardif as a 17 yr old rookie to be right up there with the best in the league like Bernier and Lafleur.

And I hate that this comes off of sounding as a knock against Tardif because it isn't. Its very likely he will be a top goalie in the future I just don't think he will be this season.

Tardif might be but ..... it's taking a huge risk.

Blanchard was traded by Moncton at 18 because Moncton wanted an experienced goalie for the playoffs. There is an example of what some teams think about the need for experienced goalies.

Even moreso if his back up is a 17 year old rookie.

[SteveUL]

lhjmqfan said:

Yes but don't forget that moncton was a Garanteed Memorial cup contender, it is different when your sure to be in the big dance.

True ... and this is likely the last year that you will have Perrault ... and so its sort of a similar "now or never" situation. Once Perrault is gone you guys are more or less just ordinary. Perrault is sort of your trump card right now that makes you a serious contender ... without him you are just a good team. If you are going to take a stance of waiting til next year then you will be a very different team.

[Captain Obvious]

steveul said:

lhjmqfan said:

Yes but don't forget that moncton was a Garanteed Memorial cup contender, it is different when your sure to be in the big dance.

True ... and this is likely the last year that you will have Perrault ... and so its sort of a similar "now or never" situation. Once Perrault is gone you guys are more or less just ordinary. Perrault is sort of your trump card right now that makes you a serious contender ... without him you are just a good team. If you are going to take a stance of waiting til next year then you will be a very different team.

Not just Perreault but a few more key players...Svoboda(who is expected to score 35-40) Clendenning, Labrie plus Bartos(if he plays this year). That makes for a big turnover of offense.

[13th tribe]

steveul said:

lhjmqfan said:

Yes but don't forget that moncton was a Garanteed Memorial cup contender, it is different when your sure to be in the big dance.

True ... and this is likely the last year that you will have Perrault ... and so its sort of a similar "now or never" situation. Once Perrault is gone you guys are more or less just ordinary. Perrault is sort of your trump card right now that makes you a serious contender ... without him you are just a good team. If you are going to take a stance of waiting til next year then you will be a very different team.

Yeah, it is a shame we made trades to draft Perreault in '05

[Porkchop]

steveul said:

lhjmqfan said:

Yes but don't forget that moncton was a Garanteed Memorial cup contender, it is different when your sure to be in the big dance.

True ... and this is likely the last year that you will have Perrault ... and so its sort of a similar "now or never" situation. Once Perrault is gone you guys are more or less just ordinary. Perrault is sort of your trump card right now that makes you a serious contender ... without him you are just a good team. If you are going to take a stance of waiting til next year then you will be a very different team.

I agreee............I wouldn't be at all unhappy if they sold the farm this year for a Championship......

[lhjmqfan]

steveul said:

lhjmqfan said:

Yes but don't forget that moncton was a Garanteed Memorial cup contender, it is different when your sure to be in the big dance.

True ... and this is likely the last year that you will have Perrault ... and so its sort of a similar "now or never" situation. Once Perrault is gone you guys are more or less just ordinary. Perrault is sort of your trump card right now that makes you a serious contender ... without him you are just a good team. If you are going to take a stance of waiting til next year then you will be a very different team.

Also true, but we have to let Tardif his chance until Chritmas, I believe he can do the job as good as almost any goaltender in this league.