Adam Hauser is perhaps the worst goalie I've ever seen and he won a title. We don't need Connor Hellebuyck 2.0 to win.
Like 5 of the top 10 goalies are guys you have never heard of. So stop the nonsense that stats tell the whole story on college goalies.
No they aren’t, the top 5 goalies in CHIP are Fowler, Maine’s goalie, Sergeev, Augustine, and Alex Tracy. Owen Say is just barely outside the top 10. All of those are very recognizable names. There’s only one in the top 10 I don’t recognize (Augustana goalie) and that’s because they play in a conference I never watch. The UMass goalie who had a great year, Davis (Denver), the Omaha goalie who stoned us early in the season, and Whitehead (NE goalie who stole the game vs BC in the conference tourney) are the others.
As far as Airey is concerned, hopefully I’m wrong and he makes some significant strides.
Laugh my ass off. Not LMAO. Had to type it out because you haven't watched most of these guys. And my point stands; Airey is plenty good.
I watched most of them at one point or another, whether they played against the gophers, in the NCAA tourney, or even the world junior tourney. I also kinda doubt they all put up elite numbers and won various awards and were generally considered the best goalies by the media despite their play.
Maybe we can come up with some friendly wager re Airey.
I'd love to but you won't give Airey a fair shake because if you would, you would already admit he's fine. So no I won't engage in a bet I can't win because you expect our goalies to be wilcox or close even though they were very high end for us.
The tricky thing with Airey is that the gaps he has need game reps to fix. He was injured and unable to really work for a very long time, and coming back from that can take longer than it would for a skater. I can see Airey’s upside and think it is entirely possible for him to be great while wearing the M. Obviously this doesn’t mean it’ll happen, but some competition usually helps speed the process up a bit.
No I’m comparing him to the likes of Kangas, Patterson, and Schierhorn. I haven’t even named the terms and you’re scared to bet on Airey which says enough 🤣 .I'd love to but you won't give Airey a fair shake because if you would, you would already admit he's fine. So no I won't engage in a bet I can't win because you expect our goalies to be wilcox or close even though they were very high end for us.
@karlsson you raise some good points and that gives me some reason for optimism that his game could improve. You’re right that game reps are more important because that’s a better test of the mental side of things.
I think Airey is fine. You selected several goalies that did quite a job for us. I'm willing to bet that Airey is a decent goalie. $1,000.
We do have a VERY recent history of goalies being really (really) good from unexpected sources. Close? WHO KNEW? Seriously no one. And Souliere? Excellent. Airey? Overall good! He just looks hesitant. He seems like a guy that needs shots. Has he had that chance and lost? Maybe that needs to change. I hate the goalie bashing. Nothing that happened this year other than maybe one or two games was EITHER of their faults.Those games did not cause the early exit from the NCAA
I don't think it's intentional bashing, but call a spade a spade. Anyone who knows what a great goaltender looks like, knows Airey is not near that as of today. I'd love for him to be successful, but having eat, slept, and breathed hockey for the last 25 years it doesn't pass the eye test for me. Close routinely made special saves and at times Souliere did too, until he got the yips from that weird floater against Notre Dame. Then he never looked the same.
Airey could surprise many of us (and I hope he does), but odds are not in his favor.
I think Souliere played a good game against UMASS and made some huge saves. Not his fault, or the refs, Chesley tried to take it against 5 defenders with no help behind him.
The problem with writing off Airey is not a single one of us knows which Airey is the real Airey and/or what his ceiling is. He struggled as the season went on but imho it would be premature to say he can't figure it out.
Everyone is focused an a R handed D, but we wouldn’t want Colin Ralph or Theo Wallberg?
been watching and playing hockey at least that long. Goalies are weird. And we need them to be. You are not wrong on the eye test. I think the same. I also am willing to speculate if Airey had really been under the gun would he have stepped up. No way to know. Some players knowing they have an alternate in case of emergency don't seem to step up. Does he need that do or die? Maybe we will see. I would hope most players at this level have a higher compete level. Have we let him play, struggle, and then succeed yet? Every player but the goalie gets that. Just trying to be open minded since better goalie minds than mine have been positive on Airey
fair enough.
We do have a VERY recent history of goalies being really (really) good from unexpected sources. Close? WHO KNEW? Seriously no one. And Souliere? Excellent. Airey? Overall good! He just looks hesitant. He seems like a guy that needs shots. Has he had that chance and lost? Maybe that needs to change. I hate the goalie bashing. Nothing that happened this year other than maybe one or two games was EITHER of their faults.Those games did not cause the early exit from the NCAA
I don't think it's intentional bashing, but call a spade a spade. Anyone who knows what a great goaltender looks like, knows Airey is not near that as of today. I'd love for him to be successful, but having eat, slept, and breathed hockey for the last 25 years it doesn't pass the eye test for me. Close routinely made special saves and at times Souliere did too, until he got the yips from that weird floater against Notre Dame. Then he never looked the same.
Airey could surprise many of us (and I hope he does), but odds are not in his favor.
I think Souliere played a good game against UMASS and made some huge saves. Not his fault, or the refs, Chesley tried to take it against 5 defenders with no help behind him.
I thought he was shaky as heck in the first period and the first goal was soft, but you could see he got locked in in the 2nd and 3rd. I felt bad for him because frankly he was a great addition for us 95% of the year. I think he was finding his grove again and would have been solid going forward had we won.
The problem with writing off Airey is not a single one of us knows which Airey is the real Airey and/or what his ceiling is. He struggled as the season went on but imho it would be premature to say he can't figure it out.
100% true that no one knows what an offseason will do for him. However, in my opinion his leash is going to be short if Luca plays anywhere close to his historical.
I think Airey is fine. You selected several goalies that did quite a job for us. I'm willing to bet that Airey is a decent goalie. $1,000.
I think you've been in that hot tub too long sir. HAHA. Just messing around, doubt anyone would argue that he's not "fine". If you are happy with fine, then..well..fine.
Maybe we should all move on towards the next thing, which is who Bob takes/gets to fill the last couple voids. He's doing good so far.