Lightning @ Penguins(2-24)

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Avery86

That's a good trivia question .. "Can you name all 19 goalies that have played for the Lightning since the '05-'06 season?"

Does McElhinney (never forget) count?

Missed Eklund. Ugh. 18 of 19 isn't bad

[aapbolt]

I think in the case of Lindy, it is all about practice,he needs time to work on the techniques of his game and learn, he is not getting the time to do that,plus as BurnTHalO said it is all about defense. When guys get backLindy plays better,when he is left to hang, ugh. KF43 is right..ain't no curse we have together a solution. Lindy may be the solution but honestly he should be playing in Syracuse right now working on his technique and we should be going with Garon and maybe CD.

[KyleFreadrich43]

I've been kinda quiet about this for a while. Lindback wasn't exactly my first choice to be the guy in net for the Lightning.

That being said, am I the only one who thinks he should have been better prepared for this season having played during the lockout?

[Top Shelf]

Originally Posted by Donnie D

Lindback is a 24 old goalie in his first year of playing regularly.

Keep repeating that over and over until you realize that he wasn't brought here for this year, this is just the first step in him becoming a regular goalie.

Rinne was 26 when he became a regular with Nashville. When he was 24 he played in the AHL.

Miller didn't play in the NHL regularly until he was 25. Didn't become the full time starter until he was 26.

Give the kid some time.

Guess I'll be the lone voice of dissent again, something new and different.

OK, in the micro view, this is right, give the kid some time, he's 24, just a NSH backup, few NHL games, etc. etc. All true if you're just looking at the individual named Lindback and not the whole team's situation.

In the macro view, though, wait just a damn minute. When you come within a single goal in Game 7 of a Conf Championship and a Cup Final, against a stacked Bruins team with an outer-space monster in net, that is absolutely NOT the time to go out and get a goalie that's "not for this year", a project to sit and wait patiently while he develops. To that I say WTF?!?! You were right on the doorstep; you get a guy to win a Cup NOW, THIS year. We have Marty and Stamkos firing on all cylinders NOW. Does NJ have two 40-yr-old goalies because they believe it's prudent to hope to win the Cup in some future year? Or now? They have Kovalchuk firing on all cylinders NOW.

My opinion, which is all it is, is simply that if you have monster firepower up front, you build G depth while having a good, solid veteran starter in net. The likes of Bryzgalov NOW, Vokoun NOW (nice & affordable) or Luongo NOW would have been tasty. But you have to give to get, remember? That's right, BFNO.

Build From the Net Out...there's a reason why it's the unshakable, non-negotiable, foundational cornerstone principle of nearly all Cup-winning franchises. Sacrifice a little bit of firepower for an actual starting goalie that can handle it. Build your young goalies' ability and confidence concurrently in the background. Get more scoring elsewhere.

How's the opposite plan working out for us? Lotta one-goal losses this season--are we beating the teams we should be beating? Are we often giving up a goal in the first minute of a period or game? How's that ROAD treating us? What percentage of us are totally stoked and confident we're even MAKING the playoffs, let alone going deep? When the goalies are announced before the game, how many of us get excited--and how many silently sigh, "Hoke-kay, here we go...hope this is one of his good games," which for Lindback means giving up fewer than four goals.

Being patient with Lindback's (or any other young goalie's) development is something that makes sense if and only if you have a solid veteran starter in there actually doing the job now, while you wait for the apprentice to catch up later. From what we're seeing, he is not ready to shoulder the load of even a drastically shortened season, not a capable or reliable starter, and hence not a playoff contender. We can be patient with every young goalie in the world in principle; but that isn't where the games are played. It's not fun to be looking at another springtime of Marty and Vinny with their gradually aging legs potentially just watching the playoffs on TV...again. Another season of Stamkos's wizardry woefully wasted. No problem, just be patient. Maybe next year, or in a few years...we'll just have to calmly wait and see if and when a goalie develops. If he doesn't, oh well, someone else will have a chance--"just be patient." That's the plan.

Not trying to shovel doom or gloom, just cold reality based on observable facts: If they even make the show they are getting bounced early.

Patient is good. We who have suffered with this team and its two (2) legit starters in 20 years definitely qualify for that label. I'm not MADE of patience, though--is it October yet?