To many, goaltending is a bit of a mystery. The development of young goaltenders into fully-fledged National Hockey League goaltenders is a bumpy road fraught with hazards and opportunities for things to go sideways.
Since Miikka Kiprusoff arrived in Calgary back in 2003, the Flames have drafted eight goaltenders. They have combined for 67 NHL games, with Joni Ortio and Laurent Brossoit accounting for the majority of them. With the team’s net currently being tended by 35-year-old Mike Smith and the team having gone to market in each of the past two summers for their tandems, it would behoove the Flames to develop a netminder from within.