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Ontario Reign 21-22 Thread 2: Reigndrops keep falling on my head

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King'sPawn said:
How many times have the Reign won a game despite being outplayed? How many games has he stolen?

He's an AHL goalie. He's not a viable piece for the future in the NHL, barring some drastic development.

He has improved on technique and decision-making since earlier in the season, but I don't think he's consistent enough to be a starter in the AHL.

So far the Reign have been able to outscore their problems, one of which is a young defense. The other is unreliability in net.
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I don't have a really strong opinion on his play frankly (but I am strongly biased in his favor because of his personality) HOWEVER...

The Reign are incredible this season, he's what they've got and nobody (to my knowledge) is suggesting he's a future Vezina winner.

The idea that somehow he's not capable of being an AHL starter is some what laughable given that he IS an AHL starter and is the AHL starter for one of the best teams in the league.

No?
 
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All The Kings Men said:
I don't have a really strong opinion on his play frankly (but I am strongly biased in his favor because of his personality) HOWEVER...

The Reign are incredible this season, he's what they've got and nobody (to my knowledge) is suggesting he's a future Vezina winner.

The idea that somehow he's not capable of being an AHL starter is some what laughable given that he IS an AHL starter and is the AHL starter for one of the best teams in the league.

No?
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I just think he's mediocre among starters. But right now, as you said, he's who they've got. H

But we could also say earlier in the NHL that Mike Smith was the starter on one of the best teams in the league. And he IS an NHL starter. But you also hope someone else steps up to take over, because he's not a high quality player at his position.

Nothing against him as a person. But there are valid criticisms about his play, even if they are hyperbolic.
 
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King'sPawn said:
I just think he's mediocre among starters. But right now, as you said, he's who they've got. H

But we could also say earlier in the NHL that Mike Smith was the starter on one of the best teams in the league. And he IS an NHL starter. But you also hope someone else steps up to take over, because he's not a high quality player at his position.

Nothing against him as a person. But there are valid criticisms about his play, even if they are hyperbolic.
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I tend to agree in principal with King's Pawn in most of this discussion about Villalta. Now the Reign team D (gave up 50 shots last night) certainly doesn't help things at times, and Matt is capable of many highlight real saves, especially post to post, but he's the best the Reign have this year so he's going to start. I don't blame him for the 5 goals against last night (so many breakdowns and turnovers), but he did not have a good shootout. I don't get the sense that the Kings feel Villalta is going to be part of their long term plans, the fact that they always bring in a veteran goalie every year as the 3rd goalie in line at the NHL level may have some bearing on my thought process. Maybe he gets another deal at the end of the season for one year??? Ingham and Parik are also a bit raw, it would be interesting to see what the staff feels about their progress. Will the Kings sign try to Hrenak in the off season? He turns 24 in May. They have his rights until August 15th. I have some concerns that Villalta will be able to take this team for a deep run unless the Reign offense runs on all cylinders (it certainly could). And with all that being said, Villalta is definitely an improved goalie over last season.
 
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Villalta has no long-term pro future, not even in the AHL, as anything but a journeyman. Full stop. He hasn't done anything at any level that would suggest otherwise.

Even an EBUG can have a huge game out of nowhere. Villalta's consistency is absolutely trash for a pro goalie, his ceiling is sure high but his lows are too low and too frequent from game to game to rely on him for anything.

Reign are out in the first round if they play against a real goalie.
 
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edit: since we're talking numbers, please, indulge me and tell me what we're not seeing with Villalta:

upload_2022-2-13_12-10-47.png


The guy has routinely put up absolutely dog shit numbers on absolutely amazing teams, good grief. Look how awful he is in the years where his team is closer to 500 than 1.000.
 
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Vino said:
When you're writing "He won some games, but he lost more games." obviously we have watched different games.

Yes, Kings need elite goalie prospect, but that doesn't mean that Matt Villalta is garbage.
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I don't want to speak for kinghock, but what I think he means is that Villalta has been more a part of the reason for losses than he has 'stolen' games in which the team didn't deserve a win.

Because ONT is just a powerhouse he hasn't needed to be great often, but when those rare instances do come up, it's hard to have confidence that he will be.
 
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WhatTheFox said:
I don't want to speak for kinghock, but what I think he means is that Villalta has been more a part of the reason for losses than he has 'stolen' games in which the team didn't deserve a win.

Because ONT is just a powerhouse he hasn't needed to be great often, but when those rare instances do come up, it's hard to have confidence that he will be.
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Thank you, Sir. You have explained my point clearly.
 
King'sPawn said:
How many times have the Reign won a game despite being outplayed? How many games has he stolen?

He's an AHL goalie. He's not a viable piece for the future in the NHL, barring some drastic development.

He has improved on technique and decision-making since earlier in the season, but I don't think he's consistent enough to be a starter in the AHL.

So far the Reign have been able to outscore their problems, one of which is a young defense. The other is unreliability in net.



I'll give you some more:
16th in GAA
12th in SV%
One of the few starting goalies* without a shutout. 23 have at least one.
25th in shootout save%

*has to play at least 780 mins

So, sure... great record, but he's more buoyed by playing on a great team than being the reason they won.
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and note- this was similar to his junior days...he was an average goalie on a stacked team.
 
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Had no idea Stalock landed with the Edmonton org, you'd have to think they'd at LEAST give him an option over some of the other guys.
 
Mayor tweeted Turc's being kept out possibly from hit he took last game. Doesn't think it's serious.
 
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ru4reals said:
Ingham in goal tonight. Ouch.
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I know so it's either our AHL goalies simply all suck or defense is a problem. Just from the eye-test it seems like our goalies just suck, but from a structural standpoint, someone else probably has a better read.
 
WhatTheFox said:
I know so it's either our AHL goalies simply all suck or defense is a problem. Just from the eye-test it seems like our goalies just suck, but from a structural standpoint, someone else probably has a better read.
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Yeah was just thinking this organization really needs a good goalie prospect. I know many here have mentioned it before and not sure if Parik or Ingham are the answer. Parik is a lot better but both goalies aren't a sure thing. Although in saying this we do have great goalie coach in Ranford so hoping he can do his magic.

Glad you mentioned the Defense because the past three games have not been good. Even in the win against the Heat on Friday if I can remember correctly there were turnovers left and right by both the D and fowards, and Villalta of all poeple had to stand on his head to keep the game close.
 
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