Has Gravelle proven to be worthy of the backup role? I get that you think Bender was a mediocre backup but all the Generals fans are telling us how bad Gravelle was as well? I guess if Oster goes down they're up a creek without a paddle anyway?
I’ll say this as gently as possible to try and avoid ruffling any feathers - - Noah Bender has proven that he’s not an OHL level goaltender. Anyone who watched him flounder around in relief of Oster during the playoffs last year can attest to this. Getting a 4th and a 7th for him was a massive windfall.
Oshawa burned a 2nd round pick on Gravelle two years ago so you’d expect a reasonable level of competence from him. He looked like a serviceable back up in his first game, but he was God-awful against Peterborough last night and looked like he belonged in Jr C.
In a perfect world, Gravelle would start around 20 games this year and show well then take over as the starter next year. But after last night’s debacle, the trust level in him has taken a major hit.
Last year Oster started SIXTY (60) games in the regular season then started another TWENTY-ONE (21) in the playoffs. That’s completely unrealistic. No wonder Oster looked totally gassed during the London series.
I don’t have a great deal of confidence that Gravelle can fill the back up role for Oshawa this year. The good news is that there’s at least a half dozen hopeless bottom feeders throughout the league to obtain a useful back up goalie. I’m not going to name any names because I don’t want to crush and early season delusions, but it’s not going to cost more than a middling draft pick or two for one of these goalies.