Making the Case for Michael Leighton

by manko on Dec 21, 2010 10:20 AM EST

The case I'm trying to make right now is for Michael Leighton to actually be dressing as the Backup goalie to whomever starts, be it Bob or Boosh.

As of right now we can all agree that Bob and Boosh are both playing at an exceptionally high level. Bob for being a rookie is just rocking, and Boosh as the wily Vet is playing sound, solid goaltending.

Now, Leighton is our number 3 goaltender and there is nothing we can do about it. His roster spot is most likely locked and with all of our goaltending injuries over the past year I do not want to get rid of any of the three of them.

While watching the thrashing we took at the hands of Florida last night, I was hating it for Bob b/c although he wasn't lights out, he played fairly well. It was the team in front of him that just completely failed to do anything positive. After goal number 4 when Bob was being replaced by Boosh, I felt that I would have rather it be Leighton to get in the game.

If Leighton is going to be around he has to see some action occasionally. With our team playing as poorly as they did last night I would have hated to see both Bob and Boosh get lit up. Boosh gained nothing from being in last night, while Leighton could have gained some valuable NHL playing time.

What do you guys think?

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Leighton is going to get his time sooner than later. Given the length of his injury / subsequent setback, I think they’re going to take their time to make sure he’s healthy and ready to go before putting him in a game situation.

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by mikefive on Dec 21, 2010 10:54 AM EST reply actions

Speaking only about last night and not the future, when Lavy put Boosh in he hadn’t given up on the game yet. Putting Leighton in when we’re not sure if he’s ready would have been saying “This game is a lost cause so let’s get Leighton some work”. When Leighton has healed more, I think your point will be more valid.

by DragonGirl0583 on Dec 21, 2010 12:24 PM EST reply actions

Point taken. I hadn’t given up till the fifth goal when I shut off the game. It was my girlfriends birthday and I was about to be a terrible moody SOB so I killed it.
But I thought from reading some info about leightons phantoms stint that he looked healthy. Just a little stiff and of course exhibiting the ever present rebound control issue.

by manko on Dec 21, 2010 1:10 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I think

that i never want to see him in orange and black unless an injury permits it.

by phinally on Dec 21, 2010 6:07 PM EST reply actions

I can definately respect that

by manko on Dec 21, 2010 7:02 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Leighton is the starter

We signed him as the starter, and sorry, but Bob is looking quite human now. So, Boosh is outplaying Bob for the backup position and there is only one safe way to keep all three.

Work Leighton back into the rotation and see if he outplays Boosh to regain the majority of games. Give Bob one or two more games to knock himself out of Rookie of the Year conversations and quietly send him down.

by Rockkon on Dec 22, 2010 11:32 AM EST reply actions

My only issue with that scenario is that Reese doesn’t work with the Phantoms players – and by all accounts he is the Socrates of goalie coaches. So if you drop Bob down, he misses the opportunity to develop with Reese and the rest of the (relatively) young players on the big squad – as well as being consigned to such a shitty team as the current Phantoms. What can Leighton or Boucher gain from Reese? Leights already benefitted hugely from his tutelage last season, and I’d wager a bit more tweaking is in the works. Boucher, however, has enough miles on him that his style is pretty predictable, and not much from Reese will change it.

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by MaximumTalbot on Dec 22, 2010 5:43 PM EST up reply actions

Training with Reese is a great point and for the first half of the season I’ll agree it is a good reason to go with three goalies. However, most of the work is on the player… to put the advise into practice, to develop the skills he was taught. He can do that in the AHL.

For the second half of the season, I want the team focused on the playoffs getting used to each other as a squad.

Now that Bob is looking human and not like the second coming of Parent, I’d rather have Leights and Boosh in goal for the playoff run, they’ve been there before.

by Rockkon on Dec 23, 2010 3:42 AM EST up reply actions

Wow i hope you’re joking. It doesn’t matter what someone is signed for, that does not dictate in any way where they play. Who the hell cares if he was signed to be the starter? Boosh has not outplayed anyone for a backup, Boosh has played himself into a starting position. Bobs has also done nothing to warrant him being demoted especially because I know that michael leighton has less skill than him. If Bob or Boosh tank, then let him in. But why would you mess with success?

Simple answer is that until Bobrovsky or Boucher play themselves out of a position, Leighton is watching from the press-box. Fans can feel warm and fuzzy about having a third goalie and the players will feel the added competition.

by phinally on Dec 22, 2010 10:54 PM EST up reply actions

No, not joking. If he hadn’t have been injured, he would be the starter. If his backup got on a hot streak, the backup may play more games.

I went back to look at the games where our opponents scored 3 or more goals against us. 14 games total, so far, and our record is 4-10. Bobs was the goalie for 12 of them. Boosh went 1-1 in the two games he let in 3 or more goals.

Since Leighton hasn’t played a game yet, Boosh is outplaying Bob. I do not know that Bob or Boosh has more skill than Leighton. I do know neither has a shutout yet.

If Leights gets a start and delivers the first shutout of the season, he deserves to play again. If he plays well, he deserves to continue. Boosh deserves the odd game here and there to keep his edge, which means Bob is the odd man out.

For me, the warm and fuzzy about Bob is fading and the concern of burning him out or eroding his confidence is seeping in.

by Rockkon on Dec 23, 2010 3:34 AM EST up reply actions

But if Leighton didn’t get hurt, he still would have been beaten by Bobrovsky because regardless he was in training camp and pre-season. When you go back and look at the majority of games we lost, you will find a losing goaltender. Further, when you look at the goalie who has played the most, he will show up the most. It’s that simple.

If you’re looking at Leighton for a shutout, I would give all the credit of his shutouts (in the playoffs) last year to our defense. Remember he only had ONE SO in 34 games in the regular season last year. Maybe he can continue to play as he did last year but it seems illogical to argue a deficient point. Michael Leighton’s statistics speak for themselves and last year was an anomaly.

If our team continues playing how they have been this year, there is absolutely no reason to change a thing. If our goalies become the ailing facet of our losses or an injury occurs, enter Leighton. However, right now it seems as though no case needs to be made for potentiality as actuality has made the case for itself.

by phinally on Dec 24, 2010 2:11 AM EST up reply actions

Bob is the superior athlete – he is faster, more agile and more coordinated that Leighton. These particular athletic attributes are mostly inborn and only see small improvements with signficant, time consuming training – the type of training that is best done in the athlete’s developmental stages and not once they begin to play professionally – there just isn’t the time to do it without risk of overtraining. Overtraining is one of the leading causes of injures in athletes and also promotes plateauing (skills leveling off for prolonged periods of time) which can lead to maladaptation (loss of skills). Bob’s goalie IQ is still a work in progress but what is important is that this is very coachable – speed, agility, and coordination are not and as stated very difficult to improve with training. Bob therefore is the better choice. Bob’s has the pre-requistes to become a top tier talent. To say the same of Leighton would make my nose grow a foot.

by j reed on Dec 25, 2010 8:36 PM EST up reply actions

Signed to COMPETE for the starter's job

When he was signed, Holmgren said that Leighton would COMPETE for the starting job. He was never handed it.

by flyersphan17 on Dec 27, 2010 3:24 PM EST up reply actions

First, we need to clear something up. There is a fundamental difference between a starting and a backup goalie. Yes, they both were pads and attempt to play the same position on the ice, but the rest of the time it is a totally different position. A backup goalie has a totally different mind set than a first string goalie. A first string goalie NEVER makes a good long term backup (they only accept this role because they believe they can regain their #1 position). A backup goalie has a strong mental ability, plays good hockey but doesn’t win games for you, he also doesn’t loose games for you, he can come in and play when the team is down 4-0 in the first period and still play well. A backup has a level head and is a professionals.

Brian Boucher is the best (only Nitty is close, and Thomas is not a backup) backup goalie in hockey. He is so good, many confuse him with a starting goalie. He has proven that when called upon he is reliable in the net, he has playoff experience, and he doesn’t give up soft goals. He even has a league record for most consecutive shut out minutes (look it up, with ’yotes). Backup goalies rarely make good starting goalies (see Many Legacy for an example of a backup that was so good they mistook him for a starter).

Michael Leighton and Sergei Bobsvrosky are both starting goalies, as far as I know. Starting goalies don’t make good backups, they don’t have the mental keel to stay prepared and go into crappy positions. Hextall (he shared time with Beezer but was never a backup) would have made a horrible backup goalie. Mark Laforest and Bobby Taylor were excellent backup goalies, they had the right attitude and decent skills.

So, my long awaited point. It’s either Lieghton or Bobs that is the starter, the other must go. Boucher is the best backup goalie in the league, and the proof is that everybody is confusing him with a starter on these bsh bloggs.

by NickFotiu4HOF on Dec 27, 2010 10:05 PM EST reply actions

While I do not disagree that Boosh has the right mental ability to handle being quality backup and we don’t know for certain if Leighton has the disposition to be able to handle it with grace, I disagree that Leighton has ever earned the right to be a true starter for a significant length of time. He’s been a backup goalie for as much, if not more, of his career as Boosh has. He has to have learned to deal with that in some way, even if he doesn’t excel at it.

by DragonGirl0583 on Dec 27, 2010 10:36 PM EST up reply actions

When was Leighton a backup goalie? He was an AHL starter for most of his career.

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by Geoff Detweiler on Dec 28, 2010 1:36 AM EST up reply actions

In the AHL, yeah, but what I was getting at was that pretty much every chance he’s gotten in the NHL, save for last year, he had to deal with being a backup. And he’s gotten that chance enough times that he should have developed some way of coping with that role…. The last year that Leighton was truly an AHL starter was the same year Boosh was an AHL starter for the Phantoms. I don’t disagree that Leighton’s mentality might not be correct for a backup goalie, I’m just saying that he’s been stuck in that role about as many times as Boosh has.

by DragonGirl0583 on Dec 28, 2010 8:10 PM EST up reply actions