Patience With Pogge Is COMPLETELY UNJUSTIFIED
May 5th, 2008 by Steve
Can someone explain to me why it is oh so important that the Leafs treat Justin Pogge with kid gloves?
Carey Price played 2 AHL games for the Bulldogs before becoming their Calder Cup starter (and MVP)… after Jaroslav Halak led the league in most goaltending categories last year, and provided stability for most of the season. Nobody said boo about throwing him into the fire at that point.
Martin Brodeur played 32 games in the Utica Devils franchise in the AHL before promotion to the NHL.
Curtis Joseph played 23 games in the IHL before promotion to the St. Louis Blues.
Marc-Andre Fleury played 66 games over 2 seasons for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins before promotion to Pittsburgh.
Rick DiPietro played a combined 107 games between the IHL and AHL over 3 years, with some time in the NHL inbetween.
Vesa Toskala played 111 games for the Cleveland Barons (then the farm franchise for the Sharks) with an atrocious 34-63-9 record before promotion to the big club.
Miikka Kiprusoff played all of 83 games for the Kentucky Thoroughblades (then the farm franchise for the sharks) before promotion to the big club.
Justin Pogge has played in 89 games for the Marlies with a 45-35-6 record, and everyone seems to think he’s incapable of carrying the load that Scott Clemmensen has already proven he isn’t really doing a stellar job of shouldering. That’s MORE games than half of the aforementioned goaltenders played in the AHL before being handed the big club reins. I’m sorry, but it is patently absurd that Leafs fans think playing Scott Clemmensen improves the club on a the whole in any way shape or form.
Even an AHL stalwart, Ryan Miller, who played 3+ seasons for the Rochester Americans after a stellar NCAA career with the Michigan St. Spartans, played only 47 games before promotion to the NHL to play for the Sabres in 15 games. He played 123 games over the following two years in the AHL before coming back to the big club as the number 1 guy, but his career trajectory is anomalous amongst top line goaltenders.
The idea that if we promote Pogge or toss him into a hostile situation we’ll hamper his development is amazingly disingenuous. How does the dichotomy of expecting mental toughness alongside babying the crap out of a prospect come to fruition in Leaf Fans’ minds?
He’s played in the AHL for 2 seasons… how long before we think he’s ready for anything??? This really isn’t worth defending… let alone rationally debatable. Scott Clemmensen has played 28 career games in the NHL since going pro in 2001-02, and he’s our stalwart net minder? Why does anyone bother defending the decision?
P.S. - WE AREN’T WINNING WITH HIM IN NET! WHAT THE HECK IS THE POINT?
Posted in Prospects
