Can we be done with the John Gibson experiment? He’s been mostly awful this year. The guys play with absolutely no confidence in front of him, and he’s allowed 4 goals in 7 his 11 starts. I’ve noticed that we play a lot looser, and with a lot more confidence in front of Talbot. I think it’s time we cut our losses with Gibson and call up Cossa when he gets healthy. Enough is enough.

39 comments

  1. If the confidence of the team in front of each goalie is different…the goaltending isn’t the bigger issue

  3. He’s been bad, but he’s known as a streaky guy, Talbot will become 1A for a bit and hopefully it lights a fire under him. The wings need both him and Talbot to be successful

  4. I agree that Gibson is not the goalie we all were hoping he might be, and while Cossa is doing amazing in the AHL is he the right answer this year? I think the better thing is make Talbot your clear #1 and put Gibson on a 20-25 game schedule and then bring Cossa up next year when Augustine is ready to go to the AHL. That gives Cossa the opportunity to maybe win the AHL championship and take that extra layer of confidence into the NHL

  5. I agree with you, but I will also say that he is only one part of the problem. Our defense is not good and needs a bolster. At least two of the goals Gibson let in last night came from deflections from our guys. Now, maybe Gibson should have had those, sure. But we need better awareness around our own net.

  6. We won’t call up Cossa the second he’s healthy. He’ll get a few starts in GR just to see where he’s at. But if after that point he hasn’t lost a step, then yea it’s time to consider that.

    But only if Cossa is nhl good enough to 50/50 starts with Talbot.

    Cossa still needs plenty of starts to hone his game and develop. he’s not going to grow as much as needed playing 1 in every 3 games. If Cossa isn’t ready to be a 1B goalie, we gotta find somebody else go can be a 2 goalie for the rest of the year (assuming gibby doesn’t turn it around and given the past few years that seems a safe bet he won’t).

    Gibby was a gamble worth taking. We gave up little and Gibby is only here through next year worst case. The gamble missed. There isn’t much he will hold us back from doing cap or roster wise otherwise. He was just another placeholder in the path to Cossa/trey. He’s just not holding his place very well.

  9. Keep in mind we will be lucky to get 45-50 games from Talbot given his age, so even if he’s 1A we need someone else to make up those other games

  10. Unfortunately our options are limited and the primary and secondary goalies in GR are hurt.

  12. I may not like it but No way we do anything yet. We gave up a 2 and 4 for Gibson. Yzerman is very patient. Even though Gibson is nearing unstartable territory I don’t see us making any moves for a while.

  13. Whole franchise is bad , y’all acting like Larkin is a good player .. haven’t made the postseason in a decade

  15. We’re not quitting on the guy we traded for because he’s been good before, after 11 games where the team in front of him played badly in several of those. Damn. Be serious for a second.

  16. I was hopeful a change of scenery could revitalise him. Boy was I wrong, he has been borderline unplayable this year and he’ll still be here next year too.

    I don’t think calling up Cossa and throwing him to the lions is the play though, Talbot should be the clear #1 for sure, and I do think Cossa (and Postava tbh) have played well enough to see some games.

    If it’s me I see what number Talbot is comfortable with and then split Gibson/Cossa/Postava with the remainder. Hopefully Gibson can be a serviceable backup in the rest of his games and we see some flashes with the young guys. Next year is where I really worry, we’ll be dredging the free agent class for a goalie to play with Cossa while Gibson is either bought out or sent down to GR.

    E: nvm I just checked the free agency class, it is dire

  18. Omg Steve Yzerman not taking care of the goalie issues in year 7?? This dude man…

  20. Its almost December, he has allowed 4 or more goals in over half his starts, and he has lost his last 6 games.

    How much more of the season are you going to allow this over 32 year old goalie to piss away.

    If a 32 year old goaltender can’t adjust in the time he has had he isn’t going to “adjust”.

    The John Gibson experiment needs to end before it does more damage to the season.

    Talbot can not carry the load the entire season. He has played really well for us until we run him into the ground.

    Sebastian Cossa needs to be brought up.

    He will give us a chance to win and take some of the load off of Talbot.

    The problem with how piss poor Gibson is, is that Talbot is going to feel even more pressure to carry the entire team on his aging back.

    They are going to overplay him AGAIN, and he will break, then we will have no choice but to call up Cossa, who will also feel the pressure Talbot is, an THAT will damage Cossa.

    Its time to see what we have in Cossa.

  21. Did anyone catch the broadcast last night, where they mentioned that Gibson can’t close his glove due to past injuries?

    That’s concerning no?

  22. Look, hes not great.. But lets not act like the team defense last night wasnt the issue. The game should have been 10-0. How many cross ice one timers can a team actually give up in 1 game? How are we letting Shabonov skate in from the red line, untouched, and split Mo and Ed, who were embarrassed. Blaming the goalie for last night is weak. Gibby is like, 4th on my list of blame.

  23. I don’t know, if the team doesn’t score ANY goals it doesn’t matter if the goalie lets in one or twenty. If the team doesn’t play well in front of a goalie it’s the team that has a problem.

    Sure Gibby has been meh but the team sure isn’t helping any.

  27. Gibson has definitely been a let down. Was hoping he could bounce back and be closer to a version of himself from a few years ago and it just hasn’t happened. Granted, goalies are wonky and he could randomly start a heater because goalie reasons but it’s Talbot’s net right now no doubt.

  28. everybody can say that he hasn’t gotten enough help, and while that may be partially true, it still doesn’t excuse that he’s simply just not making enough saves. both things can be true. this isn’t good enough especially for a team with playoff aspirations

  29. I’m not a goalie guru or anything, but I’ve been trying to figure this out. What I’ve read is this: Gibson is a shot blocking goalie. His game is basically to be in position, be big, and let the shot hit him to make a save. That means he isn’t going to move a ton to block, because he’s relying on his positioning and stance to do the work. Shot blocking goalies are fantastic when the defense can keep the shots relatively predictable, like in straight lines. They can struggle to move side to side, or with hard to predict things like tips or deflections. This defense allows a lot of that stuff.

    An aside: Gibson is from an era when you could be a 6’2 shot blocking goalie. That might not be today’s NHL anymore. There’s at least one guy who can pick corners at will on every scoring line in the NHL, pretty much. Pucks just don’t hit 6’2 goalies like they used to.

    Anyway, Cossa is also a shot blocking goalie. And as I’m sure you have guessed, this defense is not exactly shot blocker friendly. They let a lot of stuff through, and forwards have a lot of time and space to change angles. So while Cossa might do better than Gibson, I dunno if he’ll be a lot better. He’s bigger and more mobile than Gibson for sure, so he’s an upgrade in a pure blocker sense. But what they really need is somebody mobile and aggressive, like Augustine. Unfortunately, he’s busy right now…

    TL;DR: Gibson struggles because he needs consistent defensive structure, which our defense does not provide much. Cossa is the same kind of goalie, but better. So maybe he’ll be an upgrade, but he might also just struggle the same ways.

  30. I could agree more. If he was Yzerman’s solution, it’s not working. While pucks are being deflected, he rarely seems in the right position.

  33. Everyone is asking for Cossa yet when we brought him up for preseason, he looked severely out of his depth…

  34. God. He has some good games but he is very Shakey. At this point Talbot is the main guy

  36. Sorry, I don’t see it. I turned off yesterday when it was 0-1, 10 min into the game. I just knew they are in wrong headspace right now and I don’t want to watch games where team is not fighting.
    Maybe it’s because of Gibson they are going out and play chicken hockey: No energy, no hits, trying to do pretty passes and garbage D, allowing everything in, stupid fouls — that’s not on goalie. The games I saw he was doing his job, yesterday started with a good glove save.

    Maybe he will be critisized by statwatchers

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