Flames Waive Joni Ortio

Remember the summer? Brad Treliving spoke often about the Calgary Flames’ goalie depth. They felt they had three good goalies, to the point where they were terrified that Joni Ortio would be claimed off waivers if they tried to send him to the American Hockey League. So they carried three goalies, despite conventional wisdom saying that was a horrible idea.

Then the regular season began. All three main roster goalies underperformed. And after demotions, injuries and 22 games of underwhelming hockey, today the Flames finally threw in the towel on Joni Ortio, NHL goaltender for now. (And maybe forever in terms of him being a Calgary Flame.)

Will somebody claim Ortio? Probably not. Would somebody have claimed him in October? Perhaps. He was dirt cheap with a mere $600,000 cap hit. But he’s also 24 years old (turning 25 in April) and in 19 appearances is an .893 NHL goaltender.

Ortio’s been good in flashes, particularly last winter, but he looked really out of place in the Flames’ net this season while Karri Ramo has looked at least like somebody who belongs in the NHL. And with Ortio having sat on the bench for the last 11 games and Jonas Hiller ready to return from his lower-body injury, the Flames absolutely cannot (and apparently will not) run the risk of having a three-ring, three-goalie circus around their team again.