Ta-Ta Toskala
By Kent Wilson
13 years ago
While I’ve seen and heard many folks hope for a Toskala signing this off-season, I personally count the news of his imminent departure in the "plus" column. He had a spotty record with the Flames (a couple good games, one miserable one) during his brief stint in town, but the truth is Toskala has been one of the worst puck-stoppers in the league over the last 3 seasons. He may be a veteran, he may have been good once upon a time, and he may in fact be Kipper’s best buddy, but just about any other available NHL goaltender is a better option.
The perpetual insecurity surrounding the Flames back-up situation is probably what is driving others to hope for a Toskala re-signing. Afterall, he isn’t an unproven youngster (McElhinney, Sauve) or a washed vet (Noodles, Joseph). Well – he is a washed up vet, but he’s not too far removed from his 30th birthday so there’s at least the possiblity of some gas being left in the tank.
Dude’s flat out terrible though (his first couple of starts in Calgary nothwithstanding). Whats more, Toskala doesn’t even seem to know it.
"Vesa made it very clear that he wanted to be a one or 1A in the league," said Sutter.
Yeah. Good luck with that, Vesa.
Also, from the linked article, Sutter hints that Eric Nytstrom’s days as a Calgary Flame may be numbered.
Sutter said there have been discussions with Nystrom and that those are likely to continue. However, he cautioned that the Flames do not want to pay a hefty price for "role" players.
"For an offensively challenged team, we are not going to overpay a 10-goal scorer," said Sutter.
This is (and I haven’t said this much about Sutter recently) a very sensible tack for Darryl to take. Nystrom is popular in town, but is strictly limited as a hockey player. Given their cap situation and holes elsewhere, re-signing Nystrom at $1M per year or more isn’t in the cards.
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