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I know coach said that Hammond was going to be our starter, but Burke played yesterday. I think Hammond has his good days and his bad ones, and when he plays good, he is really good. But when he has a bad day, it is bad... It looks like Burke has been solid so far, I haven't noticed any really bad games from him yet. I am just curious to know who is our starting goalie, or what do you all think about the two goalies? Who do you think should start most games?

We don't have a goalie that should start every game yet. Neither has stood up yet and showed that the job should be their's. Until that happens the rotation should continue. I will say that I'm not a fan of the same goalie starting every Friday game. I'd like to see Burke on Friday this week and Hammond on Saturday.

They are probably going to keep with the rotation for a bit. I have no clue what Hammond's problem is, but he seriously is lacking consistency. I would take a consistenly good Burke over a sometimes fantastic/ somtimes terrible Hammond. As of this weekend, Burke was the better goalie. Hammond had some key saves Friday night, but he couldn't keep the team in the game. Burke did a great job in net and was able to earn our team a point in league play, even though he couldn't earn the shoot-out win. At this point, Burkes is standing out more to me.

Falcon Hockey Fan wrote:They are probably going to keep with the rotation for a bit. I have no clue what Hammond's problem is, but he seriously is lacking consistency. I would take a consistenly good Burke over a sometimes fantastic/ somtimes terrible Hammond. As of this weekend, Burke was the better goalie. Hammond had some key saves Friday night, but he couldn't keep the team in the game. Burke did a great job in net and was able to earn our team a point in league play, even though he couldn't earn the shoot-out win. At this point, Burkes is standing out more to me.

Not true at all. Calling the game Friday night, I mentioned quite a few times how Hammond was keeping the team in the game. It could have easily been 4-0 after the first period, and the boys were lucky Friday's game was as close as it was, particularly because of #1.

It is hard to say this for sure, but Burke could have made those same saves. I'm not saying that Hammond has not been playing well, but he has not been playing on the same level every night. When you go from a 1-0 shutout to a 6-1 blowout loss, that is extremely inconsistent. I hope he can find his swagger and play at the same high level every night that we know he can play at, but as of right now, something is off with him, just not sure what it is. It is his Senior year, and scouts are watching him, those two things alone made me think his season this year would be even better than last year for him, I just hope he can turn things around before it is too late.

You cannot blame all of that on Hammond. The defensive break downs that night were numerous. Break aways, failure to cleare the puck after the initial stop, etc. A couple were soft goals, not all 4. (Burke allowed 2 of the 6 goals) The overall effort that night was horrible.

KMey18 wrote:

Falcon Hockey Fan wrote:They are probably going to keep with the rotation for a bit. I have no clue what Hammond's problem is, but he seriously is lacking consistency. I would take a consistenly good Burke over a sometimes fantastic/ somtimes terrible Hammond. As of this weekend, Burke was the better goalie. Hammond had some key saves Friday night, but he couldn't keep the team in the game. Burke did a great job in net and was able to earn our team a point in league play, even though he couldn't earn the shoot-out win. At this point, Burkes is standing out more to me.

Not true at all. Calling the game Friday night, I mentioned quite a few times how Hammond was keeping the team in the game. It could have easily been 4-0 after the first period, and the boys were lucky Friday's game was as close as it was, particularly because of #1.

Agree. I was at the game Friday night (well at least periods 2 & 3, due to a LONG traffic stop on the way up, we missed 1st period). I thought Hammond had a pretty strong showing. Western is VERY good (especially at home) and is ranked for a reason.

I'm not trying to smack-talk Hammond. I was here last year and saw the type of skill that he had in him. I am here now and I can honestly say that what I saw last year out of him is not what we are getting out of him right now. I don't think anyone knows why, but that is just how it is. I don't think Burke should be starting every game for us at this point either. I just think that using two goalies is a good option until Hammond starts to show some consistency in his game. I'm not saying that the team in front of Hammond is not part of his problem during his off nights. I will also say that last year, he performed well, no matter what the rest of the team did. I want to see him perform well every night and be the guy in net that we all saw last year. (Not to put even more pressure on him, but in theory, you are supposed to improve with age, so some might even expect to see an even better Hammond than last year.)