JUNIORS SET UP CLASH WITH U.S.
COMEBACK WIN AGAINST SLOVAKIA LEAVES FIRST IN POOL WITHIN GRASP
Since the start of the 2013-14 National Hockey League campaign, one of the many daunting tasks for the Calgary Flames was to fill the shoes of Miikka Kiprusoff who faded into the Finnish sunset in the off-season.
They started things off with veteran journeyman Joey MacDonald and former Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Karri Ramo. Then, they eased in Reto Berra from the Abbotsford Heat as he made the transition from the Swiss elite league to the angles of the North American rinks and shipped MacDonald to the Flames’ farm team. And now? As a two-goalie tandem, Ramo and Berra are falling into a groove in their first season with the club.
“Goalies are interesting breeds,” said Flames defenceman Chris Butler. “Their on-ice personalities tend to be a lot different than their off-ice. You go back to Kiprusoff. He was extremely quiet off the ice. You get him in a game and he’s extremely vocal. He’s steering guys, he’s taking control and I think Reto is starting to do that. Same with Karri. It seems like they’re really settling in here and getting used to our style of play. I think you’re seeing both of them really grow.”
For Ramo, who had started four of five nights on the team’s recent five-game road trip, he’s riding a 6-6-3 record with a 2.79 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. Berra, the Flames’ starting goalie in the last three games, has a 5-10-2 record, a 2.91 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.
But, for the moment, consider the improvements of Berra. After his 28-save performance in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, head coach Bob Hartley said he’s been using his biggest gift — his six-foot-four, 194-pound frame — to his advantage and is sliding out of position less. Berra’s puck-handling has also improved.
All of which has been noticeable to his teammates.
“I look at his rebound control and the way he’s steering pucks,” Butler said. “He’s doing a tremendous job. He’s not giving up a lot of back-door opportunities or second chance opportunities. Guys are coming in off the rush and putting pucks in the corner and he’s making that save or hanging onto it ... he’s been really solid for us.”
Above all else, the confidence is noticeable.
“That’s what happens when you just go day-by-day — practices or games — it doesn’t matter,” Berra said. “I think my game is improving every day. It’s tough at the moment that we don’t win. But there’s no other way, you just keep going and keep fighting and the luck will come back to us.”
The results, however, haven’t been there. There are two straight losses on Berra’s stats but that’s not indicative of how he’s played.
Facing 30 shots against the Canucks and 27 against the Oilers, he’s only allowed three goals all of which were even strength.
Friday’s opening goal — Ryan Smyth’s first of the night — went off the veteran Oiler’s chest-area after he’d received a pass from the corner. Not much Berra could do there.
Then, Sunday’s opening goal was simply a stellar pass from the visitors’ captain Henrik Sedin to Jannik Hansen who made a great shot which immediately followed one of the Flames’ best shifts of the game with defencemen Mark Giordano and Ladislav Smid helping keep control of the puck in Vancouver’s end. They couldn’t get back in time and Berra was beat stick-side. On the second goal late in the third period from Mike Santorelli, Berra was mad at himself for anticipating a high glove shot.
Still, Flames head coach Bob Hartley said the goals in both games were no fault of Berra — nor anyone on the team — and decided to give him his fourth-straight start Tuesday against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
“We sat last night and said, ‘OK. Let’s sleep on this,’” Hartley said. “And we’ll see if our mindset has changed overnight. This morning, we sat again with Clint (Malarchuk) and the coaching staff and felt that going back to Reto was the right thing to do. It’s nothing against Karri ... (Berra) has been our best player this week and has been giving us a chance to win.”
Berra is also getting accustomed to the advanced research on each opponent.
“This is professional, over here,” he said. “You have all the details on each player and watch a lot of video and that’s great stuff, it helps for sure. But at the end, for my game, I can’t think too much about, ‘He’s doing that or he’s doing that.’ My focus is just on the puck. I try to play patient, use my big body, and read the shot. It’s great to have that, there’s nothing missing. The coaches make sure you have everything you need to play your best game.”