The Calgary Roughnecks announced two signings yesterday; veteran backup goaltender Matt Flindell and Frankie Scigliano.
Last season, Roguhnecks goalie Mike Poulin won the NLL goaltender of the year with the second best goals against average in the league at 10.27 behind just Evan Kirk. He was also tied for first in wins with ten, tied with Chris Levis in Colroado.
However, Poulin wasn’t even close in saves leaders, not breaking the top five. The top guy was Chris Levis with 603. Matt Vinc of the Knighthawks had the second most saves and ended up with the fifth best goals against average, so sometimes that number can be skewed.
There is no doubt Poulin is a good goaltender but his defense around him is also very strong. That’s a good thing, and defense and goaltending will remain the strength of the Roughnecks.
Unless the Riggers decide to carry two backups, one of Scigliano or Flindell will be the backup to Poulin this season. Question is, who is the right choice?
Scigliano, heading into his second year in the NLL, went 2-1 in his games last season and is just 20 years old. Do they trust him as the full time backup? If so, that shows tremendous confidence.
Flindell last played full time with the Portland Lumberjaxx but he played well with the Victoria Shamrocks of the WLA where he performed well. A good situation for them could be to have both of them on the roster, to get Scigliano some experience while a veteran in Flindell can spell Poulin at times.
