Cam Talbot says last year was an outlier in his career and that he’s looking forward to having a stout defense in front of him this season in Calgary.
All it took was a few-hour drive down the road (and a one-year contract worth $2.75 million), away from the Edmonton Oilers and a season where he only started 29 games (winning just 10 of them) and had a career-worst .893 save percentage. It’s a far cry from the 42 wins he put up in 73 starts two seasons prior. Then, the Oilers, as a whole, were a good team. This past season they were anything but.
Talbot lost his starting job to Mikko Koskinen and the Oilers gave the Finn a big money deal based on not a whole lot. As such, Talbot was traded at the deadline to the Philadelphia Flyers. Behind Carter Hart, Talbot barely played and was just as ineffective when he did.
“Last year was an outlier in my career,” Talbot said on Saturday after being introduced to the media. “Just take everything in stride. Any time you have a season like that, it puts things in perspective. Things aren’t always going to go your way. It’s how you can battle back and make yourself better in the long-run.”
Talbot said he has to come in refreshed and let last year slide.
“Have a short-term memory,” he said. “I think it’s easier said than done sometimes. I just want to come in here and prove that I still have a lot of hockey left in me.”
He’ll get to do so under Bill Peters, who coached Talbot at the World Hockey Championships. Talbot said he feels comfortable in the system, one that is defense-first and includes the reigning Norris winner in Mark Giordano.
“It’s exciting for myself,” Talbot said. “It’s a very deep team.”
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David Rittich is the started in Calgary, but he split time with the outgoing Mike Smith (ironically, he’s gone to Edmonton) last season and Smith took the crease for the playoffs. Still, Talbot realizes he’s 1(b), if not the backup heading into next season.
“He’s a good, young goaltender... took his game to another level last year, had a heck of a season,” Talbot said. “I’m just coming in here trying to compete and pushing each other to be better.”
Flames general manager Brad Treliving said the expectations for Talbot are rather simple.
“Come in an stop the puck,” he said.
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Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck.