DirtyDeeds

It is not even American Thanksgiving and the Season feels like it is at a crossroads.

Updated Lines Flames Oilers Goalies

What makes this Heritage Classic notable? This year's contest marks the 20th anniversary of the first Heritage Classic between the Oilers and Canadiens. Hosted on November 22, 2003, also at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, the Canadiens won 4-3 in a back-and-forth tilt. The Heritage Classic marked the NHL's first foray into outdoor games, and served as the basis for the league's further expansion into other marquee events like the Winter Classic and Stadium Series later in the decade.

2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic - Flames @ Oilers Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton 5PM Start

Away feed the play by play announcer called Marky "Backstrom"....

Sunday, October 29, 2023 @ Edmonton I'll conjure up some "Hocus Pocus" for this Halloween game.

Very Good Goaltending, 61% faceoff wins, perfect PK and 1 for 3 on PP. Good job guys... Lets work on the "shots against" and "shots for" now.... then clean up the giveaways

Fan 960 today mentioned Jeremie Poirier was injured.

Backs wants a chance at a cup. I don't think offering him an extension will work. If we can show him we are a competitive team that has a chance then we can offer the extension and he will sign. We will know how competitive we are come trade deadline. If we aren't that is when we will get the best returns. Backs is loyal to us. One of our draft picks. He is one of the best defensive centers in the league. Again last year he had one of his best ever years. Captain? sure but not if he is leaving. He was my choice for Captain last year.... should have been.

https://twitter.com/VintageOilers/status/1695204493959282970

Flames will be fine. Simmer down.... there is no reason at all to panic yet. The only trade that has to happen soon is Hanifin. He wants out and as soon as someone offers us something reasonable then he will be gone. Those other two may stay but both want to see some improvement... We can't really see some improvement until the season starts so you may as well drop the black cloud handcuffs until we play some games. As for your thinking they will float through the season that will not happen. If they want to float and wait for a better team to come along, then they can sit. Lets be truthful however, real professionals play their best so it is easier to trade them. GM's know when players are floating.... Lindholm and Backs floating??? where would you even get this idea... again won't happen even if they want out. I think the Flames are at a crossroads... This is an opportunity to change direction, change the core and finally promote a captain. One who will not let anyone float. There were too many who had poor seasons last season. Too many to digress or remain stagnant. I expect Hubs, Weggar, Kadri, Mangs and Marky in particular to have much better years... Now consider this So far only Toffoli has jumped ship. We just missed the playoffs by 2 points. If only Markstrom plays better how difficult can it be for the Flames to be better? Don't take Conroys "nice guy aura" as a weakness. As a former player he will have the respect of the players. I think you are dwelling on the inaction so far. Too soon for that. Way too soon. "The phrase "way too soon" is correct and usable in written English. It is often used to express the fact that something bad has happened before it should have."

So the only possible delay(the election) is over and the possible NDP putting the axe to the project is not going to happen..... Are we gong to break ground here soon? Anyone seen the new plans? or.. even a few designs? Come on people we are waiting here patiently for something .... anything...

Who is our core to build around? Does not matter much if we are not rebuilding or refitting...... We are near cap and need a core group to lead us to the promised land....

I hate the thinking behind that insanity catchphrase and thought... "doing the same thing over and over expecting different results." Truth is Einstein never said it and it can only be traced back to some old book. If you look at most sports and world class athletes you will find that it takes 10,000 + hours training of doing the same things over and over again to become world class at your sport or discipline. Just a point about the coaches.. Most of our coaches were inherited by Hartley. Only the odd modification has been allowed since then. Don't most teams allow most coaches to choose who they want to work with? Not us for the most part.

If Huska was led to believe that Assistant Coach was the next step advancement from our AHL coach in the path to NHL coach then the choice is obvious. Give him the Head coach and use him as example to Love that this is the process so give Love an Assistant Coach position. Ryan Huska reportedly to be named head coach of Flames on Monday

How does the proposed Calgary arena deal compare to other small market deals? (msn.com) Good read. Comparison to other small markets with focus on "public Funding contributions %"

Look at this dismal list..... The longest termed coach since 1997 was Bob Hartley. If you look at the complete list only Bob Johnson lasted longer. Every single other coach managed 3 seasons or less. We need to find a coach who will last a bit longer. The list begs the question how many times can you fire the coach because the players assembled under performed.

If it came down to the best fit of a Coach for the Owners..... They should take a good hard look at Bruce Boudreau. He would not be my first choice, however I can see him checking off a lot of boxes from what the Owners would like. For example: He has the second best regular season record all time only behind Scotty Bowman. Isn't this the number one desire of Owners to make the playoffs? I believe we have the talent now to make the playoffs but with a popular coach like Boudreau we could probably make the playoffs more regularly. He is a players coach.... Just what the Doctor would say the Flames need for our new core. Had we had more buy-in from Kadri and Hubs last season, results would likely have been different. Don't get me wrong I am not pointing fingers here but a bit more production from those two would have made all the difference. As would an avg performance from our goaltending... The only downside I can see is from the fans point of view. I am pretty sure they would like to see better playoff performance than Boudreau's dismal playoff record.... but the fans needs and wants are not the focus of this post.

I don't see any big ticket GM or coach being hired. Lets take the Flames history of being cheap for example. If they have to still pay Dutter to "not coach" you can bet your mortgage they won't hire someone expensive to coach here. Like Quenneville. As for Love as coach and using the same system. I don't recall the problem from the players as being the system. Almost all the reports I read and heard were problems with Dutter and the atmosphere he created along with mind games. Add to that the choices Dutter made in lineups and line combinations. The system we played is not easy to play. It is very demanding both physically and mentally. There is little room for error.

Patience Mrs Muller patience.. That is a decision for the GM to make.....

I would mention that all the unhappy players who said they were going to leave have mostly said they will stay now that Dutter is gone. The mass exodus you expect may be a lot smaller than you think. Add to that thought an Owner who won't even allow the executive to say the Rebuild word let alone do it..... Then there is the go between the Owners and the Hockey Operations who is under the impression that we are a very good team who just underperformed a bit.....

Can anyone resurrect Badger Bob Johnson? He is just the type of coach we need. "It's a great day for a hockey game"

For years around here people have been saying all we need in Calgary is "average goaltending". We got better than that 2 seasons ago and less than that this last season. The results compared to each other in hindsight are exactly correct or as you would expect. I put the onus on the Goaltender coaching to pull us out of this huge drop in results.

Yes BT WAS good. He also had some weaknesses. I think if you fault him for his contract tactics (waiting to last minute to get best price for example) that was the cause of losing Johnny, then you probably feel you can do better. Personally I can't say that was the reason Johnny left but leaving that situation to last minute and losing a franchise level player for nothing is bad asset management. In the end we are left with a tough budget management situation for at least 2 more seasons and left with a core that is new to each other with only one season under their belts. It would probably be best to have an experienced GM unless the ownership will let him tear it down somewhat. There is little flexability atm even when allowed to spend to cap.