cross16

i don’t know how it will work out in the end but right now they look like a force. Every time I watch they are running over teams and dominating the possession. Think they have the top PP so far this year too. and he does this all with a really young team and many rookies or 2nd year pros. Very impressive.

I’m really starting to believe the Flames might have their next head coach in Cail Maclean. He continues to really impress and this year the Heat are just flying. Hopefully he doesn’t get poached in the next couple years.

Boy are the Heat fun to watch. Fast, relentless, tight checking, pressure all over the ice. Their pace is incredible They have steamrolled Toronto in this game. Marlies can’t keep up.

Whether or not this is his last hire depends entirely how this goes. If it goes well (open to debate what well means) then Treliving likely stays. But I do agree Treliving won't get to "fire" another coach but he might get to hire another one. We'll find out.

I'm with Haynes here, my initial thought is Lindholm is going to stay at center and honestly i'm not sure Sutter is going to want to put Bennett at center. I went back and re watched some of the Kings -Rangers SCF games to try and remember how Sutter's Kings played. A few things jumped out right away: - An aggressive 1-2-2 in the neutral zone.Hhe wants his forward to attack puck carries at the opposition blueline and he wants the pressure all through the neutral zone. When things were good under Ward the Flames did this really well but the inconsistency of this was maddening. Last night was a really good example of how his Kings team played. Get on guys early, pressure in the neutral zone/blueline and get the puck going back the other way. - On the breakouts, they use the middle of the ice coming out of the zone and they quickly get the puck to the wings. They tend to avoid carrying the puck through the middle and tend to avoid east/west passes at the opposition blueline. However, they will go D to D and they will use cross ice passes and wingers looping across the ice to try and win the neutral zone. This was lacking under ward where it was always North-south. - On that last point, your center needs to skate. Centers tend to start the breakout and then he keeps them high in the o zone in a 2-1-2 to keep possession and avoid odd man rushes the other way and then backcheck hard in the neutral zone. This is why I'm thinking Lindholm will stay at center and why i'm not sure Bennett will be tried at center. I'm also really curious to see how Monahan reacts to this, although both Peters and Ward were moving Monahan in this direction anyway. It's going to force Monahan to skate a little more, but it's really going to force him to manage the puck better on the breakout and be much harder in the neutral zone. - Don't expect the bump back on the PP to go away, his Kings used it. They didn't use it almost exclusively like the Flames do but it was always there as an option. - In the D zone, I expect a little less man to man and a bit more zone especially around the net. That being said I don't think how the Flames were playing in the d zone under Ward was a big problem in terms of scheme they just executed it really poorly. His teams will collapse though (as do almost all teams). It's not as passive as the Flames though, his high forwards pressure. - I don't expect much to change in the o zone though. How his Kings team played is pretty similar to how the Flames have been playing under Ward. That being said, he was also pretty clear in the press conference he knows there are things he will change from La to know so maybe this is one of them. While I see issues with the style of play in the o zone I will add that the primary reason it suck out with Ward is the Flames didn't counter attack or win the possession battle very often so it felt like a waste when they got there and then wouldn't generate chances. - They obviously dump and chase a lot which does make me nervous but on the positive side of this they are more strategic about it. Under Wards I feel it's always just a straight dump in or a hard rim but Sutter's Kings were strategic about where they puck the puck using chip/chase or cross ice dumps.

Interesting stuff so far from the press conference. - Won't be here until Monday. - Based on last night he wouldn't change the lines - While Treliving said this isn't a system issue "those will change". Sutter also hinted pretty strongly they need to do things differently. - No other staff changes at this point.

Play faster is music to my ears

if nothing else, we should enjoy the heck out of this

Some other interested information as I look around today, Milan Lucic played for Darryl in 15-16 and by almost all metrics had one of his best seasons in his career. Should be someone who is excited about this. By no means suggesting that Lucic is going to be better or as good as that. Simply something I find interesting and would likely be an ally of Sutter's right off the bat.

Yup and he saw him in the mold that I think many of us did when he was younger. I'm fascinated to see how he see's him now.

I don't disagree I just don't think that is a primary reason the Flames are spinning their wheels this year.

While you could (i stress could as it's very much debatable) argue that this version of the Flames is more talented than the Kings team he took over, what I don't think is debatable is that Kings team was tailored made for Sutter hockey. Speed down the middle with speed and size on the wings, with 3rd/4th lines that could really grind you down in the offensive zone. Really good fit for a quick transition, dump it in and go get it, take care of your own zone type of team. That isn't here IMO. This is a team that is not well built to play dump and chase hockey which is traditionally a Sutter staple. I thik he's going to make an impact, because the biggest issue I have in terms of the Flames this year is not a talent problem its a consistency problem and it's playing too slow. You play slow under Darryl you just won't play and you've also seen way too high a number of simple d zone breakdowns. I suspect the Flames system in the d zone is going to get an overhaul and it's badly needed. But how much of an impact he makes I think will come down to can he find a happy medium between how he wants to play and how this team is built.

I do feel for Ward. By all accounts he is a good man and I think he is a top quality assistant/associate coach. He deserved a lot of credit for how he righted the ship last year and he did some quality work here. I think he was either in over his head or put into a bad position (assistant to head coach on the same team hardly ever works) but i'm sure he'll be back on a bench somewhere soon.

I was surprised by this to be honest, not the possession but the fact that his team actually generated a high quality of scoring chances. My recollection of those Kings teams were they were similar to this year's Flames in a lot of ways with the dump and chase, go get it, keep it on the perimeter and generate a high volume of shots. Surprised to see the numbers say they generated a lot of quality. I'm still lukewarm on this but I totally get why they did this. It feels like a desperation move but if your franchise wants to win (and it's very clear the Flames do) this is without a doubt the right move to make. You can't make big trades so go and get a coach whose MO is literally getting the best out of whoever he works with and establishing an identity. Since the Colorado series it's been put up or shut up time for this core and i'm not sure there is a better coach in the entire league to install that than Sutter. I've got my questions he can play the right way but I also know that Sutter isn't a dinosaur, he adapts. Can he adapt some of his core philosophy remains to be seen but this isn't going to be some trap it up win 1-0 type of team. I think it will be a good fresh start for a few guys. I'm really intrigued to see what he doe with Lindholm (center vs wing) Monahan, Mang, and of course Bennett. I know Sutter will give Bennett a fresh start but I'm not sure this move is as positive for Bennett as we think. The defensive efforts we've seen out of Bennett the last couple of games are going to get him back into the press box faster than Ward put him there. I'm probably most excited to see what Sutter can do with Monahan. He's on the record as really liking Monahan, but his systems traditionally put a lot of work on the center's plate especially in the neutral zone. It will be really interesting to see if he can get Monahan playing more like the player he was supposed to be when he was drafted. That's the player I wonder the most about.

My first thought was it did. This feels like an ownership call. I could see Treliving wanting to fire Ward and maybe ownership said ok but only if Darryl is the guy. I'm very interested on how it played out. But it according to Pike the deal they gave Sutter matches Treliving recent extention. Which makes sense.

I think this is a huge misconception with Sutter. I actually see gaudreau doing well under him personally. As long as you pay attention to detail in the d zone and you play hard Sutter will find ways to make you better, win more games and be a team. He's a lot a really good communicator and not overly negative. This is also thr the guy who has a GM acquired the likes of Huselius, Cammalleri, Tanguay, Langkow etc. He's always seen the value in skilled players he just won't stand for bad efforts or forgetting your defensive details. I don't think Johnny will have a problem with that.

They gave him a 3 year deal. This year plus 2. This isn't a salavge the season move.

I'm shocked, really expected them to play out the season. I have a lot of respect for Sutter, and really didnt like Ward, but I don't like this move. This reeks of desperation and the owners finally getting their way. Hopefully he's adjusted some of his philosophies or he leans on Huska because his kings teams weren't great at the end and some of his philosophies outdated. He'll have to adjust with this roster but at the very least you should have a pretty bought in hockey team.

I agree there is a disconnect between the comments, the way the team is built and what we are seeing on the ice. Whose fault that is i think is very much open to debate. All I was trying to say is i personally have always found that Treliving is building this team with a certain vision in mind and we keep seeing it in spirts. Even this year if you go back to the Winnipeg series they ahve periods where they looked fantastic. Gulutzan did it for a while, Peters did it for a while so while it doesn't have staying power I think the identity is there. It's why i question if Ward is actually who Treliving wanted.

No. I wouldnt play him above kylington so he just adds to a crowd.

but again, why do they have to be? You can be physical without putting people through the glass. Was Dallas that physical last year? Is Tampa? I guess we see it differently. As I said it's not perfect as ideally the 4th line could use more of an agitating presence and the 3rd pairing d could use more size but for me the rest is there. They are not executing like it for sure, but they have most of the pieces to be.

I agree. he is getting points but when I've watched he still isn't screaming "call this guy up". I watch Phillips and I want him up here but Ruzicka I still want to see more consistency. Although to be fair that goal isn't entirely his fault. His support person (#8) was too far up ice or that never happens but it does go to show Ruzicka still needs to have the play slow down for him at times.

I didn't get to see the whole game, but Zary has been really impressive for an AHL rookie. He thinks the game at such a high level he never looked out of place. I'm not suggesting his has huge upside, still unsure on that, but i think he plays in the NHL at some point. He's just too intelligent.

I can't believe Hartley keeps coming up especially when you look at his actual record here. But it is very well known by now that Hartley was let go because he turned on the players, made the atmosphere very negative, and multiple players questioned committing long term here if he was retained. That and outside of that 1 season, the team really wasn't very good.

This is the theme i keep seeing. Maybe it's not folding under pressure but this team does, and has for a while, reacted poorly to unfavorable situations. Why that is, your guess is as good as mine. I suspect it's part player, part coach but what % lies where is likely up for debate.