cross16

Agreed. I put this in another thread but this is an interesting problem for the Flames and their ownership. Their mandate is to be good every year and win now but now you are facing a scenario with a coach clearly in over his head and veteran options sitting out there. Now again i could be wrong but I very strongly believe Ward was hired not because he was the best option but we was the best option at the price they wanted to pay. Is the Flames organization prepared to punt a season to keep saving costs? Does the fact that you are not looking at the playoff revenue bump influence their decision?

I've said for years that I don't think this is a very strong dressing room so that's not something we should blame on Ward. I know the players keep talking about how great it is and they are so close but for me when you have issues like slow starts and mental collapses that is not coaching. That's leadership and players and players should not want that to happen to each other and if it does they should step in before you ever need a coach to say something. This has been lacking in Calgary for many, many years. I don't think it's fair to point the finger at Gio either. Looks like Warrener agrees.

We easily could, but for some reason Ward sees Lindholm as the next Patrice Bergeron when Backlund is actually his better option.

Blaming Ward for everything is easier but players need to be accountable too. This is Vancouvers 4th goal. watch the effort level on this play by everyone not wearing 88.

Well it depends on what the criticism is. Slow starts, inconsistent efforts, not being mental strong, all of those predate this coach so yes if you are just going to pile on and blame everything on Ward and the staff that isn’t fair. but some of the inconsistency, the lapse in execution, the struggle to create offense, breakouts can be tied back to the coach. He’s trying to fit a square peg in a round hole here with both systems and deployment. Both are at fault just depends what your more upset about. but if it was Derek wills then no surprise there. Not exactly an impartial observer when it comes to the flames.

Looks like there may be more to come on this and would like be a reshuffle.

Happy to see Backlund likely to be back but I am really struggling to see what Simon has done to impress this coaching staff. Clearly the move to put Bennett with Johnny/Mony was not made with the future in mind now that he's back on the 4th line. I get why Markstrom starts but the Flames really need to start giving Rittich some games.

Picked up Burke's Law after reading this thread and have to say it's a really enjoyable read. Only about half way through but lots of really good stories.

It’s frustrating for me because it appears Ward is making lineup changes to try and make up for systematic and execution issues.

Galchenyuk, and really no waiver claim for that matter, makes sense if Backlunds injury is not serious.

I’m not his biggest fan either but worth pointing out that by multiple metrics, Nordstrom has been one of the top 5 PKers in the league this year.

Promising update on Backlund

ive been struggling on just one too which is also why I have not been as critical on Ward as I want to be. It’s possible there are other factors at play. but they keep coming back to this way and this is the way they played against Dallas, a series Ward was quoted as saying was the blueprint for how they wanted to play. So unfortunately for me most signs point to this being the way the coaching staff wants them to play but I’m really hoping it turns around. I mean all you have to do is turn on some game tape and see the huge difference in quality of play

my understanding is that the Ryan injury means the flames cannot bank any future cap space until he is health and can go on the taxi squad. I think they are in LTIR or past the limit to accumulate cap space. If I am wrong you make a good point that claiming Galchenyuk would impact that. no LTIR does not give you more cap space in the long run and you stop accumulating future cap space if you are in LTIR. Which is why Galchenyuk only makes sense if Backs is out long term. At least his contract is such he can go on the taxi squad with full relief.

Pretty good article that breaks down what is wrong with the flames and in particular their breakouts. Really highlights what some have been saying in that Ward has this team playing the wrong way. Also shows why it’s getting easier and easier to shut down their breakouts. what is really frustrating is they have many periods this season where they play exactly how this guy suggests. They activate d, the layer their breakout, they go east west etc. for reasons I cannot understand they don’t seek to stick to it. https://jmalloryhockey.substack.com/p/the-flames-have-been-doused-cgy-needs

I agree on Galchenyuk. If backs is going to be out anything more than a couple weeks I’d put in a claim. The can put him back on the taxi squad when everyone is healthy. not really interested in anyone else

When you consider the circumstances around all of them, no one. Hathaway gets some consideration but I really don’t like the contract he got. in a perfect world I would undo the Hamilton trade but that doesn’t exist and I don’t think Hamilton could stay here. So no one.

Don’t get me wrong I’d love to see this blow on up on the Oilers but the odds that they want him off the roster is small. they would just be creating a problem. guess we’ll see but it makes sense this is just about putting him on the taxi squad

They took a ton of flak for it but boy did the flames ever make the right call there. Sometimes best to just admit your mistake and move on. this is just a taxi squad move but given the Oilers are already in LTIR I don’t see how they will get a cap benefit for this. edit: looks like roster flexibility move.

I have my questions about Monahan too but we are picking the wrong day to try and point the fingers at him. Great find on the 1st goal, even better pass. Finds a hole in the d and splits them for a clear breakaway Finds Gaudreau on a perfect saucer pass for the breakaway goal. That line lead the Flames in expected goal differential, were 56% SCF% and 50% HDCF They had a good night and I thought Monahan was a big part of it.

I'm starting to like the Johnny-Mony -Sam line actually and thought they were good. Still have some issues where Bennett tries to do too much and it brings the line down, but I agree with Lou that Bennett's speed and rush ability is allowing them to work more of the ice and transition better. It's not there yet, but seeing some good things and think it warrants keeping it together. I do think it's time for a switch though and I agree Mang and Dube should switch. I get the hesitation with the Backlund line playing so well but it's been too many games now where that Lindholm line has just been totally ineffective. I don't think it's Dube's fault but I think you need to give that line a shot in the arm and I think Dube will still fit in well with Backs/Lucic.

He's at 47.3% according to this site https://puckbase.com/stats/faceoff-percentage?player=sean-monahan&zone=off. But that doesn't really carry much impact when it comes to thinks like shots, chances, expected goals etc. To be fair it's not like Monahan is performing poorly, i just think you want more given the type of assignments he is getting.

is there a zone entry system that isn't predictable though? Hockey's a pretty simple game after all. The question i have here though is why is it not working. is it scheme or execution? Technically speaking you are not suppose to get to the point where 3 guys are standing on he blueline, 1 should be moving laterally to help chase the puck down so if it's not working is it for sure the bump pass or was it just not executed well? Most of the errors I see come down to execution. The backup if it's being defended well is to attack with 2 players in stead of 1. When the bump back is defended well I find it's because it's broken up in the neutral zone. so my counter would be to attached using 2 forwards to generate more speed which should cause the PK to back up at the blueline or spread them out to open up the middle of the ice. I don't like dumping it in on the PP but sometimes it is a necessary move to change the coverage. Given the PKers are all moving backwards a proper dump should be relatively easy to retrieve for a PP unit.

Agreed it does add more context. Not sure if Backlund's early season struggle were a culprit in this but with the way he is playing now it's definitely time to balance this out better. Also not a great look for Monahan getting plum assignments like that and not exactly thriving with them.

This isn't to take away from Tanev but it should be pointed out that Vancouver was not a good team last year in their own zone. They were one of the worst by almost all metrics and Markstrom carried them to the playoffs. I'm not sure the loss of Tanev is being felt on the ice much but it does sounds like the room is really missing him.