cross16

He played two and then had to leave the third one with the injury. The first one he was very good, only 2 goals on 34 shots, it was the second one that wasn't so good as he let in 6 goals in 36 shots and that is pulling down his numbers. He seems prone to that every now and then with having a bad game, but I haven't seen his team play so not sure what level his team plays into that. I do know he tends to face amongst the highest shot totals in the Q.

Mason macdonald has a knee injury and is out for the rest of the playoffs. I actually heard he is in calgary right now rehabing.

Raymond can be trusted with ice time and sven can't. Honestly outside of his emergency call up I saw nothing in sven that suggests to me you could count on him for solid top 9 play. The flames lost a lot of goals outside the left side when Canmy left and needed someone who could fit an up tempo game and Raymond fits that perfectly. I think he is a great system fit is what I'm saying, sven wasn't. I think we are using hindsight too. Who say Gaudrea doing what he is doing this fast? It's easy to say now there is no need but going into the season Raymond was highest in the depth chart for LW. Gaudreau has made him less important for sure but that's not fair to put that on trevliving because no one counted in Gaudrea putting up 60 plus points.

Sven does not have Raymond's speed nor does he have his finishing ability at the NHL level. Sven is not an NHL player at this point in his career and has proven that on multiple occasions. I don't like the 3rd year on his deal, wish it was a 2 year, but I disagree the need wasn't there. Who was going to bring his level of speed and scoring touch to the left side? I also think injuries derailed his season because when healthy he was a very useful player.

I'm not underrating Wideman at all, I'm actually a big fan of Wideman and have been all along. But to say that he should be in the Norris conversation means you are saying he has essentially be one of the top 5 or 6 dman in the league this season and I can't agree with that. He's had a great season no question but Norris is the best of the best and I can't put Wideman in the same category as Weber, Pietrangelo, Karlsson, Keith, Doughty etc. That would be like saying Tyson Barrie should be in the Norris conversation. Would you put Tyson Barrie in the Norris conversation?

I don't think the Raymond signing is as bad as people think. Yes he disappears for stretches, knew that when we signed him so that shouldn't be a surprise, but he's added a lot of speed to the depth of this lineup. Now the Flames can roll 3 lines and play an up-tempo, quick transition game on all lines except basically the 4th line. His stats are not that impressive and of course he is overpaid but I think the depth option and what he's done for the overall speed of this team can't be overlooked and right now, and even next season I might add, I'm not sure there is a player coming that can bring his level of speed to the left side. There is no question BT overpaid guys to come here i'll never dispute that but every team is going to have overpaid guys. However, I think all the players that BT brought in still had a positive impact on this team and they also don't hurt the club long term. None of these guys are going to prevent the Flames from re-signing key players or being active in improving the team.

Last TDL was completely different as they were in full sell mode with no playoff chances and the flames didn't move Cammy because they got no good offers. It sounds like if they would have moved Cammy it would have been for something around a 3rd round pick. He market just wasn't there for him. Letting glencross walk could easily have been justified simply by arguing that keeping glencross was necessary to get into th playoffs and give the the best chance in the playoffs. It's easy to say otherwise now but at the time not everyone was on board trading glencross and then not adding any other pieces. Most people were ok trading glencross so long as the return was right and they got someone to come in and bolster the team. Treliving believed in his guys and his room and that took guts. Treliving, Feaster and Sutter all take credit for where the team is right now. This team isn't in the playoffs without brodie or Giordano and Sutter brought in both and this team isn't in the playoffs without Hiller who BT brought in. Heck, I'm not sure the flames are in the playoffs without singing Engelkand either because of how solid he's played in Gio's absence. Of course BTs work is still to come but I think you are selling him short.

To add to my last post a huge plus I will say about Treliving is he has a lot of confidence and guts that he knows his plans and to stick to it. It took a lot of guts to trade Glencross at the deadline and not get a roster player in return. His captain was out for the season and he traded one of the veteran leaders in his team for draft picks and didn't replace him. He brought in Schlemko yes so it wasn't a total loss but I think he showed a lot of guys to stick to his plan and to believe in his team when popular opinion was the flames had to add. The biggest problem I had with Feaster was I don't think he ever had a plan and he didn't seem to stick to certain beliefs or opinions he had. Treliving has the guts to make a very tough call but also has the personality to be the first in the dressing room to congratulate his players. It is early, but I just have a feeling that we are going to be very pleased with the tenure of Mr. Treliving.

don't get me wrong I really like the season Wideman has had but Norris conversation is a bit much. he's been good, but not great. he has been great offensively, but he is not dominant enough on either side of the ice to qualify for the Norris IMO. he still struggles at times in his own zone. I do like Morrison and think that was a wicked signing but I would hold off on the Dekeyser comparisons. The big thing with Dekeyser was how polished his game was and how NHL ready he was and from what I've heard about Morrison is he is a bit more of a project. Good upside, which is why I love the signing but I think we should just manage expectation and comparable. He defiantly makes Potter irrelevant though which is great because Potter is a terrible NHL dman. He was awful last night and I really think the only reason they signed him was to have some RH shot depth in the organization and I do support that mentality but Morrison takes care of that.

I don't think it's fair to call Setoguchi a bad gamble. I wouldn't have signed him and I thought it was a waste but it didn't cost them anythjng. They had contract space to still add players on waivers if need be and extra signing so while it didn't work out it wasn't a bad move because it didn't cost anythjng even if I didn't approve. I like Treliving a lot so far. He says the right things and then backs up what he says. His on ice moves are ok so far, not great, but the next step is going to where you see what you have. I'll judge him more next year. On an aside note there was something he did I thought was pretty cool. After the game when the players left the ice Treliving was right there to give rah and every player a hug and a high five. I thought that was cool.

One thing to keep in mind with Gilles though is his contract can't slide so the 9 game rule doesn't apply. If you sign him to carry him for the playoffs I'm fairly certain it will burn a year on his entry level deal. Not a huge deal IMO but something to remember.

JJ you at overreacting and taking what shojld be a small issue and blowing it up into some organizational travesty. Gilles should have gone back to college the flames made the right call there and I think he has proven them right. He needed to prove more and he has. Signing him last season would have been a mistake IMO. There is no rush IMO to get him going pro but I think he likely will this year. Look at the current depth chart for goalies in calgary. Ramo - hurt Hiller Ortio - hurt Theissen Gilles - unavailable but that's is unforeseen Macdonald - hurt. So out of their top 6 options 4 of them are unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances. How is that a slight against the organization? It's just bad luck simple as that. Any team who lost 4 of their top 6 options is net would scramble just like the flames. You just can't have that many goalies under contract.

Ortio just started light skating. He isn't close.

Goes both ways. IMO Ferland was just as cheap and shouldn't be in the game either. I think a non call is better then off setting penalties.

Ferland stuck his foot out, so I think the refs just let it go rather than make a soft call both ways. Enroth for sure embellished but Ferland did trip him.

IMO both of those goals were results of scrambles where the flames got caught standing and the Avs were moving the puck at will so I can't really blame Ramo. He got a bit too scrambly but I also thought he was under seige and got no help from red sweaters just standing and watching Ramo made a good 4 or 5 excellent saves that kept it a game. Avs could have easily had 4 or 5 goals last night IMO. Not a strong defensive game from the flames.

Well keep in mind with PK he averages 9 mill a season and got a NTC as well. That's what I'm saying I think people are saying that 7.5 to 8 is the top of Giordanos market and anythjng around 7 is a deal. I'm saying that 7.5 to 8 mill is Gio taking a discount.

Maybe but I don't see it. Agents are gojng to continue to argue that as long as their is growth in the cap then the percentage of players against the cap will continue to decrease and therefore justify teams that are paying their superstars big dollars. Not to mention I can guarantee you if the flames don't want to pay Gio 8 mill there will be plenty of teams that will. Unless the cap the cap actually contracts and decreases in value I don't think you'll see the stars and top players punished. I think of the cap was stagnant or not growing it's bad for depth players and the second tier free agents. IMO, teams will always make room to pay their stars and their top players, it's the secondary pieces they try to budget for.

I'm not going to bash Gio or suggests he is a bad guy but I think it's a bit of a fantasy to say things like oh he is so thankful to be the captain he'll do the flames a favor or that he's such a nice guy he would never sign a big deal. This is the same guy who didn't blink when the flames balked at his one way deal ask and despitr the fact that he should have been thankfull to the flames he told them to pound sand and went to Russia. He gets this is a business and don't forget you could easily argue he already did the flames a favor with his last contract. This is his last chance, IMO, at a big contract and I think he is smart enoigh to realize that and cash in and he absolutely deserves too. I could see him making a small discount but to me a smal discount is 7.5 mill because he's worth over 8. I have zero problem paying Gio 7.5 to 8 for the next 5 years that is the cost of business in the NHL, you pay your stars and Gio is a star.

And yet the cap is going up next season despite the dollar. Don't forget too the World Cup of hockey is going to inject a lot of money into the NHL coffers too. I don't expect the cap to shoot up in the next little while but I think you will see it rise every year to some degree.

I think to are dreaming if you think you are gettkng Gio for less then 7 mill on any term. Gio is worth probably 8-8.5 right now and will be for the next 5 years because the cap is not going down any time soon. I'd like see a 5 year deal in the 8 mill range and then an opportunity to do 1 year deals after that like the wings did with Lindstrom

Agree to a point it's not only the defence but they play a part. Outside of brodie and Gio I find the D struggles to handle a cycle and forechecking game. The 2nd pairing lacks physicality and gets cost chasing and the 3rd pairing lacks mobility and not to mention both are problematic against top talent. Again it's not a slights it's about saying what is needed to be a top level team and how are we going to get there. It's not just the D that would be improved either so I'm not singling them out.

No to beat down the defence because I'm am incredibly impressed with how they've stepped up in Gio's absence, but it terms of going forwards you have to be carefully saying this is d core is fine and doesn't need improving. Yes they are winning I get that, but there are too many stretches where they are getting dominated in procession and getting seriously hemmed in their own zone. If it weren't for ramo playing at a vezina calibre level they lose in both Boston and Philly without question so I still think the flames have improvements to make on this d core long term to become a contending team. Brodie and Gio are fine of course but I still think upgrading everywhere else Is something I would be looking into to really turn the flames into a contender. I would agree it's probably not as high a priority as it was before the season so it needs to be the right fit, but I'm not sure you would win a cup with this blueline.

I think We are forgetting how good Ramo was to close out last year too. It's not like this is a small window of success we have seen this before. Twice the flames, mainly Hartley, has jerked Ramo around and put faith elsewhere and both times Ramo whethered it and came out ahead in the end. I don't view this last stretch as outside the norm for Ramo and personally I've never understood why Hartley is so reluctant to go with him. Outside of the start of the season I think Hiller has been slightly above average as a goalie.

Because he isn't that good. He was able to do it got a game but over the course of time he will revert back to what he is which is a decent bottom pairing Dman. I don't think anyone suggests they think Engelland has found a game he never had and now is going to prove himself as a top 4 Dman. He stepped up and had a good game that's all. Might have a few more in him but that's likely it.