cross16

well.... Weird for Salim to "break" anything (and nothing picked up by anyone else yet) and also weird that Hanifin would speak specifically. could be nothing. EDIT: looks like nothing

If the discussion is his legacy, I think it's fair to credit him for modernizing the Flames F/O. He hired more scouts, brought in Chris Snow and analytics, and updated their scouting criteria to more modern times. Agree with crediting him for that. Just was a really poor hockey guy.

Well then we differ on what constitutes a rebuild. I don't think drafting outside the top 10, and a 4th round pick means your in a rebuild. Especially in all of the years before that they were adding to their team to try and get back into the playoffs. He did mention they were in a rebuild but it was mostly in the context of playing young players. He was also honest that their goal in the 13/14 season was to get into the playoffs and that's not a rebuild in my books. But could just be a difference of semantics.

This is where I agree, what is the base here and how can we agree it's solid? At least not if the bar is competing for championships. We differ on Hanifin as I personally don't see him as part of a good base. Great player to bolster a base but not someone who should be part of it. That's where I don't see the vision here. I get the rationale of these are good players, because they are, and we don't want to lose them for less than what we are worth but I think this franchise needs to see the bigger picture and that's that these good players are not making for a great team. I will acknowledge that part of the problem with Hanifin is I think you won't get much for him in trade. So I can appreciate that looking at losing a 26 year old top 4 dman for little is not very attractive, but at the same time I think trying to keep this thing together is less attractive for me.

This. Maybe, maybe in 2 season if the cap jumps up as much as they are suggesting someone might take a bite but there is some wishful thinking in there on my part too. He'd have to really raise his level of play which has been pretty rough to start the season. Don't think he's going anywhere.

No he didn't. Jarome made that call for them when he told them he wasn't going to re-sign at the end of his contract and then Kipper retired. The marching orders after that season were to get back into the playoffs. They also went out to hire Burke, in large part due to the fact that they weren't impressed with Feaster's performance. The Flames owners have shown they are understanding of a bad year in order to get a high draft pick. But to date no one has been able to convince them to sustain a multi year rebuild.

Yikes. I mean i'm not surprised but it's getting very cringe worthy how much desire there is amongst Flames brass/hockey ops to keep this thing together.

Really good start for Poirier. Did get hurt in last names game but sounds like it isn't serious

Not to suggest I was expecting a juggernaut or something but based on what I saw in the preseason i'm really surprised how the first few games has gone. The flames were far more creative in the pre season and the more games they play in the season they more they seem to be reverting back to their style last year. This is the nature of October but I sure hope it's something the coaching staff has got a handle on.

To be more accurate i'm not sure either one stays. I sure as heck woudln't if I were them. City aside I'd be done with the "attempts" made to build a winner around me. I see no reason McDavid stays. He'll make more money elsewhere, he doesn't' have to live in Edmonton and he'd likely go to a better team. Even if he wants to stay I think his agent would talk him out of it. He's likely losing out on millions a year by playing in Edmonton. The only reason I could see Draisaitl staying is Oilers can make him THEE guy and give him a max deal. I don't think that will speak to McDavid, who like I said I think can make more elsewhere anyway, but it may speak to him.

Wasn't part of the summer camp. He'd be a real long shot as TC blueline is deep this year and they also tend to shy away from guys his age, especially on D. he'd have a better chance next year. Played for Canada at the Under 18s so he'd be on the radar for sure.

Have to like how Gilbert has settled in. Small sample size but i think he has stabilized that pairing. I like how Huberdeau has started the season. That is very encouraging. Flames still finding their way but October is all about just finding ways to win. Don't really care where your game is just find ways to win and improve as you go. Flames are doing that so far. The quick answer back last night when the Sabres tied it was a good sign for me too.

I may be wrong on this but so far basically all the buzz is that McDavid is not interested in playing in Edmonton for the duration of his career. It wouldn't surprise me if Draistail stays but it will shock me if McDavid does.

Oilers would need some big season acquisitions for me to put them in the cup contender conversation. I just don't think their D or goaltending is good enough. Bouchard - Ekholm is getting them closer and if they can pick up another player like Ekholm and get a goalie it would change my mind but until that happens I just don't think you can win a cup with Nurse playing 20 mins a night and Campbell/Skinner in net. Bigger question is do they have 3 years? I think they've got 2 because Draistail is gonna be expensive and I think the odds of McDavid staying in Edm are miniscule. This year and next and then I think a tear down starts because you can't let McDavid walk for nothing.

Playoffs (Yes / NO)? Yes Pacific Division standings: 1. Vegas 5. Seattle 2. Edmonton 6. Vancouver 3. LA 7. Anaheim 4. Calgary 8. San Jose Goals: Assists: 1. Lindholm 1. Huberdeau 2. Mangiapane 2. Lindholm 3. Kadri 3. Andersson

I like what the Flames have started to do lately with drafting goalies later in the draft an in particular having a bit of a focus on the Russians and players heading the NCAA route. Afford you the chance to be more patient which I think is ultimately what you need with goalies.

A bit surprised Dube is off there so fast but at the same time Mang was excellent on Wednesday and they've been experimenting with him up there too. I prefer the idea of Dube because I think in order to thrive Hubie-Lindy need someone who likes to carry the puck. Mang's forecheck ability though, as seen on the GWG, is a boost too. So it's a bit of a dice roll to see what ends up happening and I won't be surprised to see it change from game to game.

A move that surprised me a little is Parker Bell being assigned to Tri City for his overage season. Had a really good year last year but was pretty quiet at the prospect tourney and camp. Wranglers do have both Ciona and Stromgren already needing some ice time so I can see the logic here.

Calgary Wranglers kick off their AHL season tonight. Quite a few changes to this year's group as the AHL coach of the year and their best forward are both in Washington now but they sill have Wolf which should make them competitive. Their D looks better and eyes will be on Porier and Kuznetsov to see if those players can start leading the core, Kuznetsov in particular. Hopefully players like Zary and Kerins can take a step forward while younger guys like Ciona and Stromgren make a difference

I too think the flames make the playoffs. I think this team is going to be fun to watch and score some goals. I think they wind up in the top 10 in goals for. They need to figure out some chemistry but this is the deepest and most balanced forward crop the Flames have had in a very, very long time. how are they going is going to depend on how they can execute defensively and what type of goaltending they get. If they can be good in that area I can make a case they should be a 100 pt team. but brewcrew is right does any of this matter if you have an asset in Lindholm that may be prepared to walk for nothing? Do you alter your course? I think I know the answer but will hold out some hope.

I don’t think it has to be honest. Sure McDonald over Demko looks bad in hindsight but it wasn’t that egregious at the time and I also believe it came done to injury. Demko had a hip surgery and it’s been reported that the flames didn’t think he’d be 100%. flames have traditionally been pretty conservative when it comes to injuries and prospects. Despite what some suggest or claim they’re really isn’t a person or organization in the NHL that has the position figured out. Every evolving strategy at the position.

I have no idea if Huska is going to be successfull or not but one thing I think is clear to me, he is very intelligent. Great mind for the game. I hope he can motivate (really what separates the good from bad coaches for me) but I don't question his mind. This is a small thing but not many coaches would do it.

Placing a player on waivers also does nothing in terms of their cap hit, you'd only lose the cap hit if another team claims him (which wasn't happening in the case of Monahan of Lucic) or your bury them in the minors. You can't do that with Lucic and even if you wanted to with Monahan you don't get full relief anymore and they would have been stuck with a 1.1 cap hit which again means they woudln't have been able to afford Kadri. I get he isn't everyone's favorite person or GM but Treliving worked extremely hard and diligently on his trades. I think it's a little foolish to think that he had other options to sign Kadri and just said "nah i'm gonna get rid of this 1st round pick". If you want to criticize or questions the need to sign Kadri that makes perfect sense (keep in mind the likely mandate though) but once the decision was made to sign him it played out how it needed to.

Conroy specifically singled out Osterle as someone he was really happy with in camp so I think the leash is going to be long there. I wish would they would have gone with Solyvov but such is life. But at the same time I'm not sure there was a player last night I would say was good. Some were worse than others but it was overall a really poorly played game it's hard for me to point the finger at any one individual. I also think we need to give the Jets some credit, they played very well. Great puck movement that was very quick that really put the Flames on their heels and I thought it really stressed the communication of the Flames and players were just sort of stuck on their heels with their heads spinning. Poor breakouts made it worse, but I do think the Jets did a really nice job of attacking the Flames and deserve some credit for how the game played out.

Take the points and run. Flames were terrible, Markstrom was excellent and they got points they shouldn’t. find a way to win early an hopefully they can tidy this up as they go