cross16

First time all season I think the Flames put the hammer down on a team. Even deep into the 3rd period with a big lead they were pressing, high pressure, putting pucks on net, heck Tanev almost snuck down and burried one with seconds to go. I don't think Ottawa was good but the Flames were on it from the get go. Too little too late? We'll see but it makes it frustrating that you can see the potential in this team.

When your lines are crap to begin with I don’t think we should be that surprised if they go into the blender.

Wranglers pick up some reinforcements today it appears. Big dman. Likely to provide some depth as they are a little thin down there.

Since leaving the Flames as GM Sutter has been quoted on a few occasions of saying he didn't really like the GM role. I read an article where he was asking to rank being a coach/player and a GM and he ranked being a GM last. I'd be surprised if he wanted to be a GM again.

wow.. teams can get those? I've watched too much Flames this year apparently.

I use MacKenzie and Button the most. Mackenzie because i think he gives you the best focus on where players are likely to go so you don't get too excited about a guy that will never be there I like looking at Button's can you can find outliers that often the Flames are interested in. Unpopular opinion I actually think Button is a good scout too. Only other site I review from time to time is Elite Prospects because they provide an aggregate of different scouting services so you can see the consensus. I also subscribe to HockeyProspecting.com.

At first I thought it was a break for the Flames but upon further review they got the call right. Wild player had possession but he didn't maintain possession into the zone as he never entered the zone with the puck. If you watch the replay again he passes the puck before the puck enters the zone. He essentially put himself off side. Right call and an easy call once I realized that.

Personal suggestion is these really shouldn't' be called advanced stats as there really isn't anything advance about them but rather just simply a different way of organizing the data. Shot metrics, such as what is quoted in the original post, are pretty standard and straightforward. As many know I am a big of an of analytics because I think they do a better job of identifying the story of the team and give your more info to understand what is happening. They can identify trends which I think provides both potential for better and different better solutions. I've said this time and time again I think the best use of analytics is to use them to mitigate/combat confirmation bias. They do a very good job of this IMO, where the more traditional counting stats don't. I think the danger in analytics is not their application but rather the conclusions drawn from them. I really think it just comes down to telling a better story of what is happening out there but I think what got lost is the predictability idea. Analytics were sold as a way to predict hockey, which really cannot be done and thus they got a bad rap and got put on a pedestal as the new gold standing when in reality there are just simply a better way to explain what you are likely already seeing. Also worth pointing out that we, fans, don't have access to same analytics that teams do so a lot of this debate is a bit pointless.

hahahaha wow. this is comical at this point.

The season before they signed him: 50 games played. 29-13-7 with a 2.48 and a .911 Save % With the Flames 52 Games played. 26-19-4 with a 2.36 and a .918Save % He was the Ducks number 1 ever year prior to the Flames signing him. The didn't re sign him because they had Freddie Anderson and John Gibson coming up. He was 32 years old and signed a 2 year deal which is not a reclamation project. Not to mention the Flames had Ramo and Ortio at the time. Ramo was coming off a season where he was pretty equal to Hiller in performance. Either they wanted to upgrade the spot or they were looking to have 2 solid goalies but either way it's not a move that teams do if they are wanting a multi year rebuild. Fine to admit they needed toughness but if you are planning on a long rebuild you don't, well at least you shouldn't, give up 3rd round picks for players like Bolig.

And Sutter did when he was the GM too. The "Be good every year" standard has been in place since the hired him as the coach.

I'm not sure why people still think that this rebuild was accelerated. Everything from Burke and the owners suggest that they didn't want a long rebuild before the hired Treliving. Why sign a starting goalie in Jonus Hiller if you are looking at a long rebuild? Trade a 3rd for Bollig if you are looking at a multi year rebuild? They starting talking about the Hamilton trade before the TDL, why if they were ready to be patient? In hindsight there is really nothing to suggest this organization was in interested in a multi year rebuild. I'm sure they didn't bank on getting into the playoffs that year but from my perspective nothing changed after that season that leads me to believe they changed the plan. I think the plan was always to build a consistent contender as soon as they could.

The market doesn’t look great for potential GMs right now and I have to agree that the Flames job isn’t attractive. Ownership, Canadian market, Sutter and their long term contract situation makes it pretty undesirable to a top candidate imo. I don’t think Sutter wants to be the GM but if he gets influence then perhaps a Mike Futa is interested. I don’t think that’s good news but he’s publicly stated he wants to be a GM and isn’t currently. Promoting Conroy/Pascal is another option and could work out. I don’t see whey it would but perhaps behind the scenes they’ve got a different philosophy. either way it’s not a rosy picture imo from a fans perspective. I quite like Treliving but a large part of wanting to keep him is im not seeing how the flames get better. Hope I’m wrong.

I mean don't get me wrong Markstrom played well but at the same time the Marner goal is a must save too. Five hole goal from that far out can't happen. He's looking better the last 2 games for sure, but your still getting those head sagging moments every game from him. He was out goaltended again last night. but by no means do you blame him. As I said the Leafs are just a better team than the Flames right now and it was obvious.

Leafs are a much, much better team than the flames. Don’t need more analysis than that. Flames got beat handily by a much better team then they are.

Because the Flames have no rush offense and a slow transition game to is is gonna be a slog. Leafs really blocking up the neutral zone.

Even when Markstrom makes a save he just looks bad doing it that’s a pretty routine save and he turns it into a good scoring chance

Was surprised they didn’t blow it dead. Was pretty clearly offside even live.

Was pretty pleased to read this the other day. On what has to be one of the more challenging seasons of his career it was awesome to see this good story for him. Hope he enjoys.

GM contracts would expire at the end of the league year which is just after they hand out the cup. If they chose not to renew he wouldn't run their draft.

It is, and it's misplaced too. Their 9th in goals for/60 in the league at 5 on 5 but 20th in PP. They are slightly below league avg when it comes to finishing which for sure sucks but the PP is the primary reason they are only middle of the pack offensively.

That's all confidence IMO. I think both are losing fundamentals because they are trying to hard. I'm not going to blame Markstrom for the tying goal last night but at the same time he was in a poor position. There was no need for him to be that far out of his net and not seeing a guy on the door step. Again not at all his fault, but just details like that. Think he's overanxious trying to prove something. Don't think there is anything structurally different. The breakdowns this year, vs last, are chalked up to communication. When you play man to man you need a high level of communication and comfort level with your partner and that's been an issue for this team this year. A lot of high danger chances come off of that IMO. And now you just have players trying to hard to be a different, like Z last night. That hit was stupid but I think it's just a player trying to hard to be a difference and I can appreciate why this team is at that level right now.

So my caveat here is I don't feel I can judge a position coach. That work takes place behind the scenes so IMO fans don't really have insight. But I also don't' think you put this on a coach. Their goaltending was among the best in the league last year so unless they completely overhauled their program (unlikely) they clearly did something right last year. I also don't think it's fair to blame a position coach when a player's confidence goes to heck which is IMO what's happened to Vladar and Markstrom this year. I don't really have a strong opinion on firing them or keeping them because I don't know what happens behind the scenes but based what i've heard, read, and seen I don't see coaching as a problem there.

If he can't handle it then he likely isn't a good prospect. I also don't think it's near as negative in the room as the fans feels it is. They've played a great game last night, against one of the top teams in the league which would signal to me that there is still some belief/comradery in that room. I know they won't call him up so this isn't really a worthwhile argument. I don't think there'd be any appetite to having 3 goalies around anyway. Just saying that if they really want to be in the playoffs then calling up Wolf would be necessary IMO.

He doesn't need to be a franchise savior, he just needs to be a league avg goalie. There are other issues going on for sure but the fact of the matter is with even just league average goaltending the Flames are in the playoffs right now. The flames make errors sure (so do all teams though) but they keep shots and chances low overall. Think it be a pretty good spot to put a young goalie in actually. But it doesn't matter now anyway I think it's too late, but if the Flames still think they can/want to make the playoffs I would agree that calling up Wolf is the only option. Short of making a goalie trade. There is nothing in either of their games right now that make me think Vladar/Markstrom are turning this around.