cross16

Didn't love it at first to be honest. I've always liked it on the shoulder patches and think it makes for cool hats/gear but I didn't like the jersey but I grew to really like the reverse retro concept they did with it. Was sad when they stopped it after a year. I think it's worth keeping around and creating another jersey with. The black looks really sharp.

Then go nuts. I wasn't a fan of Calgary Next but if Edwards wants to do it, pay for it, and build another business then I don't have a problem with him doing it. I don't believe for a second he will though.

What excuses are being made? I'm not sure i'm seeing many excuses. The talent is there and if he has a good summer and comes in ready to build off the coaching he's been given he'll been in a good spot to challenge for a spot and if he doesn't he won't. Pretty simple and i'm not sure why entitlement matters at all here really.

Saying a player is entitled based on a statement made in a press conference (which context would be extremely important to remember) is what I think is crap. We really have no idea how he is behind the scenes so I really don't understand the rush to criticize.

Won't be long before Nate Leaman is in the NHL if he wants to be. Doing another nice job at the World Juniors.

Wingers have become really interchangeable the last several years. Sticking to LW vs RW doesn't really make much sense.

Not sure I understand the angle here. The City doesn't make a lot of money off the Flames and they were not the ones who were going to profit more in the previous arena deals. Plus no one is suggesting that the City play no part it's just they shouldn't be relied upon for he majority of funding.

I think the skating is going to determine what level he is. I think even with marginal improvement he's going to have a really good shot to be an NHLer due to this smarts and competitiveness. It will just be further down the lineup. With skating improvement, and I agree it can be done for sure, he would increase his ceiling.

Ya he wasn't great under Ward either. He had some flashes but it was a really up and down season even before Sutter took over. Still plenty of talent there and not uncommon at all that a player that missed what is basically a season and a half would take some time. I just can't stand this entitled stuff crap. Is the kid confident sure and he should be. Entitled when no one here knows him? I just hate that stuff. Kid has battled multiple injuries in his career, most of which bad luck.

Just because it's the way it's traditionally been done, doesn't make it the right way to do it. I think this philosophy is, and should be changing, because public money can only go so far. You are seeing more and more teams fund projects, to various degrees, with mostly private money as opposed to public. I still believe cities have a role to play but it should be a smaller role that has been tradition to this point. I applaud the Cities approach to reach out to other investors and try to find new or other partners. I do think City of Calgary needs to investment more in sport but it should be at the grassroots level. Free up public money for that and let the private sector take care of these stadiums.

It's an encouraging tournament so far from Coronato but I still think he's 2-3 years away. Really needs to work on his skating.

My understanding was Valimaki was in the Stone deal. I don’t think he was ever untouchable but yes there was a reluctance to move him which make complete sense at the time. up until his knee injury he was looking like a top pairing d prospect

It’s been pretty much unanimously reported now that Stone was only willing to sign long term in Vegas. Stone was only going to be a rental for the flames.

Can work both ways though. You stack your cap and lose flexibility your can shorten your window. Flexibility keeps the window open longer and it should be open for a while here.

i don’t see the rationale of another 6 mill LS LW no. Definetly not at the expense of a RS

its a great point. I think the feeling is the flames have this new found flexibility but they really don’t. Losing Monahan and Lucic next offseason are going to pay for Huberdeau and Weegar. next summer they are going to need to deal with Lindholm too. id be really hesitant to be picking up multi year salaries big salaries if I were the flames especially for many of the players being thrown out here. Can make it work for the right player but Hall definetly shouldn’t be it.

Boston and Flames are a weird match on paper. Boston is over the cap and while I know they have players that will start the season on LTIR no one is expected to miss the season so at some point they need to get cap compliant. They also gave Bergeron and Krejic 4.5 mill of potential bonuses and i'm sure they'd like to create some cushion there to account for those being reached to avoid a cap charge next year. But perhaps there is really a last dance scenario and they will just take whatever dead cap they get. With 9 UFAs and little in the way of prospects they could handle it. From a Flames perspective there really isn't much there that intrigues me.

What marching orders he gets from the fans isn't relevant, only matters what his bosses actually greenlight him to do.

He did just fine but again it just wasn't number one center. At 5 on 5 prior to being put on the big line Lindholm was not in the top 30 for points production for centers (based on 5 on 5 point rates/60mins). Even if you include his season last year he's barely in the top 30 over the last 3 years at 5 on 5. Also even with Tkachuk the numbers would support that it was Tkachuk driving play and not Lindholm. Again it's still very good and there is nothing wrong with what Lindholm does. I just don't think Lindholm is a true number one center because he has never really been a play driving/puck carrying center in his career and I expect that out of someone who is a number one center. I'm also not of the opinion that the Flame are going to add a number one center anytime soon so this debate isn't really that important. Unless you get lucky via trade (Eichel, Joe Thornton, Zibanajed) you have to draft them so the focus should really be on increasing center depth and in particular getting a center that can rush/carry the puck.

He will have a chance to prove me wrong but so far in his career he's never been the play driver and he has not spent his entire career with Gaudreau. Huberdeau is not the puck carrier Gaudreau is so we are going to find out pretty quickly IMO if Lindholm is capable of adding this to his game, but so far it's not something we have seen in his career. There is also nothing wrong with being a high end complementary player either.

No because it's based on skill set and not circumstance. The number can go up and down depending on the level of talent in the league but for me it's all about talent and not about circumstance. No different than goalies. plenty of goalies are "starters" for teams but you'd never want them starting for your team.

i would agree that Dvorak for Hanifin is a big loss for the Flames. Hanifin should have quite a bit more value than that. I still like Dvorak as a player but he comes with a bunch of risk. He really struggles to stay healthy, he can't seem to find a defined role in a lineup and I think you can only talk about "potential" for so long before you realize that a player just may be what he is. He's cost controlled yes but at a number that makes him closer to cap dump territory than it does asset territory. I'd still have some interest because he is the type of transition center the Flames need but he isn't a player i'd be aggressive in getting, more of a you get him if the price makes sense type of move.

This is the Daymond Langkow debate all over again but for me it's the same. 2 very good players that are not number one centers because they are more the products of who they play with and now what they can do on their own. A number one center is a play-driving, do everything player and that isn't Lindholm for me. That is NOT meant as an insult in the slightest as I recognize he is an excellent player but IMO the standard of what a number one center is high. Not something i'm going to debate vigorously but this profile is not one of a number one center for me

I would be very surprised if the Habs would do that. I don't think you give up a first rounder for a player you are just hoping to flip, I think they see him as a long term fit. That's not really a good deal from Flames angle either. I was ok with Dach as a potential buy low option but not as a key return for an asset like Hanifin. He'd add depth but lots of questions whether or not he can be a top 6 center.

Well Vegas is now definetly out of cap problems. Division also gets a bit easier IMO. I'm not a big believer that Brossoit/Thompson can carry the mail for them all year although I'd expect them to be in the goalie market now. Holtby would make a ton of sense for them.