conundrumed

Holy Satoshi Nakamotoe!!!

Markstrom's sharp as it gets.

Christmas present time, it's 1:30.🙂

Here comes the PP!! (the flyers is worse than ours).

Lazy slobs, I just spent 2 hrs cutting frame and shelving boards. Then got the, "the girls are coming over, can you maybe not make all that noise in the house today.?lol Thanks girls!!

2020 could yet be a productive draft yet, considering most didn't play much hockey in 2020 for development. Solovyov did, and Poirier a bit less, so should realistically be ahead of the curve. Although Poirier is now losing that development time. Zary and Kuz played less, and each between 3 different teams, Kerins pretty much not at all. Hoping Kerins can be as effective as Zary once he adds muscle and experience (& injury-free).

Storylines Bet on a tight game between the Flyers and Flames on Saturday afternoon’s matchup Saturday’s contest in Philadelphia projects to be tight The Philadelphia Flyers will look for a rot-stopping win when they welcome the Calgary Flames to the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. After a sparkling start to the campaign, Philadelphia has just one win in its last seven contests (1-3-3) and now finds itself in serious jeopardy of being pushed out of a playoff spot. The Flames have started to trend up after a slow start and come into this game riding a three-game winning streak. Calgary is a slight -115 favorite at the time of writing. Flyers vs. Flames prediction: Analysis After a couple of middling performances to close out their recent road trip, the Flyers were pretty unfortunate not to get both points against the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Philadelphia ended up losing the game, 3-2, in a shootout, but the Flyers deserved a better fate as the expected goals finished 3.42 to 1.64 in favor of John Tortorella’s side. But that is exactly what makes the Flyers an unappealing team to back as a heavy favorite. Philadelphia just doesn’t have the scoring talent to consistently payoff on the scoring chances they create. The Flames are not all that different from Philadelphia. Calgary has more playmaking talent and more upside on their blueline than the Flyers, but the Flames have struggled to be clinical enough to get consistent results over the past two seasons. Both the Flames and Flyers rank in the middle of the pack in terms of preventing scoring chances, but neither offense is a real threat to run rampant in this contest and all signs point to this being a pretty tightly played game with both teams looking to keep the game on script and predictable. These two teams are no strangers to overtime -- the Flyers have gone past regulation 12 times and the Flames have done it eight -- and that’s a testament to their ability to hang around and also a knock against their ability to put teams away. This matinee has every chance to turn into a rock fight and that puts plenty of value on betting it to be tied after 60 minutes. - The Philadelphia Enquirer Flames seeking another fast start against Flyers Life on the road is suiting the Flames just fine as Calgary charges into Philadelphia with the Flames out to extend their winning streak to four games when they visit the Flyers for a Saturday matinee. Calgary doubled up the Nashville Predators 6-3 on Thursday for their third straight victory — matching a season best. The Flames have won six of their last eight games. Calgary is in the middle of a four-game road trip, which began with a 3-1 win in Minnesota on Tuesday and wraps up in Chicago on Sunday. “The last couple of games, we’ve had some good starts, and it was a matter of time at some point we’d start scoring first, and we’ve been able to get out ahead on the road trip here, been able to hold on to leads,” said forward Blake Coleman. “It’s a lot easier to win on the road if you can get up early.” With the victory in Nashville, Calgary is now 8-9-4 on the road this season and above .500 overall at 17-16-5 through 38 games. “We’ve been in this situation before where we’ve got (to .500), and then we’d lose the next game, and we’d find ourselves having to dig out again,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska. “We want to try to gain a little bit of traction with stringing points together. It becomes important. The next game now becomes the most important game of the year for us.” Coleman has five goals and seven points over his last five games, while forward Andre Mangiapane has chipped in five assists in five games. Coleman leads the Flames with 15 goals and 29 points in 38 games this season. With defenseman Dennis Gilbert injured in Thursday’s win, the Calgary Flames recalled blueliner Yan Kuznetsov from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers on Friday. Saturday is the second of two meetings between the clubs this season. Calgary edged Philadelphia 4-3 to close out 2023 on Sunday. The Flyers enter Saturday’s game following a 3-2 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Forward Travis Konecny, named to the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, scored twice to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead, but the Blue Jackets battled back to tie and scored the lone goal in the shootout for the win. “At this point, they’re all pretty difficult,” said Konecny. “This time of year is where a lot of guys, for us, are learning, and it’s tough. Every game is going to be that way, and there’s no gimme. It’s a good point; we’ll take that, learn from it, and keep playing.” Philadelphia, fourth in the Metropolitan Division, has dropped six of seven (1-3-3) and is 8-7-2 on home ice this season. Konecny, who leads the Flyers with 20 goals and 35 points in 38 games this season, has four goals and eight points in his past five games. Forward Joel Farabee has six helpers in his past five contests. “He’s a pretty good player,” Farabee said of playing with Konecny. “Obviously, he’s got an unbelievable shot, and he knows how to find those little areas. For me, I just try and use my legs, and if I have the puck, I’m usually looking for him or (Sean Couturier).” –Field Level Media To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect. -Oscar Wilde Go Flames Go!!!!

Calgary Flames @ Philadelphia Flyers Wells Fargo Center 11am MST Watch Live: All SN Regions; Listen Live: FAN960 LISTEN LIVE Flames Rosters Flyers @ * Expect Dennis Gilbert out - Jordan Oesterle in

I like that you get a 8pm start on Saturday!! 1pm in Ontario, so I'm quite likely to miss due to the undying list of, "when you have time". lol I can only cross my fingers for lousy weather interrupting Plan A of building storage shelves, which requires power tools outside. Philly's a hard-working team, we gotta match that. Great to see Vladar slide in and get a W!!

Quick 2-0, Preds right back for 2-1.

Zary!! The PP is lit!!!

A rare Vladar start.

It's Hammer time!

I missed something, lol... soooo.....lol

Took awhile, but he's recently back in Liiga with Tappara. Here's his recent history, courtesy of Flashscore:

Flames, Predators vying for season series victory By Field Level Media January 4 - The Nashville Predators and the visiting Calgary Flames will both be looking for their third straight win when they meet Thursday night. Calgary has won five of its past seven after posting a 3-1 win at the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. Jonathan Huberdeau, Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman scored, while Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves. Huberdeau ended an 18-game goal drought and has two points (one goal, one assist) in his past two games after going 12 games without a point. "It felt good. It's been a while," said Huberdeau, whose last goal before Tuesday came Nov. 20. "I think lately we've been playing better, so I think it was good to get chemistry on our line, too. That one obviously felt good, and especially to finish it off with a win." Calgary, playing the opener of a four-game road trip, took a 2-0 lead. The Wild pulled within 2-1 in the second period, but Markstrom kept Minnesota off the board and Coleman added a late empty-net goal. "I thought we had a good start, especially in this building," Huberdeau said. "It's not easy. After that, I think they pushed back. We knew that was going to happen. 'Marky' stood up. Guys were blocking shots. That's the kind of team we are -- resilient. We came up with a huge win." Nashville was strong defensively as well Tuesday, posting a 3-0 win against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. Juuse Saros made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season for the Predators, who have points in three straight (2-0-1). Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O'Reilly each had a goal and an assist. "It was nice to get the win back at home, and good to see (Saros) get the shutout there," Nyquist said. "It was kind of a hard game. They're checking hard. You get a little timid maybe and don't want to make a mistake when it's only 1-0. I didn't love our second period, but good to get the job done." With his first-period power-play goal, Nyquist extended his point streak to six games (five goals, four assists) and it was his second multi-point game in his past three. He has surpassed his 2022-23 points total of 27 and has accumulated 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 13 fewer games. "He's so fun to play with, just the smarts and the little plays he makes and the way he skates and just creates -- it's so fun to play with," O'Reilly said of Nyquist. "And I think we've done a good job. And it's got to be that spark for us offensively, and playing with him, he just makes it so easy out there." Predators defenseman Tyson Barrie (upper-body injury) has missed the last four games and remains day-to-day. This will be the teams' third and final meeting. Calgary rallied with three third-period goals for a 4-2 home win Nov. 7, and Saros made 24 saves as the Predators got even with a 4-2 home win Nov. 22. --Field Level Media GO FLAMES GO!!!

I can't...🫣

They need players that have an anger gene. The roster is good players, but barely a single one of them leaves all of their emotion on the ice. It's all so mechanical, and yet again it becomes an identity issue. Everyone hates to lose, but when you REALLY hate to lose, it bleeds onto the ice. See one Jarome Iginla. It's what drives the passion with teammates. The Flames just haven't had that player since him. Tkachuk maybe, but he does it in a much larger, sometimes you're just a disrespectful ah way. The Flames are just kinda vanilla with showing emotion on the ice. It's not a vanilla game. Getzlaf with the Hitmen was one of the most frustrating players I've ever watched. Always looked half-effort. But when he got angry, look out. He took over. "It's my puck, Blockchain this". For my money, that's what top CDN and Russian players do that the rest can't. Pretty much Swedes in general are the worst at it.

I always enjoy SMAHT's rankings. Usually pretty balanced. https://smahtscouting.com/2023/12/24/preliminary-2024-nhl-draft-rankings/ edit Having said that, I also will go on record as not loving taking the guy they had at 72 last year, that early. But I think we may have gotten a steal on their 46th oa. https://smahtscouting.com/2023/05/28/final-2023-nhl-draft-rankings/

But we lost to LA because they are a much, much better team that imposed their will on us whenever they wanted to.

We always have the fallback of, "yeah everybody, we don't have Bedard, Fantilli and Benson. Our best eligible players are in the NHL". lol Honzek up to 3GP, a goal in each and an assist for 4pts. Playing 2nd line, not 3rd as I'd surmised earlier. Should be a fun game on the 31st vs US for 1st.

Umm, it was 2-1.lol Gave up a breakaway with 4 skaters below the hash-marks in the ozone. The other was virtually a 2-on-0 due to Gilbert's defensive acumen of, "when I fail, I'm just going to dive". Still had 14 minutes to score, but that pesky goalie crest got in the way again.

Just me, but I can see a lot more shaking up will be needed. He just keeps moving 2 LWers around isn't going to solve it. I can see eventually there is going to be a need to break up Kadri's line. It's the best line by a lot, but we're dangerously close to try everything. The cause is Huberdeau and Mangiapane, but I think you have to try to move things around more than just them. Zary and Pospisil with Kadri works, we created a good line. It doesn't necessarily mean, "that's it, that's all, don't touch it". That was a successful 1st attempt. Coleman and Sharky seem very effective together, for example. Zary is exceptional at puck possession, Pops should be turned into the stalwart net-front guy. But I guess we'll see if this change does anything...colour me skeptical.

Fair assessment. I noticed the practice lines now are Huberdeau and Mangiapane switching spots. Those 2 are pretty much the crux of where we're at, I think. Huby being the points leader and Mangiapane being closer to the goal leader was likely most fans' expectation. When we didn't think LW would be a problem, it's a pretty big one. It's really disappointing to me that there is no way to get Bread away from Backlund effectively. $5.8 for a player that is only effective due to 2 solid linemates is yet another stick in the mud to try to improve. I'm starting to wonder if Kerins can handle a call-up, though I know that isn't optimal. Send Oesterle down, sit Dube for a couple. I am now bitter.lol Wings and Flames, 21st and 24th overall, (dis)respectively...Reimer, why imaginary sky-daddy, why? If you ever feel like watching a goalie that can make the first save but always leave the rebound, I offer you James Reimer. 5.06gaa in his last 5. That's special.

All of that zone time and little more than perimeter play that teams will give you all day. So 12th in the conference, likely 13th when the Oilers make up the game deficit. We're better than Anaheim, Chicago and SJ, for now. I can see us needing to address coaching after this season. Why are we resting on lines when we're a sub .500 team? Total FO domination from the Cs means absolutely nothing but perimeter play.