conundrumed

Conroy assessed a potential need. He prolly assumed Kyl could be back also, after he said all of the right things. The Oesterle hate is hilarious. Aren't Conroy and Tanguay buds? I'm sure Oesterle wasn't just a whim. Huska liked his preseason, which I saw as taking liberties with joining the rush. I'm sure Lalonde would have been pissed to see him do that.lol But Lalonde isn't our coach, and you play the way your coach tells you to and within whom he pairs you with. As a 6-7 dman, nobody's asking your opinion. Oesterle needs to adjust to how this roster plays. Putting 10 more years behind him would likely be beneficial. The play has slowed down about 60%, no point in being hyper. Be a snail that can't pass/accept a pass and he'll fit like a glove. Honestly, Oesterle has zero to do with how bad this team looks. It's like blaming your 4th line for not scoring in bunches. "If it weren't for Oesterle, Greer and Vladar, we'd be crushing it".lol JFC, Oesterle should regret signing here, which really has become a theme for this mess. Even the basement of the roster needs to be driven to hate it here. He coulda been a #5 on the Leafs/Oilers.lol I'm entirely uncertain of what is more toxic, the playing environment or the fan environment. The desserts are potentially quite just though. This is where magnifying the Satoshi Nakamoto out of every hint of a negative gets you.

It's about time Hunt got a look on the top line. Now replace him with Rozie.

The thing is, I think Oesterle is the best of the cheap 6-7 guys that were available. Even the higher level signings, Orlov and Klingberg haven't looked good. It's a tough gig finding consistent dmen, especially the ones that play solid in their own end. Then there's the issue of tieing up contract spots in a search. Russia falling off of the map isn't helping. Sweden is getting ploughed hard by everyone. Nothing against Suniev and Lipinski, but there were a lot of Dmen around. But we need a year of being able to pile up some picks. We definitely see the end game of trading away far too many picks in the BT years. I get the whole mandate thing and there's enough blame to go around. Can only be hopeful that our current prospects blossom nicely. Because we sure fornicated ourselves.

Still early, but yeah it's been hard to watch. New motto, "Blame Lanny"? lol

Maybe if we can just go by the most useless, pointless stat-driver ever created we can invent the same excuses as last year! I believe this absolute zero of a point in useless stats had us beating Detroit 4.2 - 2.4 or something like that. "expected" has to be the dumbest stat I've ever seen. Yet it gets parroted up the wazoo as if it is actually meaningful. Peeps don't buy +/- stats, yet are quick to parrot all of the more useless ones created after +/-. The make-believe stat Flames are so much better than what we're watching.

Hanifin-Andersson pairing bothers me a lot. They suck together on D. Tanev maybe can boost a partner, but either it has to be a specific type or the wear/frustration is really showing. Z has warts defensively, but re-up him and give him an A ahead of everyone else. His heart is real and he plays for the jersey. His sound bites are incredible. Typical of Russians, they aren't carefully manicured. He bleeds emotion. You almost feel like he's fighting back tears. The rest of the team has zero of leaving me feeling like their words are genuine. Just typical yeah yeah yeah yeah the long version. Gilbert and Oesterle are whatever, 7th dmen. Solovyov is pretty sound with size and I hope he progresses into a reliable Maatta-type. Just play solid D coverage first and foremost.

I don't care for the lines much. If we lose Sunday, he'll change them again. It's what we do. 1. Don't come out of camp ready. 2. Keep changing everything or not based on last game results. 3. Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman stay together because something something consistency. Aaaand Van just destroyed St. Loo with their starting goalie. "but..but..St. Loo was tired". whatevs...

Likely something that he didn't put much thought into. But the NHL prostituted itself to gambling dollars like all pro sports have, so they had to make the penalty severe because, well, they're gambling's biotch.

According to Friedman, he had a proxy (friend) attached to his account, which is illegal. And the NHL's head is so far up gambling websites Hash Rate that it simply can't be. Friedman also mentioned the PA had no problem with the 41 game suspension. I'll keep my growing disdain for the NHL comments on the shelf atm...Pinto clearly broke a law, or rule, not sure which.

It looks like everything is solved!!

There are waaaaay bigger fish to fry. The rest of the roster has generally been yikes. Even your 18 to 23 guys reflect that. 1-17 is scarier.

So let me see if I have this straight. Oesterle, a 6-7 dman, is a big problem with this team. Do I have that straight? So, like, what you'd expect to be the 23rd to 25th best player on your roster is presenting the problem we're wasting our breath discussing? The other Dmen, they look good? The top one who took that incredibly dumb suspension, was he any good at D prior to that? But that 6-7 guy at league min, he was supposed to be the calming influence? Shoulda traded for Maatta then. He costs more. But he's likely the odd man out with Edvinsson. Start at a 5th and negotiate. Him and Tanev would be good shutdown guys. Move Vladar to recoup the pick or waive him for space. So now how are you going to score? I'm on pins and needles for Pelletier to come back. He can move the needle imho. We saw it last year, he brings elements to our game that we lack. He's fast up and down the ice, is NOT afraid of the puck or driving the net. Just a really smart player. He's not your PPG guy but he introduces a different look, especially for the players he's with. He'll add elements we need and maybe it can wake everyone up to think as fast as he does. Injects some youthful enthusiasm I hope.

A daily smudging ceremony honestly can't hurt!

From CBC's article:

Him, Pelletier, Rozie, Honzek, Kylington...who else? Will we ever see good news again? Can call up Solovyov, but I'd exercise caution personally and give him multiple practices first. Like Oesterle, it's the disadvantage of playing with players that you've never played with before and trying to adapt to their nuances. Larkin and DeBrincat were outright awful together in preseason, for example. It takes time to understand the guy(s) that you're playing with.

We're always this way. Our shooting% is way down because most shots are nothingburgers. Yup. We're not moving the puck anywhere close to as fast as most teams also. It's going to be a loooong and painful season if they don't get that figured out. Need fast exits, pace through the neutral zone and puck moving in the O-zone. We need to get moving!!

I'm fine with a Weegar-like extension on Hanifin. I think a really overlooked aspect is the personal side. It has to be a major distraction to constantly be wondering with your family if you need to start packing or what you're doing or where you're going. I mean, sure, you'll be fine, but that is a lot of turbulence for anybody's personal life away from the rink. I've done it myself 4 times in my life in my little not-rich world. It's unnerving at the best of times. I think it's why Gaudreau was so stuck. He was likely really, REALLY rattled and I have zero problem forgiving him for that. You leave that up in the air and that's the risk that your taking. I did not like BT in this aspect, at all. "Tough negotiator" has a line that he always crossed. For what? To save a $1mil? Save a mil for what? A borderline NHLer? If Hanifin wants security, I have zero issue with 8 x $7. Lindholm I have a much larger issue with. I'm done biting my tongue off about this: Larkin is quite a bit better than Lindholm in almost every aspect of the game. Lindholm is about 6 x $8 tops. Take it or leave it. We're offering a big payday due simply to not having a plan B. That's where the trouble lives. He was a role player with JG and Tkachuk, not the driver. Larkin is a driver and plays all situations at worst equal to Lindholm. DeBrincat isn't shredding off of the rails right now without Larkin. Not even maybe. I never minded the Huberdeau signing and I'll own that. The Kadri one I was even "okay" with. But wow, maybe those are good signings if you have a solid base. The forward base has been muskeg in the spring. Just sinking in the thaw. Weegar, Hanifin and Andersson is a solid D base. The fwd group is turning into dust. If it doesn't turn around, it's the fwd group that needs to be expunged. Turnovers to odd-man rushes up the ying-yang. The entire backend is hung out to dry by this fwd group, so far. Slow at everything. Of course it's constant turnovers. How can it not be? Zero top 6 fwds taking charge. Make Backlund the 1C, I guess? But back to the point. The defencemen aren't the issue, so try to keep the actually good players happy and focused on hockey, not personal strife.

A rundown on reality stats: Flames @ Detroit GF/G: 2.8(t-20th) @ 4.8(1st) GA/G: 3.2(t-17th) @ 2.6(t-9th) PP%: 16.7(t-18th @ 50(1st) PK%: 94.1(5th) @ 85.7(10th) FO%: 55.3(3rd) @ 51.1(12th) Combined winning% of competition so far: 41.7 @ 57.1 Keys for the Flame imo: - reduce turnovers - get Reimer moving and he'll be a fish out of water - DON'T get into run 'n gun - DON'T give them many PP opportunities - Markstrom has to be lights out I DO NOT like the Flames chances. Lalonde had the Wings ready right out of the gate. Huska is still trying to figure things out. Play a boring game. DO NOT try to sit on ANY lead, they will score in bunches. Don't get confident dominating the 1st, the Sens outshot them about 18-3 in the 1st. The Wings took over from there. Most of all, those ugly D-zone turnovers WILL end up in your net, quickly. They thrive on it. Do not let them play their chaos game. All 4 lines can play it. On top of their b2b, they have a "meet the players" event starting at about 2pm as they enter the arena, so a bit of a circus for the kids and maybe a tired team. I'll be in the Budweiser Biergarten for the tailgate.lol Fundraiser for United Way Maui. Beer for a good cause!!

Friedman reported on HNIC that the Flames and Hanifin are making progress towards a contract extension.

4 game suspension for Andersson. So he shouldn't be getting hit on his moped in Detroit tomorrow.

Monkey off the back with a 5-2 win at Ottawa. PP rocking at 9 for 17, yikes. Big game vs the Flames tomorrow. Stay out of the box!!

Hence the, "when's Pelletier back"? He's a big part of this puzzle, can't wait to see him. He's a good player.

Watching Rango early preseason, he was always trying to keep the puck moving quickly in the o-zone, imo. Remember the 1st preseason game? The puck was moving all over and we blew Van's b squad right out. We haven't done that since. I don't understand. We're back to slow af moving the puck around. Why is this a hard concept? It all amounts to just low skill to me. That, and holy Blockchain, demote Kadri to 4th line. Don't give him PP time. Maybe he'll come around. He's playing like a giant waste of time. Got a contract, I'm good. Wtf? Mangiapane is not a 1st liner, he's consistent as a 3rd. Keep Dube up on 1st, put Rango with Kadri, put Coronato with Backlund and Coleman can prop up the 4th line with Duehr and Rosie. When's Pelletier back? JFC this roster. Thanks BT. So effing fragmented and buried in contracts. No wonder he ran away from his mess. I don't give a Satoshi Nakamoto what his M.O. was, does he not have a spine? It's your team man, "just following orders" means that you don't have a spine. Accountability is on him, but he ran away.

Sergeev, 1-0-1; 2.03; .934. Seems to be hammering down the starter role. UConn is 1-1-1, ranked 20th in the Nation.