flames for life

And yet, their shots on net and possession rate is better as a threesome than apart. If Dube continues to progress, maybe, but he also comes off as a shoot first guy.

I see that too, and that why I think they are trying to create JH 2.0, instead of letting the sniper be himself. He should be fed pucks, not the other way around.

Are you related? You can be a bit of a pane too! 😊

Obviously, long term would be best, but is Mangiapane willing to do 8 yrs? In my opinion 6 yrs may be good for the club, but not necessarily for him. At 25, 8 yrs pretty much covers his “prime years,” and puts him in that “iffy” contact zone; most want to sign the person, but always consider the age as a gamble. He may opt for 5 yrs, and then negotiate for another. Logically, to me that would be good for both sides in sense of term.

One thing to remember about Mandiapane is he is relentless for puck possession, as his stats have shown. We haven’t had that kind of player in a long, long time. That is worth keeping. In every league he has played, each year was an improvement. I expect nothing less from him going forward. I still think we may see 3 yrs at 6 million, and then a bigger 6 yr set. I recall watching an interview just after his draft with Andrew and his mother. One very telling statement she made was “tell Andrew he can’t do it. He will move mountains to prove you wrong!” So far, he has done exactly that. IMO, that intensity and level of drive is too valuable to lose.

I think Mangie would be good at 3 yrs at 5.65. That would, I believe, make him 28-29 for his next contract. That allows for a bigger contract in the time players tend to take a bigger step.

I’m liking the game Mangepane is playing with Backlund and Toffoli. Proves my point that he was being poorly on the 3rd line.

My point exactly. Right now, he appears to be trying to be JH 2.0, which is not his best use. He is more a sniper ( think Cammilari) than a playmaker. The Backlund/Thachuk line would definitely suit Mangie’s skillset.

I prefer this for a second line, because it allows Mangapane to play with a setup man in backlund. Right now I think he is given a disservice by shuffling him all over the place. He has been somewhat neutralized by trying to fit others in. He is a 30 goal scorer so that should be the feed, not the other way around.

No, we are going to sit and rest players, wearied from a concentrated and busy schedule that is more games in shorter periods then has ever been done in previous years. That changes everything, including balancing rest periods, especially in back to backs.

That would definitely explain what everyone is seeing with him.

I can’t say he is playing horribly, but he is not playing well. On a scale of 10, I think he is about a 5-6, as opposed to his normal. Was he rushed too soon; too hard to surmise. What I will say is my observation is that because he is not playing to standard, he tries to compensate, and gets neutralized or gets called as a deficit. I think Monaghan has to spend this summer reinventing himself in order to regain a better role in the nhl. If not, he may find himself on the outside looking in.

The effectiveness of your defence can be greatly impacted by forwards making boneheaded or lazy/panicked plays. The Monaghan play on the boards was a prime example of that. When being challenged, instead of back passing to the waiting Tanev he chose to try to chip passed a set shark player. The play was easily intercepted and quickly became a goal. This was not a defensive mistake, as they were prepared to play as they had been. I concede this was not a good game overall; Markstrom was definitely off that game, and the team in general was not playing to their potential, but my observation is that Kylington was no better or worse than any other player. Again, if I was to point fingers, the fourth line was totally ineffective and far too slow to play that game. Lucic needs to be utilized in games he is more effective in; hard-checking/bruising games as opposed to the run and gun speed of certain teams. Monaghan is still “not there”, and personally I don’t know what he needs to do to fix it.

Yup, saw it numerous times from Lucic. Worse is the “behind the back pass” into the centre ice trying to connect without looking. Fails every time, but he keeps doing it. What I did like last night at the beginning of the game was how the forwards were aware of Shark pressure, and to neutralize it simply passed back to the defence to restart the rush. While it slowed the play; we controlled the play. Sharks took over when we lost focus of that.

I have more confidence in Kylington then I do right now with Monaham or Lucic. Two goals last night were direct results from poor passes by them. The complaint that Kylington makes to many east/west passes better extend to the whole team! Last night was the blueprint for “too many passes” before shooting. Good advance scouting showed the flaws of predictability in our game plan. How many times did a pass get intercepted or deflected? I don’t think Kylington was better or worse then anyone else other than the two I mentioned.

The one thing the Canucks game showed us was that our penalty kill can be neutralized by rapid passing and constant movement. The other thing the game showed us is our movement is becoming predictable. How many times did a pass or play against the wall get intercepted? And how many times did a defence shot get blocked because of “trying to find the right shot”. Our offensive play needs to be more rapid off the points, with more shots towards the net, less cross rink passing.

I thought the defence stopped playing north/south game and forgot how to clear the zone. I also thought that the Leafs took a whole lot of liberties that weren’t called. I don’t think the penalties called should have been that lopsided!

This lends to my point exactly. He scored 18 and 18 in his first year. Not exactly a playmaker, but the hint of a playmaker. The big difference between Mony and Bennett lies in the hidden strengths. Most of Mony’s goals are from in front of the net. Bennett plants in the corner and tries to charge into the front. He needs to either place himself better or play with his head more in tune with the pass. Just a reminder that Mony also played his first while without Gaudreau, and scored goals the same way he does now. maybe this speaks more so of his hockey smarts and on ice vision, as well as understanding the role you need to accept in order to succeed in this league.

And I can’t agree with you here. Calgary may have struggled with his development, but Bennett didn’t help himself at all. I still contend that Bennett’s problem is he plays selfishly. He tries to do too much by himself and as a result does very little effectively. Even last game; he may have been “buzzing”, but how many people did he help to create quality shots? His mindset needs to alter in order for him to become more effective.

Go Stockton!!! Show us what you got! It’s good to see Poitier step up like he is.

I struggle to accept the flak that Brode is taking. I recall when he was placed with Bowmeester, he actually appeared to be the better player. Nobody questioned his hockey IQ then. Even now, when we are talking of stabilizing a struggling player, the two defencemen mentioned are always Gio and Bodie. He's like the Swiss army knife of the Flames defence; used when a specific job is needed, or always on hand for another job. Keep in mind that neither He nor Gio is playing the game as they had been the previous 2 years; hence, their numbers won't be the same. BH's expectation of the defensive game is not the same as GG's. If Bodie is usually put with a partner that needs stabilizing, or a solid back up, how could we ever expect Brodie to ever do anything more than what he is doing right now. Half of his game is ensuring that his partner's not going to screw up and having his back if he does. as with any other human, he is going to make mistakes, but I think he is playing the game well with the hand he's been dealt.