KACaribou

I generally agree. However, championship teams need a mix of all types of players. I have no idea what the formula is mind you. Engelland is one tough so-and-so, and Bollig seems to be feared around the league. In that sense alone, I appreciate having those two on the team. You can't win with a team full of these guys, but I think there is some relevance in having them. Of course it would be good to accumulate guys who have their assets plus skill (and maybe Ferly will be one of them).

In Tree We Trust

Hudler has been consistently good since he came to Calgary. Playing with Johnny Hockey is the reason he had a huge point total this year. I think that will be the same for anyone who plays with the little water-bug from this point forward. My problem is that the top line seemed to stall in playoffs. They're collectively too small. Unless Monahan gains more weight in the off-season and starts getting a mean streak, I don't see them staying together necessarily. Sam Bennett is smaller than Monahan but you can already see the kid plays with a lot more grit and could end up a better fit as the top line centre with small stars like JH and Hudler. I agree though, there is no point trading Hudler because we are not likely going to get anyone better back. He was the highest 5-on-5 scorer in the NHL this year. Ahead of everyone including Sidney Crosby!

If the Flames play good team defence, keep the shots outside, work hard and backcheck we will always find a good goalie who can play well. It's no coincidence that all the bad goalies play for bad teams and all the good goalies play for good teams. A good goalie suddenly traded to the league's worst team suddenly becomes the NHL's worst goalie. As long as we aren't terrible, we'll find a good goalie to play for us whether it is Hiller, Ramo, Ortio, or one of our drafted youngsters down the road. Patrick Roy knew what he was doing when he demanded to be traded from a mediocre Habs team to the great Avalanche team that won the cup. He's lucky he wasn't sent to Calgary in the mid to late 90s - early 2000s.

Personally I see way more Kipper in Ortio. Boy his injury is untimely.

It always makes me laugh when people look solely at stats. One of their best analysis is to say Fuhr or Vernon must have been weak goalies. Or that the 80s never had great goalies. Not true at all. The game was different. Wide open. Nobody backchecked in the 80s like they do today. Gretzky, as an example, never met a blueline in his own zone he ever crossed. Lots of 2 on 1s, and breakaways on these goalies. Twice as many scoring chances every game. Everyone tried to run and gun to keep up with the Oilers and they were scoring 5-6 goals a night! Fuhr was incredible. I think if you put him in Roy's era, with Roy's padding, and his good two-way teams Fuhr would have every bit the stats Roy has. Not picking on Patrick but just making an example. Verny wasn't far behind Fuhr either, but a little. And Billie Smith... nobody mentions him but in his day that miserable bugger was tougher and tougher to score on as the games got more important. Him and Fuhr as good in the clutch as Roy or Brodeur. Don't forget Roy left a bad Habs team, demanding a trade to a great Colorado team. He stormed off after letting in a bucket-full of pucks. As you stated above, goaltending has so much to do with team defence, shots, quality of shots, and puck possession. Don't automatically exclude the greats of the past because solely on stats. Tony O, Sawchuk, Mr. Goalie Glenn Hall, Dryden, Plante and back even further these guys played with squat for pads, flimsy masks and before the late 60s NO MASKS AT ALL! But I like our combination now too. Ortio will likely back up Hiller next year. And that's looking pretty good too. I also like the Flames' drafting theories of picking a goalie every second year and never in the first round. These are fragile creatures and you just never know how they are going to turn out. Take Dubnyk for example. Everyone says he sucks, then he gets a decent team to play behind and all of a sudden he's as good as anyone in the league. If you went by his previous goalie stats alone, the guy would have been sent to play in Siberia!

If we did get Kessel as suggested here, we'd have to get rid of Bob Hartley. There is no way Bob could handle Kessel's here one day, gone the next attitude. Kessel would not be able to be in the physical condition Hartley would demand. Of course if he did, with Kessel's natural born talent he'd be heading for the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately I don't see this guy doing anything more than what he does. He's got a surfer mentality in the middle of winter. If it is right wing you want, look no further than Porrier.