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travel_dude

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Everything posted by travel_dude

  1. travel_dude
    I would say that when you leave because you are 110% frustrated with the owners and coach, there is no way that you can address the media. In some ways, this was the same as a firing. You pick the coach's corner and the GM is left with no alternative but to "mutually part ways". I am convinced that his first words after the season ended were that the coach had to go. Do I think that he should have talked? For sure. The last thing in the world I wanted to hear was Bean talking about hockey.
  2. travel_dude
    Can I ask that you guys that follow players and know approx. where they should get picked, please make a list just prior to the draft? I knew about Coronato when we got him. There are players that seem to drop and we don't pick them.
  3. travel_dude
    Well, was that the defining moment for the playoffs run? It may be an example of Sutter making a poor decision, but doesn't the defensive coach usually make those decisions? Anyway, I fail to see how using young players over older vets connects to the GM version trading young players. On one hand he plays young player then, on the other he trades then later. I will say that I have no interest in Sutter making any roster decisions. He can recommend who he wants to send down after camp, but the GM needs to look at the best interests of the team. It's not about the next game only. It's about long term, rewarding players and making best use of the cap. Valimaki was a complete fail. Not because he got claimed only, but because we were stuck with a buried cap peanlty of $500k had he not been claimed. Almost like Sutter said get him out of here, so do what you can to get him off the team.
  4. travel_dude
    May 8th. 5pm MDT
  5. travel_dude
    Yeah, I have heard that one mentioned. Apart from jerking him around, he gets paid NHL money for the time he is on the Flames roster. Yeah kid, we may play you 20, but at most you will see 25% of your NHL salary. If I was worried about him not being able to play at the NHL, I would start hi for two games at the start of the season to see how he did. He looked good in a nothing game that we probably win with Markstrom or Vladar. Or maybe we don't.
  6. travel_dude
    You have a lot of patience to listen to these guys. At times they echo what fans say. But what doesn't make sense about the exchange is that Sutter would play the kids then but not now. I guess being forced to makes a difference. Seeing as Leopold had almost double Rhett's points that season, and simply played 2 more games than Rhett (with 9 more points), I don't get the anger then and now. Leo was 5 years younger. If we had a young team, then why is Rhett using being taken out as an example of not lpaying the kids. I do agree that the team needs to get younger and faster. We don't need Lucic and Lewis. And we should be making room for Wolf, not wait until Markstrom is 37.
  7. travel_dude
    Wolf named MVP of the AHL this season. Pretty great honor. Recapping Dustin Wolf’s stats en route to AHL MVP honours in 2022-23 ... - 42 wins, tied for most by any AHL goalie since the 1960s - 2.09 GAA, best in league - .932 save percentage, best in league - Seven shutouts, best in league - 1-0 with #Flames
  8. travel_dude
    That's very interesting. The only time a GM doesn't speak is when they are about to be fired the next day. But that would be the day after being eliminated. Anyway, I hope that what the rumor is saying is true. More so, I hope they actually make decisions for the good of the team, not because owners did this or that. This is a critical off-season and the less the owners have to say about the direction of the team, the better. I'm hoping for a fresh voice, not just getting a list of things the GM has to keep in mind. Make the hard decisions and live with the results.
  9. travel_dude
    Phillips and Pelletier's treatment exactly match the way Sutter manages young players. He slots them in certain spots but doesn't make that decision based on their skills. When they make a mistake, they sit back down. Wolf ended up at AHL MVP and top goalie in the AHL. Doesn't matter, the game is different here. Bla, bla, bla.
  10. travel_dude
    If that's the case, don't expect many to want the job.
  11. travel_dude
    I wasn't blaming him, just saying that the overview of UFA's signed here is not that impressive. We don't really know what UFA's want as we only see the signed contracts. I do think that sometimes this market is viewed by the fans as undesirable more than the players. It could be as simple as us offering 4 years and the player wanting two. Or the player doesn't see a fit. We may overpay because of bidding with other teams for sure. I think overall that BT was a good GM for us. There are lots that would have made us worse off. I would prefer that we be more active in the trade market than the UFA market, but we seem to have to dip into the picks to do them. This year, we have some trade pieces, so if we can use that, then lets see what happens. Doesn't mean you stay away entirely from the UFA market, but you need to be more selective now. Cap issues unless we make trades and only room for UFA's if we make trades. As long as the new GM doesn't just follow the owners in how to set the direction, we may do the right thing.
  12. travel_dude
    Perhaps our UFA decisions were BT's failure. Or perhaps the owners didn't want to spend the money on fairweather Flames, they wanted community guys that they could call up and get to go to a parade or event. I'm curious what you think Bert is worth next year. He's 28 already which I was shocked at. I don't see any way we could ever sign him, but I wonder if he would be a better investment than say Mangiapane. Anyway, I dread off-seasons in Calgary. Never a Nemestnikov signing, just the opposite ends of the scale. Rooney or Kadri/Neal types. No 2 year deal like Perron, just a Rooney. I love the Zadorov signing because it gives us options this year. He had a great year and is not expensive or long term. We have to take advantage of pending UFA's and not get too caught up in forever a Flame nonsense. Iggy was traded (too late) but he didn't retire here. No way that Backlund deserves better. I don't mean that as an insult, just that team comes first.
  13. travel_dude
    If the rumors were true, we already had that discussion in the early part of the season. It didn't go anywhere then, so I doubt it goes further now. I read into his comments that he wants to wait till he hears offers from other places. He wants to play every day and contribute to a cup contending team. He knows he's a role player, but I doubt he wants to just play 20 games when they need a nuke option. There is no room for a 82 game Lucic here. Sure, we could use a 20 game Lucic. But, you can't play him against fast teams and roll him like a 4th line F against any scoring lines.
  14. travel_dude
    What a guy from the Athletic suggested was that BT asked the owners to give Sutter a one year extension, so that Sutter would not be making decisions based on getting a new deal. It wouldn't tie the team to Sutter longer than the 23/24 season if things didn't work out. The owners declined and offered Sutter 2 years. Honestly, I don't have a clue if Maloney will be the one deciding on Sutter's future. Even if BT was given the okay to fire Sutter, why would he do that if leaving? It sounds like a decision that should be made by the new GM and POHO. I don't believe Maloney will make that decision by himself. I could be wrong.
  15. travel_dude
    A letter from a season ticket holder that indicated to the Flames that they will not be renewing. They were told to pause that decision with a new GM and exciting prospects coming from the AHL team. This was their letter back....
  16. travel_dude
    My doom and gloom mostly centers aorund this guy leading the team....
  17. travel_dude
    Like when? When he was at Dev camp after year 1 of Harvard, he talked about not rushing his development. Said the Flames had great prospects and good D on the team. There was no inkling at that time he wouldn't sign. End of year 2 they wanted to sign him and he balked. Then they traded him. I guess the obvious thing is that a player from NY state near NYC that went to Harvard is always going to sign with the Rags. Ooops, forgot about our newest Harvard player. Coronato said he wanted to sign with the Flames and signed with the Flames. Born very close to NYC. They probably lived about 10 miles apart when they were growing up.
  18. travel_dude
    Le sigh. We traded a D that ended up with more PIMs than points here and a player that had a career year we couldn't afford to re-sign. Aren't you happy we didn't try to retain pending UFA Ferland and pay what VAN did? Without that trade, we don't have a top line C (or RW when he was there). Fox was never signing here, so it was a question of how much we get for him in a seperate deal. Rags knew they could dangle very little to us; at least CAR had some leverage with the same division higher price. Trading a player that would only ever play for one team not named the Flames doesn't make you a worse team.
  19. travel_dude
    I will point out the one big difference between goalies. Win/loss/OTL Markstrom 59 games, 58 games started, 23-21-12 Vladar 27 games, 23 starts, 14-6-5
  20. travel_dude
    You are ambitious. I thought it might be the GM of Arizona. With all seriousness, winning the cup is tough. Have to catch the perfect storm to win it. COVID year or North/South/East/West division year. Or you aging superstar finally gets good enough goaltending. Or your injury situation lines up with the playoffs. Or it was 10 years ago when it was a different beast. All I am trying to say is there is no magic formula that works. Some things may get you further or not at all. I don't know yet (season not started) if this is a year we put it all together. You don't have to be a contender every year to win it. And repeats are near impossible in this cap era. The two bolded area had a lot to do with it. You can't plan that.
  21. travel_dude
    Self portrait? LOL
  22. travel_dude
    Markstrom was 33 when he had a career numbers, so yeah he can rebound. Huberdeau and Kadri are a year removed from career seasons. Consistent and played in the right situations is all it really takes to get close. But, TBH I think we have to move some assets now. Call it a re-tool if you like. Get the best return for pending UFA's, but you do it in the summer. We won't do it if we are close to a playoff spot. And if there's an inkling that is the plan, the coach will bury him to make him worthless.
  23. travel_dude
    Really the problem is the coaches. Keeping Markstrom isn't the worst option we have. He sucked but can play enough games to ease in Wolfie. He is a good team mate. The coaches though. Are they more the problem than the goalies were? Knowing when to sit a guy, when to give him the hook, when to call a time out. This year, it seemed that when we fans were saying start the backup, we saw Markstrom. When we were cursing the results in a first period, he stayed in and played the next game. How much of it falls on the goalie coach. I don't know if we would have made the playoffs with a 2:1 or 3:1 start ratio, but what we used didn't work the last month. He's my guy is not a fact based decision. Here's the funny thing. Markstrom sucked against the Ducks. Doesn't matter how good you played against Minny, if you can't get a win against the worst team, you should not be the defacto starter to get the playoffs.
  24. travel_dude
    Oh, I was just saying what I want not what I expect. I had a pit in my stomach when I listened. No good GM is going to come here and take orders from a coach or an owner rep. Maloney will revert to VP. So, it comes down to how much of a hands off role a GM will demand of the owners. BT didn't have that baked in and had to gain it. Only a very junior one would ever sign up for that. And how exactly do you hold a GM to account when the owners tie their hands. Answer - you can't.
  25. travel_dude
    I think Lucic is done with Calgary. Maybe wants to play, but more like Reaves, not all the time. Lewis is again in the 35+ contract state. Yeah, Sutter wants him back.
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