travel_dude

Woeful top unit PP

Markstrom looks sharp so far. But we need more than 2 shots.

Mangiapane is on my list now.

Mangiapane, you need to stop the buttonhook. You don't have edges like Haudreau. Almost a bad result the other way.

Top 6 turnovers are bad

I will let Conundrumed add the Lama. In the meatime,

Ugg, George Canyon.

No Toews at least. Luke Philp draws in against his former organization.

I don't know that too many are complaining. Just uneasy, which is fair. Markstrom (last 12 games 12 starts) 5 wins, 5 losses, 1 OTL, 1 no decision Vladar (last 12 games. 11 starts) 9 wins, 0 losses and 3 OTL. Really it comes down to W's. Who is giving you the best chance. Who can steal a game. So far neither goalie is stealing games.

Heading into last All Star break, we had won 5 of 6. Coming out of it we won 7 in a row, then the VAN 7-1 loss. Then 8 wins in 12 games, but points in 10 of them. To sum it up, we went on a roll where we had 32 points in 20 games coming right out of the break. That's a .800 points % which vaulted us in the standings. We can only hope for that kind of post-All Star break record.

Sutter keeps saying that, but in reality, we gained two 30+ goal scorers and a 100 point player. Take out the dumb penalties in OT and we probably have a few more wins. We get a SO loss after killing off a 4 minute double minor in OT. Other penalties have been direct losses in OT. Lately, we are taking far fewer penalties. Some of that is due to the refs starting to get to their mid-season calls. Not calling as many per game. But, the PP1 need a better structure. They struggle to gain the zone after a faceoff loss. They get hemmed in on one side when the PK is aggressive, and generally lose possession. We get down low and it goes back up high, but no shots coming from the point. The 2nd unit does more of a direct attack and has some success. But they have a better entry success rate.

And sometimes it just comes down to make the next save. Markstrom isn't alone in letting in the next one. That has been the case for years. Smith Talbot Elliott What I notice about this team is that we always come back with the line that scored. Regardless of circumstances for the goal. Many, many teams do that, but we also seem to lose momentum immediately after a goal. Instead of putting the foot to the floor, we come back with rolling 4. We seem to be gun shy to shorten the bench. Playing the lines that are pushing the right way. Not the top 9, but whomever is pushing.

I'm just messing around. Markstrom can have a good game, but it's up to the team to score 4. Can't keep trying to win game 3-2. It's a 4 goal league, not a 3-2 league. Markstrom still has a sub-900 SA%, but we could have had wins in games with the extra goal. We are shooting about 30+ shots in almost every game, but are scoring little. Yeah, it's tough when your goalie lets in 3 on 20 or so shots, but give him a lead to work with.

Markstrom gets CHI again as the starter. Yikes, keep the leash short. Vladar starts in Seattle I assume.

I guess I don't automatically look at a goal over a post as being the difference maker. It's a positive that we hit the net instead of wide. But the inside post is better result than outside. It means coming back on the goalie or into the slot. Anyway, not trying to tramp on your positivity. Keep it up.

Gilbert recalled. I believe he is suspended for one more game in the AHL, which doesn't affect NHL playing. 7th D at best, but we might need to sub him in for the B2B set.

I don't buy the wins over losses for a post. A goal changes the course of the game, in many ways.

The OT part is not as troubling as getting there. The good is that we came back against LA, CHI and STL. The bad is we let back in teams like TOR, VAN and CBJ. 6 OT games there, and one timely goal before the end of the game and we have an extra 6 points. More important, the OT points, wins or losses, don't mean RW's. Very important for tie breaker seeding.

Got 2, but let them have 1. Too funny

With the B2B games this week, we will likely see Ruzicka come in for one of them.

Not a lot of change at practice today. Same Bat time. Same Bat channel. Pelletier probably gets sent down after the Seattle game, to save cap space. #Flames at practice Wednesday: Dube-Lindholm-Toffoli Lucic-Kadri-Huberdeau Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman Pelletier-Lewis-Duehr Hanifin-Andersson Zadorov-Weegar Mackey-Stone Tanev not practicing. Ruzicka and Ritchie skating as d-men.

There are very few "real" people in the public eye. I like Tom Cruise as an actor but do not want to hear him talk about life or his values. Some actually come off as the roles they play, but it's rare. I listen to Friedman or others just for pure entertainment. If there is something there interesting, I listen closer. I roll my eyes as the petty stuff. But the point of it all, is that people are supporting them by ad dollars. If you don't agree with it, don't buy it. Write the media and complain aboput it. Change only occurs by speaking up. Back to Sutter. LOL One observation I can agree with is that you have to balance the tough with positive. If you are beeking off at a younger player, compliment them when they do the right thing. Hold everyone to the same standard if you hold one. Don't talk about feeding players more minutes if you aren't doing it. But the big point is that what worked last year may not work this year.

The NMC is also hampered by the Swedish Mafia. Lindholm and him are tight. Then again, Jarnkrok (TO) is also tight, Lindholm's cousin. The three of them are boyhood friends. It would need to be a package deal. Markstrom + Lindholm for Matthews and Samsonov.

Unless we start replacing some players with ELC's this and next year, we will have a huge salary crunch coming. After next season, we have Backlund, Lindholm, Toffoli, Dube, Ruzicka, Pelletier, Hanifin, Tanev, and Zadorov all coming up UFA or RFA. Every one of them will cost more and two of them aren't even regular players yet. As much as we could use a Meier or Horvat, we can't even afford them at their present salary in two years. I get that you can possibly replace Backlund and Tanev, but we haven't groomed anyone for that. We are very intent on the next game only. How do we keep that leader in the room Lucic in the game. How can we maintain the status quo of low event hockey without the highs and lows of a rookie having a breakout. Which young player comes out for the next young player to get 8 minutes. Pelletier and Duehr have had two games where they were impacting the game very shift, yet they are being played like role players. I know that you don't get immediate results from bringing in a rookie. Pelletier almost scored on his first shift and in 23 seconds of PP time, but he didn't. No extra ice for that? Really, you will see some mistakes and some brilliance, but it takes minutes and trust. And Sutter is violating his own belief that you don't play a top 6 AHL player on the 4th line. So why is he? The 4th line is finding success in limited minutes playing two rookies. All of this matters. Whether Fox ever wanted to play in CGY or not, when he was nearing decision time, there was no NHL spot for the taking. Coronato is coming up to that decision point this year, but also is young enough to not be the critical time to make the decision. Defer the NHL contract for now? Harvard degree or $70k in the AHL. Harvard degree or immediate NHL spot. He's our top prospect right now.

The fact that neither of the new teams, FLA and CBJ, are better off this year as the result of a big trade or a big signing should tell you something. The greatest players don't just get points, they help you win championships. We had years of both players. We did little. Two series wins in the entire history of both of them. JT left NY and they have more series wins since than Toronto does. FLA, even with Tkachuk having another career season, is turning into a doormat. I don't know that Johnny wanted to leave because of Sutter, but I get the sense that he didn't care as much about the game as Sutter does. You do everything the coach asks for, you leave it on the ice and at the end of the day, you don't win anything. A single moment of glory. The days of BC and winning meaning everything had been replaced with family. New wife, new kid on the way. Play at hockey and get to escape the fans at the end of the day. The loss of talent is immense, but I wonder if he did us all a favour. 8 years of a less intense Johnny. Never would have been money to sign Kadri. Mr. Intense. We have three players that know what's needed to win playoff games.