travel_dude

I'm not sure I understand the logic of the call ups. Zohorna back up, was papered down to save cap $$. That makes sense. Him and Duehr both fit on the 4th line. Fine What was the point of calling up Pelletier? If a top 9 player gets injured they use the 4th line player up the lineup. The 4th line hole left would be replaced by Duehr or Zohorna, depending on who wasn't already playing. That's because role players only get used on the 4th line. No room for better skill. Would it not make better sense to call up a top 9 AHL player and play him in the top 9? Use the top 9 player as better depth to the 4th line? Can always sub mid game if it doesn't work. Don't know why I think crazy thoughts. Other teams seem to have these crazy thoughts. That's why you tend to see former AHL players proving they are NHL players. Impossible to do out of the lineup.

Glad to have you back RD. Samzies was great as a poster, but need your good luck for a bit.

So he replaced two 40 goal 100 point guys with a 100 point guy and a p/gp C. Sutter can't get that out of them. How is that a BT fail? I don't recall any 80 point RHS C's available. If the coach is unable to use the players you bring in or up, then he has a problem. Sure, some of it may be on the player, but Kadri and Hubey are both Sutter players.

If I was to guess, I would say the situation with Gaudreau and Tkachuk, then paying Huberdeau the same money is troubling to the owners. They want to see star value for star pay. Think they feel BT bungled the Tkachuk and Gaudreau re-signings. That's just a guess. From what I understood, Edwards was furious with Gaudreau. But to be fair, there was opportunity to lock them both up 2021 and the end of the ELC. Cap or the owners may have been at fault then. Or BT trying to add and get cheaper deals done. If Sutter is the last man standing we are in deep kaka. He's a line of sight coach. Only interested in prospects or young NHL players is during camp and they must blow the doors off.

Huska is the defensive coach. Muller deals with the PP. Somebody else with empty net. Sutter likes this group or he would have made a change. I do think that Sutter overrides them at times.

Not sure what the point of the callup was. 3 games available and no Pelletier.

No big surprises at skate today. Same lineup except for Vladar being the likely starter.

Some previous poor signings really gum up the cap. Lucic was a poor reaction to a bad signing. We would have been better off buying out Neal, but that was an owner call. One year then what 8 years of penalties? The owners like it because the actual cost to retain the player was less. The other signings are par value for the players and a slight uptick due to playing in CGY. We can't attract everyone without overpaying somewhat. Cap management is actually one of BT's good traits. Not the signing costs but the overall management to expiring contracts and total cap. Huberdeau was a bit desperate due to the departure of two top players. Can't make a major trade and not lock up the player. Much like the Stone trade to Vegas, you make the trade and sign right away. What BT needs to look at is what value he is getting from players vs their value to other teams. Mangiapane would be great for MTL or a team that is fast. Backlund would be great for a team lacking a 2 way C. We have some potential cap issues coming, but not trade the farm types. The thing holding him back is the coach's reluctance to play more than just today. Trade Hanifin with nobody really stepping up yet. I thought Hanifin would be a victim with Weegar coming, but Kylington messed that up. It would have given us a trade asset that might solve the top 6 depth. Or allow us to get a younger developing player that has a high ceiling. We will see (once Kyl comes back) what the plan is. Either a trade asset or a really good replacement for Hanifin.

A good description from a FN blogger about this year in Calgary: Here's how I interpret what Sutter is doing in Calgary this year - He's defaulting to a "lower skill" system where the club banks on a very specific, fundamental way of playing... /1 Smash mouth, heavy, limited risk, high shot volume. Low risk is going to be emphasized because he doesn't think they can win by 2 or come back from 2 down. /2 CGY does a pretty good job at limiting chances against in aggregate (though they struggled a bit in the early going). Markstrom has been poor and it has put a hole in the entire endeavour so far. This doesn't work with above average netminding./3 Sutter has said, implicitly and explicitly, that the club has no dominant players this year, and he's employed his roster and tactics in tune. But he's also talking about the entire org here, not just the parent team. /4 If there was a Phaneuf or Tkachuk in the system, he'd happily audition them at the top of the rotation. But none of the kids are big body, obvious slot-in stars, so he has little time for them. /5 I think Sutter's at "only dominant players matter" in terms of additions. He doesn't want to babysit rookies or gamble on prospects. So he'll slot the reputational vets in and keep telling management he needs another Stallion. /end

Okay, I get that there is little news and one story from FS. The things you mentioned describe a systemic problem in pro sports. It was first described as a family issue and he was back in Sweden dealing with it. There are many family situations that can result in needing to be at "home". Most large organizations have Employee Assistance programs, so that is everything from personal tragedy to family trauma to addictions. Anyway, my hope (and belief) is that Kyl is ready for late January. We had depth that disappeared and Sutter is unwilling to use Meloche or Mackey. Using Stone in limited minutes is overusing the top pair.

Starting with the defense. Is Weegar the problem or is it the pairs that are messed up. You have Zaddy looking good, but playing with Stone. Ras-Hanifin are getting zonked by playing too many minutes. I would argue that Weegar is tasked with too much shutdown, so he is out of his realm. Hanifin-Tanev gets back a decent pair. Weegar-Ras gives you two guys that play a similar game. Zaddy stays with Stone until Kyl is back. Can really be discussing trading a starter without knowing how he finishes the year. Or what Wolf is like at the NHL level. The latter is a huge risk. How long did it take Tkachuk to fit in under Sutter? He was a consistent player with Backlund, but never really broke out. He was left frustrated with his teammates when he create crap with other teams. He became the 100 point guy when he was able to get away with being lazy on the backcheck. His netfront and shot got him a free pass. Gaudreau was a drop pass specialist and routinely created odd man rushes the other way. Suffice to say that they got with the program for the most part and got away with the rest. A new player with another new player isn't going to have any chemistry and no free pass. They would be told to guard against the D zone first and score next. Hubey is gonna take most of the season before he is that same player he was. The PP looks like last year at times. Seems like the plan is not logical. Only works against some teams and that's when the circumstances allow they to move the puck around better. No just the exact same shot every sequence.

It's been said that you don't need to play a top 6 prospect on the top 2 lines. That is true, but you can't just have 4th line talent playing with them just because. Want to use Pelletier outside the top 9? Pelletier-Ruzicka-Duehr. Basically a top line in the AHL. Shelter them a bit and feed them 12 minutes if possible. Lucic is not a top 6 power forward. He is there for grit and creating space. You don't need a 4th line for that purpose in that case. Is it better to sit Pelletier and play Lewis for a marginal increase in grit?

I don't know if it's always effort. More like playing safe too much and trying to defend instead of going offense. To me that's a coaching issue. Sutter talks all the time about playing for 3 goals or less. Got 3? Play safe. Don't defend by being offensive. Sit back, let the play come to you. And Sutter says we don't score in the middle, so get more volume. Funny, we scored what 3 from the slot? So we go into games where the volume replaces quality. We shoot 40 and score 1. Big surprise. Don't make as many mistakes when you shoot as soon as you can, regardless of the angle. How many times do we just fire it on net regardless of the on ice situation? Player without a stick? Just shoot it at the net and hope goalie doesn't freeze it. Goalie without a stick? Shoot a low percentage shot or an angle that goes out of the zone.

Just don't tell Sutter this. He was annoyed at being asked about Phillips. Yep, AHL All Star Matthew Phillips. Some players are too good for the AHL and not good enough to be paid to eat popcorn. And pocket dogs. Was it Francis that was in the press box with Pelletier the other night? Poor kid. EF probably asked him how he feels being a top prospect and not playing.

All you have to do is look at any game where we had a lead and lost the lead. Too many to remember. The frustrating part is when we get a goal after putting in great effort, then give it back. Moments later. We were up on Toronto twice, but managed to give up the lead twice, then lose in OT. The OT part is annoying, but being forced to be there because of not making one save if worse. Sometimes we have a great 1st, followed by a bunch of goals against. It's not simply one player, but one player can sink you. Anyway, run with the hot goalie, but keep an eye on them. Marky had a good stretch, but then played ion the CHI game, perhaps one too many. No reason to start him over Vladar. Then go right back to him. A goalie that plays poorly isn't going to get a shutout next game, not automatically. Sometimes he plays like crap for a 2nd game. It's why we have two goalies.

there were issues. He said if you don't [perform, you don't play. I don't know what the issues were or are.

A 50 point player? That was Mangiapane last season. Dube a 30+ point player last season. Ruzicka went from a p/gp player this season in his top 9 time to an after thought on the 4th line. The 4th line isn't noticeable, mostly when we get down a goal or two. Because they get benched. Last night they play 11 minutes, but most game 9 or less. How many players perform well on that line?

Yes that's what I see as well. A lot of the top goalies fight it from time to time. But we can't just wait for him to get it together. Vladar is the better goalie right now. Play him while he is.

Timing would be similar to Gaudreau. Time for maybe one game.

He may get scratched, but there is no sending him down. Would get snapped up so quick off the wire. I have been quick to criticize Lucic, but right now his offensive game is working. Maybe his game without the puck is still so bad. But the top line is looking stale again. Maybe it's big teams they can't handle. They were not good tonight. The OT loss was one thing, but the team lost everything they built thrugh 2

Sutter on Duehr - he has a role, only playing becuase Brett is out On 4th line - they were good, well except on the 2nd goal, Rozie goes down doesn't get off fast. It's not like the top 6 was great, but the only negatives about them was losing possession on the OT goal.Double standard. The young guys need to......

Let me say it this way. Every 2 on 1 we face with Marky in nets is in the net unless the player shoots wide. On the other side of the coan, every 2 on 1 we gave is a miss if we pass it. Okay, so the one to Lucic wasn't a traditional one.

I think he should just rest during OT. He looks gassed. Maybe pick three other guys? On a side note, Sutter mentioned that the 4th line was good excpet when Ruzicka went down before the 2nd goal. Said he was late getting off. That's a hoot, he was knocked down and was hurt. Blame him for being slow getting off the ice.

I watched the OT goal, Marky played it like he was going for the pad stack. He was in position for the shooter, but layed sideays, opening up 2/3 of the net. Not that it would have been an easy save, but he played it wrong.