travel_dude

He only has one voice against the Oilers. His McDavid voice.

Really need an improvement over Stone. He has a rocket, but little defensive skills at times.

Getting the first goal is important to the Flames. When we get down we start taking penalties.

This has to be the worst possible move. Not the demotion but the 2nd call up. What is the message you want to say? A waiver claim for a guy headed to the AHL who clered after we claimed him. More important to the team than the guys we drafted and developed?

Zohorna back up, no Phillips. The experiment is over.

I see similarities between CBJ and EDM. They cheat to the offensive blueline like Laine does. If you look behind you and see McD there, then you know a pass is a coming. The N zone is where McD builds speed, so don't let him get through. He's fair game coming at you to hit. Bump him when he tries it or tries to cut to the net. Anyway, as C suggests, don't get sucked into river hockey. We can defend on the PK and it's obvious that the two plays are McD pass to Drai onetimer or McD cutting in. Don't let them draw a penalty while we have a guy in the box. As far as coaching, Sutter needs to limit the 2nd line against anyone in the top 9. Nobody outside of McD and Drai really worry me, but Lucic drags the 2nd line down into our zone. The 4th line should play more minutes and Backlund can handle McD.

We won with Vladar, and lost with Marky in nets. But, Marky has to get over the lousy play from last playoffs and start winning these games against the division.

AFter we passed on Stany, I thought for sure we would draft Red. Not that our picks suck, but we seem to pass over the guys that have good season and D+1 have really good ones. Savage not so much, but he's trending well this season.

Maybe it's me, but I find Canada wins in spite of goaltending not because of it. More likely to lose as a result of that. Gaudreau reminds me of the pick where you look for a goalie and he's all that's left.

We are an underperforming team that is 8th in the West at the Christmas break. We would have to get significantly worse goaltending and worse scoring results to even remotely be considered a lotto team. And really that's just a shot at worse than 12th in the West.

Well. they reduced Lucic's ice time and we won. It looked like a loss the way we had firedrills in our zone. 4th line scored even with Ritchie's ice time being 5 minutes. 2nd PP unit the only one that actually looked good. Maybe Phillips is the wrong guy to bring in. But we aren't exactly creating space for anyone else from the AHL. A RHS RW. Moving Hubey to RW with Lucic on the other side isn't exactly a recipe for success.

The answer is no. Phillips reassigned to the AHL today. Merry Christmas. Yeah, I get the idea of cap savings and it really doesn't matter for the holidays. But it sends a message. AHL doesn't get to play here. We struggles to score and use Lucic in the top 6. 4th line one of the best lines last night. EDIT - it does save them 3 days of waiver exemption, should they get called up again.

Merry Ho Ho to all. It's been a wild ride this winter so far. Wishing you all good health, prosperity, and joy.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. See ya after the holidays.

Dostal has been hot but this team should not be tied after the Flames play.

Inside the post is fine. We are king of the outies.

On cue, we take a penalty.

Can't seem to put this team away. 23-1 in shots the 2nd period.

Anything outside NHL is pretty much a bad comp. Not saying it's not the same ideas, but the game is faster with players that do it well. What I was getting at is Sutter wants to keep the scores low. The team wants to get a 2-3 goal lead so they aren't as prone to losses or lead changes. Lead changes mean you are burning extra fuel to just get a similar result. You want to be able to use the push just when you need it. Not having to do that for 40 minutes a game every game because you have no lead or a one goal lead. We tend to feed on offense. When we score, we score in bunches. That's when the coach shuts it down. I want them to feed until they are full. Have it so tams have to cheat the line to win.

The coach is telling them to stop taking chances. Don't do anything creative or you get the bench. Dump and chase but only send one guy in cuz we give up the N zone when 2 go in. It's Sutter hockey and we have half a Sutter roster. It worked more last year because we gained the zone easier. We are playing the way we did when Gio was here. D-men pass up along your strong side. Doesn't connect most times. We are feet still when we are dumping it in or one guy enters. Mangiapane button hooks and nobody is near. He has to hold on until one guy enters with speed. I do like the play but it's just one look.

It's frustrating for everyone. The players know what he is and what he can do. Bubba did everything asked of him in the AHL. Zohorna has never been a really viable NHL option. But he got games because he is big. ANd what he did in the NHL was the measuring stick for Phillips. Didn't score 5 goals, so Phillips won't be able to score any. Not that that is a real measuring stick. Two different players. If it was Zary, he would eat popcorn. If it was Pelletier, he would eat popcorn. So, the logic is that Lucic was a scratch, so he comes in and plays 12-15 minutes. Instead of using the time to play a top 6 player, we use a 4th liner there. Wolf was the top goalie last season. He's up near the top with 3 SO already. He's not getting a sniff while we have two healthy goalies.

Lucic is a bit of an issue but it seemed like the best that line played was with Lucic and Ritchie. Ritchie is perhaps injured and looks worse now. I don't really have a solution for the 2nd line, but really need to move Lucic back down. Lewis is worth more than 9 minutes as is Ruzicka. PK he gets more minutes, but he drives play more than just the PK. I don't know that Phillips can take 2nd line role, but I doubt he would be as bad without the puck as Lucic. I would lean towards Ruzicka on the 2nd line and play Lucic-Lewis-Phillips in that case. Or Phillips at C. I believe that's his normal position. Having Lewis with him would be safe.

I find we are sending one guy in, but also do that with dump and chase. Not much chance of disrupting if that's all you do. As far as activating, the line out there isn't talking or seeing the hole left. 2D pinching at the same time and the F aren't covering. A slower skating D in deep and nobody taking the spot.