travel_dude

Okay, it may not have been a bad pass but at best it was in Mangiapane's feet. The deflection messed any chance.

So bad that it sets up a 4 on 2. How did they end up with those two together on the PK. They always play wtih a C, either Backslund or Lindholm. Two small players together on the PK is not a great idea.

Best scoring chance so far. Empty cage and we can't beat the goalie's glove.

I hope they get some practice with this top 6. Players not used to each other yet. Not aware of the places they go to, so the puck goes the wrong way. I think I would like to see Rozie on RW or back to C. He doesn't have enough room on LW to work.

Weird goal off Mackey.

Nice move by Kadri to keep it deep. The first goal was passing to the middle.

I don't know what he is thinking. Passing to a guy surrounded. Even if he gets the pass, there would be zero chance to get a shot off.

The game plan seems to be survive the first. STL will have no gass left for the 3rd.

Well, it would seem that we aren't forechecking with any success once we lose possession. On the other end, we are getting handled when they forecheck.

Not connecting on half of their passes.

Mackey needs to not pinch. Not able to hold the line, so it leaves us exposed.

That was a Gaudreau esque soft play at the line that set up the 2 on 1. Zaddy was playing it like he was the only one back and went after Thomas. That was after the pass to him. Certainly not the only example. I find that Zaddy doesn't play them well. Otherwise he has been one of the better ones.

I get it. There are some players that can pull it off. Fake snap shot. Deke one way, but really go the other. Ras has a move I like, it really pulls the goalie out and leaves open a hole. If you cut enough at the right time, it opens up the 5 hole. We have guys that can do it, but I think they lose the thoughts in the moment.

I didn't like how they executed. Hubey waited too long to deke. Both Dube and Backlund flipped the backhand from a near impossible angle. 10% shot, but unlike in game, there is no rebound. I think trying to stop a straight on backhand is almost impossible. Not what they tried.

I don't want to be too critical, but we had 2 years in a row of Monahan not able to finish a season. Too late to bring in replacements. Somebody had to go and not just to sign Kadri. Bennett sucked when he was here, and we traded him for a pick and a prospect. We used that prospect for Toffoli, so bascially Bennett + for Toffoli. Valimaki wasn't NHL ready and essentially we had to choose him or Mackey. In hindsight, waiving Mackey would have made more sense. But we did clear the difference between Val's salary and Mackey. We lost Brodie and got Tanev. Your choice, but Tanev is better defensively. We lost Gio to the expansion. Maybe that was a mistake, but it was one that you were handcuffed trying to trade him in his last 2 years. Gio had the control.

Thanks for the GDT Deedsy. As usual a good job. Let's get some positivity going tonight. Best way to get amped up for the roadie. Interesting to see Sutter swap Huberdeau with Dube. I think it makes sense. Top 9 looks fine. That 4th line is not going to get ice time if they play the way they did when Looch was last in. And could Sports Net and TSN and the rest of the world stop talking about the offside by the Oilers? The War Room made the call that they wanted to review it for offside. They made a call. Not like it was a series decing play like Coleman's goal/no goal.

It must have been the in-game spotters and club medical staff that sat him out. If it was really the procol, then he has about 4 days to go through it

They practice the shootout all the time, but I don't think it's as simple as having a few moves. Every goalie has a book. Sutter decides on the shootout based on who's going that game. He must have seen something with Dube and Hiberdeau and Backlund. But, I think we have guys never used that are much better first choices. Mange for his high blocker shot. Ruzicka for his hard shot. Ras for puck control. Unfortunately, the belief is you need to shoot from in close. I think creativity is frowned upon during the game, so the players aren't used to it for the SO.

Projected lineup based on morning skate and goalie confirned: Dube-Lindholm-Toffoli Huberdeau-Kadri-Mangiapane Ruzicka-Backlund-Coleman Lucic-Zohorna-Lewis Hanifin-Andersson Zadorov-Weegar Mackey-Stone Markstrom

Don't you get tired of saying the same thing over and over? I get that you are frustrated and want the Flames to be some magical team that does all the right things, starting about 9 years ago. But that ship has sailed. I seriously doubt there is any GM that has a strict set of rules for trades. You identify talent you want. Mistakes are made. But there is little that you don't consider when making a trade. Especially when you can't go far in the playoffs after a fab season. Two years we were tops in the division and couldn't get past. Last year should have been our year, but we messed up the TDL. Even without that, we still didn't have the right players for the playoffs. Goalie faltered, top D injured and our top line got quiet. Every year a team hits it right and wins the cup. They don't remain there the next year. Cap doesn't allow it with the cheap ones needing new deals. Every year the team that wins, wins it for a perfect combo for that year. Tampa did it in two shortened years by exploiting the cap.

Not sure why this thread is so controversial. It's a positivity thread. Every other thread is negative in comments these days. While the results have been meh, we have a solid team built to win. When they figure it out and rejig the team back to a scoring threat team, we will dominate. The league is too dynamic in scoring to always play for 2-1 games. No team can do that every night.

All these guy want ever is to play. He has to go through the protocol, so that is the test. You never want to see a guy get a concussion and I do hope the effects don't linger. Kylington came back way too quickly in my opinion last year.

My player grades are F. I suck at the ice hockey.

Mine is a cautionary tale. It's the one area of his game that has changed, I think. Didn't have to worry about it so much last year, since they were dynamic on offence. This year, we struggle as it is, and putting more emphasis on it has some drawbacks. You see him thinking a bit more now. It takes time to make that kind of change. I do agree that he needs to start shooting more. Also, using his linemates to gain the zone a bit more, sooner. He just gets bogged down when he is trying to work the boards. IMHO

The impact on this team by not having that steady 2nd pair D is messing up the ice times. Stone looked early on to be a 82 games player. But he is exactly what he was last year, a steady 7th D you use now and then. He best asset is his point shot, but not much else. Mackey isn't giving enough to really stay. Went for a big hit at the blueline, leading to a 2 on 1 chance/goal. AT times he make good passes, but overall is a risk. The top line doesn't generate speed on the rush. Asking Hubey to gain the zone and set up plays doesn't work when the others are out of sync. Where are the weapons? But I also think Sutter is asking him to change his game too much. Let him get the scoring side worked out then work on the defensive game. Sutter did the same with Monahan and hilled his offence. Sutter seems to look at these last 3 losses as just not finishing one play. That's a 2-1, 3-2 coach talking. We aren't that team and especially not with the missing D or the player usage. Hubey got benched a bit last night, which is the right move but the solution didn't work. Maybe he caught Weegar's illness. Part of the problem is he is playing with the wrong players. Too many RHS's where last year he played with LHS. Maybe it's as simple as moving him to the RW and bumping up Mange, Dube or Ruzicka. Toffoli with Kadri seems like a better fit, A possession player with a net driver. Add Phillips with Little Z, so he has some big players to take the board play. Ritchie has hands of stone right now, so there is no great reason to play him. So, my suggeted lines are a bit weird but address this: Ruzicka-Lindholm-Huberdeau Dube-Kadri-Toffoli Magiapane-Backlund-Coleman Little Z-Lewis-Phillips I don't see enough positive results to continue to roll the lines as they are. Last nght was a 3-1 win minus the mental lapses. But those lapses happened because of the structure IMHO. At this point, I think Lucic may be done. 3 games in a row scratched. Pride may dictate his next move.