travel_dude

I saw the same thing in EDM. Supposed to be isn't it?

They walked back the suspension comment after hours, when they looked at different angles. CBC and SN is so pro Rogers sponsored teams, it's sickening.

Over the bench glass is a penalty.

Pretty clean shot, but he can't be allowed to get it away like that.

Penalty to Backlund if Tkachuk doesn't touch it.

Bad call. Called about 50% of the time. He gets more chances on shorties than anyone, but fails to convert unless he cuts to the net.

We need to execute those two on ones better. That's a couple games in a row where we don't even get a Satoshi Nakamoto on the shorty chance.

Early start time with a B2B game set. It's also on something called SN Flames. Only in Alberta, I supect. In BC you get SN Nucks. Assuming of course you pay for more channles.

Coleman was excited thinking he would play on a line with Gaudreau. First shift with the two together, a goal.

I missed that part of the thread. Good job RD on putting that in. I was thinking we need one of those for each game. Good guess. I was thinking Gaudreau.

Coleman - fist home goal, first game as a Flame

What a nice set up on the partial breakaway

That kid name Groulx has a weird name. Benoit-Oliver as a first name. I thought they had it reversed. Would it be like TJ, but in his case BO?

I know it's early yet, but I expect that we will have a lot less of those games where we think they haven't shown up. That was my biggest complaint about the games we lost, that we looked less engaged or unwilling to do the things you needed to do. This is the first year in awhile that we don't have a narrative taking away from the season. Well, so far of course. 19/20 - BP scandal, replace him mid-season with a coach that wasn't ready, Tkachuk-Kassian crap, Lucic thinking about retiring, season put on hold for months right when it seemed like we were getting it together 20/21 - Wardo hired as full time coach and we get laclustre play, Bennett wanting a trade, Tkachuk's tantrum, Wardo firing, Bennett trade, Sutter coaching style, hybrid NHL season playing teams 9-10 times each

We really don't know the conversation between BT and Dutter. Would BT typically waive Ritchie and Stone to give roster flexibility? Yeah, typically. Would he send down waiver exempt player to avoid that decision? Yeah, he tends to do that. There is almost zero risk to waive Stone, Ritchie, Lewis, Richardson and even Gudbranson. Maybe way too early to write off any of those players, but I am yet to see anything from Ritchie or Lewis to suggest otherwise. Both can probably score a goal each. Not much to look forward to from the 4th line is it?

Yeah, we both have our predictions and guesses in. Was just commenting the same way you were commenting. With all the changes to all of the teams over the last 5 years, our worst points % was last year, basically the equivalent of 81 points. Maybe that is bottom 5 equivalent this year, but I seriously doubt it.

5 goalies is insane. Daniil Chechelev is signed to an AHL deal, but his last play was MHL and VHL. But there are at least two goalies above him in the depth chart; Wolf and Werner. Not enough AHL games to run 3 goalies, let alone 5. 6 if you count Parson, depending on if he ever plays again for the Flames. Currently non-roster on the Flames. Heat have 9D and 16F healthy right now as well. Add Kinnvall and Zary and again, a lot of depth.

That's not exactly true. The Flames made the easy decision to not waive Ritchie or Stone or Kylington and send down Duehr and Mackey. Richardson is on IR and Pitlick is being counted on the roster. 12 active forwards including Coleman, Pitlick pushes someone out when he's back. Duehr didn't have a great pro season in the AHL, so having a good camp meant nothing to Dutter. Gawdin has been steady in the AHL, so natural progression.

Kirkland seems to be trending towards a career AHL-er. His best AHL season was close to 0.5 p/gp. I could be wrong, but it would seem that he would have hit his AHL stride by now if ever he was going to be NHL ready. Duehr should be in the NHL IMHO; he's NHL size and speed, and seems to have taking a huge step since last year.

Hard to say how we match up to the weak sisters of the league, or most of the league for that matter. Last year we played exactly zero games against the non-Canadian teams. Two years ago we were on the bubble and had a so-so playoff. How can you really predict us struggling with teams because that we did so little and everyone else did so right? The last year we played east teams, we played well against them. Some exceptions. I can't see results ending up with us having way more losses than wins. Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Lindholm, Mangiapane, Backlund, Hanifin, Tanev, Ras and Markstrom would have to have complete meltdowns. That's how you get into the bottom 5. Even a meh season would not be any worse than a 500 win record, good for around 82 points....17-22 range.

He needs to shine after a poor showing in camp. But, that's kinda the player he is. You would not at Q players and identify him as the number one player from the ranks; he is a player that coaches identify as one that brings you wins. I think that when the year is done, the top players from the Heat are going to be Pelletier, Zary, Wolf and Ruzicka.

We can only hope he is a PP specialist. When was the last time we had one, and no I don't count Gus. Gio was already showing his age and we didn't add anyone with offensive skills.

I figured the Zad-Tanev pairing was going to be a problem. It might be okay for a more grinding style game, but the Oiles are not a grinding team. Pairing should be a work in progress if they are not absolutely lights out. Hanifin-Ras was good. Valimaki-Gudbranson good. Kaylington-Gudbranson good. Zadorov-Tanev mixed results. Kylington was flying out there, so the decision to use Zadorov and Valimaki over him were strange. Zadorov's strengths were not used or absent. His inabilities were exposed. I do think they need to rework the top 9 a bit, since Lucic and Lewis played okay, but not good enough without the puck. Yes, the Coleman suspension hurt. Gaudreau-Lindholm is a great combo, but need someone else in there. Maybe it's Coleman or Dube or Mangiapane. I would try Coleman I think. Gaudreau-Lindholm-Coleman Mangiapane-Monahan-Tkachuk Lucic-Backlund-Dube (until Pitlick is back, then Dube-Backlund-Pitlick) The 4th line needs work. With Lucic there, you have two RHS and Lucic. Without him, three RHS.

Good, we could use an offensive D-man sometime. He's got some growth as a D-man to do, but he could be a steal from that draft.

That was a blwon icing no call. But anyway, typical result for Flames season opener. Did we learn anything? Nope