travel_dude

5 on 3 for Nucks

Not excatly sure what the standing mean yet. NYY losing help, but we are still behind them. We are still back of BOS. Oh, Wolfie is in the game. Back to hockey.

Was watching this plau keeping track of Blue Jays game. And BOS Sox games. And NYY game. Jays win. NYY lose Sox win.

Some good passing on the many many PP's, but come on guys. Score one. Poor Duehr, stuck out there with Fooese and Costco (Kirkland). Petterson has been invisible out there for the Flames.

It's a problem that 3 coaches have come to this decision. Sutter really can't be faulted yet, since he didn't have the luxury of evaluating player in season. This is just pre-season, but already Kyl is making a strong case. I'm no coach, but I have thoughts about how a player fits. Rarely get to see that fit. When we do and it works, we don't even stick for a game. That's my beef.

I don't think too many are happy with Guddy signing. I don't track his game by fancy stats nor do I have a coach like Dutter's insight. Do I have a problem with Zadorov? Nope. I think that is a relatively smart trade/signing. He was really good in COL, and I felt took a bit of a step back in CHI. Saying that, we should have signed someone other than Guddy. It was not a skill we were lacking IMHO. He is depth for Tanev the same way Stone is; a shutdown D-man. Unfortunately, neither is close to even carrying his water. I would have preferred Vatanen or Savard or something else. Anyone else. I think your anger towards all aspects of BT's GM decisions is coloring every thing you post. It wouldn't really matter who we signed because you are fixated on a rebuild. Nothing else will do.

I have been rooting for Kylington for some time and have been frustrated with his "treatment" and his progression. One is tied to the other in some ways. It's not 100% a reflection on him (as much as Tanev) that he looked good last night. The thing that is true is that he would benefit from a stay at home guy. Unfortunately, Valimaki would need to go through waivers, so the AHL is out. That leaves Kylington as the odd man out. No way we waive Valimaki. Perhaps we waive Stone or Gudbranson and keep Kylington as 7th D. Hanifin-Ras Kylington-Tanev Zadorov-Valimaki Gudbranson or Hanifin-Ras Valimaki-Tanev Zadorov-Kylington Gudbranson Unfortunately, at this point I can't see a useful usage for Gudbranson. Perhaps he is better than I think. If we use him, then we are stuck with Gudbranson with Valimaki or Zadorov. Yikes.

A little love for Kylington from a Flames blogger: Click in the twitter box to go to the full thread

I thought this was the best Kylington has looked in quite some time. If he shows like that again, he may make it hard on Sutter. Poised, made only about one mistake that really had no impact negaitvely. Liked his offensive instinct combined with Tanev's smarts. For the forwards... Of the guys due to go to the AHL, they should and leave Do-er here. Let's get the camp trimmed down to the team and guys that have a chance. Keep Kylington, Gawdin, Do-er, Ruzicka, Pospisil up. Try them with top 6 players. Decide from there.

Not a great look they Stoney. Not a bad game for him otherwise.

Stripped the puck from the D-man nicely. He may just be a NHL player. Great wheels and good hockey smarts. Big man in a little coat. Good hands.

Agreed. I think we have two possible spots for Coleman nad Mangiapane. With Gaudreau or with Tkachuk. Both have their positives.

Stone really doesn;t impress me much. He's a okay platoon guy, but not womeone you should expect a great game out of. Even or not noticeable is the best you should expect. Gudbranson is yikes. Kylington is better and tat's not saying a lot. Maybe his crushing hits will make him a better player for us.

Darth needs to play a little taller in net. Big gap above his shoulders. No, I don't mean between his shoulders.

Welcome back Gio, now make yourself invisible.

Yikes, we need some actual coverage near the net

Backlund with an open net. Bloop, missed it. Should get used to that I guess.

I'm sure he is looking for a job in politics again. Please don't let the door hit your butt on the way out the door.

Good old Gio, talking the talk. Surprised he wanted to play tonight. Probably wants to get the reunion stuff out of the way so it won't bug him regular season. Hi there Gio, have you met Zadorov? Hope you didn't PO Tkachuk in any closed door meetings.

I'm not sure what to think. Valimaki-Stone needs to be explored some more, since it was fine in the season. Kylington-Tanev is what I would hope for a real evaluation of him. But should do that with Valimaki too. Zaddy-Ras hopefully works out or we have issues. So the forwards are the 1st and 2nd line subbing in Backlund for Monahan. The 3rd line is a possible 4th line. No real 3rd line there. Would like to see a line of Ruzicka-Backlund-Dube at some point. Or Dube-Backlund-Duehr while Pitlick is out.

In a pre-season game you would expect him to be able to be part of a rush. He also played with creative players, so I don't think he was anything more than ok

You must look for conspiracy theories in messages. Like the 14 words being a supremist code? How does getting hit by a player translate to you to knocking himself out. Anyway, I will let you alone with your bizare interpretation. You must have been watching the feed on your side to come up with that. Poor innocent player that was hit by Zary's chin.

My beef with BT is his tendency to bring in role players at a high cost. Pitlick and Gudbranson are both role players, but only Pitlick is a good player. Ritchie was signed to meet exposure requirements, but is not anything more than a part time player. I'm not as high on Lewis or Richardson, but they are very minor. They are doing squat to hurt the cap. You waive them and bring in a AHL guy, it's net zero almost. Let me sum it up. Gio out, Zadorov and Guddy in is basically a wash cap wise. That's not a great cap tradeoff. And not a skills tradeoff. Bennett + Nordstrom + Ryan + Big Save out and Coleman + Pitlick + Vladar in, is a bit closer to a win. Both in cap and skills.

Valimaki makes poor decisions at times. I would prefer to see him playing with a vet that actually knows how to play defense. Unfortunately, we don't have a safe 3rd pair guy for him, so his mistakes will be forced (due to his partner leaving him less options). Would prefer to see him take the puck up the ice instead of panic passing. Dutter has to settle him down and get him to play to his strengths. Considering the lineup decisions, it's not surprising that the prospects have looked bad. You want to see Ruzicka show you his game, play him with NHL players that are not bump/grind/chip/chase players. 2 of the top 6 are actual NHL players with Ritchie being at best a 4th liner. The bottom 6 should not even be in camp, save for maybe Gawdin, Duehr and Pospisil. Both of those guys not name Duehr need to be up to NHL speed before they play a NHL game. Duehr looks like he has gears and a decent shot. The prospects are what should be expected. They will require time in the AHL. It's not an indictment of BT desire to win, just that the best are in the NHL. Could we have one or two more 1st rounders (one from 2015 and one from 2018) but we have hits on the others so far? Sure. The later years (2018 onward) are yet to be evaluated, are they not? Most of those draft classes are just seeing pro work or still in junior or college.

Ritchie can't shoot worth beans. Equivalent to topping the ball in golf. He's not an everyday NHL player and should never be. I would like to see Ruzicka with NHL players. He should be looked at for a line with Backlund and Dube IMHO. Gawdin needs to show that he can score at the NHL level; his game is okay, but I don't see him doing much as a 4th liner with guys like Lewis. I'm okay with Mackey. I think he is at least a 7th D. Battle between him and Kylington, but Kyl isn't looking ready right now. Stone was bad. He made as many bad reads as good plays. Between Gudbranson, Kylington, Mackey and Stone, it's not a good pair with Valimaki. Valimaki-Mackey may be the least annoying pair of the options. Stone a little more of a "safe" pair mate, but not really liking the options. Gudbranson should be waived and sent to the AHL ASAP. Wait for the barrage of waivers, but don't try to sneak him in. My best case scenario is we use him sparingly and trade him at TDL, even if we have to retain salary. He could turn it around, but boy howdy he is trash right now.