travel_dude

Isolating on a cup winner is dangerous. The reasons why they win one year are the same as they fail the next year. They got outplayed in the round against VAN by a younger, smaller. The year before they faced a big team in WPG, then DAL, then SJS. It's rare that a rebuild coincides with the way the league trends. STL has been a bridesmaid since the lockout shortened season. Only one missed appearance in the playoffs, but not a lot of victories.

Last night was an example of why you can't just play dump and chase. Read this stat earlier: On his (Gaudreau) shifts last night... 2 for 15 - on gaining controlled possession after a dump. Easy zone exits for EDM. They had 8 controlled entries with him at 5on5 which led to multiple high danger scoring chances. Either they need to change some of the lines or allow for some controlled entry. Goaltending had a lot to do with the loss, as did inept play at getting the puck out, but offense has to be more than just fighting to get the puck back. When we had control, we were a dangerous team.

Maybe. I don't see it working only that way. It has to be a bit more hybrid IMHO; it's not like we are built like the Kings in 2014.

You don't have to only dump and retrieve. That may be the mark of a Dutter team, but so is possession.

Short of changing up all the lines, the next best alternative is to swap Leivo and Ritchie. As Cross pointed out, he wasn't a problem on their line. He may not have found his shot until just recently, but I feel like that is more a confidence/luck thing than skill. His last 3 goals are from finding quiet areas and knowing where the net was. Giving Gaudreau another weapon on his line isn't a bad thing. He more apt to take a pass on his stick into the zone over Ritchie. Maybe it's not the best option, but I wouldn't just revert to Ritchie on the Gaudreau line. I've got no problem with him being in the lineup every night. He didn't need to be on Gaudreau's line to stick up for Kylington.

Some of this is just due to the fact he has no time to change the team play. Not saying it's flawed at all, just pointing out that some things he could do he won't be able to do in the season. He can influence it. He can make minor adjustments. He can get them playing better within it. With the last BOA game, I felt it was more ebb and flow than starting to sit back. If we have learned anything from the Dallas series, it's that a 3-1 lead means nothing unless it's the third period. You can lock it down a bit after one or two periods, but you still have to generate offense. At least the Flames need to. They are not the Kings of a bygone era. The first period was low event, but we played a decent forecheck. The second we capitalized on chances, but also lacked some details.

Previous track record only shows that he is an experienced coach that won two cups with 2 good teams those years. For me, the most important thing he can do is bring the team back to being a feared team and raise the compete level to that of a contender. We may not be a contender this year in results, but I want us to play like one.

Regarding Gio-Ras, I think the issue may just be style. Neither is that good a skater, and can get burned on transition. If you look at minutes played, Gio and Andersson are more likely to get extra minutes on special teams. That's fine, but shouldn't dictate whop they play with 5v5. I would like to see Gio with Kylington, because let's face it Gio is pretty good at positioning and defensive play, while Kylington adds that speed to the pair. I'm with you on the Gaudreau line with Ritchie. It's turning a possession and attack line to a dump and recover line. That's fine for a 4th line that builds offense through heavy forecheck, but seems to work against Gaudreau's and Monahan's strength. Especially Gaudreau. I mean there's no reason why Gaudreau and Monahan can't improve their forechecking, but it's not to their strengths.

I knew as soon as I posted that, that you would say this. Setup.

Considering Leivo is at least a RHS, I don't even see the fit.

See where Vesey has been waived. I thought he was better recently, but his fancy stats don't lok great. There was an unconfirmed report that CGY claimed him. Won't know for sure until tomorrow I suspect. Lots of teams higher in priority than us. Not sure it even makes sense. Another LHS LW.

I don't know if the answer is swapping Gaudreau with Tkachuk or what. If Tkachuk thinks he has to be the big body on the Lindholm line, then he is taking away from the line's play. Gaudreau has been okay, but generated zero shots himself. I think that while Ritchie is an okay RW, it results in plays that don't really suit the line. Gaudreau-Lindholm-Dube Tkachuk-Monahan-Ritchie Maybe that lines up better. Tkachuk can focus on making plays and let Ritchie dump and check. It becomes a bit slower line, but it should have more shot volume. Gaudreau can focus on hitting two shooters. Maybe a bit less responsible with Gaudreau out there, but honestly Tkachuk hasn't been a force.

The effort was lacking after the 1st IMHO. He played 14 minutes, which is less than Gaudreau by almost 3 minutes. It's something that needs to be addressed. Can't put my finger on it, but it looks like he is getting away from his usual style. He's hard on the puck, but his passes are barely there.

I've seen a lot of positives, but I can't be certain what is coach and what is coach's impact on the [layers and what is just the players deciding to. I have my beliefs, but there's so much noise about it.

Time to move on is right. Let's post positive stuff about the coach from now on when he's does things others didn't do.

I think Lucic called the accountability into question as well. Not sure why he has to say that with a team filled with vets. I can understand frustration about being played a certain way, or not being given a role and just thrown out there. But we are talking about just about every player on the team. If Backlund is being pissy about 3rd line or Tkachuk for not being backed up or Bennett scratched or whatever, fix the problem. Don't give up in a game or whatever. I'm not going to sit here and blame the lack of consistency or poor attitudes on the coach. Unless that was acceptable to him. Not going to blame pace on the coach unless he preached that you move up the ice a certain way and that's what they were doing. Then again, if Sutter is telling them something different, but is unwilling to trash the previous coach or really call into question the old play strategy, that's another story.

So, thumbs up or down to replacing Ward with Sutter?

7pm MDT, so it always depends who celebrates Daylight Savings Time. 9PM EDT. 10:30pm in Newfoundland. On SN1 in case you have that channel. It looks to be a National broadcast, after the obligatory American game.

We were wnning the game in the 1st by playing fast and hard. Had a shot lead of around 20-3 at one point IIRC. The fights allowed them back in the game a lttle bit, especially Neal Vs Tkachuk. I'm sure they were happy trading 5 minutes of Neal for Tkachuk. Sutter described is the best period of the year, but it's not a great idea to only lead them by 1. Bennett and Kylington sat in that game, so I think that with their recent results they could make a difference. I think that playing better in the O-zone (more shots) and N-zone (less free range) we match up a lot better.

I think Bieksa and Versteeg have said a lot of things that seemed obvious to us, but not to the team or coach. It can't just be the players unable to play a certain way; they have done it but change in games. Perhaps Ward just made choices that impacted how they played. Make methodical plays coming out of the zone. Slow play is king, get the perfect shot over volume.

Overall, Ward went 25-15-3, so subtracting the first 7 games streak, he was 18-15-3. My only point is that a coach that doesn't know how to manage games can get a winning record from this team. Sutter likes to roll 4 lines, which is fine if you use them right. Don't just count 1, 2, 3 then 4. The next 4 are a big test. If we can contain the big 2 players on the Oilers, hammer the D in their zone, we stand a good chance to jump up. There should be no lack of emotion. McD tends to draw penalties, but he is also frustrated at times and takes dumb ones. He gets away with more than some. I'm less concerned about Valimaki and Kylington being turnstyled by him, but they also need to be sharp. Gio and Tanev seem to know the way to check him, as long as we don't give him time to build speed through the neutral zone.

A players coach is always going to allow a team to relax after a taskmaster. Doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. BP started trying everything possible to change the team. CGY was 11-12-3 under BP last season. Almost the same as Ward this season. I know it's only two games with Sutter behind the bench, but haven;t seen the wild swings in play in a game or between games. The two games prior were a bit less consistent, so it tells me that Sutter has ironed out that little bit of inconsistency. His focus is on possession and shot volume. Get the puck back. Funnel more shots to lead to 2nd and 3rd chances. Last night all three goals were a result of possession. One of three were 2nd or 3rd chances. You don't have to have a mistake-free game, but you do need to recover from them.

With Ward as the new coach, they had a winning record to finish the year. So, a coaching change in Calgary mostly has really positive results. I'm less concerned with the coach wearing on players. They had success playing a certain style. The changes are not dramatic but have resulted in less chances against. The goalie didn't have to save their bacon all night. They did the things they had complained about not doing. They won games where they were the better team. The next 4 games are critical, but all of them are at this point. They didn't fold up their tent like they have in previous years when the goaing was tough. They gained some confidence playing against a top goalie and a team they have struggled with in the past. Let's face it, every team ahead of them is facing challenges. EDM made hay against OTT and is less than 500 aganst the rest of the North. Toronto is on a skid. MTL is up and down. WPG is on a bit of a heater, but mostly against teams below them. I'm more confident with Sutter in charge that he can at least get consistent play out of this group.

I'm with you about N zone. I hated it before. I blamed a lot of it on Gio and Hamonic. Maybe it wasn't them? Funny how a coaching change has changed the way they play without altering the systems used.

At home, we have the luxury of playing whomever we want in any setting. Leivo may have earned a bump. but lets see how things go. A strong 4th line is important too. We don't have a bonafide 2RW really. Short of promoting Phillips or a trade, I don't know we can ice 4 lines and expect all 4 to have the effectiveness we see at times. It's going to be one line that suffers from having a lesser player. Maybe it's JH's line or Tkachuk's or Backlund's or Bennett's.