travel_dude

We traded a struggling #1D, who barely surpassed Gio in points when he was here. He has issues in his time here. Playing defense was one of them. Gio managed to hit 74 points and 31, while Dougie had 39 and 40 points since he left here. Not trashing him, just saying he wasn't the stud we are making him out to be.

Many players with similar results were signed for more than we paid. Reinhart was paid more and signed short term, and he's up for another raise. We paid Ras almost as much as Hanifin, and that's for potential. D get paid. Young D get paid. We locked up two potential break out players for less than $5m. One is already showing that potential, and he was underused in CAR.

I'm a little frustrated that we are only using Mangiapane on the quasi shutdown line. He fits with Tkachuk. Between him and Dube, we have two top 6 wingers. I've got no issues with Simon, other than he is not a finisher. If Mangiapane could play on FW, then he could fit the Monahan line like a glove. And then you have Dube with Tkachuk on LW. LW is a LW that shoots right. Sorta the opposite problem we have with the bottom 6. Hasn;t shown chemistry in the top 6. A late bloomer that still isn't blooming. Bennett isn't consistent even playing with Backlund. Looks good one shift, then lost the next one.

We were not going anywhere with Hammy. With the great defense that CAR has, they are still just a middling team. Ferland was a tragedy waiting to happen. I'm okay with losing those two. We could have signed Fox, if he wanted to play here. It became apparent he wasn't in the months leading up to the trade. Trading Hammy for Lindholm alone solves no problems. Hanifin gets us closer to a balanced D.

Yeah, it seemed like only three Canadian teams even had this problem. The USA teams had no quarantine issues. It's a setback for the AHL, but at least it benefits us for a change. I guess Bakersfield is stil SOL.

Yeah, I'm just saying that Hanifin-Ras was good, so I would expect Gio-Tanev to have good results as well. I just find that sometimes together Ras and Gio seem to be out on sync. Both are smart at defending, but I find they make curious decision on the boards. I counted a number of plays that ended up being extended D-zone time because of that. Maybe that's stifling the offense at times. Ras has a good first pas and has the ability to gain the zone, but may not always do that playing with Gio.

I would be more inclined to use Tanev with Gio at this point. Keep their minutes a bit less at 5v5. I think there's a good indication that Ras allow Hanifin to play his game. Tanev would allow for Gio's unbalanced play. Valimaki is making too many rookie mistakes, but he's so good when he's not doing that. Nesterov had one bad game so far, and it was only one or two mistakes. The 4th line as a whole is struggling. Ryan isn't really suited to play there, and the other guys make him look worse than he is. I'm not sure what we were trying to build with that 4th line, but I think it's time to sit Lucic and Nordstrom. Assuming Dube is healthy, I would try Leivo-Ryan-Robinson. Not my first choice, but it can't be worse at this point. Could we actually try a guy like Ruzicka on the taxi squad and get him practicing? See if he has something to give. I thought he was one of the better AHL players during the scrimmages. Or maybe even a guy like Gawdin.

Wow, pretty negative about Andersson already. Is he a Pietrangelo yet? Of course not. This is the first year where he is being used in the top 4 full time. Not exactly bad results so far.

I thought Backlund played well enough, just not able to generate enough. They had a couple of good shifts, but they ended up with nothing. Top 6 were on for a total of 2 5v5 goals.

I think the teachings of a defensive D-man is nothing but a positive. Forget about the leadership aspect for a minute, it shows a team approach to a game. Get people on the same page. Talk about strategy. Explain positioning to guys that haven't been in the NHL full time (recently). Tanev easily replaces Hamonic. That shutdown guy we thought we had and really needed from Gio in the playoffs. His committment is infectious. If he can show the value of a good blocked shot, it will inspire more. Have that mentality when the playoffs come.

Oh, I know the quarantine thing would be a big advantage to us. Actually it puts us in the same footing as every CDN team except EDM. I have no idea how the revenue thing works for the AHL teams. The big question mark is would Alberta allow more hockey, considering they are barely considering WHL. It's not a done deal even if they can;t play in Cali.

The Flames said early on that there was no way they could afford it. This is a drastic situation where the county won't even let them play. There would be almost zero revenue for the cost of hosting their games. SJS's team is playing in Tuscon, which makes more sense. Since we are in the same division, why not play somewhere similar. Utah or somewhere else.

Between Tanev's selfless blocks (and toughness)... And Nessy's wicked hockey smarts... And Ras' general Boom-iness..... And Valimaki leanrning to be a full time NHL player, but looks like he belongs.... I too like our D. None of the pairs have a glaring weakness. The older playing with the young. The two Euros playing together. The Captain learning from the young star. The long haired beast helping the guy that had to play with Hamonic. Too much?

If that was true, it would be a great help. We would need to move to a different division though.

It's one of those things. Mangiapane is effective on LW while Bennett is not effective on RW. Mangiapane-Backlund-Bennett is a waste. Just my opinion, but you are sacrificing Mangiapane to have Bennett play more minutes. It's possible that Dube on RW would help Bennett.

Got no issues with Looch. He's not fast but he adds something to the team. Nordstrom has decent PK presence, but I didn't think we had an issue without him. Rinaldo does nothing for me against a skilled team. Ritchie may not be a scorer, but he doesn;t make his line worse. Games against top teams in the division are important. Can't waste them with lesser players. It's possible Dube will play, but if I had a choice, I would put in Ritchie first or Nordy second.

#Flames lines and pairings at practice: Mangiapane-Lindholm-Tkachuk Gaudreau-Monahan-Simon Bennett-Backlund-Leivo Lucic-Ryan-Nordstrom/Rinaldo Giordano-Andersson Hanifin-Tanev Valimaki-Nesterov Kylington-Mackey Okay, so I am fine with moving Mangiapane up, siince I think he has been great with Tkachuk in the past. Leaving Simon on the Monahan line is fine. Leivo with Backlund, also fine. Not impressed with the 4th line. We aren't playing a goon team, so no need for 4 minutes of Rinaldo in a game. I suspect Ritchie would be a better fit than Nordstrom as well.

I know that Demko has looked good in his first real season, but I'm not as convinced that Holtby is as good as he was. As a backup, it's better than Mike Smith, but I'm also glad we didn't target him. At least it appears we were all or nothing on JM. With a half decent D in front, I'm not too worried about years 1-4 with JM. In fact, I think he could still provide quality up to the end. That's a long time for quality. There's only a few teams that actually have a good succession plan. And it remains to be seen if those guys become true starters.

Not picking on you specifically, just don't know if Benning played it correcty or underbid by $500k. I've heard both. They were still working on a deal up to the last minute. I'm not happy about a 6 year deal for a 30-ish goalie. It's not buyout proof, but we won't go there. That is for a GM to have available to get a deal done. EDM supposedly offered $7m x 5 Thier backup was Holtby in case they didn;t get him. After that anyone not named Smith. If Benning made a decision to put potential and fear of losing Demko over potentially similar win/loss under Markstrom, then he could be a genious. Or he backed the wrong horse. I just don;t think he made a strategic decision as much as missed out by less than Baetschi's buried cap savings.

I think the sticking point for VAN was the NMC. They looked at that as the end of the future starter Demko. Not well thought out. From a risk/reward standpoint, they could make a deal to keep Demko if he turned out to be that good. Or trade him for a big return. Instead, they have Holtby who needs to recover his previous good showing. Holtby was good on a team that could score it's way out of a jam. Demko, who has a small resume of winning.

So, now we get updates from someone not on the Flames staff suggesting what it might be? He went out for a 30 second shift in the 2nd, so I doubt he would be doing that with a fracture. Then again, I'm inclined to wait for the actual announcement from the Flames.

The GM decided to bring in a PP specialist D for a team needing a defensive player. Kahun was a good signing, but the others are reclamation projects, yes even Puljujarvi. Puljujarvi went from a league that has so much more space out there to a smaller ice where little plays are magnified. And he's not even the worst player; he's just not quite NHL ready and won't be unless he is in a teacing setting. The GM also thought that scoring depth was the biggest problem to fix. Lost out on Markstrom, yet the only thing stopping him was what, an extra year? Followed that up by not being in on Holtby. Not trading for any help elsewhere. I don't think he has the horses to play a sound defensive game. Can't get the forwards to buy into playing without the puck, other than cruising around waiting to get a 2 on 1 the other way. The D has no real standouts that know how to play defensively. Puck movers only. Nurse and Larsson will look for the big hit over the safe play. By the looks of it, Bouchard is another offensive D-man.

I think that the AHL players for the Flames is basically going to be off limits during the season. It's too bad, because it won't give them any opportunity to get NHL games in. The only good thing is they will actually get playing time in the AHL as opposed to just practice with the taxi and big club. I hope the AHL actually has a season.

Ritchie signed (2 way league minimym) and placed on waivers. Can't tell yet what his AHL (taxi or AHL) salary is yet. Buddy may be headed for the AHL list. Kinda hope it's Rinaldo, since I care less about a guy that barely can play 6 minutes. As far as the Mangiapane-Backlund-Bennett line, I think they might consider swapping Mange and Leivo. I'm not seeing enough at 5v5 for Monahan's line, and Mange would give Gaudreau some better options. You could also use Bennett on LW that way.

Two games in and we have 3 of 4 points. Season opener was a bad performance from most of the team in the final 40l And yet we still managed a point. One weird goal away from a possible 2 points. As some have said, Markstrom isn;t even warmed up yet. I too am cauthiosly optimistic. Not a bad start.