travel_dude
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Jakob Pelletier - 2019 1st round pick
travel_dude replied to cross16's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
There are exceptions of course. Mangiapane was kept to low minutes last year and was super efficient at scoring. He earned his way onto the 2nd line this year. Dube is sort of following that mold. While the Flames model may not be great for some of the players we have brought in, I think you have to ask yourself how much of it is the players themselves. Little guys like Gaudreau, Mangiapane and Dube have always been playing in the shadow of big kids. They have that competetive drive to be the best player on the ice. Huge chip. That is my belief why Gaudreau and Mangiapane have become good to great players, They had to skate faster, deke better and shoot more accurate to make up for the lack of relative strength. Bigger guys like say Lavoie have been the biggest kids on the team. They have not had to train as hard or learn the finer skills to get ahead. When they get to the pro leagues, that means more than just a hard shot or being big. When I look at the failed prospects, I see an alarming trend. As soon as they hit the AHL, they regress and never seem to gain any traction. Most or all go on to nothing careers. Klimchuk is a perfect example. It's the reason why I have great respect for players like Phillips who are the size of a players kid brother. They find a way. Pelletier is cut from that cloth. He may not pan out, but I suspect he will be something closer to Mangiapane than Nemisz.. It's also why I see great potential in Zavgorodny. -
Jakob Pelletier - 2019 1st round pick
travel_dude replied to cross16's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
Good to have you back Crzy. I'm interested to see what we have in some of the farm hands. The way they are handling Dube seems a bit off, but maybe I'm just seeing negatives.. We have apples, oranges and pears, plus a watermellon on the roster. I'm not sure how they view guys like Phillips, Gawdin and Ruzicka but I suspect they are going safe this year. I'm interested to see if there is a WJC, because it should be a great opportunity to see him play wth the best of him peers. -
Jakob Pelletier - 2019 1st round pick
travel_dude replied to cross16's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
Well the injury kinda derailed his season, right? I mean when the thread started in December he was 3rd in Q scoring. 5'9" isn't quite Phillips terratory, who has managed to become almost a p/gp player in 2 years in the AHL. There's a reason why Lavoie fell, but I admit I though he was a late round pick that I had interest in. I don't know those reasons, but I know when I watched the Memorial Cup final, I was left wanting more. When I looked him up in Elite Prospects, it shows 2 assists in 7 games. Same for Dobber. Did I miss something? https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/335712/raphael-lavoie The "bigger" issue for me is how the Flames choose to bring him to the NHL. This should be a big year for him in Val d"Or. We won't get to see much of him until next year, depending on the CHL. -
Jakob Pelletier - 2019 1st round pick
travel_dude replied to cross16's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
What exactly did he do to win the WJC? 2 assists in 7 games? 1 against the US and the other against Slovakia. Big deal. There is one difference not mentioned. Lavoie is almost a full year older than Pelletier. Might do better to compare Lavoie to Zavgorodny. Basically the same age. -
I'm not sure if you want this to happen or think it will. Holtby hasn't be relevent in 2 years. WAS isn't a great defensive team, but Holtby did not put up great numbers. 3.11 this year. That does't spell competent starter to me. Talbot actually thrived this year behind the Flames. That's not something to be overlooked. Maybe we can't sign him due to another team, but I don't see Holtby as being a good consolation.
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The Official Calgary Flames "New Arena" thread
travel_dude replied to DirtyDeeds's topic in Flames Talk
Haha, I miss that tool. I think there is enough speed in the NHL today. -
The Official Calgary Flames "New Arena" thread
travel_dude replied to DirtyDeeds's topic in Flames Talk
As much as the Saddledome was iconic, I don't think iconic belongs anymore in design of building. I think that Rogers Place is an eyesore, but that just my tastes. It resembles a drop of mercury more than oil, but what do I know. -
The Official Calgary Flames "New Arena" thread
travel_dude replied to DirtyDeeds's topic in Flames Talk
Rink size? Some things never change. 100 (?) years and going strong. So, when they played Olympic hockey in CGY and VAN, did they use NA or International size. Quite frankly I forget. -
The Official Calgary Flames "New Arena" thread
travel_dude replied to DirtyDeeds's topic in Flames Talk
I'm glad that the guys who did the Detroit arena are the ones. I'm not as impressed with Rogers Place's design, but I think that was dictated by the owner to look a certain way. From what I understand Rogers Place has some issues with the design that make it less desirable as well. But that's 2nd hand info, so I can't be certain. -
Stockton Heat Updates [2016-2017]
travel_dude replied to travel_dude's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
Was reading a stortu about Flames prospects being invited to WJC "camps". Nothing earth shattering, but there was a piece about Greg Moro, who was signed by the Heat in April. Item Four: Greg Moro Named Best Defenseman at Clarkson University The 24-year-old Flames prospect Greg Moro was named the best defenseman at Clarkson University (a small liberal arts university in New York State). After four seasons with the Clarkson Golden Knights, he signed an AHL contract with the Stockton Heat in April. See ECAC Hockey's other Tweets It was the second season in a row that he was named Best Defenseman of the Year. Moro was also a finalist for the ECAC Defenseman of the Year. He finished his senior season with seven points (1 goal and 6 assists) and was an alternate captain. During his four-year career, he scored 20 points (5 goals and 15 assists) and helped lead the Golden Knights to the ECAC conference championship 2018-19. Moro, a native of Edmonton, Alberta, played junior hockey with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos and the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats before heading east to play with Clarkson ahead of the 2016-17 season. He was part of Clarkson’s third-ranked NCAA defense, that only gave up 1.85 goals per game. Related: 6 Vancouver Canucks Forward Prospects Moving Up the System Moro is a rare right-shot, shutdown defenseman. At 6-foot-4 and 207 pounds, he has the size and skills the Flames need in their system. -
My only real opinion is that other teams have had success with other goalies developed in house. What I say is conjecture at best. What walks like a duck.....
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We know in Calgary that it is the goalie coach's suggestions on starters are listened to. I will point out that Sigalet was an assistant coach in 2013/14, not listed as a goalie coach. I don't have evidence, but only suspect that a veteran goalie coach had that same impact in the AHL. Since Sigalet was hired by the Flames in 2014, and Dell was not kept after 2014, you might expect that he would provide feedback to the GM. Whether that was listened to or not is suspect. In all the years since he came to CGY, the best performances were Mike Smith and Cam Talbot. Neither of those players were impacted by Sigalet. No true stars to work with and only a couple of noteworthy "rookies".
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When Ortio played with the Heat in 11-12, Signalet was the goalie coach. Nothing remarkable about his starts. Ortio went to play in the SM-liiga that season and stayed there for two years. He cam back and was better. Played part of the year for the Heat. The following year he got 9 games with the Flames, where Sigalet was now part of. What does that prove. Nothing. He had a young goalie in 13/14 that had spent development years away from him. At the same time, he had a young goalie named Aaron Dell. Played 6 games to Joey MacDonald's 16. Yeah, there's logic.
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Ultimately, Talbot was responsible for becoming Talbot. He worked with Sigalet on his confidence. There was no change to Talbot's game. He was a 1st shot goalie for 2018/19. He started that way for us after months of prep. Regardless of what he's done for pro goalies on the Flames, that is not the point. He was not good as a development coach. Not in the AHL, not with young goalies in the NHL.
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JJ, what video evidence do you have that suggests that Askarov is the 2nd coming.... I asked that in another thread, because the only one given was the Hlinka Cup win by Russia over Canada. Not exactly a full helping of perfect goaltending, just having someone in the butterfly at the right time.
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My liver can't take another Young Guns era.
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Well, I will wait till results are in. I have no idea what team will show up in the playoffs. I personally don't like re-builds because it's a hard thing to watch on TV. Last year, I guess everything worked well until the playoffs. But there were signs with players like Neal and Hamonic. Gio was flying too high and forgot how to play. Where we should have been was with extra prospects that we sold away for lesser D & G players. Smith and Elliott costing us a handful. Hamonic costing us a couple. What a waste for two that never really fit. Hamonic is great at one thing, and nothing else. The only time he uses it in on the PK.
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Considering that nobody is going to sign Gillies, you could just offer him league minimum with a slight raise built into the AHL portion. Then he can go to the ECHL and play all he wants. He meets the requirements for exposing him. Why the Flames do it: For one they tend to treat good sports well. At best he's an emergency call up to the AHL. Why Gillies would sign as a UFA: He's not going to get many, if any offers. It still gives him a chance to change minds in Calgary.
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We can never be sure of how the injury impacted his development.
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Yes, I would concede that as well. I suppose there is some slim chance they sign him for less. League minimum. If they do, it's to prop up the ECHL team or have a backup to allow you to rotate a tender to the ECHL for tuneups. Lets face it, the AHL season is so weirdly structured. If a backup sits for two games, it might be two weeks between games. You want to give a goalie a little run, it means 3 weeks. Not an effective way to manage a goalie. But, I always forget about that other goalie. He's closer to Parsons age.
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I do happen to believe that Gio has at most one good season or so left. Good as in this year's production. What I am hoping is that we go after Pietrangelo this summer. He may not want to play for us, which is understood. BT may not want to pay that high a AAV. But he is exactly the type of player you build a contender around. I get that you are quick to dismiss the top line. Last playoff and this year showed how they can lose the chemistry. They went from leading a team to being shut down in the playoffs. We don't really know why. You should, perhaps, wait till the end of the Flames season to truly comment. This was a very different season for the Flames. Monahan went from a perimeter sniper to being harder on the body. His defensive play is still shoddy, but nobody took notice of it. If you operate on the premise that this year was a one-off, then you have the makings of a contender. They did however play against tough teams this year with some good results. Not from the scoring side, but from the statistical dominance side. Those are the areas that can make a difference in a playoff game. I think we can hang with any team and it's a matter of who can prevent goals. Let's compare notes in August.
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The bottom 6 isn't hard to fill in. You just have to realize that preventing goals is as important than scoring. To use last year as an example, only Ryan and Hathaway were effective at cancelling out goals scored when on the ice. Mangiapane was too, but only played part of the year That means you don't have scrubs like Neal, bruisers like Bennett and marginal C's like Janko. So, I would say we have guys in the system that can do that. The defense was structured poorly this past season. Nobody taking the guy in front of the net effectively. Even with Gio or Ras on the ice, the struggle was there. It starts with communication, but I wonder if Gio even realizes it. There were so many times that the defense was in too deep on a borderline offfensive chance. I get frustrated with Brodie, but he never over-committed. Unlike Gio or Hanifin. Hamonic was never able to get back even if he was on the center line. I will be honest, but I'm not really sure what they have in Rittich. On a defensive team he would have shutouts. I think. So, I'm going to suggest that replacing him in a rebuild scenario is not necessary. Vasilefskiy looked unbeatable, except when he wasn't. TBL plays a good game in front of him and he stunk when they didn't. Taking away the 2nd chances is what separates the good teams.
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I'm not really concerned about Lucic's love affair with Ward. He's actually been playing well, but I don't think his usage on the PP makes sense. His forte is standing in front of the net and distracting/poking at loose puckc. It may sound wierd but I would play Lucic on the top unit. Have Tkachuk or Monahan move to 2nd unit. The production of the bottom 6 was not my biggest concern. It was keeping the puck out of the zone and the net. Part of that is possession, but a lot has to do with stopping entry.
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To add to that, we are not 10 pieces away from being a contender. We are 3 or 4 Flames that need to be traded from being a contender. Goalie is only a small piece of that. Whether Rittich is a MAF or a Vasilevskiy is unknown because we have holes. We have Gio, which would be fine if his partner was able to do things Gio can't. I love Brodie, but recognize his weakness is not offset by Gio. Lucic is a player we need for one or two aspects of his game, but not for 15 minutes in his present output. Bennett, Janko, Dube, Ryan are fine, but do not take you over the edge. Hanifin and Gustafsson do not offer you a mix of offense and defense. None of the 3rd or 4th lines really click. Mostly because they are collections of pieces. We have talented players in the A because we have healthy scrubs. And we are not making deals because the feel is someday these players might mean a cup. We need a coach with the stones to put together skilled lines based on fit, not salary. Everyone else is dealt. It wasn;t an accident that we were 2nd in goals the previous season. There is no team that can attain contender status for 10 years. 6 is about max, and that's assuming you have 2 top F and a very good goalie. So you have to look at the age of your top players and add a defense that will last that long. And a goalie tandem that will span that time; one or both. Vegas' time in the spotlight will only last until MAF fizzles out. EDM will only fit there if they get a solid goalie. Tampa will as long as Stamkos is relevent. TO will become one if they get a d-core and a goalie.
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Jakob Pelletier - 2019 1st round pick
travel_dude replied to cross16's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
Well, he moves to a different conference, so more games again Quebec teams. He's in the division with Gatineau, Rouyn-Noranda and Blainsville-Boisbriand. Last year Val-d'Or and Gatineau were in the basement. Blainsville and Rouyn were in 2nd and 4th in the conference. I guess you have to look at it like we had in Monahan. The team he was on sucked. He turned out fine. Other than that, I have no idea of the respective coaches or programs they run. Last year, the highest scoring guy from that team had 50 points.
