travel_dude

I get the sense that they are letting Ward continue the BP strategy of coaching and see where it takes us. Almost like they think last year was what to expect from results. Make the coaching search official after the season and consider everyone available with a mndset they want. I get the sense sometimes that we don;t even consider some coaches available, not the other way around. We don't want a Boudreau. Trotz wasn't considered. Maybe I'm wrong there, but I don't see a big time coach even wanted here.

Ward seems to make a big thing when JG makes a defensiev play. WHy isn't he coaching him on how to disrupt offensive play? Doesn't need to throw a hit, just need to understand how to cover a player. He's mostly lost in the D-zone. Ward says the team lacks identity. So did BP. Can you not mold them into a team? Pick one thing and work on it. Instead of having a bunch of tools with nothing to use them on, fit the tools to the project. Define the project. Each team is different, use the tools on the project. You need a defensive line to handle a top line = use it that way. You don't cover a McDavid line by playing run and gun.

Some more things for info: Rittich makes his 43rd start of the season against Chicago. He’s 22-15-5 with a .910 save percentage, .915 even strength save percentage, 2.87 goals against average and two shutouts. Talbot is 8-8-1 with a .924 save percentage, .934 even strength save percentage, 2.57 goals against average and one shutout.

For sake of comps between the two Flames goalies, they have used Rittich in all situations. He generally plays the toughest games. Because of the sheer number of games he's played, his number will shows the bad games played by the team, not just him. He's have a few shaky games, but mostly he hasn;t lost the game. Too soon to label him.

I think that Hamonic is a no-brainer to trade. Stone doesn't get you anything, and he's just here for the rest of the year. Emergency 7th D is fine. That's all he is. I would keep Brodie just because I think he takes too much flak for mistakes. He's not physical, but he does defend well most times.

He declined the in-person meet, and will do it by phone. He knows what's coming and wants to save a few bucks. There is no defense to it, but he should at least try to explain that he did learn from previous suspensions. He will get 10 games, just because he doesn't learn.

Neal has been injured for a few games now and looks to be no closer to starting, He's not hurting the Oilers right now.

Seriously? Bronco used to be credible and respectful. This seems to be the 2nd time he has come out with this type of garbage. I could be wrong, but I remember Deeds posting something he started on the Oilers forum before it went belly up.

They are finally realizing how bad Neal is without the puck. It doesn;t really matter if Lucic is getting goals, Neal will still end up with 10 more than him and likely over 20 goals. They retained $750k which they have to pay every year remaining in his contract. Even if we trade him. If we buy him out, the penalty is a bit less, but they still have to pay. Neal will be a cheaper buyout for them, but they might just keep him, thinking that Seattle will take him. This will likely be his last 20 goal season. And no, he will not be any help in the playoffs.

The coaching had little impact on the game. There are adivision rival above the Flames in the standings. Hated as much by some as the Oinkers. Of course they were going to nring the game. The only positive thing the coaches did was replay last year's winning top 6, with Mangiapane there for Frolik. Ward went back to Lucic-Ryan-Dube, which previously had played well together. Bennett-Janko-Rieder, which is 2/3 of last year's 3rd line. The D after the loss of Hamonic was very concerning. They did their job well enough, but everyone chipped in to help out. I'm concerned about being able to beat a team if we don't get 4+ goals. When Stone goes from 7th D to playing 24 minutes, I start holding my breath

Can't send him anywhere. Can;t trade him unless he waives. The only thing I can suggest is we wait to the buy-out period after next season and buy him out. I believe that removes him from the protected list. The cap hit is severe for two year ($3.6m and $4.9m). Only other way is to ask him to waive his NMC, which means a cap hit of $5.25m for two years. Any of these choices still screws the Oilers

I give him credit for taking a bad situation (BP) and getting the players to try to focus on the games. Maybe the "teacher" approach doesn;t work for some players. The lines are one problem. The strategies used seem like they won;t work. Just one game, I would like to see a top line given a top RW. Play them 20 minutes. Give the 2nd line the next best C. Keep the line together for the entire game. Let them work it out. Ain't gonna happen. The GM uses fancy stats, but it seems the coach ignores these. Maybe they don;t mean anything to him and he makes choices based on practice.

One thing I noticed a lot recently. The line that scores a goal gets the next shift after the goal. Not in this case, but a lot of time we get scored on right after. In this case, the D pair on for the goal for were on for the goal against. I would let that slide, but I haven;t seen any smart line decisions in weeks. Backlund with the top line? Maybe Buddy brings it for some of the game, but I would rather see him bring it to the 3rd or 4th line.

Stone hasn;t helped Vegas be any better than us. Yes, we missed out on trades, but BT was trying to add. Where I have the problem, beyond the Lucic trade, is that BT has issues pulling the trigger. If the asking price for Toffoli was x, pay x. Proces go up close to the TDL, so make them sooner. Now we have a shortage on D, because we waited too long to make a deal. Had we traded Brodie or Hamonic before, we might not have had a Gio injury. We might have been in a better place to evaluate the remaining D.

Harsh. Sounds like a coach's nightmare. New GM wanting to make a mark. New breed coach with skinny jeans and Dubas glasses. Ottawa results upcoming. My feelings about a new coach is that by waiting till the summer the good ones will be gone and the newly fired ones will be available. Laviolette preaches defense, but he had studs in Nashville. I doubt he lasts on the sidelines. Same with Gallant. Either of those would be a step up.

I'm fine with the Dougie deal. He's protected in CAR with an awesome defense, so he can just go nuts scoring. Knew there might be some issues with Hanifin, due to the team dangling him for some time and the fans wanting him gone (some vocal ones at least). Knew we would have trouble re-signing Ferland. Suspected Fox was only going to sign in NY. So, we don't make the Lindy deal. We maybe get a 2nd for Fox from NY, or they just wait it out. Essentially, we barely recoup the original pick. We are no better defensively. We get no new offense. Maybe we get a better return elsewhere. Doubt we would be any better off.

I'm in the camp of replace the coach. Now would be a better time than in the summer but difficult to do. His coaching record isn;t bad, but most of that is in spite of his decisions and matchups.

Yes to that. I don;t mind using Talbot, but there are certain games when you need to go back to the starter.

Fantenberg was not as good as I thought he would be. Very meh numbers when playing with the Flames. Not a good playoff. Is he even a regular now? No more rentals. Give me a solid guy we can work with. Vatanen might be someone to consider. UFA in the summer, but w need to replace Brodie or Hammer or both. Just an example.

The problem with the trades is that they essentially provided us with one capable D and one deteriorating one. That for all the picks we gave up. I'm more annoyed that Hamonic is as bad as he has been. Perhaps we would be a better team without building the D that way, but we might be more like the Oilers. Total crap on D. My issue is more around the scouting of players signed as UFA. Brouwer, Neal, Potter just to name a few. Thinking that Lucic is what we needed. Neal bought out would have been better for the team. Trade at draft for a few measley picks. We have good players, but are missing players in the 26+ age to build the team. We have two decent partial lines. We have the makings of a 3rd line. We are missing players that complete the team. Trade the 1st if it makes the team better for more than one season. Trade one of the D if it makes the team better.

Actually I respect Kassian a whole lot more, but that isn;t a lot. Kassian will usually walk the talk. Draisaitl is a puss. Don't know why he is able to walk in and score so much; he's about as speedy as Tkachuk.

Playoff hunt is one thing. We are in it. Expectations for going far are another. Let's face it. About half this team is frustrated with the way the team is playing and their play shows it. Top line is playing with a career AHL'er and before that a defensive C on RW. Before that, I can;t even tell you. If your top line is put together with scraps, they will lose that killer instinct. Last night's Buddy goal was like playing Gaudreau's brother for a game; great story, move on. Backlund looks like someone stole his toys. He neither engages physically nor even tries to catch players. A shakeup is necessary. The lines and pairs are tried and tested, but are failing. The PP looks like we are waiting for one player to do something, and they all want someone else to do it. The defensive strategy looks like a swarm, which worked so well for Eakins. The breakout is skate everyone out of the zone and try to hit them from 50 feet. Or dump and chase using skill guys.

The goal scoring has dried up from last year. But the defense pairs are nowhere near as good this year. Gio has lost two steps; he's reading the offense all wrong and looks like he's second guessing every play. Hani-Hammer is a study in bad; they look like trash most nights. The 3rd pair is a struggle with consistency; Ras is not able to balance out the pairing unless Kyl is playing a good game. Last year, the goalie was the issue and the team responded by scoring more than he let in. This year we have good goaltending, but aren't able to put together 3 good lines. Lucic has looked good in about 25% of his games and that might be a stretch. Backlund has turned into a blip. So much for the Backlund bump, it's more like Frolik was propping him up all this time. Bennett's best games are when he plays with Mangiapane. Dube is a shell of what he was earlier. Rieder has speed and plays with people that can't finish or can;t get the puck to him to finish. Janko has a couple of good games and sits. The GM believes in analytics, but is not addressing the problems they highlight. Top line needs a straight line finisher; go to the net with the puck and score. 2nd line needs another big player that can finish, 3rd line needs 2 way players; Mangiapane-Backlund-Ryan is about the best I can come up with, assuming that Backlund can get his game back. 4th line is Lucic and two players that can do something with the puck. Maybe Buddy is the best scorer from the Heat, but I am inclined to think we have people there that are NHL capable. Return Dube and Buddy. Send up Gawdin and maybe Czarnik. Czarnik is small but he's got his scoring touch back. Gawdin is a good two way player. This is until we can find some players in trade.

It becomes a nothing line. Neal has crawled back into the woodwork. Kassian is mostly a plug, even playing with McD lately. He's useful, but not what I would consider a skilled player. The 2nd line of Nuge, Drai and Yamamoto is a funny one. Anyone that plays with Drai is going to get points. Nuge is competent, but not what I would expect for a #1 overall. Yamamoto is going to get more points, but I don't think he's a top 6 on any NHL team. Except one. I wonder how long it will be for Neal to hit 21 goals. Earlier it seemed like he would be there by December, but he goes for long stretches without a goal. He gets zero for 7 or more. He gets 3 in obe game afyer going 6 without one

Every time McD gets hit, there is a big todo about it by the MSM. - Oilers have misex feelings about Gio hit on McD - Is it the right call not to have additional discipline for Gio What a whiny bunch of losers. A check is a check. D not allowed to check him, interference or not? McD is becomming like Hall, who skates at the edge of control, One rut or toepick and he's out for months.