travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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I don't think it really matters who gets what game. Yes, Talbot needs to play soon. But he's no Lack. We've had mixed results against LA and DAL. Rittich lost to DAL in OT and I knew it bugged him because of the hit. They probably have a schedule for the starts. Maybe it gets adjusted every once in awhile, but mostly it's set. In general, I would say don't give Rittich the next start just because he gets a shutout. That never worked once for Smith; he lost every next game after a shutout.
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Good luck scoring 6 on a regular basis. All the talk of Smith's puckhandling and how it saves the team 160 hits per year. Hrudey said that Smith would give up about 10-12 of these chances in a year, so they already are through 20% of them. 2 in 2 games is more like 82 of them. The Oilers should win about 7 games in October (much like they do every season). The fact that they play the majority against non-playoff teams will help them think they are on the tight track. How long before the fans tire of the antics. How long before Smith blames someone else. So, is this considered the hot hand they want to use to pick the starter?
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If I'm not mistaken, this deal takes him past the expiry of Johnny's, Gio's and Tkachuk's current deals. He'll have his work cut out for him there. Replacing the captain and #1D, re-signing JH and getting Matty signed. MOnahan's deal expires the same time BT's contract is up.
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That's a good thing. Having the starter and backup get ramped up for regular season. Rittich making saves in the pre-season like it was a playoff game. Talbot improving as the games went on. I haven't noticed any real weaknesses from their play. No "glove side high", no "low blocker", no real tendency to give up bad rebounds.
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I'm surprised EK doesn;t just win it every year. Every time he touches the puck, the other players are just too amazed to do anything.
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He's going to let him build confidence before he gives him big tests. He knows what Ritter can do, and so far Ritter looks uber confident. Talbot's focus looks good. No distractions like he had up north. Ritter is going to have to battle to keep the starter titles, even if BP doesn;t annoint him that way. I think we are set up better than last year. Ritter was a question mark coming into last season. Smith was too, but was given the net to begin with. Maybe Talbot doesn;t return to great, but we just need him to be better than Smith was last year.
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Well, I don;t want to say you are welcome to post here But, it's a (relatively) free world. We'll give you a hard time if you choose to come on to trash the Flames, but if you enjoy healthy debate on hockey perspective, there are some knowledgable fans on here. Some are fans of two teams, and we get to hear insight into their other teams. Unlike some blog sites, we are respectfull here.
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Even if Lucic plays down to the level of last year, at least he is a positive player on the bench. Neal never stuck up for anyone. Much like a Brouwer.
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I laugh because when they played the Coyotes, first game of McDavid, Neal with Nuge and Gagner, Neal was a minus 3. Fans reaction was bi-polar Some were already starting to wonder if they were sold the wrong Neal. Others were saying he would still score 25+. I don't care either way with him. He's not in the same situation as he was here. He may be no better for them. Who cares.
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They will probably come over to ask what's wrong with Neal. And why Smitty has to look so bad on glove high shots.
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So, do you think it's better to split games fairly evenly between Parsons and Zag in Stockton or send one guy to the ECHL to play a bunch and the guy in Stockton splits with Gillies? My preference would be even splits in Stockton and loan out Gillies. I don't get why they are trying to salvage a guy that hasn't shown improvement.
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They replaced the guy in Stockyard, er I mean Stockton.
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My concern with Parsons is the mental side of his game. They need to work with him to keep him focused on the prize. At least in Stockton, he will get about 50% of the games. Last year they let Gillies go on runs (no matter how bad he was). The ECHL is only good to get a bunch of games in. Who knows what goalie coaching is like in Kansas.
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So, instead he will toil away in the AHL on a team with 3 goalies there. Parsons would have to go to the ECHL in his place. Or they can loan him to another AHL club if anyone wants him. If he wasn't broke before, this should do it.
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Flames uni is unluikely. He may get sent to the ECHL to recover his game. He's going to be waived shortly, unless they make a trade with a team for futures. We managed to trade Lack, so there is hope. Not that it matters about the return. They would like to help him out, get him back to being a pro goalie, but there isn't much room here. A trade to a team without a lot of NA prospects might give him that chance.
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Calgary Flames Drafting and Development: Your Analysis
travel_dude replied to rickross's topic in Flames Talk
It can be a double edge sword. Look at EDM. Supposedly all these prospects knocking on the door. Most, if not all, will be stuck in Cali. Bakersfield had one of the best records last year in the AHL. Many are returning guys that got a taste of the NHL last season and won't get one this year. New guys like Bouchard taking the minutes from guys like Bear or Jones. You only have so many minutes to go around. Just saying that too many guys cloud the picture. We know who the best players are in Stockton. A few guys will surprise and develop into NHL players. That can happen when the pickings are slim. Ideally, you turn over the guys you can't develop; the ones that look like they won't be NHL material. You miss on a few, but many are just not NHL. -
Calgary Flames Drafting and Development: Your Analysis
travel_dude replied to rickross's topic in Flames Talk
The good news is that defense take time. We have some good pieces that could have very long NHL careers. Add to them the vets that still have mileage. BY the time Gio is retired, which could be a long time, the repacements will be up to speed. Would love to have another Valimaki, but we at least have another Brodie in the making. Unless things go really bad, we have a top 4 D for years. The forwards are harder to plan around. Always good to have a new top prospect joing the list. But the thing is it's hard to maintain a stable of forwards in the AHL and other leagues. Some have 3-4 years from draft to rookie season. And that assumes they make the transition. When they do, you have to have the spot ready for them or stick them in the AHL. My point is that windows are arbitrary. If you have a good team and draft one good player every year, you can integrate them when they make the cut. They may not be the 1st overall in a year, but you have to have a really bad team to do that. UNless you have an old team, you can rinse and repeat for years. -
He needs to work it out of his system. He'll be fine. Or not.
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Calgary Flames Drafting and Development: Your Analysis
travel_dude replied to rickross's topic in Flames Talk
Unfortunately, we missed drafting some pieces that look good so far. That's key though. Would we have picked players and developed them to be as good as these supposed stars? Who's to say. Easy to make a claim that Dobson is a #1 soon. The fact that he's never played a single pro games speaks volumes. I'm annoyed when we trade picks for a player and end up losing that player for nothing. Lazar, Bolig, Elliott, Smith... There's a bunch of picks traded for.....nothing. Yeah, it would have been nice to get Barzal if he was on our list. Kyrou would have been a nice add too. At least with Hamonic and Hamilton, we still have the player or turned the player into other players. -
Talbot should get a start for sure. Not sure if we give him the full lineup to gain confidence, seeing as it's against a full Oiles squad. Rittich doesn't seem to need to do anything to gain confidence, as he's already there. Zag should get another game, but I'm conflicted about Parsons. They can't screw him up in the head by favoring Zag. They need to let the Heat determiine the starter there. From what I have seen, Zag is playing his way into 1st callup.
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Or perhaps some teams are dirty. A Xcheck to the back would hurt.
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Some teams get away with it more. We do it a bit (Hammer and Ras more so), but we also get called a lot. The rules were changed to take this out of the game but it remains. You can leave both hands on your stick and push with both hands, but not with the stick and not with a glove only. The refs tend to let one or two go, but will call the next one or the retailiation. Brodie has no strength to do it. Gio can sometimes do it, but it turns into a sust up. Hammer can do it and mostly doesn;t get called. Most forwards don;t take him on.
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Well some of the rules have changed as well. You can't clear the player from the crease without getting nailed for Xchecking or holding (as soon as you take a glove off your stick and push). I love the way Ras plays. A bit of old school (Hamonic style of taking the body) and a bit puck mover. And he has a shot to boot. One that actually can hit the net. He doesn;t scare anyone, but he's involved.
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Yes, that can be a problem. You can stop the Oilers first line by preventing them from gaining any speed in the neutral zone.
