travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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Great to see Bennett playing his butt off right now, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. There have been times where he starts to figure it out, but again starts to slump. If he can keep up this pace for 82 games, then we have something. Last year, he started with 15 games and zero points. After that, 16 in 24 games. Then 10 for the rest of the season. Let me be clear though. If Bennett is a 30-40 point guy, and plays like he has to start the season, then he's got a role here. Not the thing we thought when we draft him, but an important role player. If he becomes inconsistent in scoring (long stretches of zero points), and doesn't play like the way he has, then what is he?
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We've seen 4 good periods from Smith and 4 good periods from Rittich. In a total of 5 games. No, I'm not ready to annoint Rittich or throw Smith under the bus, but I prefer to see what we have in Rittich more now. Smith has a 2-2 record. Two losses against non-playoff teams. If there is any time to see what we have in Rittich, now is the time.
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That's unfortunate then, isn't it. If this team is going anywhere this season, it's not going to be Smith playing 60 games. IT will be on the backup being able to play 30. Need to find that out sooner than later. Before it's too late to recover. Going all in on Smith is going to end bad.
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That view of the goal is a gem. Everyone was talking about it. Media asked the coach about it. I think he was just excited to see a JH breakaway. Was trying to will the victory that he played a big part in.
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If his penalties are from solid hits and fights, I have no problem. Bennett is still cursed for goal scoring. That goal wasn;t called back by the ref, but was darn close. Not saying it was a bad goal, just that two players slammed into the goalie. The timing was perfect that he hit the puck in before he collided. If Bennett can continue to get those goals, then the pretty ones will start coming. This one was generated by speed and by going to the net. Last year, either he or Lazar or someone else was in the blue paint. It's just a coule games where he's clawed his way towards extra minutes. He looked good with Backlund and Neal. I'm fine with him playing wing if he continues that play.
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To be sure, we need a solid tandem. I believe that Rittich needs to start in 1/3 of the games right now. How you split them up is anyone's guess.
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It also wasn't an arms flapping, glare at Brodie, blame game. No PeeWee's Big Adventure behind the net. Shut the door after 2/3 shots went in.
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The Official Calgary Flames "New Arena" thread
travel_dude replied to DirtyDeeds's topic in Flames Talk
So, you expect that no money would go to BC to host the event? Maybe they don't get $50m, but they don't do it for nothing. CGY pays BC to help host. Or more likely, Ottawa kicks in part of the money to BC. -
They beat a rebuilding team. Barely. 4 PP's for Oils, 2 for NY. NY hit the post twice.
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The Official Calgary Flames "New Arena" thread
travel_dude replied to DirtyDeeds's topic in Flames Talk
I would expect that the benefits to keeping the ski jump a=in CGY area outweigh the cost. $50m is a drop in the bucket to the overall cost, and provides another draw to the area once the games are done. Very few places in Canada where you can practice. -
The Official Calgary Flames "New Arena" thread
travel_dude replied to DirtyDeeds's topic in Flames Talk
Whistler? What a loser the mayor is, if he's thinking along those lines. Crap or get off the pot. Maybe he's on pot. -
He was effective in stopping the dump in shots. That helped the team regain possession. I don;t think anyone has an issue with that. Doing any more than that puts the defense in a difficult position. They have to read off Smith. They have to block out the forwards to give Smith a chance. The breakout options become limited. Short pass to the D, where the forecheckers are already in the vicinity. Longer pass to a forward. Risky. Dump out along the glass. Chance to intercept, go over the glass, lose possession. That's my biggest issue with Smith. He hasn;t been really good in 3/4 games.
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Actually it's been a very common theme. Gully would start the 4th line when he was just rolling 4, but most of the time you saw the goal scoring line if they were relatively fresh. Okay, maybe not most, but I very much noticed it.
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The Official Calgary Flames "New Arena" thread
travel_dude replied to DirtyDeeds's topic in Flames Talk
If you assume for a moment that $800m is the net amount the city would pay (vastly underestimated IMHO), I wonder what the increased business, employment and "revenue" from the Olympics would be. I don't recall any Olympics ever being successful, except maybe for the Quebec "businessmen". -
One thing about coaches that bug me is playing the line that just scored a goal next shift. Reward if you like some other way, but I think it generally ends up being a shift spent chasing. It's something I notice a lot with this team. Not always reaults in a goal. Sometimes it's just a change in momentum. Anyway, I dislike the pantomime from Smith after he gets scored on. You let in a goal. Get over it. I don;t care whose fault you think it is or whether you are PO's at yourself. Be more determined next shot. That's all the team wants.
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Every player on the team is responsible to help the team. We all watched the same game, and some are easy to forgive Smith due to the rest of the team not being 100%. Great argument, but what is his role? Stop the puck. He didn't do that when he was absolutely needed to. Sure, he may get a pass for a few of the goals. If he chose to not dick around with the puck on the 4th goal, it could have been a different story. After the 4th goal, perhaps the coach needed to send a message. You have a team in front of you, so don't think some lax play with the puck is going to cut it. Stop the puck if there is a reason to, and leave the defensive work for the players. We don't need to see two risky or more plays every game because you think it's your job to create the offence.
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The comments from Peters suggested that they will see. He said the goalie had nothing to do with the loss. What else is he going to say? Rittich will start. He'll get one or two in a row.
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Bennett seems to have PO's the hockey gods. He walks in on a prone goalie and has to pass it to Neal because he's got no room left. Next shift after the goal and he loses position allowing an easy goal. Tonight he has a wide-open net and he hit somehow the goalie and it deflects out. Bennett has one waved off. Or and I having flashbacks about last game? He just about kicks it in but it goes off a defender skate last (Backlund touched it just before). He played 3rd line minutes. At least he's using them to show why he's not a 4th liner. Keep it up, the gods may forgive you soon.
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As it has been mentioned elsewhere, following a shutout, Smith gets pulled or has a bad game. I think part of that is he gets too confident. Making him work to get games should be the key. You get 2 unless the 2nd game is lights out.
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I think it's less about rolling with Smith as it is seeing if his game has developed consistency or just a one-off. Would have been a good time to test out Rittich, but Sigalet wants to see Smith. I also expect that Rittich will get two games in a row. STL - Smith COL - Rittich BOS - Rittich NSH - Smith NYR - Smith MTL - Rittich It only makes sense to split 2 to 1. You can't fall into the trap of 4 or 5 in a row.
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I don't disagree with the line. I don't agree with the reason for doing so. You earn your spot in the lineup by your versatility. Dube is an experiment right now to see where he will struiggle. In the coach's eyes, he has met every challenge given to him. I think we are reading in way to much in Bennett's usage right now. There are 11 other guys that have to be crafted into the best they can offer. You see a mistake on the ice, and the coaches are using them as coaching moments. You see a missed chance, and the coaches are reviewing it. Every player is going through this. Frolik is being played 4th line to give a chance to evaluate others. Janko sat to evaluate others or get Peluso in for other purposes. Try Dube at center. Play Ryan on the 4th line. Try different looks on the PP. Frolik is one of the few players I hang onto. If cap is an issue, we need to take a hard look at the amount of money spent in defence. $20m on top 4 guys and a 5/6.
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Bidding war? I think it was they wanted a 2nd and held out for it. We blinked.
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They have re-doubled their effort. Drouin wouldn't be a bad choice. That would give us #3, #5 and #6 from that draft year.
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Not the best place to discuss, but of those teams: ANA - Erikkson-Ek (G) + Silfverberg for Bennett TBL - Palat for Stone + Bennett (cap reasons) MTL - Druin for Stone + Bennett (cap reasons) PHI - Vecchione + Lyon (G) for Bennett Price is high, but that's what I'm looking for those team to cough up.
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You are right. We should not concerned giving up 43 shots, low quality or crashing the net, regardless of when. Was it a bad game? No. Was it their best defensive game. No. Agree to disagree. EDIT Ignore the snide comment above. Just suggesting that we really need to reel it in a bit. Smith shouldn't have to face that many shots.
