travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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I don't think he will ever become more than that. Okay, maybe the points, since he has passed that every year. I just don't see the skills oozing out, ready to break out. Hard work, yes. But what do I know.
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The sense is that BT will hang up the phone unless it's overpaying. I can't even imagine what that would look like. We seem set on defense. Stud goalie? It's not like we need another top 6 winger, unless he was part of an upgrade trade. Bennett/Frolik for Panarin. Not going to happen but I sense that's the only way they trade him. No point in trading him for a bottom 6 winger. With that out of the way, I would prefer he earns a big raise. That means he plays as well as Tkachuk and earns a bigger role. At that point, you evaluate what you have.
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IS that what we need to do? Find the right players to feed Bennett and see if he can finish? In other words, a line's sole purpose is to get Sam the puck. It's a two way street. HE has to make plays to people that are open or have a better chance. Maybe it's just what I saw, but he seems to shoot crossbar height. IIRC, that was where he scored in pre-season. Goal scorers have a toolbox of shots. If he's not one, then pass the puck to someone that is. Saying all that, it's one game. He played on a line with other skilled players. They did what they are supposed to do, and just didn;t get any points. It's not the end of the world that Bennett play 8 minutes or that they didn't score. The 4th line was not the reason we lost.
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That's what we all remember. As you say, it doesn't work well in the NHL. McDavid can do it, but likely, he's going to pass to a sweet spot because everyone is focused on him. Bennett doesn't have the breakaway speed, nor the passing ability. Bennett needs to develop into something else or he will stay where he is. I understand he hasn't had the linemates or opportunity, but he's also shown nothing that Gaudreau has. JH was set to be shipped to the AHL, but he figured it out. This is what I need to do. Bennett still hasn't figured it out. Maybe he needs to watch game tape from other players and adopt those tendencies.
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Watch any game in the NHL. You see those "holy crap" saves every game. The guy who does it is on his game. Markstrom had at least one or two. Smith had zero. Watch MAF. For every bad goal he lets in, there is at least one "holy crap" save. The guy that can do that with limited shots will mostly win the game.
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As for Dube, they have to show they can play in EV, PP and PK situations. You want to play with Neal or Lindholm? Show that you can. One shift at a time. There is always line mixing during a game. Do the right thing and the coach will notice. We've seen an expected mix for game 1. It was going to be Neal with Monahan or Neal with Ryan. There are other options. It will probably take about 10 games to find the right lines. How long did it take for the 3M line? The JH-Monahan pair?
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I think you are jumping to conclusions based on one game. Was Backlund ineffective last night? He was involved on the Tkachuk goal. He made a weak attempt when he was alone in front of the net. His one PK went fine. What is Sam's role right now? If it's 5v5, we had 14 minutes of PP time. Was he effective enough to jump up the lines? No more so than Dube. He had a bunch of hits, shots and a block. If you are giving minutes to the lines that generated 5v5 goals, somebody is losing minutes. If you are trying to tie up the game, you will give minutes to the top 2 lines. For Bennett to get the recognition he deserves, he has to generate points. Or be the go-to guy on PK's. Frolik had an off night, but that was as much due to Backlund's off night. Tkachuk makes his own space and can generate offence without Backlund.
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Fair statement. Except...... Game 1 2017/18 - McDavid puts it in the exact same spot and he doesn't stop it. Game 1 2018/19 - duplicate shot He wasn't bad. He wasn't great. 3 goals on 15 shots to start with. Ends up with 4 on 22. I'm not worried so much about him having a bad game as his bad tendencies. Again, he starts stickhandling the puck. He gets out of those situations without a goal against. This time. He shoots it up the ice and it comes right back because nobody is set up. No goals against. This time. Make it easier on your defense. Short pass or drop it in a an spot to retrieve. By the 3rd goal, I felt they should give him the friendly hook. Get Rittich in there. Make Smith mad about it. By 3 goals it was game over. Sorry Mike, but it matters not whose fault it is, you let it get to 3-0 early in the period, there has to be a change. Lay the blame later. We needed a spark. Tkachuk lit one, but it was snuffed out by a streaking Virtanen and a 5-hole goal.
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Strange comparison. Baertschi was called out for not playing a 200 foot game and only cared about offence. He was scratched for doing that. Bennett plays a 200 foot and generates a modest amount of offence. He's a LW that is below JH and Tkachuk on the depth chart. He gets 9 minutes of ice and the fans freak out. His role is 5v5 and PK. We had one PK last night and 14 minutes of PP time.
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I know you don't want to admit he has any faults. You fail to recognize any connection between his playing with the puck and scoring. It's so much fun to watch him freeze the puck behind the net against a forward. Love those clearing shot along the glass. Doesn't he have 2D and 3F to work with? Why exactly does he have to do anything other than track and stop the puck when it's shot behind the net. Perhaps you need to watch what happens after Smith doesn't just leave the puck to the defense. Not just the immediate impact of him clearing the zone. He wants to make a pass to the D-man? No problem. He wants to fire the puck along the boards? We had Bart-man that could do that.
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I think we've both been saying the same things for some time. Let the D move the puck. I get mad when I see him play the puck out an it comes back in within about 10 seconds. If I wanted that, I would have been suggesting keeping Bart-man for those 75 foot passes to nobody along the glass.
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"Neuvirth is injured again, with a lower body injury that, when we last saw him skate from the ice, seemed groin related. And it's because Lyon too also came up with a lower body injury at an inopportune time for both him and his career." Once they get him back, they just return him to the Leafs, assuming he hasn't solidified his spot. They also have Lton and Stolarz.
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McBackup claimed by Carolina and Pickard claimed by PHI. Toronto took a big gamble and will have to hope their guy can take the reins.
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Okay guys, let's get back to discussion. Opinions are great, and none are any less valid. We all support the same team. Goalies are voodoo.
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Stockton Heat Updates [2016-2017]
travel_dude replied to travel_dude's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/canadiens-acquire-defenseman-brett-kulak-from-calgary/c-300531216 A career AHL defender and a young-ish AHL defender with a little upside. -
This thread was about goatending, most recently the backups and possible solutions. Most people are saying the same thing as Conundrumed, that Smith's pre-season play is nothing to get too worked up about. The backups on the other hand do not have that history and need to prove something. The discussion here is mostly about improving our net. Only part of the Flames roster that doesn't bring a lot of comfort to fans. Looking for the next Kipper should always be on the table.
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He's actually on the last year of a 6 year deal. If he plays like most of last year, they will likely offer him a 1 year deal. I say it's a mess because we don;t have a clear cut starter near ready. If we have to go the trade route, we lose picks and/or prospects to get it done. If we have to sign a UFA, we have cap issues.
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I just hope that Smith is indeed a slow starter, but will be fine once the puck drops. We have a decent defense. Arguably, Hanifin/Hamonic is already better than the best of Brodie/Hamonic. Gio-Brodie has not looked that bad defensively. In fact they are starting to look good. The 3rd pair of Andersson/Valimaki/Stone will at least be competent. I hope Parsons' issues are behind him and he can take the reins as the next top prospect. Still some years away IMHO. There's an outside chance that Gillies will be starter-ready by next season. If Rittich can handle the backup role, then at least we have that spot solid. Smith is our best option this year for starter, but it's maybe just one year. Why are we back in this mess again.
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There should be some moves to the waiver wire soon enough. What I saw today from Smith was not great, but as you say, it's pre-season. Just trying to make it through without an injury. I would have liked to see the backup play a period, but they must have already made their decision.
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It's worrisome that JS was the goalie coach in Abby before he came to CGY. Nothing good came out of that city either. Now he's been up here doing squat for years. Of all the changes they made this summer, the one that seemed to go unchecked was the goalie coach. That's really too bad. I don;t know how much JS had to do with development in CGY, but his record with the number of goalies here has been a failure. In theory, that should be a firing offence. 2011-2014 Abby 2014-present CGY
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Naw, I was just using him as an example of compete level. Parsons does not give up. He may not be the biggest or make the best technical saves, but he does battle. My concern about Gillies is that for a huge goalie, he plays small. I don't know if it's because he plays too deep and does not block much of the top of the net or what. The Oiler goalie sucks, but he plays huge. I want to see Gillies play further out and take away angles and space. I don't want to see him have enough room above his shoulders to wedge a small person in.
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The impact of being older and traveling. Tkachuk played his first game with 3 hours sleep, yet he was the best player on the ice. I have been worried about goaltending all summer, but I won't go on about it. With what we have, I thought Rittich and Parsons played the best. That's not really saying a lot. And it's just my opinions. Parsons is so athletic, but is like Hasek. All over the place. Rittich has shown more technical play, but had a bad game against the Oilers, where he had little help. He still needs to make those saves, but it was a tune up game for him. Gillies played well against a NHL team missing three top players, behind the entire Flames NHL roster. Smith has looked rusty. Was not impressed last night at all.
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All I am getting at is that Ritttich is probably the right choice for a backup considering who we have.
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Guess I haven;t seen him play better. Gillies plays behind a veteran team in China. OT loss. Rittich plays the Oilers with a mix of AHL players and PTO's. 6 goals against. They split the 5-2 over the Nucks, each allowing a goal against. Rittich plays the Nucks and stops all the shots. Parsons gives up 1. Gillies has played well so far, but no better than Rittich. If he gets sent down, it's because they want the guy that they feel can survive as a backup, not waiver status. Even more important is that they feel Gillies will improve with more games played.
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That's the way Rittich has been in his career with the Heat. Great one night, bad the next. As it stands now, Rittich is the only choice. As good as Gillies looks, he's not ready. Rittich is, but needs to play good every night.
