travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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The biggest issue for me right now is the PK. Inability to stop a goal. 8 goals on 13 tries recently. That's worse than not good.. They need to fix whatever system that's creating this problem or look at the mistakes they make while executing it. Allowing easy zone entries isn't helping.
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Good assessment of the trade. I wasn't a fan of the player, but whatever. His play this season is all I am really caring about, and the fact he can't string together good periods as a backup. IT's not an easy role, because you get into games on B2B's and relief after the other guy gets the hook. There are guys that can handle it though. Lack does not appear to be that guy. The choices that best come to mind are pick your backup from the farm and use him, or go and get a guy like Hutch that has shown he's quite good at times. Rittich probably makes the most sense from the farm because he's not the Flames #1 goalie prospect in the AHL. He's also used to sitting out 2-3 in a row. And he's a older guy that has pro experience beyond the AHL. Get him in every 5 games or so. If he doesn't pan out, then go to Gillies and do the same thing. It's either that or go buy a goalie.
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I guess we know what that means: Smith is back. Emergency recall conditions don't exist anymore. Eddie is still a Flame. Gully's pets still have a home here. JK. This is a GM decision. He has no choice but to send Gillies to Stockton unless Lack had cleared waivers or been traded.
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I think you have to start with disecting the play and determining where the problems lie. Indiuvdually, the D is one of the best in the league. The way they are used, the systems they are forced to use and the situations need to be evaluated. If players X and Y don't fit, then wouild player Z make a difference.
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This. That's all I was getting at, and last night was just the latest proof of the mistake. There wasn't any reason to believe he was just a victim in his previous seasons or that he could recover the magic. It was a risk. The price to pay was reasonable, but it was a waste in the light of day. What happened last night was the result of not having confidence in your backup, so you don't play him. The schedule allowed Smith to play without being overworked. If you can't play your backup in relief or the last start was bad, why would you trust him?
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That makes one of you. The team didn't show up. The goalie didn't either. While it's possible to win when only half of the team is playing well, you can't do much if the goalie outright sucks. The lack of trust shown by the team is not just in this one start. It's every period he has played in, every practice he show up for and every pre-season minute he played. The defense owes Eddie an apology for forcing him to face shooters directly, but he showed nothing to imply that he is NHL game ready.
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Nothing like using a terrible game to justify your own opinion. I don't think there are too many people here that feel that Lack was the right choice. Smith on the other hand is doing exactly what you hoped for. No he doesn't solve the long term issue, but we need to play hockey for the next few years with someone capable. Injury prone - yes, he's prone to getting injured when he has his own player fall on top of him. Or taking a puck off the wrist bone. Lack shouldn't get another game. That's probably a given based on his lack of good play. The best thing to do right now is give Gillies (or Rittich) the net for a week. Open up the phones and look for a backup, but in the meantime....Gillies has the opportunity to show he is a NHL goalie. Rushing Smith doesn't help the team, but finding a quality goalie does. Trading Backlund for anyone other than a Bob or Holtby is throwing good money after bad. Nobody is going to give you a Suros. You may get a Pickard or Hamburgler or Hutch, but none of those guys has shown they are ready to take the next step as a starter. I'm not trading our best all-round center for that.
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We had Chad last season as a capable backup who ended up fighting to be a starter. Gillies is the only choice available right now. He gets you a win, and suddenly you aren't panicking about Smith being out for a few games. If we find a vet, then great. Gillies can go back to playing 30+ games in the AHL. Calgary will be classy in how they deal with Lack, but his starts are probably done. No way can you trust him for 20 games this season.
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I don't think the decision to get Lack is totally on BT. I would suggest that Gully had a big input into that choice. Smith was a good call, but he left the backup choice to a recommendation. Where it gets a little weird is that Gully waited so long (10 games) to get Lack into a game. Almost like he didn't see the same player in pre-season and practices. I have to think that BT watched the game and thought, "No, not again". Yes, the gutsy thing to do is start Lack again. Everyone in the room is mad about the game. The goalie is going to fight every shot. But, the other side of the coin is you only get so many losses this early before you start falling out. A win takes the pressure off Smith's return. Another loss by Lack right now and you are hooped. You have no backup goalie plan. Gillies would get the next game but there's even more pressure on him. Sorry, but the backup has to be able to come in with little notice. Gillies should get the next start.
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I think the only way you can keep a goalie like Rittich and Gillies fresh is to shuttle them. So I agree. These two guys are starters and need playing time, AHL or NHL. The side benefit is you can get Parsons some reps in the AHL. Other than that, look for a real backup. Raanta hasn't looked good, but he was a stellar backup. May be cheap for a guy like BT. I would at least have some faith in him. I doubt TOR trades Pickard. They got him because they are unsure about their current backup. EDIT - Forgot what they paid for Raanta. A cap dump and Raanta for DeAngelo and a 7th overall.
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I agree they should have started him earlier in the season. Saying that, they should have just gone with Rittich if they were just going to shop at Value Village.
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To add to that, I am so glad we didn't get Bishop.
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Darling seems to be the only former backup that is doing well. Grubauer is not doing well. Raanta is probably experiencing what Smith did for year in ARI. Gillies in on emergency recall, as the goalie position doesn't require a guy be placed on IR. Still have 23 players plus Gillies. Smith not on IR. Once Smith is cleared to play, Gillies goes back. We need Eddie to show up. Make it a tougher choice for the coach.
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I don't debate that they know where he is in his AHL play. That's fine. It's AHL play. Last season he spent a month training with the Flames without getting in any meaningful games. This year he gets called up for an injury replacement and the coach takes the easy course of dressing the guy on his off side on D. So instead of three games, he gets one. They noted some deficiencies in his game, but then sent him down before they could see the response. I'm fine with him being in Stockton right now, except they aren't playing till the end of the week. Perhaps they should have brought him for the Detroit game, just to be sure that Hamonic is 100%. But, hey we have Bart, who can jump in at a moments notice on the wrong side.
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That logic is all well and good, but how do you ever know the prospect is ready until you are forced into it. There is no magic formula for number of years. Andersson looked to be ready. He did well enough for his 1st game of the season. Instead of playing him for three games, we saw 2 with Bart in. So, we are back to this again. An injury call-up that may get into a game. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have depth with Stone able to jump up the depth. The drawback is that we can never really know the level of the prospect unless we have a major injury or trade. And that's the reason I don't like having Bart available; he's just an ok 6/7 guy. You can do better.
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Actually his 2nd game, but that's nitpicking. I was surprised by the length of the contract, almost like they were gearing it more towards Fox entering the NHL. Right now Stone adds something I really expected to see in Andersson; a big shot. At some point it's going to be a problem if our prospects are anywhere near NHL ready in the next two years. Kylington, Andersson, Fox, Valimaki. No room for them now with Stone and Kulak. No room for them in the near future with the top 4. I'm not going to get ahead on myself, but the spots aren't going to materialize unless there are injuries or trades. How do you trade anyone unless you know what the prospects can handle. One game here or there isn't enough.
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Whether or not Smith is hurt, he has been showing some wear and tear recently. I would start Lack against the Wings. Just give Smith that extra few days if he isn't that banged up. To be fair to Lack, Ferland deflected the 3rd goal, and the Tank goal was a killer one-timer. To answer your question, Rittich has the better numbers, but it doesn't matter because they would only be the backup except for a B2B at the end of the trip.
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Just pointing it out as you just talked about his 2-way contract. The type of contract is meaningless to burying him in the minors except for what the Flames have to pay him. His $612k comes off the cap.
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Not quite, but close. Bart has to go through waivers first. Anderson kept his game safe and simple. He had opportunity to put one on net, with a clear path there, but chose to pass off. Overall, he earned the 13 minutes he played and could have helped a limp defense with more minutes last night. The best thing was the positive stuff Gully said about him before and after the game. Sure, they were sheltered a bit on zone starts. So what. They managed to play their way out of situations that were causing fits to the top 4. Whether BT and Gully decide to keep him up after Hamonic returns or return him to Stockton, it's nice to see the new generation show that they are on track. They are seasoning well, compared to the forward prospects where the best players seem to be the newest ones.
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I think it's reasonable that he signs in the neighborhood of $6m (that's a nice neighbrhood). Fitting that salary into the current structure will be challenging, considering the potential in 2019/20 of Tkachuk (likely) and Bennett (not so likely) of commanding a big raise.
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I would say that it's either keeping Backs and paying whatever or trading him for an equivalent center. The problem with the team's salary structure is the D making too much and having 4th line players making more than minimum.
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When we made the trade, it was for a project. His results were anything but bottom 1/3 of the league for GA and SV%. That's what I was saying about better options. It doesn't matter how good you think he looked, giving up 4 goals is not a good result. I think we should have played him in the Nashville game, since the team as a whole looked bad against STL. Play him when the team is fresh. Right now the best opportunity to play Lack would be against VAN, since Smith only is idle for 3 days. Playing Lack before or after that game puts Smith out of game action for too many days. He has to play regularly to stay fresh.
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I find it funny that Lack is even on this team. Lack of better options? AT this point many goalies are looking like trash. At least the early returns on Smith are good. Gillies needs to keep this up. 2 game is nice, but is not a good sign, until 2 becomes 10 and 10 becomes 20. I like the way he's starting, but oh boy its going to be a long year.
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Stockton Heat Updates [2016-2017]
travel_dude replied to travel_dude's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
It's too bad we don;t play prospects. Mangiapane, Andersson and Kylington are off to a quick start. They should get help from Janko soon enough. First home game for the kid and he gets the bench. He wasn't the best player out there, but there was no reason to bench him. Stajan was 1/5 on the dot, and that doesn;t include the many times he was tossed. Janko was 5/8, 4/4 in the O-zone. Doesn't that tell you something??? -
Cue JJ. Just kidding. I hope he continues doing well down there. He needs to be consistent, like Mangiapane has been. Keep it up every game for some time.
