travel_dude

Personally I thought both both went of lucky streaks last year and weren't deserving of praise. Skinner a Calder finalist? Or was it Vezna? Give me a break. They weren't the reason why they made the playoffs and they aren't the reason why they are 2-9-1 today. Not entirely. Soup has lost any confidence he ever had. Let's just face it. They suck.

He was playing the outdoor game even if he was on crutches. His choice. He says he is healthy...enough. So, I doubt trainers or team doctors are going to overrule him. I watched his board play and it didn't seem like he was favoring anything. His speed looked fine. So whatever it is, it's impacting his shot or passing more than anything. But regardless, they played without him before and looked fine before. Not this year. Skinner wasn't the problem last night. Of the 18 shots he faces, about a third were HD if not more. The goals scored were team lapses. They blamed Campbell for the losses before. A better set of goalies would help, but it would be like us earlier in the season. Good goalie in from of bad play.

To be fair, by virtue of games played they are 2nd last. Sharks on a 2 game heater. Oilers on a 4 game cooler. If McD is not 100%, then what's the problem with the rest of the team? Kane is lost. Draisaitl can't hit the net and was on a 7 game goaless drought. Can he only score when he plays with McD? McD on a 7 games goaless drought.

The rumours start whenever there is a goalie injury or controversy. Vladar is still better (IMO) than anything EDM has in the system. And yet goaltending isn't their only top issue.

I mean it's very possible that they intend to play Wolf. Vladar has shown flashes of good play, but the things he lets in are troubling. The concern I have is they don't give him any runway. He's had one NHL game against the Sharks when it had no meaning to any team. I hope he plays and stays. That would mean he is playing good enough to be a backup.

Okay, Vladar OTL was 2 years ago. Gave up 5 last year in a loss. Marky won against OTT last year but lost to the Leafs. Gave up 2.

It's possible that he gets a start, but this is as much playing it safe than anything. With that though, why not bring up the actual backup from the Wranglers if he is just coverage for practice and extremely unlikely to get a start. Yes, this says to the player you are the first option for call up, but not much fun if the most you do is warm the bench. Money okay, but a shame if he doesn't get a start. When I consider starts against OTT and TOR, I don't think either of them have fared that well. Vladar was good against TOR but lost in OT. I don't have a full memory of how they did in most recent starts. Will look.

C of Red Central @CofRedCentral · 10m Elliotte said Wolf’s recall is more for “injury protection” reasons. Markstrom missed practice yesterday, so it’s possible he’s banged up and could miss a few games.

Well, it's a big hockey weekend. B2B Fri/Sat. And again on the road on Tuesday. I think it's having a backup in town in case something happens. Haven't heard of any injuries. They can pay him NHL wages for the long weekend. Maybe they give him a game against a team we have struggled to beat in recent years.

Crazy news.... https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/flames-recall-dustin-wolf

As much as his former agent (and company) would hold a special place in his heart, you have to think that at some point 14M here or there might not matter to him. He would get love anywhere he goes. Holland may be on his way out soon (doubt it with the old boys club) so a new GM might not give as much consultation with McD for the team. So far, it hasn't helped them with his advice.

I think that Dube and Mange on the same line is a bit frustrating to watch. I agree that maybe the solution is to swap him and Ruzicka. Putting Dube at C would take him somewhat out of the situations he struggles with; zone entries on the wing, board battles, etc. Backlund and Coleman tend to go to the net more often, so since Huberdeau refuses to do it, force him to take shots with rebounds available. Backlund would help his defensive liabilities as well.

Huska talked about it last night. Having Zary make smart decisions allows him to focus on the line and not just trying to do it himself. Govich has quietly started playing his best hockey. Kadri taking Zary under his wing. If you recall last year, some of Huberdeau's best hockey was with Pelletier. Maybe I am a little fuzzy on the details since there were a lot of things going wrong. For now, I will just say the Kadri line is the most consistent line at driving the play. Kadri looked good at times with Ruzicka and Dube, but it didn't last that long. Try not to fix one problem by creating another. Backlund line looked good last night. Dube had a limited positive game away from Huberdeau. We have B2B games coming up. Having some different looks if some players are having an off 2nd game. We need points right now.

Yeah, it's been good so far with Pospisil. He's as annoying to the goalie as Coleman. I don't think Dube should get a demotion, but really I don't think we have a #1 line. Just keep him away from Huberdeau. That doesn't work at all. Dube-Ruzicka-Duehr or Ruzicka-Dube-Duehr could work, but they need to be fed minutes. One thing is certain, the Kadri line was the best and probably most consistent over the last number of games. Don't mess with it. Huberdeau could work as long as he stops passing. He's in the same boat as Gaudreau used to be before he started shooting. Everyone know where you are going. Pass. Pass. Pass. Take away his space and he will give it up because he's waiting to pass.

I think so, but I'm not sure of the lines that would work. We won 2 games because we shortened the bench tonight and were forced to react after the major. Consider we played Greer and Duehr less than 6 the entire game. So, leave alone the Kadri line. Pospisil could drop down to the 4th line. Huberdeau is the wild card. Ruzicka was more effective there. Question is whether or not Huberdeau just can't play with Dube. No issues with no Huberdeau. Together I was questioning Dube being able to play. Let me spell it out to see if it makes sense as I start combining. Huberdeau-Lindholm-Mange Zary-Kadri-Govich Dube-Backlund-Coleman Pospisil-Ruzicka-Duehr The top line is the suspect one. I don't think you make it better swapping Dube up there with Hubey. But maybe that's the only way to make Huberdeau work. I have a hard time demoting both Pospisil and Ruzicka. I just can't fix it.

I guess I was remembering them beating teams they shouldn't have. When I look at results from the months, they were barely 500 in their best months. And there weren't many. No wins in April at all.I would say March and April was in part due to trades and tanking talk. LOL. Individual scoring wasn't much worse than us, which isn't saying much.

EDM waived Campbell. They showed their AHL goalie stats during the game last night. They lead the AHL in SA%. Wow, that is some strong message being sent. And yet, Skinner is playing no better. I don't think it would be smart to waive Skinner, but whatever.

Well, this certainly isn't BT and Sutter roster management. Pospisil may not ultimately be able to maintain consistent play, but he is showing good so far. I welcome this decision. Was worried that sending down Coronato maybe was a sign, but I support that as well. He needs to get confidence and positioning back in his game.

I'm not as big a fan of the player. He's been with the Oilers for years now and plays a major role in the top pair. The only reason why he isn't a total tire fire on defense is Ekholm covers for him. Gregor is pretty critical in that EB never faces accountability. His ice time is top 3 on the team. He could be out for multiple goals against where a bad pinch lead to a goal, yet he never even misses a shift to walk through coaching ideas. He's right up there with Nurse, who he basically replaced on the PP.

#Flames projected tonight vs. Nashville: Huberdeau-Lindholm-Dube Zary-Kadri-Sharangovich Pospisil-Backlund-Coleman Greer-Ruzicka-Duehr Weegar-Andersson Hanifin-Tanev Zadorov-DeSimone

Solid hits from both sides. There was an uncalled pick by McD earlier that PO'd the player. Can't remember who it was. Homer announcers suggested McD didn't pick, that he simply stood his ground and got skated into. Not specific to him, but I would like to see our D not let a guy waltz to the net. Make him pay the way we have to for going there. I thought DiGuseppi (sp) did the right thing in separating the two. Hyman decided it was time to "even" the score. Anyway, I think it's two teams that don't like each other. When one team is 2nd and the other is 2nd last, you know things are going to boil over.

He's frustrated and it showed in him lashing out. Maybe he was targeted, maybe he hates losing. He's putting himself in situations where he's battling one on one. Every player gets cheap shots. But, I think he was so keen on playing the BOA game that he decided he would play regardless of health concerns. I suspect he is something like Monahan was in one of his many injuries. Can't take faceoffs, so I will play with a C that wins draws. Every hit is gonna take a toll and every player in the league knows about it. Some respect him more than their desire to win, so they may back off. The league is better with him than without him, so I get that some may pull punches. But if McD hacks you or x-checks you, I think you are not going to look at the name on the back. What I saw last night was a lost team. The calls weren't one-sided so there shouldn't be any excuses. The F didn't come back fast enough, the D didn't defend well and the first couple of goals looked bad. 2 goals on 5 shots, but let's be real. Up 19-2 in shots and you let a team walk in and score twice in 5 shots. In one period. And I am starting to think that the coach will pay the price for this team. GM should take most of the blame but he won't.

Wasn't ANA doing well for part of the year last year?

I mean when you are talking about UFA's then you are limited in what you can lowball them with. He was coming off a Cup win and he was worth it (to TBL at least) to spend a 1st on in trade. Some of that was the low cost of his contract at the time. He's about par with NJ and TBL output. So I don't know how much he is overpaid. Is he or are we just complaining beciase he doesn't score 30. Mange got what Mange's production looked like he should get. We bought into it, thinking it was more than a one off. Perhpas last year's injury ruined his season or perhaps he's at best a 20 goal guy. 35 gets you 5, but 20 gets you what? 4? 3? Dunno. Dube is getting the Bennett results. At times they are the same player. The middle 6 player getting 2M. I am more concerned with his play this year than what he has done in the past. In other words whether he earned that deal. Next year will be tough if he doesn't have a contract year set of numbers. But really it doesn't matter to Flames beciase he gets arbitration if he does little to earn a big raise.

I have some different takes with that statement. We have 8 forwards over $2M, but only 4 are over $5M. On D, we have one D making more than $5M. It's a pretty typical construction. Not really overspending on depth. Our biggest expenses have to do with UFA signings or trades where we needed to lock up the new players. As many people were worried about letting Huberdeau walk his contract to FA and potentially not sign. Weegar was a reasonable cost. Markstrom and Kadri were market costs, and really the worst thing is term. Where we really differ is contracts signed with drafted or long term players. Draisaitl got $8.5M before he proved anything. Nurse got over 9 when all he was offering was scoring. They overspent early, and had to bargain shop to fill a roster. The top 2 players basically have to play together or they lose games or one doesn't score enough. Draisaitl will command over $12M by the time he hits FA years. McD will get whatever the top % of the cap will allow. There doesn't seem to be any others earning their money unless they play with the top 2.