travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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A lotto pick win (yes they won it over EDM and VAN) is not turning around a franchise. Some years that lotto pick is the best player in a number of years. Toronto has a lot to prove beyond the regular season success to date. So does EDM.
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Stockton Heat Updates [2016-2017]
travel_dude replied to travel_dude's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
Good to know. I get concerned by lack of progress by prospects (some of them) as much as lack of winning. -
Stockton Heat Updates [2016-2017]
travel_dude replied to travel_dude's topic in Calgary Wranglers and Flames Prospects
Do you have any concerns about Huska? He was supposed to be a good fit when the Flames employed the Bob Hartley strategy of hockey. Has he adapted to Gully's version? If so, I would expect a bit of a struggle this season with scoring. If not, then WTF is he doing? -
Unless it's an upgrade to a bonafide #1, then what is the point? Bishop may fit the bill, but he is having an Elliott season and he's a pending UFA. Unless there is a general agreement on terms for re-signing, then it's a huge risk to trade for him. I'm of the belief that Elliott is our best bet on the team for returning to normal. You are seeing signs of it, among the softies he lets in. We have seen the best of CJ, so I wonder if he can recapture the magic of November. He looked superb in the last game, even if he let in a softie, but he has been following those up with bad games. I suspect we will see more 4 GA performances than 2 or fewer.
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Every year since his first year, he has had the opportunity to be signed, if I am not mistaken. He could have been invited by any team to attend a Young Prospects tourney, at his own expense, and still maintain NCAA eligibility. Draft eligible or not, there was a window he could have signed with any team. He wasn't. I may be 100% wrong on this, but he doesn't fall into the Schultz category of having to wait till he leaves and be August 15th to be free to sign with anyone. The question pops up, why he hasn't been signed.
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Why wasn't he drafted in 2013/14 after a stellar frosh year? Was there some reason nobody picked a player with such high offensive number? 30 teams passed on him. Perhaps the scouts didn;t like something about him. Can't say. Not in McKenzie's book of draft? Wouldn't be the first. Even if we happened to sign him, he could still be sent to Stockton.
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Have to ask this because you alluded to Fox being head and shoulder above any college D-man, ever. Seems like this guy Gavin had a similar 1st year.
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The tow goalies that complained about it a lot. Miller looked to be a little closer to his Buck Sixty-five size. His pads and jersey are a joke, though. Put him in 80's gear and he would look like a shrimp. The Leafs-Bruins game was even more remarkable. 11 goals. I am at least a bit happier that Elliott has practiced for awhile in the smaller pants. He seems to be a big enough guy that the ants shouldn't make that much difference. He's very much a positional goalie, so he is usually square to the puck.
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Thanks for the info. The HDSV% is still concerning, but it really didn't seem to help Johnson. The other thing about stats is it doesn't show individually how many shots he faced for each category (or how many were actually stoppable). Not making excuses for Elliott, but I have been more impressed of late with him.
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All well and good for the totals for the year. But.... I am more interested in what they have done in the last two months. December and January. Anything prior to that is just noise right now; Elliott with a horrible start and Johnson with a great run.
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Seeing that Jim Corsi was fired as the goalie coach of STL, might it be a good idea to hire him? He had pretty good success with Elliott in the past.
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I recall Joey McDonald saying something similar. It's bad enough to hear the coach rant about you, but to have a goalie that previously stopped 1/4 shots and lets in 5 needs to look in the mirror and shut the heck up.
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That's where the goalie coach is coming into play. You remember last season when we were wondering every time a goalie got the start? BH used a number of reasons; schedule, goalie coach's recommendation. gut. Gully may operate differently, but I have heard him refer to meeting with the coach(s) to figure out the starter.
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All good ideas. Personally I think it's also time to demote a few players. I was wrong about Bennett's waiver status; it hasn't kicked in yet. Not that I would start with him, but just clearing the air. I think you could start with Bouma. You could also do the same with Chaisson. Neither would be a huge loss if claimed. Would love to see what Magiapane could do. Maybe a bit early, but what the heck. Tkachuk with Johnny is a match made in Flames heaven.
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If you take out the starts that Elliott used red pads, he has been a lot better. If you look at recent starts:
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That was a Haynes suggestion, as it would give him possession and defensive help. In theory, he would get the "Backlund Bump". Besides, they are all about the same speed, and operate well on the rush.
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He may be on the half boards, but he has to cover the point when Brodie shifts, which is every PP. Where Gaudreau has had success in the past in on the off-wing a lot. Any pass to him will be slightly further out from the net, but allowing him to get the shot off faster. And he has had better success when there are point shot options available to pass to. The 1-3-1 setup has not worked with Brodie out there.
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We are thinking alike. I can't remember if he was here for Berra and Joey (Checked - he was the Heat goalie coach from 08-2011 until 08-2014, then became the Flames one), but he was here for the ruination of Hiller, Ortio and Ramo. I can't exactly say if Ortio was ever a good prospect, but JJ might. Hartley used his recommendations for the starter, so take that for what it's worth.
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TBH, I am more worried about Gaudreau. he has never regressed in his career. He's always been a positive +/- player. They need to give him the best tools to work with to get back on top. Make sure that Gio/Hammy are on the ice at the same time as him, EV and PP time. On the PP, they need to put him where he is the most effective; off-wing, not manning the point. Move him away from the players that are also struggling. I am thinking of two possible lines: Gaudreau-Monahan-Tkachuk or Gaudreau-Backlund-Frolik Regarding Chaisson, Gully was very cutting in his assessment of Chaisson last night. A minute and 40 second shift, where there were two opportunities to change. The last part of the shift was him deciding to participate in a rush, becuase "they are scoring so much these days". That was the last shift Chaisson played with Gaudreau. He will be luck to get 4th line minutes next game.
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It's a valid fear. I doubt you see Bennett shipped for a D-man. Bennett for Duchene or Landeskog maybe. We don't have enough high-end scoring to ship out anyone that could provide it in the future. Bennett would be a good fit in COL. Duchene would be a good fit here. I don't suggest that we give up on Bennett and do it, but if we are going to ship him out, I want a high end forward coming back.
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I believe that it is new pants, not pads.
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To further your evaluation of team speed, it's painfully obvious to me that the way we play is resulting in slowness. There is rarely a fast breakout that uses any speed we have. When we do it, it's primarily Gaudreau, Brodie or Versteeg leading the charge. That's fine except that they are the only ones moving at speed. Brouwer is a niche player, but only works in a situation where you have similar players with him. A guy like Stastny compliments him. We don't really have those players in the top 9. Maybe Tkachuk.
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When Brodie came back, the Gio/Brodie combo started playing better. We still had Russell and Hamilton sitting around -20 each, though a lot of that was Russell/Wideman not just Rissell Hamilton. I think Brodie is a great guy and its a shame that his wife has MS. It's a hard blow. It's painful to watch him struggle out there, because he really should be better and has shown that every other year.
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I would hope that the plan is to move BT up to POHO, and bring in a GM that he can work with. I suppose you could use Maloney in one of those two roles. I am comfortable with BT, in that he does not make huge mistakes. He is a good negotiator. If anything, he fails a bit in the trade market. Russell brought back enough at the time, but we haven't really added anything in trade that has helped this year. Bollig, Jokipakka and Pollock don't really cut it. Elliott didn't really pan out as expected, though that's not on BT for making the trade. It's as much an indictment of the team this year.
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If you recall correctly, Gio struggled last year until Brodie came back from injury. I don't have the stats in front of me for the split between RD and LD, so I can only base it on the eye test the last few years. I remember Brodie making very smart plays in the D-zone last year, but don't see them this year. What I do see is Brodie missing easy plays because he is facing the towards the D-zone and having to make a play on the boards on his backhand. Yet his backhand passes from the RD have always looked crisp, if a little risky. All I can attest to is with 100% certainty is that Brodie-Wideman does not look good most nights. Does bringing in another RD fix that or just change the partner. Don't know for sure. Brodie has gone from quiet conversation of WCH and Norris to worst on the team. Worst plus/minus in the league.
