travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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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.
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I would say that when the system is executed well, it resembles a road game. Low danger. Low event. It does benefit lesser skilled lines. Where the MMM line is successful is in creating turnovers and tiring out the other team by holding onto the puck. McDavid managed nothing when MMM were on the ice. The lack of success can be seen in the pairing of Brodie/Wideman. One is incapable of possession. The other is playing on the side they don't seem to excel on. Brodie falls back into his usual style of skating the puck out, but is playing on a side he isn't used to or comfortable with. Nobody else seems to be aware of when he is going to do it, so the defensive coverage is not set up. Wideman may be back, but everyone is waiting to see if Brodie skates back or they have to cover for him. Anyway, just some observations.
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I think where BT needs to prove his worth is trades from this point forward. We have needs. We have players that need to move on. We have prospects that will never get a chance on this team.
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Hey, you past me too. Up with the big boys now, eh?
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If you say so. I guess you didn't watch the games and only go by stats. Elliott let in bad goals, but way too many high-danger shots allowed and league worst PK. You actually think that the defense made either of those two shine?
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By their uninspired play, weak defensive play, weak PK, etc. Their first 6 games was 1-4-1, and not all of that is on the goalie, nor just on Elliott. Are you being sarcastic? Many here were blaming the coaches, new contracts for Johnny and Monahan, declining value from Gio, trading Hamilton, playing a plug for a defenseman....
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And at the beginning of the year, the team let down Elliott.
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Actually the recipe for KFC is: 1) salt 2) pepper 3) droppings from chicken conveyor belt 4) mysterious substance found next to CEO's desk 5) MSG 6) red dye #1 7) marker molecules 8) yellow dye #3 9) solvent #1 10) solvent #2 11) contents from envelope market "11 different herbs and spices" Combine in a big pot and scoop out approximately 100 grams. Place content in envelope marked "11 different herbs and spices".
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Pretty negative stuff about a top ranked goalie. No, Ramo/Hiller/Ortio were not as good last year. We had goal scoring that propped them up. Elliott's losing streaks were: October 30 to November 21 (7 games) October 12 - 20th (3 games) Flames managed to score 2 or fewer goals between October 30 and November 21. Blame him if you like or the team for failing to provide any run support during that time. Before you toss the goalie in the scrap heap, give him some credit for what he is capable of doing. Two of the goals from VAN were scored when the Nucks has just iced the puck and couldn't change. Johnson was brilliant last night, but Elliott has had good games his last stretch as well.
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Johnson was coming off a break. Over the long haul, Elliott is superior. Both have had recent bad games, but are we expecting more out of Elliott because he was supposed to be #1? Bad bounces for the previous game against the Nucks. Johnson was better down low tonight. Let's see where we are after the end of January. Both goalies will face tough teams. Elliott has a history of coming up big.
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Not to diss the players at all, but it is WJC. Strome had trouble making a Arizona team. For all the skill and swagger they guys show at the junior level, they will be hard pressed to make it at the NHL level. At this point, I would take Dougie every day. He is NHL level, not possibly. If the choice was Laine or Matthews, that might be a different story.
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I thought Elliott should have started against the Bolts. To me, it looked like he was starting to lose focus a bit, and he had been on a run where he was channeling Kipper. I think he was going to return to normal at some point. Saying that, it was a bad team effort against TBL and CBJ. He wasn't outstanding. But the team returned to its October play. Need to give Elliott the 1st start in a B2B. If he steals the game, then you have a choice. If you start Johnson in the first game and he falters, then Elliott will get a tired team. JMHO.
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I know you are stuck on the idea that the Flames do not know how to develop goalies. Probably nobody will make any arguments that convince you otherwise. If Rittich's age means he should be better able to start right now, then why rush Gillies? Gillies came back from injury to a goalie on a hot streak. If you are the Flames do you ignore a goalie you scouted and signed because you have another one that you drafted? I thought that was what made the Flames bad in the past. Ignoring talent they have and letting them walk or not playing them. We have two NHL goalies this season. Johnson was pegged to be the backup but is on a hot streak. Elliott will or should get back into form, so why would an NHL club decide to bring in an AHL backup or starter while they are still developing? Doesn't make any sense. Every team has goalies in the AHL. None of them are getting called up unless its an injury replacement or the current goalies are crap. Gillies has 19 games of AHL experience and 3 years of college, where he played a much shorter than AHL schedule.
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Rittich took the net when Gillies was injured. We were looking for a goalie to back him up, so he's doing that. And he's killing it. What more do you want in the AHL? Two good goalies. Competition in nets. First in the Pacific for a farm team, while the Flames are starting to figure it out in the NHL. I think that expecting Gillies to be NHL ready next year is a bit much, and I don't think you are saying that. If we sign Johnson and Elliott for next year and don't lose either, then we won't be hurting Gillies. Murray spent almost two full seasons in the AHL before getting a call. He was lucky that MAF was injured to up his stock. I don't think he was hurt by the years he played in SSM and the AHL. Gillies will be fine. If we only sign one NHL goalie, we will need another one as a backup. I don't think Gllies has shown he is ready yet. Maybe he kills it the rest of the season, but that's still one year in pro.
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As much as the team has confidence in the goalie right now, they can't just run him until he starts losing. They need to use both goalies and have them both playing at a top level. As well, they have a total of 82 games to manage, so we need to make sure that we have two goalie capable of playing as a #1, in case there are any injuries.
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You are correct in saying that things will adjust. Rittich has been what I expected. Gillies has struggled a bit and had another injury. Elliott struggled behind a team unable to play a steady game. We saw that same team in front of Johnson in Philly. I don't really expect Johnson to get worse over the season, but his GAA will climb. At the same time, Elliott's numbers will start to look more like Johnson's. By the end of the season, we could have the best pair in nets in the league. I like the fact that BT doubled down. We would have been sunk with Ortio and/or Ramo at this point.
