travel_dude

Attack of the rogue double post issue.

No to those other guys you mentioned. As far as who to extend, I think it's too early to call. Elliott struggled to start the season, but is starting to rebound. Johnson looks great right now, but could easily tail off. Neither of them has proven they can play more than 45 games in a season. Near the end of the season, I would look at the body of work and their results and decide to extend one or both. The lesser of the two would not be protected. I get the desire to ride a #1, but I think the jury is out on Gillies as a NHL backup as early as next season. I think giving up on one of two NHL goalies with no clear successor is risky.

For those that preferred to get MAF, here's some stats for ya: GP 14 GS 13 Wins 6 Losses 4 OTL 3 GA 43 GAA 3.18 SA% .907 Elliott GP 12 GS 12 Wins 3 Losses 9 OTL 0 GA 41 GAA 3.18 SA% .882

I think it's closer to 50/50 IMHO. The goalie covers most of the net but there is a perfect spot that can be hit. Most of the players that hit the crossbars are aiming for that spot and miss. As far as the posts go, there are many times that a player beats the goalie and misses the back of the net. Call it lucky, well positioned or the shooter missed. It doesn't make the goalie any worse; he can only cover so much of the net.

The point is that the shot got past him. Shot missed the net as much as CJ didn't give any of the net exposed. The difference between a goal and a miss is inches at most. Good to be lucky or lucky to be good. Both are sound goalies. What I notice about games with CJ is that the team goes the extra mile to clear the puck after he gives up a rebound. Elliott gets hung out to dry more.

He's not a starter, and was only one last year due to Lehner being injured in the first days of the season. Buy, he has shown he is capable of playing 40 games. Elliott is a concern right now because we play flat in front of him. He's overplaying because he's getting hung out too much. He's a bit too much like Ramo was early last season. I think he just needs to get a gritty win before his confidence comes back. An actual team game where the team saves his bacon and he saves theirs. Elliott seems to be not trusting his d-men when he goes to play the puck, while CJ communicates pretty well with them. GG has been doing that. But I caution that there is more to picking a starter for a particular game. He chose to start Elliott instead of CJ in Buffalo. Kept CJ rested for the tougher of the two games. Almost worked except for the penalty collapse in Buffalo. One thng I will point out is that at least one game that CJ won, the post and crossbar saved the game for him. One of them goes in, and it's a different game.

Quick shout out to Rittich. Last two games, 2-1 (OTW) and 2-0 shutout.

For a RHS, Morrison is fine. Many here don't have any faith on Spoon.

Who is ready?

It was confirmed that he failed to report. The thought is he will go to Europe. Unless a NHL team signs him. He doesn't really fit the Flames need right now, but things can change overnight. If there was a pending trade. If they prefer to go with 8D and 13F. He would be a better option for the Flames after the TDL, assuming they can trade one of the vets on an expiring contract.

Nakladal's contract was just terminated by the Canes. Wonder if there is any value in bringing him back. He was passable here, and after this season, we lose two RHS players on defense. He had a good point shot on the PP. He wasn't a tire fire on defense. Overall, a better player than Wotherspoon. Worth a contract?

I look at Laine alone as a huge difference maker. He's going to win the Calder this year and could actually win the scoring title. Eleven goals in 17 games. But their pipeline is great. Turnover of the roster is going to be tough and learning not to take so many penalties is something to improve upon. Arizona has a advanced stats guy as the GM. I question his logic some days. They have good young players and prospects, but seem content in mismanaging most of them.

Only thing missing is playing Engelland as a RW.

I don't think the Oilers will leave us in the dust at all. All their good players are playing. Puljujarvi may or may not pan out in the NHL. He doesn't look like much of an impact maker right now. But I would also just match him up as equivalent to Tkachuk in impact. I would agree with the Jets and Yotes prospects being better than ours overall. We have some nice forwards that could be better than advertised. We have some decent prospects on D that could be really good, such as Hickey, Fox, Andersson, Kylington. The Jets will have to manage their assets having players like Big Buff, Wheeler, Enstrom, Stafford starting to age.

Maybe. But Gio has to become a top pairing D-man again. If Brodie was propping him up, then we have big problems. But, as I said, this is only necessary to keep Wideman in the lineup. I don't think sitting Jokipakka is the best solution to the struggles of the defense. Maybe sitting Engelland for Wideman makes a bit more sense. In other words, you keep everything else the same and only play Wideman when Engelland comes out. You utilize the best options available. Gio-Brodie Yokipakka(Kulak)-Hamilton Kulak(Yokipakka)-Engelland or Gio-Brodie Yokipakka(Kulak)-Hamilton Kulak(Yokipakka)-Wideman

If we are going to play Wideman and sit one of Jokipakka or Kulak, why not at least try something constructive: Gio-Hamilton Brodie-Wideman Kulak-Engelland Haven't seen anything great out of Brodie-Engelland. Kulak-Engelland was one of our better pairs. Gio-Wideman was fine last few games, but not if you are forced to play Brodie-Engelland. For some reason, Gio-Hamilton hasn't had much traction from the coaches. I guess they are experts.

I am with you on the messed up lines. Perhaps there is a way to use Wideman in the lineup. 7D. We are double shifting some players and actually look good when we have been down a player for part of the night. We actually are losing the games due to goals against, not lack of scoring. We are letting way too many 5v5 goals in. So, I would suggest that we sit a RHS winger/C and insert Wideman. Gio-Brodie Jokipakka/Kulak-Hamilton Engelland/Kulak-Wideman PP1 Brodie-Wideman PP2 Gio-Hamilton Playing time: Gio - 22 min Brodie - 22 mn Wideman - 16 min Hamilton - 18 min Kulak - 16 min Yokipakka - 14 min Engelland - 14 min Concentrate Wideman's and Hammy's time on PP, Gio and Brodie mixed, Kulak and Joki even strength, and Engelland on EV and PK.

^^^^^^ I would agree with a lot of your takeaways. The one you are missing is Mangiapane, who is lighting it up after being scratched for a couple of games: B. Bader @Baderader Mangiapane pacing an nhle above 50 right now after 7 games in the A. Guy is going to be an NHLer. And a good one. 12:20 PM - 6 Nov 2016 Frattin and Vey are fringe NHL players, so I would expect them to be good in the AHL. Frattin is also a 28 year old vet. Gillies jammed his thumb and had to leave the game, but is not expected to miss any time.

^^^^^ Interesting. I thought the 30 years part seemed a little odd. Burkie wouldn't pull any punches when talking about the players or coach. If he feels strongly about using or not using Grossmann or Kulak, then he needs to discuss it with BT. Unfortunately, BB says too much. It didn't help the Sven situation. I doubt it will help Johnny or Monahan. That's up to the coach to fix.

Out of curiosity, what did he say today? Who did he out?

We fired a Jack Adams winner after a much worse start, at the end of the year. 26th in the league at the end of the season is not exactly a good track record. 134-135-25 in 4 seasons. Not bad for a rebuild, I guess, but it includes a winning record in 2014/15 (45-30-7).

It looked to me like Kesler saw that he was going to get hit and tucked his head in. Domi connected with an uppercut.

There are games where Gaudreau is able to dance around the other teams. As it is, he has 30 shots on net, second only to Dougie. He is getting dumped regularly in the O-zone. He is making risky plays at times, but the players are usually so bunched up, that a two foot pass would lead to a turnover. I would like to see a bit more than dump/chase and carrying the puck in while your other forwards are standing on the blueline. When Brodie tries to carry it in, it's usually the same result.

That's a coaching moment. Game tapes. Review with the line. They are as much at fault by being easy to defend against. Have some set plays where a player is going to be at a certain location. That seems to be missing.

I believe that GG made a point of saying he wouldn't restrict the gifted players and confining them to a box. Gaudreau is not struggling because of the system; he is struggling because he is trying to create offense with no support. Everytime he shoots from the top of the circle it's because there is no options. They are one-and-done and then back to the D-zone. By the time he sees the puck again, it's at the end of his shift. One player that amazes me is Donskoi. That guy is super-fast. If we had a player like that with JH, we would see a lot of scoring chances.