Flyerfan52

I guess you know about Lucic only getting a $10,000.00 fine for targetting Mathieu Joseph, slashing him, nailing him when he didn't have the puck & then punching him in the head when he was lying on the ice. The rookie is 6'1:" & 173 pounds. Yeah, Lucic is a real tough guy. The part that bugs me more is young Lemieux got a 2 game suspension for his 1 offense. Lucic is a repeat offender but gets a slap on the wrist of about 10 minutes pay @ his salary.

Quennelle has a contract that pays him $6 million a year until after the 2019-20 season. He can well afford to wait before he picks his next head coaching gig. Being used to winning on a team with good management the odds of him going to a team with constant drama are only slightly lower than him opting for Ottawa.

Like the skaters of this generation the young goalies are different from the old guard. i see it over & over @ all positions where players that are driven to be the best shake off the coddling of their developement years (I think it was Tim Hunter who said these days coachs need to be as much babysitter as coach) & start working with outside experts. For skaters is guys like Adam Oates & Gary Roberts while the goaltending fraterity has their own version. The skills on these modern kids are there as they have passed on normal childhoods to live for only hockey since they were 5. What is missing is the expertise to fine tune those skills. Many of these outside experts are truely the "gurus" as with so many you see a huge turnaround when players commit to them. Even during the season they are available if their client feels the need to talk to them. It's too late for them to help the old guard like Smith but for young players @ any position working with them is walking the talk.

I doubt you.ve watched him a lot. I have every game since he made the NHL until he was traded (180 regular season & 13 in the playoffs. He just keeps getting better too. I was actually showing greed by asking for a 2nd on top of Armia. Bergervin is 1 of the few GMs I could think of to overpay like my ask involves.

I'd try offering Bennett to center hungry Montreal for Armia & 1 of their 2 picks (the other came from the BJs). Bergervin would likely jump @ the chance to trade for a player that was actually drafted as a center. Playing in Montreal we don't have to worry SB breaks out & comes back to haunt the Flames. Contracts are close (Armia is 0.1 less) & both RFA after the season. Armia had 29 points in 79 vs Sam's 26 in 82 lasr season. Also better defensively IMO. We have a lot of players that play RW but most also play other positions. A line of Tkachuk/Backlund/Armia would be capable in both a shutdown & scoring role. Also, whichever 2nd rounder we get as icing on the cake replaces the 1 we traded as part of the Hamonic deal. Another bullet in the gun for trade purposes or to refill the pipeline.

He said those were teams that had inquired about him over the years. Kicking the tires in the past does not = a trade rumor. So MTL inquired twice? You list them twice.

I saw Elliott is taking about the new chest protector having little padding on the arms. Every shot seems to leave a bruise & feels like no padding in the arm area. If you don't get the shot in the chest, stop it with the blocker or catch it you hurt a lot.

Except in the playoffs when you concentrate on 1 player the other 2 on the line can & will hurt you. Edmonton has McDavid (& without him his wingers become rather average) & Draisaitl (who's wingers are not exactly world beaters on their own. Shutting down McDavid as the main goal when Draisaitl was on his wing allowed the German to feast but since the Oilers think they have 2 world class centers that can each drive a line they are split up. If you totally shut down McDavid he can't even set up the others on his line making them useless.

If you watch Lowry (I do a lot. He's 1 of my favorite Jets) you'd be dang happy with that. The guy is great @ shutdown, can (& does) stand up for teamates, takes regular shifts & other teams can't ignore he's involved in the offence. Only place Bennett is better is in points while Lowry prevents goals by other teams big gunners. A saved goal = a scored goal IMO as it's 1 you don't have to get back.

Exactly. You can't rejig the team to try to salvage 1 player no matter how much some fans love him. I had high hopes when he was drafted but now would be extatic if we could mold him into an Adam Lowry type. Great @ shutdown but still capable of chipping in 20+ points.

It better not. 10-20 bad/inconsistant games even early in the season can leave teams on the outside come playoff time.

True, Personally I prefer the Flames take Pickard as a 35 year old McElhinney backing up 36 year old Smith doesn't make me feel really secure.

It'll be interesting to see if the downsizing of the chest protectors makes a difference in any goalie's game. The change happens starting with today's games.