So Where do we go from here? Analysis & Predictions

[kehatch]

7 hours ago, cross16 said:

It puzzles me why people still make the case Monahan isn't a good defender. IMO he is a very solid 2 way center and I would never use a negative word to describe his defensive game, he's sound.

 

I get people may look at Backlund doing the heavy lifting as think Monahan plays against inferior competition but that is only partly true. GG will go power on power quite frequently and Monahan holds up very well. MOnahan is a solid two way center IMO but an above avg center. As I said earlier I think he's probably in the 25-35 range in terms of centers across the league and needs to get faster and make people around him bettter if he wanted to move up into the top 20. 

 

I never said he was poor defensively. I have him in the same range as you (25 or so).  The point isn't that Monahan is a bad player, he is in fact a very good player.  But compared to the other 30 top line centres in the NHL is is average at best.  If we trade Backlund, or don't sign him, you are left with a severe lack of depth at centre ice.  

[MAC331]

18 minutes ago, kehatch said:

 

I never said he was poor defensively. I have him in the same range as you (25 or so).  The point isn't that Monahan is a bad player, he is in fact a very good player.  But compared to the other 30 top line centres in the NHL is is average at best.  If we trade Backlund, or don't sign him, you are left with a severe lack of depth at centre ice.  

We would certainly drop some serious experience however the depth is building and it is quality depth. I still would be extending Backlund if BT can and agree the new numbers from Little's contract is a good comp.

[cccsberg]

9 hours ago, Flyerfan52 said:

You paint with a pretty broad brush.

How big a body of work does a player require to be "super-elite"? You have McDavid with 2 years but many refer to Matthews as "generational" after only 1.

For "elite" are the top 15 in the skating positions judged solely by points? Goalies by SV% & GAA? If so "elite" seems to be a pretty fluid label.

 

As TD mentioned some players look great on a specific team or in a conference because it suits their style. Heck, there are players that look like super stars during the WC after their own more mediocre team is long eliminated fro a chance @ playoffs because they are playing with similar talent on a more balanced team.

There are players that look great on weak teams because the contrast between them & their teammates is so glaring.

Yea all your points are valid, we can have an endless argument about player rankings as there are so many subjective factors you can never really compare them apples to apples.  My point is about relative values and secondly that some teams are structured around few very high value players and other teams without those players are forced to go a different route to be successful.  Calgary is in the later category.  For the Flames IF such and such....IF so and so....IF the goalies...and etc ALL come into place they have a great chance to get into and go a long ways in the playoffs.  If not, their forwards are not good enough to carry them forward alone and that's not making the start of the season a joyous one...   at least that's my take.  

[conundrumed]

1 hour ago, cccsberg said:

Yea all your points are valid, we can have an endless argument about player rankings as there are so many subjective factors you can never really compare them apples to apples.  My point is about relative values and secondly that some teams are structured around few very high value players and other teams without those players are forced to go a different route to be successful.  Calgary is in the later category.  For the Flames IF such and such....IF so and so....IF the goalies...and etc ALL come into place they have a great chance to get into and go a long ways in the playoffs.  If not, their forwards are not good enough to carry them forward alone and that's not making the start of the season a joyous one...   at least that's my take.  

That's every team in the league's worries, in a nutshell.

[Flyerfan52]

6 hours ago, cccsberg said:

Yea all your points are valid, we can have an endless argument about player rankings as there are so many subjective factors you can never really compare them apples to apples.  My point is about relative values and secondly that some teams are structured around few very high value players and other teams without those players are forced to go a different route to be successful.  Calgary is in the later category.  For the Flames IF such and such....IF so and so....IF the goalies...and etc ALL come into place they have a great chance to get into and go a long ways in the playoffs.  If not, their forwards are not good enough to carry them forward alone and that's not making the start of the season a joyous one...   at least that's my take.  

OTOH if even 1 of those very high value players slumps or is injured that team is down a large % of their capability. We saw that when Price was injured in 2015-16.

Those forced to go with a batch of lesser lights slightly below the very top enders can survive the loss of 1 (or even 2) without losing as much. Say the Flames lose 1 of Backlund, Frolik, Tkachuk, Gaudreau or Monahan up front there are 4 that continue & we have hope Bennett or someone can step up. On D in the event we lose 1 of Hamonic, Brodie, Gio or Hamilton for an extended period we can survive (especially with Stone in reserve).

So barring a rash of injuries centered around 1 position like the Jets experienced on D last year when 4 of their top 6 were out @ the same time spreading the talent is a better bet.

Imagine the Oilers if McDavid, Draisaitl or Talbot is injured or has an off year.

It's the putting all your eggs in 1 basket story. The only basket holding 3 drops & you break an egg you end up with a smaller omelette whereas if you have a couple of baskets with multiple  eggs well distributed the loss of 1 still leaves a good brunch.

[cccsberg]

2 hours ago, Flyerfan52 said:

OTOH if even 1 of those very high value players slumps or is injured that team is down a large % of their capability. We saw that when Price was injured in 2015-16.

Those forced to go with a batch of lesser lights slightly below the very top enders can survive the loss of 1 (or even 2) without losing as much. Say the Flames lose 1 of Backlund, Frolik, Tkachuk, Gaudreau or Monahan up front there are 4 that continue & we have hope Bennett or someone can step up. On D in the event we lose 1 of Hamonic, Brodie, Gio or Hamilton for an extended period we can survive (especially with Stone in reserve).

So barring a rash of injuries centered around 1 position like the Jets experienced on D last year when 4 of their top 6 were out @ the same time spreading the talent is a better bet.

Imagine the Oilers if McDavid, Draisaitl or Talbot is injured or has an off year.

It's the putting all your eggs in 1 basket story. The only basket holding 3 drops & you break an egg you end up with a smaller omelette whereas if you have a couple of baskets with multiple  eggs well distributed the loss of 1 still leaves a good brunch.

Yes this is very true.  When everything is working the very best players may have an edge but the team is way more vulnerable to injury to their one key guy.   

[travel_dude]

4 hours ago, Flyerfan52 said:

Imagine the Oilers if McDavid, Draisaitl or Talbot is injured or has an off year.

It's the putting all your eggs in 1 basket story. The only basket holding 3 drops & you break an egg you end up with a smaller omelette whereas if you have a couple of baskets with multiple  eggs well distributed the loss of 1 still leaves a good brunch.

 

The interesting thing about the Oilers was that last year, not only did they have healthy season from those three, but many players performed at a carrer year level; Kassian, Letestu, Draisaitl, Talbot, Maroon, Klefbom....If there is any regression in the scoring for these guys, then their goal differential will be lower.  Close wins may end up as close losses.  Come-from-behind wins in the 3rd or OT would become losses or SOL's.  

 

The Flames on the other hand had fewer catch up games.  Typically, when they were losing by one or two, they lost in the end.  None of the "come back kids or Find-a-way-Flames" that happened under BH.  With more predictable goaltenting, one would hope that the early goals against will becomes saves.  Less playing from behind.  That's what I hope for most, since the defense should be able to lock down a lead this year. 

[MAC331]

21 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

The interesting thing about the Oilers was that last year, not only did they have healthy season from those three, but many players performed at a carrer year level; Kassian, Letestu, Draisaitl, Talbot, Maroon, Klefbom....If there is any regression in the scoring for these guys, then their goal differential will be lower.  Close wins may end up as close losses.  Come-from-behind wins in the 3rd or OT would become losses or SOL's.  

 

The Flames on the other hand had fewer catch up games.  Typically, when they were losing by one or two, they lost in the end.  None of the "come back kids or Find-a-way-Flames" that happened under BH.  With more predictable goaltenting, one would hope that the early goals against will becomes saves.  Less playing from behind.  That's what I hope for most, since the defense should be able to lock down a lead this year. 

The key for us is more 5 on 5 scoring. GG can shuffle the deck but he better get it right quickly up front. We HOPE the Goaltending will be better and it should be. Our D corps is vastly shored up with BT bringing in Hamonic and re-signing Stone. Now if we can get the right guys playing together up front we should gain the consistency we are looking for.

[cccsberg]

So with yesterday's cuts we are nearly down to Opening Day rosters after a hectic summer of trades, pick-ups and now three training camps.  All in all we have seen multiple changes.  Here are the ones I recall, add if others:

 

Deletions:

Bouma, traded(?) to Chicago.  Wideman-UFA, not re-signed. Engelland-UFA, picked in Expansion Draft.  Jokkipakka, traded in Spring to Ottawa.  CJohnson traded to Arizona.  UFA Chiasson, RFA Culkin and RFA Morrison do not receive qualifying offers and are dropped.  Trade Kanzig to Carolina.  Buyout Murphy after trade acquisition.  UFA Elliot let walk.  Let UFAs Bollig, Smid, Grossman, McCollom and Vey walk.  

 

Additions:

Hrivik-UFA signing.  Smith, trade acquisition for UFA CJohnson, a conditional 3rd & Hickey. Lazar & Kostka from Ottawa earlier in Spring.  Hamonic & 4th for 1st and 2x 2nds.  Sign FA Foo.  Acquire Lack, Murphy & 7th for Kanzig & 6th. Stone acquired in trade with Arizona, sign Bartkowski to PTO then sign him for 2 years to cover Expansion draft needs.  Sign McCollom for Expansion draft needs.  Sign FA Gazdic, ELC Valimaki, re-sign UFA Versteeg.  PTOs still TBD: Cramarossa, Glass.

 

Signings:

UFA Rittich, RFA Kulak, RFA Wotherspoon, RFA Bennett, RFA Gillies, ELC Valimaki, RFA Hathaway, RFA Lazar & RFA Ferland.  Re-sign a bunch of coaching and management staff, plus add McGratton as Lifestyle/Development coach.

 

Promotions (still to be finalized):

Jankowski, Anderson(?), Kulak(?), Hathaway(?) depending on whether Bartkowski stays or gets demoted. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: 

Forwards:

Bouma & Chiasson replaced by Lazar & Jankowski = probable Upgrade.

 

Defence:

Wideman, Engelland & Jokkipakka/Bartkowski(?) replaced by Hamonic, Stone & Anderson(?) = definite Upgrade.

 

Goalies:

Elliot & CJohnson related by Smith & Lack/Gillies = potential upgrade.

 

SUMMARY:

The Flames major off-season change was to significantly upgrade their defence, with the acquisition of Travis Hamonic, and the change of goaltenders.  The other D changes are probably a saw-off and possibly even a slight loss due to Engelland's departure.  However we have strengthened our Top4 D and the team will likely be riding them hard all season.  This year also initiates the transformation of multiple D prospects to the NHL or just on the verge, and we'll see how they do depending on final cut-down and injuries that occur.  This should be a positive although its likely there will be transition challenges as the new guys get accustomed to the NHL.  The most key changes are at goalies, where we picked up a proven #1 goalie, and another looking good 2 years ago that lost his way.  Whether these changes ultimately are beneficial or a saw-off remain to be seen, and this is the biggest risk to the team's fortunes this upcoming season.  Finally, we are also seeing the introduction of some new talent from the AHL in Jankowski, and potentially others should injuries happen.  This bodes well for the team's Development program but surely there will also be an adjustment period for the new guys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flyerfan52]

^^^

Re: Bouma. He was waived & bought out. The Hawks signed him as UFA on a 1x $1 million contract.

The buyout costs us 0.66 against the cap this year & 0.766 next season.

[cccsberg]

20 hours ago, Flyerfan52 said:

^^^

Re: Bouma. He was waived & bought out. The Hawks signed him as UFA on a 1x $1 million contract.

The buyout costs us 0.66 against the cap this year & 0.766 next season.

Thanks, I knew the Bouma thing wasn't quite right but couldn't recall the details.

[cccsberg]

Copied and modified from my recent post on Flames nation.  Time to re-look at where we are and results over the past year, or are we just going to pull out of it?   Personally, I'm still ticked that the team doesn't ice its best team on a nightly basis, but I guess I don't have the experience to know what that is?  Any advanced hockey minds on here want to explain it to me?

 

Though my memory is getting a bit suspect, I still recall fondly watching that Flames team, just a few years back that inspired the nation and played intense, inspirational hockey. No opponent’s lead was ever safe from the "Comeback Kids" and if we got the lead in the third period, watch out, it was OVER!  Set the NHL standard for maintaining leads in the third with a near-flawless record.  The team played full 60 minute games and our youngest guns, like Gaudreau, Monahan, Bennett and Ferland rampaged like stallions in the wild, hitting, scoring and skating like the wind. Overall we were fast, we were skilled and darn, that was the most exciting hockey seen around these parts in decades as the team attacked relentlessly. We even made the playoffs, supposedly against all odds since rebuilding teams aren't supposed to do that (guess Toronto never got that message either) and crushed one of our mortal foes before bowing out to a far stronger foe, but with respect.

 

But, “experts” said it was unsustainable. The numbers said so. Number-crunching wizards in baseball became mainstream, and eager acolytes pushed the narrative into hockey and Corsi and “possession” became all the rage. Sabremetrics remolded the baseball world and broke the 86 year old Babe Ruth curse and brought the World Series Pennant back to Boston, while top Corsi teams ruled the roost in the NHL… well, until they didn’t, like the recent back-to-back Penguins' Cups. 

 

Today, our Corsi is way up, we’ve finally broken the Duck Pond curse after beating those Anaheim beasts with a third of their line-up injured. Yeah!   Several of our stars are sputtering or derailed, we can’t play a 60 minute game, we can’t keep a lead, we aren’t inspirational, but hey, its great watching a 46 year old legend (it is)!   We signed so many veteran leaders to show the way, while relegating the speedy, inspired and hungry kids to the minors or just dropping them because, you know, smarter minds know what they are doing?   In spite of the lackadaisical play in pre-season and continuing on, the horrific turn-overs preceding making the team and getting those starter's spots, the poor effort and the inconsistencies, both the team and the vets will come around… you know, they’re studs.   Didn’t they do it, just a few years ago? And how about them penalties?  Sure the refs have cracked down, but have we got one of the dumbest teams out there, that can't seem to adapt, or is it something else?  We’re all hoping things are better, and hey, we got off to a much better start, 4-4 and I think 1 point better than last’s year’s unmitigated disaster with all the excuses in the world built in to explain why.  Yeah?   Well, at least we now have a pretty hot goalie who’s fun to watch (he is) and can move the puck like nobody's business.

 

Meanwhile we wait. We try and figure how this is supposed to be better than what memory recalls, but somehow, those pictures are fading. Was it all just a dream?

[MAC331]

33 minutes ago, cccsberg said:

Copied and modified from my recent post on Flames nation.  Time to re-look at where we are and results over the past year, or are we just going to pull out of it?   Personally, I'm still ticked that the team doesn't ice its best team on a nightly basis, but I guess I don't have the experience to know what that is?  Any advanced hockey minds on here want to explain it to me?

 

Though my memory is getting a bit suspect, I still recall fondly watching that Flames team, just a few years back that inspired the nation and played intense, inspirational hockey. No opponent’s lead was ever safe from the "Comeback Kids" and if we got the lead in the third period, watch out, it was OVER!  Set the NHL standard for maintaining leads in the third with a near-flawless record.  The team played full 60 minute games and our youngest guns, like Gaudreau, Monahan, Bennett and Ferland rampaged like stallions in the wild, hitting, scoring and skating like the wind. Overall we were fast, we were skilled and darn, that was the most exciting hockey seen around these parts in decades as the team attacked relentlessly. We even made the playoffs, supposedly against all odds since rebuilding teams aren't supposed to do that (guess Toronto never got that message either) and crushed one of our mortal foes before bowing out to a far stronger foe, but with respect.

 

But, “experts” said it was unsustainable. The numbers said so. Number-crunching wizards in baseball became mainstream, and eager acolytes pushed the narrative into hockey and Corsi and “possession” became all the rage. Sabremetrics remolded the baseball world and broke the 86 year old Babe Ruth curse and brought the World Series Pennant back to Boston, while top Corsi teams ruled the roost in the NHL… well, until they didn’t, like the recent back-to-back Penguins' Cups. 

 

Today, our Corsi is way up, we’ve finally broken the Duck Pond curse after beating those Anaheim beasts with a third of their line-up injured. Yeah!   Several of our stars are sputtering or derailed, we can’t play a 60 minute game, we can’t keep a lead, we aren’t inspirational, but hey, its great watching a 46 year old legend (it is)!   We signed so many veteran leaders to show the way, while relegating the speedy, inspired and hungry kids to the minors or just dropping them because, you know, smarter minds know what they are doing?   In spite of the lackadaisical play in pre-season and continuing on, the horrific turn-overs preceding making the team and getting those starter's spots, the poor effort and the inconsistencies, both the team and the vets will come around… you know, they’re studs.   Didn’t they do it, just a few years ago? And how about them penalties?  Sure the refs have cracked down, but have we got one of the dumbest teams out there, that can't seem to adapt, or is it something else?  We’re all hoping things are better, and hey, we got off to a much better start, 4-4 and I think 1 point better than last’s year’s unmitigated disaster with all the excuses in the world built in to explain why.  Yeah?   Well, at least we now have a pretty hot goalie who’s fun to watch (he is) and can move the puck like nobody's business.

 

Meanwhile we wait. We try and figure how this is supposed to be better than what memory recalls, but somehow, those pictures are fading. Was it all just a dream?

I believe you have to manage your expectations in the early part of the season, especially in October. I view October as an expansion of the pre-season only because nothing ever gets established in that short of time. One comment on the past only because I don't believe in looking backwards, earlier under Hartley we snuck up on teams that failed to take us seriously and had some deemed success. Last season in the later going we witnessed more of what GG wanted to accomplish with this team. This year I think we will see progress once again but I view this season as another development season for this group. The failure we are experiencing now IMO are due to GG not willing to take the necessary risks to break free our offensive options. I like that we have solid goaltending and I like that our defense (at least top 4) are back to being an offensive force. Now the challenge for GG and his staff is to get the right forward talent on the ice in the most advantageous alignments.

[cccsberg]

17 minutes ago, MAC331 said:

I believe you have to manage your expectations in the early part of the season, especially in October. I view October as an expansion of the pre-season only because nothing ever gets established in that short of time. One comment on the past only because I don't believe in looking backwards, earlier under Hartley we snuck up on teams that failed to take us seriously and had some deemed success. Last season in the later going we witnessed more of what GG wanted to accomplish with this team. This year I think we will see progress once again but I view this season as another development season for this group. The failure we are experiencing now IMO are due to GG not willing to take the necessary risks to break free our offensive options. I like that we have solid goaltending and I like that our defense (at least top 4) are back to being an offensive force. Now the challenge for GG and his staff is to get the right forward talent on the ice in the most advantageous alignments.

Overall you make many good points, its just that you and I will have to disagree on expectations.  I see you as continually making excuses for mediocre play and you see me as not being patient enough.  Both good arguments that can be supported.  Personally I never want to have lower expectations because it becomes a built-in excuse and a habit, versus the continual striving to be better.  Sure a team may not reach their lofty goals, but if they are not continually shooting for them they will never get there.  

 

With the Jagr LTIR and Jankowski call-up GG has the perfect opportunity to dramatically improve the line-up and hopefully get an effective 3rd line.  Here's hoping.

[MAC331]

46 minutes ago, cccsberg said:

Overall you make many good points, its just that you and I will have to disagree on expectations.  I see you as continually making excuses for mediocre play and you see me as not being patient enough.  Both good arguments that can be supported.  Personally I never want to have lower expectations because it becomes a built-in excuse and a habit, versus the continual striving to be better.  Sure a team may not reach their lofty goals, but if they are not continually shooting for them they will never get there.  

 

With the Jagr LTIR and Jankowski call-up GG has the perfect opportunity to dramatically improve the line-up and hopefully get an effective 3rd line.  Here's hoping.

I didn't say to lower your expectations and I certainly am not tolerant of mediocre play by anyone at this level. First the coach has to get the situations right and this takes some more time than others. The biggest disappointment I see on these forums is that fans expect their team to win every game and are all over the team based on small samples of play. It takes time to have a team become an actual team that functions to its maximum performance. Why would you not think every player on this team is not continually trying to play his best ?

[cross16]

2 hours ago, cccsberg said:

Copied and modified from my recent post on Flames nation.  Time to re-look at where we are and results over the past year, or are we just going to pull out of it?   Personally, I'm still ticked that the team doesn't ice its best team on a nightly basis, but I guess I don't have the experience to know what that is?  Any advanced hockey minds on here want to explain it to me?

 

Though my memory is getting a bit suspect, I still recall fondly watching that Flames team, just a few years back that inspired the nation and played intense, inspirational hockey. No opponent’s lead was ever safe from the "Comeback Kids" and if we got the lead in the third period, watch out, it was OVER!  Set the NHL standard for maintaining leads in the third with a near-flawless record.  The team played full 60 minute games and our youngest guns, like Gaudreau, Monahan, Bennett and Ferland rampaged like stallions in the wild, hitting, scoring and skating like the wind. Overall we were fast, we were skilled and darn, that was the most exciting hockey seen around these parts in decades as the team attacked relentlessly. We even made the playoffs, supposedly against all odds since rebuilding teams aren't supposed to do that (guess Toronto never got that message either) and crushed one of our mortal foes before bowing out to a far stronger foe, but with respect.

 

But, “experts” said it was unsustainable. The numbers said so. Number-crunching wizards in baseball became mainstream, and eager acolytes pushed the narrative into hockey and Corsi and “possession” became all the rage. Sabremetrics remolded the baseball world and broke the 86 year old Babe Ruth curse and brought the World Series Pennant back to Boston, while top Corsi teams ruled the roost in the NHL… well, until they didn’t, like the recent back-to-back Penguins' Cups. 

 

Today, our Corsi is way up, we’ve finally broken the Duck Pond curse after beating those Anaheim beasts with a third of their line-up injured. Yeah!   Several of our stars are sputtering or derailed, we can’t play a 60 minute game, we can’t keep a lead, we aren’t inspirational, but hey, its great watching a 46 year old legend (it is)!   We signed so many veteran leaders to show the way, while relegating the speedy, inspired and hungry kids to the minors or just dropping them because, you know, smarter minds know what they are doing?   In spite of the lackadaisical play in pre-season and continuing on, the horrific turn-overs preceding making the team and getting those starter's spots, the poor effort and the inconsistencies, both the team and the vets will come around… you know, they’re studs.   Didn’t they do it, just a few years ago? And how about them penalties?  Sure the refs have cracked down, but have we got one of the dumbest teams out there, that can't seem to adapt, or is it something else?  We’re all hoping things are better, and hey, we got off to a much better start, 4-4 and I think 1 point better than last’s year’s unmitigated disaster with all the excuses in the world built in to explain why.  Yeah?   Well, at least we now have a pretty hot goalie who’s fun to watch (he is) and can move the puck like nobody's business.

 

Meanwhile we wait. We try and figure how this is supposed to be better than what memory recalls, but somehow, those pictures are fading. Was it all just a dream?

 

Your are combining two different teams. The 14-15 Hartley Flames were the comeback Kids (Find a way Flames if you will) and last year's outfit was the team that nailed down leads. What the Flames did in 14-15 was unsustainable by the numbers and proved to be accurate as everyone knows they fell flat on their fat in 15-16. 

 

FWIW, I believe the flames also led the West in comebacks last year as well as being able to nail down leads in the 3rd period. 

[travel_dude]

32 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

Your are combining two different teams. The 14-15 Hartley Flames were the comeback Kids (Find a way Flames if you will) and last year's outfit was the team that nailed down leads. What the Flames did in 14-15 was unsustainable by the numbers and proved to be accurate as everyone knows they fell flat on their fat in 15-16. 

 

FWIW, I believe the flames also led the West in comebacks last year as well as being able to nail down leads in the 3rd period. 

 

And we couldn't win in the West, against the Pacific specifically.  (That's tongue twister).

[cccsberg]

11 hours ago, MAC331 said:

I didn't say to lower your expectations and I certainly am not tolerant of mediocre play by anyone at this level. First the coach has to get the situations right and this takes some more time than others. The biggest disappointment I see on these forums is that fans expect their team to win every game and are all over the team based on small samples of play. It takes time to have a team become an actual team that functions to its maximum performance. Why would you not think every player on this team is not continually trying to play his best ?

I as a fan hope my team wins every night.  After each game we get feedback on the team and get further insights into the team, which we comment on.  Of course things take time, but that applies to all teams and when ours isn't measuring up vis a vis others then you start to question certain things, like preparedness, coaching, skill, effort and etc.  As for trying every game, I guess I just reflect what virtually every coach says most every game.  There always seem to be passengers who for whatever reason are not playing up to their full potential.  I might call that not trying, but it could also be sickness, personal issues, medical ailments, tiredness and etc... 

[MAC331]

13 hours ago, cccsberg said:

I as a fan hope my team wins every night.  After each game we get feedback on the team and get further insights into the team, which we comment on.  Of course things take time, but that applies to all teams and when ours isn't measuring up vis a vis others then you start to question certain things, like preparedness, coaching, skill, effort and etc.  As for trying every game, I guess I just reflect what virtually every coach says most every game.  There always seem to be passengers who for whatever reason are not playing up to their full potential.  I might call that not trying, but it could also be sickness, personal issues, medical ailments, tiredness and etc... 

A lot of what you have here is why it takes a team to win because when you are playing this rigorous of a schedule not everyone is going to be 100% each and every time out. depth and rest applied properly can go a long ways at times. You also have to take into account when the lines aren't right and the players don't read each other well it can appear like a lack of effort but really is not. I'm sure they end up as frustrated as some of us some games. It is getting better, I like some of the changes being made to bad it takes the loss of a significant player to get the brass to act.

[Flyerfan52]

2 hours ago, MAC331 said:

A lot of what you have here is why it takes a team to win because when you are playing this rigorous of a schedule not everyone is going to be 100% each and every time out. depth and rest applied properly can go a long ways at times. You also have to take into account when the lines aren't right and the players don't read each other well it can appear like a lack of effort but really is not. I'm sure they end up as frustrated as some of us some games. It is getting better, I like some of the changes being made to bad it takes the loss of a significant player to get the brass to act.

8 games in 20 days with only 1 set of back to back games. Sorry Sunshine but this was the easy part of the schedule.

[MAC331]

4 minutes ago, Flyerfan52 said:

8 games in 20 days with only 1 set of back to back games. Sorry Sunshine but this was the easy part of the schedule.

I was referring more generally meaning the entire season.

[travel_dude]

20 minutes ago, Flyerfan52 said:

8 games in 20 days with only 1 set of back to back games. Sorry Sunshine but this was the easy part of the schedule.

 

I personally hate this type of schedule.  No rythym to it.  Smith has a great game, then has 5 days off.  It would be nice to have tgis type of schedule in late March.  No Olympic, no WC.  Just the Bettman Marketing Special (AKA All Star Game).  

[redfire11]

Starting tonight after a big lay off. 4 games in 6 nights. A B2B on the road then 2 home games where both games Dal and Wsh play the night before in Edm. There should be NO lack of effort or excuses for playing hard this week. Thats on GG.

[travel_dude]

53 minutes ago, redfire11 said:

Starting tonight after a big lay off. 4 games in 6 nights. A B2B on the road then 2 home games where both games Dal and Wsh play the night before in Edm. There should be NO lack of effort or excuses for playing hard this week. Thats on GG.

 

Last year, we were the tune up game before a team played the Oilers.  We've had that already with the Sens.

[Flyerfan52]

2 hours ago, MAC331 said:

I was referring more generally meaning the entire season.

Every team plays 82. As of last night only a few had played as many as 10. Is our schedule really harder than those others face?

This is hardly the tough part as nearer the end the better teams fight tooth & nail for every point. That's when we see who's contending or see a short playoff as a victory.

Knights & 'Nucks are now 2/3 in the Pacific. Really?