The_People1 Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 12 minutes ago, conundrumed said: Why do I get the feeling that you bought a Neal jersey just to put over the body pillow that your dog humps day and night? I do that with a McDavid jersey I had to buy for losing a bet, just to reference. lol That must have been some bet. No, I just rip my eyes out every time I check Flames capfriendly.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 13 minutes ago, The_People1 said: That must have been some bet. No, I just rip my eyes out every time I check Flames capfriendly.com. Rogers...you win I buy a McDavid jersey, we win you buy a Gaudreau. Didn't work out for me. "Youth Medium, you bought it for your son"? Yeah, not quite. lol Nothing like a video of a dog repeatedly raping a McDavid jersey. Best $80 I've ever spent. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubblejumper1 Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 8 hours ago, cross16 said: One of these things is not like the other...... Lucic has a lot more hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cross16 Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 7 minutes ago, stubblejumper1 said: Lucic has a lot more hits. Yup. A stat that shows you arnt good at hockey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubblejumper1 Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 6 minutes ago, cross16 said: Yup. A stat that shows you arnt good at hockey I agree. A -10 and a 0.04 shooting percentage also shows you aren't playing well. And, as per tonight's broadcast, blaming your sticks is looking for answers that aren't there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cross16 Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 6 minutes ago, stubblejumper1 said: I agree. A -10 and a 0.04 shooting percentage also shows you aren't playing well. And, as per tonight's broadcast, blaming your sticks is looking for answers that aren't there. No one said he is playing well but the Lucic comparison I find funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfire11 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 1 hour ago, cross16 said: No one said he is playing well but the Lucic comparison I find funny. Yes I would have found the Lucic/Neal comparison funny until I looked at the stats. What I see is we spent $250,000 less to get the kinder and gentler player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cross16 Posted February 2, 2019 Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 52 minutes ago, redfire11 said: Yes I would have found the Lucic/Neal comparison funny until I looked at the stats. What I see is we spent $250,000 less to get the kinder and gentler player. And I still find that conclusion funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouCifer Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 22 hours ago, redfire11 said: Yes I would have found the Lucic/Neal comparison funny until I looked at the stats. What I see is we spent $250,000 less to get the kinder and gentler player. Out of the two of them, which do you think has a better chance of improving? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 21 hours ago, cross16 said: And I still find that conclusion funny I must admit, I enjoy cross showing a sense of humour occasionally. Neal can improve, Lucic? that's a whole lotta daaaaam. lol Neal looks frustrated, Lucic looks bewildered. Put it this way, trade straight across? Not on your life. hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickross Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 Neal has been mostly invisible this year, which really sucks with his cap hit. I’m willing to see how he fares next year if we don’t move him by TDL. Harmonic was not great in his 1st year as a Flame but he’s been great in his second year, hopefully it’s just a matter of time before Neal gets going Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 2 hours ago, rickross said: Neal has been mostly invisible this year, which really sucks with his cap hit. I’m willing to see how he fares next year if we don’t move him by TDL. Harmonic was not great in his 1st year as a Flame but he’s been great in his second year, hopefully it’s just a matter of time before Neal gets going Troy Brouwer. Sometimes they never come around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfire11 Posted February 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 I have to admit Neal looked more "Engaged" against Carolina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalgarySTL Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 I'm still hoping it's one of those situations where the player gets "back to normal" after a 1 year adjustment period (see Hamonic, Engelland, Hamilton wasn't great his first year with us either, etc).... Dare to dream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 Just now, CalgarySTL said: I'm still hoping it's one of those situations where the player gets "back to normal" after a 1 year adjustment period (see Hamonic, Engelland, Hamilton wasn't great his first year with us either, etc).... Dare to dream I'm not that worried about him right now. He's playing on an unproductive line as it stands. We have three other lines that score nightly or if the other lines get shut down. We need his playoff experience when the time comes. We can fit him in the right circumstances as the roster picture becomes more clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalgarySTL Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 Just now, travel_dude said: I'm not that worried about him right now. He's playing on an unproductive line as it stands. We have three other lines that score nightly or if the other lines get shut down. We need his playoff experience when the time comes. We can fit him in the right circumstances as the roster picture becomes more clear. I'm not on the trade him bandwagon yet. Agreed, Id like to see how he performs down the stretch and in the playoffs as well.... Then we'll see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 5 minutes ago, CalgarySTL said: I'm not on the trade him bandwagon yet. Agreed, Id like to see how he performs down the stretch and in the playoffs as well.... Then we'll see If he isn't worth it to us to keep, how are we going to trade him for any value? We have him for at least 3 years or until he becomes the 20 goal guy again. If he gets there, then evaluate what the teams needs; keep or trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cross16 Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 9 minutes ago, travel_dude said: If he isn't worth it to us to keep, how are we going to trade him for any value? We have him for at least 3 years or until he becomes the 20 goal guy again. If he gets there, then evaluate what the teams needs; keep or trade. Agreed. Neal chose the Flames predominantly because they were willing to go with the 5th year and other clubs stopped at 4. So even if he was performing I don't view that as a movable contract which is why I think best case scenario is he starts putting up numbers. But there are also underlying reasons to believe he will so I do think patience is warranted in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC331 Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 1 hour ago, cross16 said: Agreed. Neal chose the Flames predominantly because they were willing to go with the 5th year and other clubs stopped at 4. So even if he was performing I don't view that as a movable contract which is why I think best case scenario is he starts putting up numbers. But there are also underlying reasons to believe he will so I do think patience is warranted in this case. Neal won't put up numbers until they get the chemistry right. He is playing with no playmakers and if this continues so will the lack of results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 24 minutes ago, MAC331 said: Neal won't put up numbers until they get the chemistry right. He is playing with no playmakers and if this continues so will the lack of results. Neal is at 119 shots already. A bit down of his usual pace. Janko and Bennett are at 66 and 79. If you park Neal in front of the net, somebody has to get the shot on net. The amusing thing is that a lot of his chances aren't even shots cuz they miss the net. I don't know if it's chemistry or just the wrong type of players, but Neal scores in two ways that I know of (just what I have seen); scoring on the rush or cleaning up the garbage in front. Includes tips. I rarely have seen Bennett carry the puck in and distribute it to someone in the open. He draws the defense to him, and ends up losing it or taking it to the net. Little chance for a pass or rebound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABC923 Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 Neal has a shooting percentage this season of 4.4%, the lowest in his career. The next lowest is 10.4% in 2010-2011 and 2014-2015. Maybe he's fallen off a cliff, but I think there's a good chance he rebounds at least a bit next season. If we want to find some level of hope here, we can look at the year he was traded to Pittsburg from Dallas (2010-2011). In 20 games with the Penguins, he shot 1.9% and scored once. Bounced back the next year with 40 goals in 80 games and a 12.2 shooting %. There's also the matter of Neal's usage. He has a defensive zone start of 47%, meaning he is a bit sheltered and fed more offensive opportunities. Strangely, this is the least sheltered he has been in his career, usually tallying under 45% (and a number of sub-40%), so he is being used a bit more defensively in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC331 Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 12 minutes ago, travel_dude said: Neal is at 119 shots already. A bit down of his usual pace. Janko and Bennett are at 66 and 79. If you park Neal in front of the net, somebody has to get the shot on net. The amusing thing is that a lot of his chances aren't even shots cuz they miss the net. I don't know if it's chemistry or just the wrong type of players, but Neal scores in two ways that I know of (just what I have seen); scoring on the rush or cleaning up the garbage in front. Includes tips. I rarely have seen Bennett carry the puck in and distribute it to someone in the open. He draws the defense to him, and ends up losing it or taking it to the net. Little chance for a pass or rebound. Also many low % shots from bad spots on the ice. You can feel is desperation. If they tried a line of Tkachuk, Bennett and Neal I would perceive bennett as more of the distraction for Neal and Tkachuk to do their thing. Bennett's strengths are carrying the puck into the zone, working the boards and cleaning up rebounds which should work with these two. Tkachuk is our playmaker on this line but is also a prime scoring threat. Neal's strengths are working the boards but more so working into the open spots for shots. I can't be the only one that sees the possibilities here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 35 minutes ago, MAC331 said: Also many low % shots from bad spots on the ice. You can feel is desperation. If they tried a line of Tkachuk, Bennett and Neal I would perceive bennett as more of the distraction for Neal and Tkachuk to do their thing. Bennett's strengths are carrying the puck into the zone, working the boards and cleaning up rebounds which should work with these two. Tkachuk is our playmaker on this line but is also a prime scoring threat. Neal's strengths are working the boards but more so working into the open spots for shots. I can't be the only one that sees the possibilities here. I think that Neal would look best with an elite playmaker like JH or Lindholm. JH reads the ice like no other. Tkachuk is best at short passes to the slot and breakouts, IMHO. Replace Lindy with Neal on the top line and you might spread the offense a bit better. JH-Monahan-Neal Tkachuk-Lindholm-Bennett Janko-Backlund-Frolik Mangiapane-Ryan-Hathaway The 3rd line is the new shutdown line. Three guys with speed and defensive ability. Top line allows Neal more chances off the rush and JH can feed him in the slot. The 2nd line has the benefit of two C's to split the faceoffs but puts Lindholm in the middle to distribute and finish. This probably belongs in the lineup thread, but we are talking Neal. Many ways to skin a cat, but we haven't seen anything resembling this in the past. Janko has the size to be an effective winger. He gets the Backlund bump and we aren't burying other lines in the D-zone. Lindholm has the finish to still put up career numbers, but help Tkachuk and Bennett along the way. Strangely enough, the lineup isn't really flawed right now. 2nd in league scoring. Tkachuk having a banner year. Backlund starting to heat up. Frolik chugging along now. We don't need to change anything, but it's good to have secondary options, ie. blender games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 14 minutes ago, travel_dude said: I think that Neal would look best with an elite playmaker like JH or Lindholm. Ask not what others can do for James Neal. Ask what James Neal can do for others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robrob74 Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 2 hours ago, MAC331 said: Also many low % shots from bad spots on the ice. You can feel is desperation. If they tried a line of Tkachuk, Bennett and Neal I would perceive bennett as more of the distraction for Neal and Tkachuk to do their thing. Bennett's strengths are carrying the puck into the zone, working the boards and cleaning up rebounds which should work with these two. Tkachuk is our playmaker on this line but is also a prime scoring threat. Neal's strengths are working the boards but more so working into the open spots for shots. I can't be the only one that sees the possibilities here. I think you’re saying and I agree, Bennett being good on the boards and cycling the puck, is a good fit for Tkachuk who does too. I can see the logic. Another line where it worked well was the Sedins. A player just had to get to a shooting area to knock in passes to the slot or rebounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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