MILAN LUCIC

[robrob74]

2 hours ago, The_People1 said:

 

We came ready for a brawl (because they psyched us).  They came ready for a hockey game.  We lost the hockey game.

 

I don't think that's an outlying view of the game.  That's pretty consensus. 

 

They won the mind games. 

[travel_dude]

11 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

 

They won the mind games. 

 

The annoying thing was Francis played this up on SN to the point if asking players about it, not just souting his drivel.

He did the same with Doubty comments, trying to amp up the talk.

Every thing he goes on about is crap that divides the fan base.

Started out saying Rittich had won the net after Smmith faltered.

Then said Smith won it back.

So sick of his drvel.

[robrob74]

28 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

The annoying thing was Francis played this up on SN to the point if asking players about it, not just souting his drivel.

He did the same with Doubty comments, trying to amp up the talk.

Every thing he goes on about is crap that divides the fan base.

Started out saying Rittich had won the net after Smmith faltered.

Then said Smith won it back.

So sick of his drvel.

 

Ya, for some reason Canada radio requires the commentary to create controversy. Vancouver is the same way. It’s why I like Calgary play by play. They’re not extremely homer. 

The US announcers seem better too. 

[sak22]

1 minute ago, robrob74 said:

 

Ya, for some reason Canada radio requires the commentary to create controversy. Vancouver is the same way. It’s why I like Calgary play by play. They’re not extremely homer. 

The US announcers seem better too. 

I would say San Jose is very bad.  I was listening to their feed for game 7 against Vegas and upon hearing the Eakin/Pavelski thing I was led to believe it was a vicious crosscheck to the side of Pavelski's head that deserved a stiff suspension, until I watched it.  Very very blatant homers, I'd throw Boston's in the same boat.

 

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

22 minutes ago, sak22 said:

I would say San Jose is very bad.  I was listening to their feed for game 7 against Vegas and upon hearing the Eakin/Pavelski thing I was led to believe it was a vicious crosscheck to the side of Pavelski's head that deserved a stiff suspension, until I watched it.  Very very blatant homers, I'd throw Boston's in the same boat.

 

I swear Bostons commentators know how they're viewed and play up to it. At times they almost sound like a parody of real play by play.

[Khrox]

On 7/23/2019 at 12:37 AM, travel_dude said:

 

If I truly believed that Lucic was the best available in trade, then I might agree.

And considering that EDM was desperate to get rid of Lucic, I think BT could have done better.

Lucic had to be asked to waive, and actually had to be convinced to come to CGY.

 

This was a case that CGY wanted Lucic.  Plain and simple.

They paid sticker price.

A player with 10 seasons in a row of 20 goals with one bad season.

EDM was desperate to add a 20 goal guy.

EDM wanted Lucic moved, but was playing poker.

 

To us, this represents a reasonable deal.  We lose a bad contract of a one dimensional player.  We gain a player type we needed at times last season.

The player coming here will help us even if he isn;t scoring.

But, let's not pretend this was a good deal.

We bit on the deal at a time of the year when it didn;t need to be done.

None of this is an indictment of the player.

Yes, Edmonton wanted Neal because next to McD, it's hard for him not to score 20 (he regularly makes 4th liners 20g players. Look at Chiasson who was a 4th liner here, 3rd liner Dallas, 3rd/4th liner in Ottawa, 4th liner/13th forward in Washington. 1st line and 22 goals in Edmonton). Neal is automatically one of their best wingers (and their best RW).  It's hard to see him not stapled to McD and 1st PP. At worst he is playing on second line with Drai (who spends about half the season as 2nd C, the other half 1st LW) or RNH. Both of which are more than capable of doing the heavy lifting so Neal can be the triggerman. I'd be hard pressed to bet against 20g next season for him. In Calgary he was a 3rd/4th line winger, who could be replaced in house. With his 8-10 minutes a night 5v5 and 2-4 minutes on the second PP unit, he realistically wasn't going to score 20g here (and I'd say 15 would be the upper limit with that ice time). And in that much of a limited role, with his lack of physicality and poor defensive play, he doesn't fit that 3rd-4th line player we needed. Lucic on the other hand, fits what we need. A 3rd-4th line winger, who can chip in 20 points and crash and bang. He can kill penalties in emergencies (with how good our defensive forwards are, I'd imagine it'd take multiple injuries or multiple penalties by our PK'ers to ever have him out there), and he can take Neals spot on the 2nd PP in front of the net (and in honestly, if we're parking in front of the net, Lucic probably does better than Neal, I believe Neal should have been a shooter on the 2nd PP, not the net-front presence). 

Yes Neal probably looks a lot better next year. But for the roles and ice-time Neal vs Lucic would get in Calgary, Lucic fills our needs more. I don't believe it was a good trade. This was a sideways trade at best for Calgary. Toxic contract for Toxic contract. At this point though, Lucic is a Flame, so I'm gonna hope he just comes here, plays his game, and does well for us. If he hits 20-25 points and 200+ hits (which isn't unreasonable. Hathaway lead the team last year with 200, Lucic finished with like 240), he'll replace Neals points and Hathaways hits. And hopefully he has a small breakout next year (most players do recently when leaving Edmonton. Look at Perron, Petry, and Dubnyk for more recent examples).

[travel_dude]

I was worried about Lucic when he signed in EDM.

The last two years have been hard to watch, as the fans dumped on him worse than Eberle.

He's not a difference maker, but neither was Neal.

COnsdering the bonus paid in July and the retained salary, it's not as bad as it seems.

True money that is.

4 years and 13m in real dollars (minus bonus paid and retained salary).

 

Just don't like the cap hit, which is something that should have been accounted for in the deal, not just 750k and a 3rd that only happens if Neal is good and Looch sucks.

[Cowtownguy]

1 hour ago, travel_dude said:

I was worried about Lucic when he signed in EDM.

The last two years have been hard to watch, as the fans dumped on him worse than Eberle.

He's not a difference maker, but neither was Neal.

COnsdering the bonus paid in July and the retained salary, it's not as bad as it seems.

True money that is.

4 years and 13m in real dollars (minus bonus paid and retained salary).

 

Just don't like the cap hit, which is something that should have been accounted for in the deal, not just 750k and a 3rd that only happens if Neal is good and Looch sucks.

I was going to say that they are a bunch of bums up there in Edmonton for dumping on players like that. Then I remembered a few dozen comments I made about Wideman and Brouwer, and the front page of the paper telling Brouwer to get out of town, and yeah. I will just keep quiet.

[stubblejumper1]

47 minutes ago, Cowtownguy said:

I was going to say that they are a bunch of bums up there in Edmonton for dumping on players like that. Then I remembered a few dozen comments I made about Wideman and Brouwer, and the front page of the paper telling Brouwer to get out of town, and yeah. I will just keep quiet.

 

That Sun cover page was a low point for Calgary sports.  Not as low as this year's playoffs, but a definite low point.  

[travel_dude]

17 hours ago, Cowtownguy said:

I was going to say that they are a bunch of bums up there in Edmonton for dumping on players like that. Then I remembered a few dozen comments I made about Wideman and Brouwer, and the front page of the paper telling Brouwer to get out of town, and yeah. I will just keep quiet.

 

What we say on a message board versus public comments are different.

If you published everything we say here, there are no players that would feel good.

 

The pubic pieces in EDM have been a lot worse.

Even the management team (Reider was the problem).

 

But we are nothing like TO, where all media bothers with them and also tell the rest of Canada.

[cross16]

Lucic has hired Adam Oates as a skill coach. Mentioned at the bottom of this article

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/bruins/2019/08/10/former-bruin-adam-oates-adds-points-and-value-players-careers/Gy8PLPfPsCJ6bL031XuUPP/story.html

[stubblejumper1]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

Lucic has hired Adam Oates as a skill coach. Mentioned at the bottom of this article

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/bruins/2019/08/10/former-bruin-adam-oates-adds-points-and-value-players-careers/Gy8PLPfPsCJ6bL031XuUPP/story.html

 

Good to hear that Lucic is seriously trying to improve on last year's nightmare season.  Does Oates include power skating as part of his skills package?

 

I remember reading somewhere that coaches felt Adam Oates was interfering with their team (watching Oates on hockey night in Canada, he seemed to have an off putting personality).  I hope that is just a rumour, as I wouldn't want a fourth liner and his entourage  to be a distraction in Calgary. 

[Thebrewcrew]

42 minutes ago, stubblejumper1 said:

 

Good to hear that Lucic is seriously trying to improve on last year's nightmare season.  Does Oates include power skating as part of his skills package?

 

I remember reading somewhere that coaches felt Adam Oates was interfering with their team (watching Oates on hockey night in Canada, he seemed to have an off putting personality).  I hope that is just a rumour, as I wouldn't want a fourth liner and his entourage  to be a distraction in Calgary. 

There was recently an interview with Oates and he said he’s cleared the air with coaches, in fact most support Oates helping their guys, I can’t see it being much of an issue especially for a player like Lucic where any improvement he can make to his game would really help the big investment the Flames are putting into him

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

2 hours ago, cross16 said:

Lucic has hired Adam Oates as a skill coach. Mentioned at the bottom of this article

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/bruins/2019/08/10/former-bruin-adam-oates-adds-points-and-value-players-careers/Gy8PLPfPsCJ6bL031XuUPP/story.html

Almost makes up for the fact Neal decided to wait until this offseason to get serious about his training.

[cross16]

1 hour ago, stubblejumper1 said:

 

Good to hear that Lucic is seriously trying to improve on last year's nightmare season.  Does Oates include power skating as part of his skills package?

 

I remember reading somewhere that coaches felt Adam Oates was interfering with their team (watching Oates on hockey night in Canada, he seemed to have an off putting personality).  I hope that is just a rumour, as I wouldn't want a fourth liner and his entourage  to be a distraction in Calgary. 

 

No Oates doesn’t focus on power skating. His program is more about increasing a players offense. Article talks a little bit about his general philosophy but the key elements are positioning and puck handling 

 

The issues, as I’ve understood it in the past, is that Oates doesn’t divulge his teachings or program. Coaches and teams were frustrated because they wanted to know what was being taught and got a “no”. At the end of the day I don’t think its an issue as he has some really high profile clients who have seen success and not turning into issues for the coach or team. 

[travel_dude]

13 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

No Oates doesn’t focus on power skating. His program is more about increasing a players offense. Article talks a little bit about his general philosophy but the key elements are positioning and puck handling 

 

The issues, as I’ve understood it in the past, is that Oates doesn’t divulge his teachings or program. Coaches and teams were frustrated because they wanted to know what was being taught and got a “no”. At the end of the day I don’t think its an issue as he has some really high profile clients who have seen success and not turning into issues for the coach or team. 

 

Skating isn't an area that Lucic is likely to improve anyway, so I'm okay with focus on other things.As I said, I am mostly PO'd at the trade terms than anything else.

Frankly, I'm glad to be done the Neal experiment.

The NMC will be an issue if it isn't.

Other than that, he's an overpaid 4th liner that can help the team.

 

Gaudreau is happy to have him on the team, so there's that.

"Obviously we've been looking for a little bit of toughness on our team and Lucic brings that," Gaudreau told Adam Kimelman. "I've heard he's a great teammate and he works hard so I'm looking forward to that. Got to meet Talbot when I was in Calgary. Great person, great goaltender. I remember going into Edmonton a lot of games and not coming out with a goal or a win because he stood on his head. I'm looking forward to both of them."

He adds Lucic's toughness could be a major factor in Calgary going all the way in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"You don't really realize how big a presence he is on the ice," Gaudreau said. "When you play against a team like that and you have a player like that who can get into the corners, big body, get in front of the net, he really helps your team. I think that's what we've been looking for in our team. I think he can push us over the edge here."

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

10 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

Skating isn't an area that Lucic is likely to improve anyway, so I'm okay with focus on other things.As I said, I am mostly PO'd at the trade terms than anything else.

Frankly, I'm glad to be done the Neal experiment.

The NMC will be an issue if it isn't.

Other than that, he's an overpaid 4th liner that can help the team.

 

Gaudreau is happy to have him on the team, so there's that.

"Obviously we've been looking for a little bit of toughness on our team and Lucic brings that," Gaudreau told Adam Kimelman. "I've heard he's a great teammate and he works hard so I'm looking forward to that. Got to meet Talbot when I was in Calgary. Great person, great goaltender. I remember going into Edmonton a lot of games and not coming out with a goal or a win because he stood on his head. I'm looking forward to both of them."

He adds Lucic's toughness could be a major factor in Calgary going all the way in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"You don't really realize how big a presence he is on the ice," Gaudreau said. "When you play against a team like that and you have a player like that who can get into the corners, big body, get in front of the net, he really helps your team. I think that's what we've been looking for in our team. I think he can push us over the edge here."

If he gives the star players a sense of security and gives their players a sense of fear going into the corners he already has added a side to the game that wasn't there last year. If he happens to put up 20 pts in the meantime then thats a  bonus.

[phoenix66]

3 hours ago, cross16 said:

Lucic has hired Adam Oates as a skill coach. Mentioned at the bottom of this article

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/bruins/2019/08/10/former-bruin-adam-oates-adds-points-and-value-players-careers/Gy8PLPfPsCJ6bL031XuUPP/story.html

I'm definitely ok with this.. I've read more than once that Oates is to Skills coaching what Sean Burke was to Goalie coaching 

 

I'm in no way expecting this, but how darn hilarious would it be if Lucic produced next year and Neal fell off a cliff again .. keeping in mind what ever Neal gets i'm subtracting how many Chaisson misses 20 by as a real gauge 

[The_People1]

Crazy but is it worth a try,

 

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lucic

 

 

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

26 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

Crazy but is it worth a try,

 

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lucic

 

 

If Mony was a bit faster I think it could work. Also keeping up with the extra ice time as a first liner may not be in the cards.

 

Gaudreau - Mony - Bennett?

Tkachuk - Ryan - Lindy?

Lucic - Backlund - Frolik?

Mangi - Quine/Dube - Janko?

 

Lucic supposedly has a competent d-zone game, why not make the most of it?

 

[The_People1]

5 hours ago, flames-fan-in-jets-land said:

If Mony was a bit faster I think it could work. Also keeping up with the extra ice time as a first liner may not be in the cards.

 

Gaudreau - Mony - Bennett?

Tkachuk - Ryan - Lindy?

Lucic - Backlund - Frolik?

Mangi - Quine/Dube - Janko?

 

Lucic supposedly has a competent d-zone game, why not make the most of it?

 

 

Because Ferland worked there.  Can Lucic?

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, The_People1 said:

 

Because Ferland worked there.  Can Lucic?

 

I think you will see Looch playing 2nd PP minutes.

Last year the 2nd PP sucked.

They had fewer minutes but failed to do anything with it.

 

If you go 3f 2d, then use:

Lucic-Backlund-Mangiapane

Hanifin-Ras

 

If you go 4f 1d, then use:

Lucic-Backlund-Mangiapane

Bennett-Ras

 

Either way you have a big shot from the point, and some skill up front, a big screen, plus possession.

This of course assumes we make no further adds to the top 6.

Regardless of whether Brodie is on the team, he needs to be OFF the PP.

[MP5029]

Mmm this Oats thing seems to have some merit, I’m thinking Bennett could and probably should become a client of oats😊

[The_People1]

1 hour ago, travel_dude said:

 

I think you will see Looch playing 2nd PP minutes.

Last year the 2nd PP sucked.

They had fewer minutes but failed to do anything with it.

 

If you go 3f 2d, then use:

Lucic-Backlund-Mangiapane

Hanifin-Ras

 

If you go 4f 1d, then use:

Lucic-Backlund-Mangiapane

Bennett-Ras

 

Either way you have a big shot from the point, and some skill up front, a big screen, plus possession.

This of course assumes we make no further adds to the top 6.

Regardless of whether Brodie is on the team, he needs to be OFF the PP.

 

I'm talking about 5-on-5 though.  Lucic would bring protection for Gaudreau in a big way as long as Lucic can keep up.   Sorta what Ferland did on that line.  Maybe Lucic can score 40-points if on the top line all year.  

 

Just an idea to free up Lindholm for the 2nd line.  Lindholm is a better Frolik.  So Tkachuk - Backlund - Lindholm should work.  What we lose in offense by moving Lindholm off the top line, we gain in offense on the second line.  

[The_People1]

3 minutes ago, MP5029 said:

Mmm this Oats thing seems to have some merit, I’m thinking Bennett could and probably should become a client of oats😊

 

Ya Bennett is like Matt Lombardi in some ways.  Skates too fast for his hands and brain to keep up.  Tunnel vision.  He could benefit from coaching by one of the greatest playmakers/passers of his era.  Learn to see the ice better.