Motivation and Work Ethic

[cccsberg]

On 10/20/2019 at 5:23 PM, JTech780 said:

This team looks like a team that is overlooking the regular season and just wants to skip ahead to the playoffs. That's how you end up outside the playoffs. 

Yes, they are inconsistent, albeit 1 point ahead of last year at 10 games.  

[robrob74]

What I worry about is that last year they were able to out score a lot of the problems and had how many comeback wins? I venture to say 11 or 12 without looking and possibly 13. That isn’t necessarily a good thing.

 

playing from behind is playing with fire.

[MP5029]

A slow start again this year...maybe they need to watch the movie “how Stella got her groove back” cause so far this year the team is NOT groving well 😞

[cross16]

Sky might not be falling...

 

 

[LouCifer]

12 hours ago, cross16 said:

Sky might not be falling...

 

 

 

So... when do we play the penguins? 😜

[conundrumed]

I didn't expect this thread to be a theme that wouldn't go away.

Yet here we are. Where's the passion? It looks a lot like going through the motions more often than not.

Rittich has more passion than the rest combined, it would seem.

Then Talbot throws up a great game and they wallow in words of not getting him any run support.

Empty words, saying the right things, but changing nothing. Still can't score...

JG...jesus man. Stop bickering about everything. Get up, get skating and get even. Put your big boy work boots on. Shut up and play.

How many guys look up to you? You work half the roster up in all of the wrong ways. Don't get mad, get even. You're a star and have to play through stuff. If the play carries on, you don't have 5 seconds to BTC out a linesman. Your MO for other teams has simply become, get him off of his game.

[cross16]

Digging deeper, it’s a more worrisome issue 

 

Feaster in 2013:

“Is it an organizational disease? What is it?’ We have to find a way to eliminate it. This has been the M.O. since I’ve been in Calgary — win a couple of games and then we decide we can just throw the sweaters out (on the ice).“

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/feaster+blasts+flames+prospects+lacklustre+performance+overlooking+obvious+positives/8885656/story.html

 

Gulutzan in 2016:

“What bugs me most is we play when it’s easy. If we have that mentality, we have to fight out of it.”

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/globalnews.ca/news/3203764/we-were-pathetic-calgary-flames-coach-glen-gulutzan-looking-for-someone-to-step-up-after-loss-to-montreal-canadiens/amp/

 

now this......

 

 

 

[robrob74]

8 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Digging deeper, it’s a more worrisome issue 

 

Feaster in 2013:

“Is it an organizational disease? What is it?’ We have to find a way to eliminate it. This has been the M.O. since I’ve been in Calgary — win a couple of games and then we decide we can just throw the sweaters out (on the ice).“

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/feaster+blasts+flames+prospects+lacklustre+performance+overlooking+obvious+positives/8885656/story.html

 

Gulutzan in 2016:

“What bugs me most is we play when it’s easy. If we have that mentality, we have to fight out of it.”

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/globalnews.ca/news/3203764/we-were-pathetic-calgary-flames-coach-glen-gulutzan-looking-for-someone-to-step-up-after-loss-to-montreal-canadiens/amp/

 

now this......

 

 

 

 

it is what I have been trying to say the last two to three years but I just didn’t go find quotes to back it up. Too lazy lol. 
 

but they play when it is easy. They get shut down it is hard and they don’t have anyone willing to do the heavy lifting. It’s also what I mean by soft. Guys aren’t willing to play, to go get dirty in the trenches. They want beach side resorts. 
 

we didn’t sign one of the only players that played most nights last year. Sure he’s not the solution, but he sure wasn’t the problem everyone seemed to make him out to be. If we were counting on a 4th liner to pick the team up by scoring more, then we have huge problems. Hathaway at least came to play, and if he had an off night then the team losing a game isn’t his fault. But we did decide not to sign a guy that brings what we sorely lack. Energy and grit. But it is because we have a few contracts that don’t fit the Cap structure. 

[conundrumed]

1 hour ago, robrob74 said:

Hathaway at least came to play, and if he had an off night then the team losing a game isn’t his fault. But we did decide not to sign a guy that brings what we sorely lack. Energy and grit. But it is because we have a few contracts that don’t fit the Cap structure. 

I agree. Call him whatever, but he could be a sparkplug, for sure. We're missing his hard play imo.

[The_People1]

18 hours ago, cross16 said:

Digging deeper, it’s a more worrisome issue 

 

Feaster in 2013:

“Is it an organizational disease? What is it?’ We have to find a way to eliminate it. This has been the M.O. since I’ve been in Calgary — win a couple of games and then we decide we can just throw the sweaters out (on the ice).“

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/feaster+blasts+flames+prospects+lacklustre+performance+overlooking+obvious+positives/8885656/story.html

 

Gulutzan in 2016:

“What bugs me most is we play when it’s easy. If we have that mentality, we have to fight out of it.”

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/globalnews.ca/news/3203764/we-were-pathetic-calgary-flames-coach-glen-gulutzan-looking-for-someone-to-step-up-after-loss-to-montreal-canadiens/amp/

 

now this......

 

 

 

 

This season has been the opposite. We only want to show up for the big game and we take lesser opponents lightly.  

[JTech780]

 

Their best players haven't been the best players so far this season. The issue with this team isn't in the bottom 6 it's the top 6 that aren't pulling their weight.

[cross16]

1 hour ago, The_People1 said:

 

This season has been the opposite. We only want to show up for the big game and we take lesser opponents lightly.  

 

personally i've never viewed this as an opponent thing. I think the "we play when its easy" refers more to how the game unfolds than the opponents. They don't get to scoring areas, they play on the perimeter, they throw low percentage plays on the net etc. when the space is there they'll take it but when it gets narrower they don't push through it on a frequent enough basis.

 

That's what i've always seen. 

[travel_dude]

41 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

Their best players haven't been the best players so far this season. The issue with this team isn't in the bottom 6 it's the top 6 that aren't pulling their weight.

 

Maybe, but last year we had others step up from other lines when the top line was shut down.

Janko - 0 pts

Rieder - 1 pts

Lucic - 3 pts

Frolik - 3 pts

Bennett - 5 pts

Backlund - 8 pts

 

That's basically most of our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th line not contributing.  Yes, we absolutely need a lot more scoring from the top line, but the others need to be more than just limiting the other teams to a single goal against.

 

I would add that the 2nd pairing D is getting creamed.  Gio, Ras, Brodie, Kyl, and even Stone are on the ice for goals against, but not as alarming.

Not like we have options, but Hamonic is not looking good right now with Hanifin.  

[The_People1]

2 hours ago, JTech780 said:

 

Their best players haven't been the best players so far this season. The issue with this team isn't in the bottom 6 it's the top 6 that aren't pulling their weight.

 

I disagree with your take.  The Flames spend some of the least money on their core and top 6.... We are not putting all our eggs into one or two players.  We spend on our depth.  Our bottom 6 have no excuse.

[The_People1]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

 

personally i've never viewed this as an opponent thing. I think the "we play when its easy" refers more to how the game unfolds than the opponents. They don't get to scoring areas, they play on the perimeter, they throw low percentage plays on the net etc. when the space is there they'll take it but when it gets narrower they don't push through it on a frequent enough basis.

 

That's what i've always seen. 

 

Ah I get you now.  

 

But what do they expect with small players?  We best play small.  Why do we feel our small players have a chance in tough areas?

 

Gaudreau is not going to do Iginla successfully.  So, it's not a fair criticism.

[JTech780]

6 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

I disagree with your take.  The Flames spend some of the least money on their core and top 6.... We are not putting all our eggs into one or two players.  We spend on our depth.  Our bottom 6 have no excuse.

 

Except every other line outside the top line and Frolik are generating High Danger Chances For and limiting High Danger Chances Against, they just aren't burrying their chances, it's compounding the issue, but it isn't the most troubling part IMO.

 

The troubling part here is that the top line isn't generating scoring chances and they are allowing a lot of scoring chances against. So it's not just that the top line isn't scoring it's that they aren't even generating scoring chances or offense at all. 

 

The top line has to be better, bottom line. 

[The_People1]

7 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

Except every other line outside the top line and Frolik are generating High Danger Chances For and limiting High Danger Chances Against, they just aren't burrying their chances, it's compounding the issue, but it isn't the most troubling part IMO.

 

The troubling part here is that the top line isn't generating scoring chances and they are allowing a lot of scoring chances against. So it's not just that the top line isn't scoring it's that they aren't even generating scoring chances or offense at all. 

 

The top line has to be better, bottom line. 

 

Well yes but at some point, we have to put a lot of blame on our overprice mid-tier players.  They need to carry us from time to time.

[cross16]

17 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

Ah I get you now.  

 

But what do they expect with small players?  We best play small.  Why do we feel our small players have a chance in tough areas?

 

Gaudreau is not going to do Iginla successfully.  So, it's not a fair criticism.

 

Other than Gaudreau who falls in this category? I'm not expecting Gaudreau to do it no but he also doesn't have to. 

 

Where's Tkachuk, Monahan, Backlund, Bennett, Frolik, Lucic? You don't need everyone to play that way, but they brought guys in to do it who are not doing it consistently enough. 

 

The critique I have of Gaudreau when it comes to playing easy is in tight games he needs to stick to the team game. keep back checking, keep looking for your line mates but when games he tougher (and I don' t mean more physical) he has a tendency to take it all upon himself and then display nothing but frustration when it doesn't work. 

 

Playing hard doesn't equate to being physical. It can, but over time it means keep doing the little things right and play your game no matter what is happening in the game. The Flames for years have struggled with this. 

[JTech780]

28 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

Well yes but at some point, we have to put a lot of blame on our overprice mid-tier players.  They need to carry us from time to time.

 

I just think they are playing the right way and are generating chances they just aren't going in right now. I would be concerned if they weren't generating chances, bu they are.

 

Backlund has career shooting percentage of 7.04% at 5v5, this season he is shooting 2.44% at 5v5. Shooting percentage usually evens itself out over the course of the season.

 

IMO it's just bad timing that the pucks aren't going in for guys like Backlund more than it's lack of effort.

[robrob74]

On 11/18/2019 at 7:58 AM, The_People1 said:

 

This season has been the opposite. We only want to show up for the big game and we take lesser opponents lightly.  

we have always took weaker teams lightly. Last year we barely beat a lot of them and were lucky to . It’s been this way since GG took over.

[robrob74]

Something they talked about on the radio just now is how Stone had a good game playing regular shifts. 
 

I wonder if guys got regular shifts if things could be different. Too bad some guys don’t ever kill penalties. 
 

but would they not get better at killing if they had to? Pride can make you a better defender.

[conundrumed]

Hopefully our entire team got a whole bag of scoring touch for Christmas.

As much as the D gets chirped, We lead the NHL in getting shut out. Which I believe is at 5 games now.

We'd be a lot harder to play if we could have a better than 2.7 goals per game clip.

We're on pace to score 80 less goals than last year. Something has to give or we won't be a playoff team.

[travel_dude]

55 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Hopefully our entire team got a whole bag of scoring touch for Christmas.

As much as the D gets chirped, We lead the NHL in getting shut out. Which I believe is at 5 games now.

We'd be a lot harder to play if we could have a better than 2.7 goals per game clip.

We're on pace to score 80 less goals than last year. Something has to give or we won't be a playoff team.

 

We can score less if we let in fewer.

But I agree we need more.

Our D is not scoring much, which is a problem.

Our top lines are well below last year's pace.

Baclund is leading the team (my own stat) in high danger chances missing the net.

There has been some positive steps recently, but we still are missing some finish.

 

One thing I have noticed is a lack of speed entering the zone.

We scored a ton on the rush last ear, but seem methodical this year.

That helps possession lines like Lucic-Ryan-Dube, but limits the top 2 lines.

Our fastest line seemed to be (recently) Rieder-??-Frolik.

Bennett has slowed them down, but they are still a rush line.

 

Not sure how you help motivation by sitting Kylington after a goal scored on the rush.

That's exactly what you want to see the D do.

Jump up, but have forwards backing him up.

Ras does it well too.

When Gio or Hanifin do it, there is nobody back.

 

 

[conundrumed]

I think most hockey fans want their team to play hard, fast and heavy. We're 0 for 3.

Even in the winning streak we didn't look dominant.

When I watch the Flames most nights I just don't see the effort, which is definitely increasing my apathy as the season chugs along and seeing nothing different.

The eastern Canada swing was brutal. Rittich beat the Leafs, the team sure as hell didn't.

Their lack of interest until there's 5 minutes left in every game is really playing me towards them not deserving to make the playoffs.

Quinn Hughes has 1 point less then our point leaders. Just brutal.

[robrob74]

16 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

I think most hockey fans want their team to play hard, fast and heavy. We're 0 for 3.

Even in the winning streak we didn't look dominant.

When I watch the Flames most nights I just don't see the effort, which is definitely increasing my apathy as the season chugs along and seeing nothing different.

The eastern Canada swing was brutal. Rittich beat the Leafs, the team sure as hell didn't.

Their lack of interest until there's 5 minutes left in every game is really playing me towards them not deserving to make the playoffs.

Quinn Hughes has 1 point less then our point leaders. Just brutal.

 

I know that others don't agree with me, but I felt this way most of last year. I know it isn't quite the same, but the apathy to start most games last year was unbearable. They got around to playing in the 2nd period, but I always thought that that kind of play was unsustainable. When teams felt like they had it easy they stepped back and that was when Calgary pounced. For me, it gave false hope. It was why I would always ask or say what would happen if and when teams decide to defend the Flames? 

 

They turtle and look unmotivated when it gets hard.