The Unconditional Positivity Thread

[travel_dude]

11 hours ago, conundrumed said:

Page 3 deep? Honestly?

Full respect to DD for doing the first one.

But JC you louts, we're crushing it.

Where's the positivity thread? Here it is.

Everything is farting rainbows. Stop worrying about trading stuff and enjoy.

People are saying we're a really good team.

T.

 

I really miss the old Bandwagon threads.

DD and FF52 used to post a lot of tongue in cheek stuff.

 

We are still missing a lot of posters even from the start of the season.

The website changes killed off some.

RD stepped up and has done every single GDG.

 

As far as trades go, sometimes the best time to make them is when you are clicking.

They have to be strategic, though.

Can't upset the balance.

The move has to improve the team long term or fix a pending cap issue, preferably both.

In reality, there are only a couple of players underperforming.

And some of that is situation and fit.

Monahan was always dependent on JG driving the play.

He's not close to 100% yet.

Dube is struggling away from Mangiapane.

 

The best strories are the top line dominating, with Tkachuk regaining the swagger and JG going to the net.

Lindholm just does exactly what he always does.  Selke anyone?

Mangiapane sitting 2nd in goals?  Crazy stuff.  I expected 30 out of him, but he may get more.

A former waiver victim playing 2nd pairing minutes and looking like a bigger, more offensive Brodie?

Guddy providing what we haven't had since Regher.

Goalies, goalies, goalies.

I'm excited to see a backup start a game, not dreading it.

Vladar is playing like a new starter and has improved in every game he played. 

[conundrumed]

I took my own hiatus after watching the team be incredibly frustrating. I knew I was just going to post negative negative negative so I just put it away. When I first came back, I was slanting really negative again. But thankfully I put that to bed as everyone was ragging about BT breaking up the core. What really annoyed me was our bottom 6 and our D. I kinda said to myself, "Self, he's trying to fix the things that you hated the most". So I ran with that. I really like the adds. The whole, "doesn't move the needle" talk I thought was bs. The core wasn't really the problem in my mind. The constant PTO signings annoyed the crap out of me. Just get NHLers. Done deal, it's been a big difference.

I'm enjoying this ride and I'm glad to not be whining constantly. It gets exhausting.lol

When I took the Flames to win the division, I wasn't being a homer. I truly believed we'd be a hard, physical team in a soft division. It's playing out even better than I thought so far. I thought it may take 20 games or so.

Where you'd think keeping up that style of play would wear down our side, I think it actually gets easier as everyone knows their roles and expectations, it becomes good habits, rather than frustrating work.

The big bonus is zero people grinding on, "this team has no identity". That was very true. Now it isn't.

I don't think anyone cared, win or lose. We just wanted to see a consistent, hardworking team.

That's what we have now. I love it.

Sutter's 3 things to NHL success:

1. Goaltending

2. High end talent

3. Depth

We don't have #2 in spades, but 1 & 3 are solid.

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, conundrumed said:

The constant PTO signings annoyed the crap out of me. Just get NHLers. Done deal, it's been a big difference.

 

The PTO's and the fringe level players...

Nordstrom, Simon, Levo to name a few.

Nesterov was something that just made no sense after we saw what he was.

 

Bennett and Gio were distractions at times.

Bennett just couldn;t seem to find a fit and the coaches made it worse.

Good luck in FLA, since you were not going to be that good here.

Gio was a good captain, but he wasn't getting the team to buy into any sort of identify.

Maybe not his fault, but we have guys now that are invested.

Tkachuk lipping off less and playing more.

Gaudreau not sulking on the bench.

Lucic wanting to go mess people up.

Guddy the colective conscience of the team.

Mangiapane and Kylington looking like what they were pre-draft.

 

I like the team's identity.

Not just the winning side but the win at all costs.

You may score a goal against, but look over your shoulder; we aren't going to give you a freebie.

Think you can hack or bury our smaller guys?

Carefull where you skate.

[travel_dude]

Here's some positives:

Top line:

• outscoring competition 15-2 at 5v5.
• 60.9% possession.

 

General

Scoring 1st in 18 games so far - 13-2-3 record in those 18 games.

OT record - poor rate of 1 in 5 wins - seen that this can be at least correctable like last night.

[conundrumed]

Nothing destroys my unconditional positivity like the 2017 draft. I like Valimaki, 16th pick. I love Robert Thomas, 20th pick.

I can't stand Lazar, and we spent a 2nd. I really like Alex Formenton, that the Sens turned Lazar into.

Do we not scout the richest team in the entire CHL? The London Knights.

On a brighter note, we also didn't take Nolan Patrick ahead of Cale Makar, so back to unconditional positivity.lol

Who needs hindsight...

[conundrumed]

That win last night was a huge character win. Needed to reboot this.

I'm very unclear if there is a trade that we need to make. It's all addition by subtraction to me.

Chychrun I'd do most days, but only in removing Z. I'm not sure...

I am LOVING this season though, huge surprise.

[JTech780]

34 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

That win last night was a huge character win. Needed to reboot this.

I'm very unclear if there is a trade that we need to make. It's all addition by subtraction to me.

Chychrun I'd do most days, but only in removing Z. I'm not sure...

I am LOVING this season though, huge surprise.

This is the first season in a long time where I feel that this team has an identity and a clear system. It actually feels like there is buy in from the players too. 

 

Now having the two big guns playing for contracts certainly helps propel this team forward, but it has made the team very fun to watch.

 

Having two goaltenders who are playing lights out makes it that much more fun as well.

 

I will say that I have been pleasantly surprised by a few players. Gudbranson has been very solid on the 3rd pairing and has supplied some much needed physicality to the back end. I know Lewis doesn't pass the advanced stats test, but I think the way he gets in on the forecheck and leads by example has been a huge help so far. 

 

I can't figure out Zadorov, one play you can be impressed by his size, physicality and the fact that he can really move for a big guy, and then the next he throws a pizza up the middle and you wonder if his gloves are made of cement.

[conundrumed]

49 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

This is the first season in a long time where I feel that this team has an identity and a clear system. It actually feels like there is buy in from the players too. 

 

Now having the two big guns playing for contracts certainly helps propel this team forward, but it has made the team very fun to watch.

 

Having two goaltenders who are playing lights out makes it that much more fun as well.

 

I will say that I have been pleasantly surprised by a few players. Gudbranson has been very solid on the 3rd pairing and has supplied some much needed physicality to the back end. I know Lewis doesn't pass the advanced stats test, but I think the way he gets in on the forecheck and leads by example has been a huge help so far. 

 

I can't figure out Zadorov, one play you can be impressed by his size, physicality and the fact that he can really move for a big guy, and then the next he throws a pizza up the middle and you wonder if his gloves are made of cement.

My sentiments to a tee. I want Dube to stay RW, I really like him as a player, but I'd like him more if he took an extra split second in almost everything he does. His timing seems off to me. Like he's fast enough to buy a bit of time but doesn't use it. I hope it comes around for him. Mangiapane's really struggling to find space imo. He's got some things to figure out too. I like him with Dube, but Sutter doesn't, so that's that.

All Backlund does is shoot at the goalie to get the faceoff for our 1st line. Which is fine, but it also stifles Mangiapane I think.

[robrob74]

1 hour ago, JTech780 said:

This is the first season in a long time where I feel that this team has an identity and a clear system. It actually feels like there is buy in from the players too. 

 

Now having the two big guns playing for contracts certainly helps propel this team forward, but it has made the team very fun to watch.

 

Having two goaltenders who are playing lights out makes it that much more fun as well.

 

I will say that I have been pleasantly surprised by a few players. Gudbranson has been very solid on the 3rd pairing and has supplied some much needed physicality to the back end. I know Lewis doesn't pass the advanced stats test, but I think the way he gets in on the forecheck and leads by example has been a huge help so far. 

 

I can't figure out Zadorov, one play you can be impressed by his size, physicality and the fact that he can really move for a big guy, and then the next he throws a pizza up the middle and you wonder if his gloves are made of cement.

 

i think I feel the same. 
 

in other years we had systems but no identity to go with it. While we were among  leaders in the league for possession, I felt no excitement for their game in those years. It felt like, just have the puck more and get it to the net, They didn’t feel like real scoring chances. 
 

this year there’s an attacking mentality that I feel was missed in years past. 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, JTech780 said:

I can't figure out Zadorov, one play you can be impressed by his size, physicality and the fact that he can really move for a big guy, and then the next he throws a pizza up the middle and you wonder if his gloves are made of cement.

 

The pizzas are the problems that overshadow the things he does do well.

He has a decent shot.

He's hard to stop on zone entries.

He can defend the home plate.

He will defend his team.

 

Overall, not a bad guy to have.

Penalties aside, he might be a piece we need for the playoffs.

Slower game, more physical.

Less penalties called.

 

[travel_dude]

55 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

My sentiments to a tee. I want Dube to stay RW, I really like him as a player, but I'd like him more if he took an extra split second in almost everything he does. His timing seems off to me. Like he's fast enough to buy a bit of time but doesn't use it. I hope it comes around for him. Mangiapane's really struggling to find space imo. He's got some things to figure out too. I like him with Dube, but Sutter doesn't, so that's that.

All Backlund does is shoot at the goalie to get the faceoff for our 1st line. Which is fine, but it also stifles Mangiapane I think.

 

I think Backlund is a shadow of last and previous years.

Are we really surprised that Mange and Coleman are not consistently scoring?

On the road, they are rolling lines and Mange can sometimes find the quiet spaces.

At home, Backlund is facing good lines and Mange has to concentrate on defense.

 

Not really sure how to fix it.

 

[JTech780]

3 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

The pizzas are the problems that overshadow the things he does do well.

He has a decent shot.

He's hard to stop on zone entries.

He can defend the home plate.

He will defend his team.

 

Overall, not a bad guy to have.

Penalties aside, he might be a piece we need for the playoffs.

Slower game, more physical.

Less penalties called.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind him on the team and I think he will be a huge help in the playoffs. He has all the physical tools you would ever want in a defenseman, he just needs to work on his ability with the puck.

[travel_dude]

19 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind him on the team and I think he will be a huge help in the playoffs. He has all the physical tools you would ever want in a defenseman, he just needs to work on his ability with the puck.

 

I'm of the same opinion.

He can look really good and bad in the same game.

If it wasn't for his early struggles, we wouldn't have Kylington up.

 

[conundrumed]

5 in a row, 8-2 in the last 10.

Let's keep this ball rolling.

I only started this thread because I exhausted myself pissing and moaning. Unbelievably, really, it's worked.

We are shocking everyone (except Torts,lol).

Let's run and get taken seriously. Come what may.

[travel_dude]

26 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

5 in a row, 8-2 in the last 10.

Let's keep this ball rolling.

I only started this thread because I exhausted myself pissing and moaning. Unbelievably, really, it's worked.

We are shocking everyone (except Torts,lol).

Let's run and get taken seriously. Come what may.

 

Deeds and FF used to be big Bandwagon thread posters.

It was a fun thread.

This one is good to allow something other than P&M.

I'm happy to see less of it in the game threads.

 

[conundrumed]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

Deeds and FF used to be big Bandwagon thread posters.

It was a fun thread.

This one is good to allow something other than P&M.

I'm happy to see less of it in the game threads.

 

Yup. This thread is pretty much homage to that one.

My own negative attitude hit rock bottom seeing nothing but negativity regarding BT's offseason moves so I needed the George Costanza do everything opposite.lol

Now, the Flames look great, I'm dating Keira Knightley and I made a fortune mining bitcoin.

Oh, wait. The Flames look great. I'm still waiting on the other 2.

[travel_dude]

6 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Yup. This thread is pretty much homage to that one.

My own negative attitude hit rock bottom seeing nothing but negativity regarding BT's offseason moves so I needed the George Costanza do everything opposite.lol

Now, the Flames look great, I'm dating Keira Knightley and I made a fortune mining bitcoin.

Oh, wait. The Flames look great. I'm still waiting on the other 2.

 

Oh dear, you will have somebody getting jealous.

Though, I have only seen him on the Pool, not here lately.

[conundrumed]

This is getting scary. There was one game in early '04 where we blew an elite Sens team out. It was that holy Satoshi Nakamoto moment where you realize Satoshi Nakamoto is getting real.

Much to my pleasure and wonder this year, this Satoshi Nakamoto is getting real.

We're a contender.

Sutter's been filthy. He threw the Florida & N.Carolina games. He did. I don't know what else to say. Start Vladar. He's playing possum to the elite teams.

"we don't have to worry about them, teams in the east do".

I think it was a, "lose don't care, just study how they play".

I keep saying, he's crazy like a fox.

If you want to call me out, who gets Coleman, Gudbranson, Zadorov, Lewis, Richardson, Pitlick and makes it a thing?

The "unfinished business" is looking a ton like honest words. 

There's a kinda magic going on here.

 

[travel_dude]

8 hours ago, conundrumed said:

Sutter's been filthy. He threw the Florida & N.Carolina games. He did. I don't know what else to say. Start Vladar. He's playing possum to the elite teams.

"we don't have to worry about them, teams in the east do".

I think it was a, "lose don't care, just study how they play".

I keep saying, he's crazy like a fox.

 

An interesting perspective.I don't know any coach that would throw a game.

Did he use these games to make a statement?

This the the best, see how you do with goalies struggling a bit?

You don't get Markstrom to cover for you?

 

I will be honest.  The Flames struggle coming out of extended breaks.

Their conditioning would be suspect having all of them with Covid or exposed.

They weren't able to practice until the 27th and then went on the road.

4 games in 6 nights after a month off.

 

IMHO, he used these games to break down the team a bit.

This is what you should expect every night in the playoffs.

Best on best.

 

I thought he had an interesting perspective on Ruzie last night.

His skillset is not 4th line so he needs to be giving 3rd efforts.

As in 1st, 2nd 3rd effort.

That's why he's here.

Not to grind away.

 

 

[conundrumed]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

An interesting perspective.I don't know any coach that would throw a game.

Did he use these games to make a statement?

This the the best, see how you do with goalies struggling a bit?

You don't get Markstrom to cover for you?

 

I will be honest.  The Flames struggle coming out of extended breaks.

Their conditioning would be suspect having all of them with Covid or exposed.

They weren't able to practice until the 27th and then went on the road.

4 games in 6 nights after a month off.

 

IMHO, he used these games to break down the team a bit.

This is what you should expect every night in the playoffs.

Best on best.

 

I thought he had an interesting perspective on Ruzie last night.

His skillset is not 4th line so he needs to be giving 3rd efforts.

As in 1st, 2nd 3rd effort.

That's why he's here.

Not to grind away.

 

 

He spends A LOT of time telling everyone we aren't a champion-caliber team. He started Vladar back-to-back TBay and Carolina. Imo, he is hiding his hand and downplaying everything.

Ruzicka's post game:

I think we've found ourselves a center. Time to find out if we have a 3LW on the farm and move Dube to RW.

I want this 4th line. Figure out the 3rd line without breaking up the 4th. Lewis and Lucic are perfect for growing Ruzicka's game. Sutter's post-game comment, "if 1 guy isn't going, that affects 3 guys on the line". That has Ritchie written all over it.

[conundrumed]

Darn it, I've been telling myself to stop ragging on Ritchie.

Positivity. Ritchie is going to score some massive goals for us, let's stick with him:)

[robrob74]

25 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

He spends A LOT of time telling everyone we aren't a champion-caliber team. He started Vladar back-to-back TBay and Carolina. Imo, he is hiding his hand and downplaying everything.

Ruzicka's post game:

I think we've found ourselves a center. Time to find out if we have a 3LW on the farm and move Dube to RW.

I want this 4th line. Figure out the 3rd line without breaking up the 4th. Lewis and Lucic are perfect for growing Ruzicka's game. Sutter's post-game comment, "if 1 guy isn't going, that affects 3 guys on the line". That has Ritchie written all over it.

 

Further to your point about downplaying. I think it's managing in-team expectations, keeping our Flames players honest. 

The team is looking good. I just think there are about 2 or 3 holes, and two of the holes are non-roster players. So we have (I think) one spot that needs to be filled. Is that C or a playmaking Winger? Another one might be 6D or part of the two non-roster players, a depth forward or D that can come in when needed. 

 

It is really close and it wasn't how I viewed the team before. I hope Ruzicka can continue to improve. The team is looking good!

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, conundrumed said:

I think we've found ourselves a center. Time to find out if we have a 3LW on the farm and move Dube to RW.

I want this 4th line. Figure out the 3rd line without breaking up the 4th. Lewis and Lucic are perfect for growing Ruzicka's game. Sutter's post-game comment, "if 1 guy isn't going, that affects 3 guys on the line". That has Ritchie written all over it.

 

1 hour ago, conundrumed said:

Darn it, I've been telling myself to stop ragging on Ritchie.

Positivity. Ritchie is going to score some massive goals for us, let's stick with him:)

 

There are three guys that haven't looked right all season, and all three of them have missed time to injury.  Ritchie is one of them.  He doesn't have good hands to begin with.  Can he be an effective player at time?  Yes, but you don't want to see him playing the entire season.  The chemistry of the Monahan line could be better, and since Monahan is getting his game back on track, getting Dube going is important.  Playing him where he is not comfortable is not a great solution.  

 

It's not even ragging on Brett.  It's finding the right mix to roll 4 lines.  Swapping Monahan with Ruzie might change it a bit, but jeeze that 4th line looks good now.  The most likely alternatives are a farmhand or a trade.  A farmhand is easier, since it doesn't disrupt anything else.  You play them and evaluate.  Not just the boxscores but the fancy stats and eye test.  Pelts is a natural playmaker, so having a guy to feed Monahan and Dube would be like finding gold.  Without impacting anything.  Waive Richardson and get him some games in the AHL.  Too early for a team to claim him.  

 

The positivity in my head says that Pelts is exactly a Sutter player.  Doing it now gives BT some runway to figure out what is really needed.  A winger is fine, but a C makes a lot of difference.  As would a #1D.  

[conundrumed]

35 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

 

There are three guys that haven't looked right all season, and all three of them have missed time to injury.  Ritchie is one of them.  He doesn't have good hands to begin with.  Can he be an effective player at time?  Yes, but you don't want to see him playing the entire season.  The chemistry of the Monahan line could be better, and since Monahan is getting his game back on track, getting Dube going is important.  Playing him where he is not comfortable is not a great solution.  

 

It's not even ragging on Brett.  It's finding the right mix to roll 4 lines.  Swapping Monahan with Ruzie might change it a bit, but jeeze that 4th line looks good now.  The most likely alternatives are a farmhand or a trade.  A farmhand is easier, since it doesn't disrupt anything else.  You play them and evaluate.  Not just the boxscores but the fancy stats and eye test.  Pelts is a natural playmaker, so having a guy to feed Monahan and Dube would be like finding gold.  Without impacting anything.  Waive Richardson and get him some games in the AHL.  Too early for a team to claim him.  

 

The positivity in my head says that Pelts is exactly a Sutter player.  Doing it now gives BT some runway to figure out what is really needed.  A winger is fine, but a C makes a lot of difference.  As would a #1D.  

Same. I think we need to consider Pelletier with Dube and Monahan. Dube has no one to skate with. Pelletier's a very good skater. Sutter wants pace, I'd assume that fits. Removes size, but not D awareness.

The coaches undoubtedly know this, but we're winning so I think it's just a waiting game now. We're doing well and we're still holding a few cards. Who'da thunk?lol

[420since1974]

8 hours ago, robrob74 said:

 

Further to your point about downplaying. I think it's managing in-team expectations, keeping our Flames players honest. 

The team is looking good. I just think there are about 2 or 3 holes, and two of the holes are non-roster players. So we have (I think) one spot that needs to be filled. Is that C or a playmaking Winger? Another one might be 6D or part of the two non-roster players, a depth forward or D that can come in when needed. 

 

It is really close and it wasn't how I viewed the team before. I hope Ruzicka can continue to improve. The team is looking good!

I think that we need a play making winger for the third line (preferably RW).

Someone to feed Monahan.