Flames Lineup - Suggested Lines

[Horsman1]

lines on a permanent basis just aren;t realistic on this team.. The makeup.. is severely.. slanted to the left side.. with Gaudreau, Thachuck and Mangiapane taking up  the three spots on the top 3 lines.. We have Monahan and Backlund taking up the  second and third center positions and no true top line center Then we have Lindholm.Coleman and Dube playing on rightwing or wherever they can fill in for a missing piece.. Lucic. Lewis and Richardson are playing fourth line minutes but are more valuable on the bench and dressing room..Pitlick and Ritchie have been all but invisible and Duerr and Ruzicka have been up for a cup of tea.

[travel_dude]

10 hours ago, robrob74 said:

 

 

ya, I was wrong on Gudbranson and wonder if it was just the Canucks and possibly the expectation that came with acquiring him then. He doesn’t have to be more than a steady 3rd pair.
 

I like that Sutter is simplifying everyone’s game. I think less is more a lot of the time. Checking in all areas makes it easier to defend in the end and makes having the puck more fun.

 

id say Vladar is a great find too! I don’t mind the price if it’s a goalie that can be in Calgary for awhile. The last two offseasons has been some of  BT’s best work.
 

Although, now that we have hindsight, the Hamilton/Lindholm,Hanifin trade was a good one too. 
 

if I were Sutter, I’d try get Valamaki in almost every 2nd or 3rd game. Tough to take anyone out though. But maybe in games where the schedule is tight, maybe he can sit guys for a game for maintenance. Gotta have the best lineup out there…

 

I thought Sutter was a dinosaur, but his coaching is based on the modern game.

No trap, just play in all three zones.

Spend as little time without the puck so that the other team can't get their game going.

Do what you can to get the puck back.

 

Valimaki needs to play no doubt.

He played well against BOS.

Sutter has never been afraid to sit a player, but it's usualy when that player struggles.

Or he sees something developing.

So far neither Zaddy nor Hanifin are not slowing down.

 

Valimaki would do well to follow the way Kylington got back in.

Stop thinking and just play when you are in practice or in a game.

He will get in.

 

I want Sutter to start Vladar more often.

Keep Markstrom fresh.

And build up Vladar into a 1B guy.

He's a better goalie than we have seen in the 2 hole in sooo long.

 

[travel_dude]

10 minutes ago, Horsman1 said:

lines on a permanent basis just aren;t realistic on this team.. The makeup.. is severely.. slanted to the left side.. with Gaudreau, Thachuck and Mangiapane taking up  the three spots on the top 3 lines.. We have Monahan and Backlund taking up the  second and third center positions and no true top line center Then we have Lindholm.Coleman and Dube playing on rightwing or wherever they can fill in for a missing piece.. Lucic. Lewis and Richardson are playing fourth line minutes but are more valuable on the bench and dressing room..Pitlick and Ritchie have been all but invisible and Duerr and Ruzicka have been up for a cup of tea.

 

Yet, we are winning at a rate of over 70%.

Tkachuk is showing that he doesn't need to be on LW to score like he does.

Coleman is a LW/RW player, as is Dube.

Dube can pivot to C as well.

Lindholm is the top C on this team and up there with the best #1's in the league.

 

Right now, the Monahan line isn't producing secondary scoring.

That's a concern, but he was always used to haveing Johnny drive the play.

Finding the right RW for that line is key.

 

The 4th line is fine.

They aren't being scored on.

They tire out and frustrate the lines they play against.

Lewis is one of the better PK players.

Lucic is a guy that hits every D man he sees.

Ritchie has been out for close to 10 games.

Richardson is not there for scoring, just taking draws and getting the puck out.

We spend much less time on our zone this year.

[Horsman1]

6 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

I thought Sutter was a dinosaur, but his coaching is based on the modern game.

No trap, just play in all three zones.

Spend as little time without the puck so that the other team can't get their game going.

Do what you can to get the puck back.

 

Valimaki needs to play no doubt.

He played well against BOS.

Sutter has never been afraid to sit a player, but it's usualy when that player struggles.

Or he sees something developing.

So far neither Zaddy nor Hanifin are not slowing down.

 

Valimaki would do well to follow the way Kylington got back in.

Stop thinking and just play when you are in practice or in a game.

He will get in.

 

I want Sutter to start Vladar more often.

Keep Markstrom fresh.

And build up Vladar into a 1B guy.

He's a better goalie than we have seen in the 2 hole in sooo long.

 

all good defensive points no doubt as all of your points to vastly improved defensive and overall team play.. but nary a whisper on the core issue of this team.. Scoring!!!!  whatever system Kirk Muller is using for 5 on 5 playing and power play is not working

[travel_dude]

5 minutes ago, Horsman1 said:

all good defensive points no doubt as all of your points to vastly improved defensive and overall team play.. but nary a whisper on the core issue of this team.. Scoring!!!!  whatever system Kirk Muller is using for 5 on 5 playing and power play is not working

 

Okay, so we are 6th in the league in scoring, so something is working.

The issue for me is low scoring games where we don't score 1st.

We are one of the top teams (if not #1) in scoring fist.

 

We have a couple of players that are not scoring near their potential, yet still 6th in scoring.

Not to mention the best GF/GA differential in the league.

[Horsman1]

1 hour ago, travel_dude said:

 

Okay, so we are 6th in the league in scoring, so something is working.

The issue for me is low scoring games where we don't score 1st.

We are one of the top teams (if not #1) in scoring fist.

 

We have a couple of players that are not scoring near their potential, yet still 6th in scoring.

Not to mention the best GF/GA differential in the league.

always things to work on.. tis true.. vastly improved in many areas.. My wish/hope/ dream is to improve on face offs and giveaways

 

[travel_dude]

33 minutes ago, Horsman1 said:

always things to work on.. tis true.. vastly improved in many areas.. My wish/hope/ dream is to improve on face offs and giveaways

 

 

Always.  Funny how Monahan has a winning record when Lindy and Backs are stone cold.

From what I understand, RIchardson is over 50%.

 

The giveaways are hard to watch.

Looks like peewee hockey when we have those games.

[travel_dude]

We have to do something with the lines.

The Monahan line is missing a spark.

We have a top scoring (AHL level) player practicing.

Dube is doing nothing positive.

 

As far as the D, Zaddy is killing us in some games.

We can't afford simple mistakes that end up in the net.

While Zaddy was not the one responsible for the first goal, he was one for the tieing one.

Too many easy giveaways.

He's been good for about 50% of his games, so we need better out of him.

 

Lucic unlikely to face discipline, so it has to be a sutter choice.

Richardson or Pitlick out, Ruzicka in.

Zaddy out, Valimaki in.

 

We can't keep losing these 4 point games against the West.

One point against the Pacific.

Five against the West.

Home record sucks with 3-2-3.

 

[The_People1]

Monahan has been much better early this season but it still isn't good enough.  The Flames are leading the entire NHL with a +28 goal differential and yet, Monahan has the balls to be a -6 player.  How does that even happen?  Lucic and Pitlick are the only other two minus players on the team.  Pitlick has only scored 2-points but is -1.  Monahan has 10-points and still -6.  Yes, Monahan was a -5 pretty much after the first 10-games or so and has only fallen by -1 in the last 10.  Still, a long ways from the Monahan we knew years ago when he was fully healthy.

[travel_dude]

3 hours ago, The_People1 said:

Monahan has been much better early this season but it still isn't good enough.  The Flames are leading the entire NHL with a +28 goal differential and yet, Monahan has the balls to be a -6 player.  How does that even happen?  Lucic and Pitlick are the only other two minus players on the team.  Pitlick has only scored 2-points but is -1.  Monahan has 10-points and still -6.  Yes, Monahan was a -5 pretty much after the first 10-games or so and has only fallen by -1 in the last 10.  Still, a long ways from the Monahan we knew years ago when he was fully healthy.

 

Well, the plus minus is a terrible stat.

Monahan has 8 PP points, so he wouldn;t move the needle much.

Dube has 1 PPP and is even.

Even though he played with Mangiapane, he still didn;t get above zero.

 

I think the lacl of production has a lot to do with the RW.

Have to find the right fit.

Ruzicka-Monahan-Dube could be something.

Not that MOnahan has been good, just that some players just don;t work.

A LHS C and a LHS LW.

The RW should be the benefitiary, but Pitlick has been cold.

Get Dube there.  He can streak down the ice with Ruzicka.

Monahan can trail and be responsible.

 

[pikey7883]

FWIW I would like to see Money sit one out and see a line of Mang - Ruz - Dube. Ruzicka has done well playing with Pelletier, and him and Mang’s game are not that dissimilar, so Ruz should be able to find success. And maybe it helps get Dube going with two others who can outright fly. 

[redfire11]

Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk

Mangiapane-Backlund-Dube

Coleman-Monahan-Lewis

Lucic-Richards-Pitlick

[travel_dude]

So, the Flames are in Vegas.

Practice today had no Pitlick on the ice.

Ruzicka playing on 4th line at practice.

 

Side note - 4th line stapled to bench last game.  May have been an injury to Pitlick, but generally the rest of the line plays in that case.  

I wonder if there is thought to waiving Pitlick at this point.  

2nd note - BT in Stockton watching the game.  May be looking at Valimaki or Pelletier.

[JTech780]

Can't believe I am going to say this, but I can't wait for Brett Ritchie to get back in the lineup. Need to push guys like Lewis, Richardson and Pitlick down the lineup.

[travel_dude]

23 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

Can't believe I am going to say this, but I can't wait for Brett Ritchie to get back in the lineup. Need to push guys like Lewis, Richardson and Pitlick down the lineup.

 

Can't push Richardson any further down, other than a healthy scratch.

 

Some things I liked about the lines and some things I hated:

 

Like

Ruzicka played a decent game at C.  Him and Lewis were not a problem.  

Monahan with Dube at RW was alright.  Lucic was decent for possession.

Mangiapane is a constant threat to score.

 

Dislike

Richardson is holding the team back; little chances happen with him on the ice.

Lucic was staring at an open net and chipped it over the crossbar.

We are at least one winger away from having a good team, evident when Lucic plays on a 3rd line.

 

I would like to bring in a farm hand to play with Backlund and Mangiapane; one that can pass.

Bumps Coleman to Monahan and Dube's line.

4th line can be 3 of Ruzicka, Lucic, Lewis, Ritchie, Richardson.

Only reason why Ruzicka isn't in middle 6 is because we have three better C's.

 

[conundrumed]

1 hour ago, JTech780 said:

Can't believe I am going to say this, but I can't wait for Brett Ritchie to get back in the lineup. Need to push guys like Lewis, Richardson and Pitlick down the lineup.

I disagree. Ritchie's a lug. At the very least, the other 3 skate well by comparison.

[travel_dude]

Couple of moves today:

Ritchie moved to IR for cap reasons.

Valimaki sent to AHL, ending his "emergency" callup when Kylington missed the practice.

Froese recalled as the extra body F.

 

Same line today as the SJ game.

Maybe they really should think about using Froese over Richardson; it's not like he's taking draws.

As it is, 4th line has 2 RHS on the wings and a LHS C.

[MP5029]

Yup this is typical of Sutter teams, but generally if hey keep struggling Sutter will change things up eventually…he’s old school so he sticks with what works for a while then if it struggles for a while he will change things up, but 2 losses won’t be enough to make major changes, needs to be like 6 before we see changes.

 

wait and see, if they loose another 2-4 games we may see Monahan moved up and Sutter will say he’s playing better all

of a sudden and that he’s been one of the better Ctrs over the struggle period. It’s what Sutter dose…but it seems to

work for some reason it’s how he gets players going…he was tough on Gaudreau and Kylington last year and the start of 

this year it’s Monahan and Valimaki…though I don’t think we see Valimaki until after Christmas if at all this year…which I’m ok with, I think after that injury he was rushed back too fast to the NHL, so this AHL stint will help him a lot.

[travel_dude]

3 hours ago, MP5029 said:

Yup this is typical of Sutter teams, but generally if hey keep struggling Sutter will change things up eventually…he’s old school so he sticks with what works for a while then if it struggles for a while he will change things up, but 2 losses won’t be enough to make major changes, needs to be like 6 before we see changes.

 

wait and see, if they loose another 2-4 games we may see Monahan moved up and Sutter will say he’s playing better all

of a sudden and that he’s been one of the better Ctrs over the struggle period. It’s what Sutter dose…but it seems to

work for some reason it’s how he gets players going…he was tough on Gaudreau and Kylington last year and the start of 

this year it’s Monahan and Valimaki…though I don’t think we see Valimaki until after Christmas if at all this year…which I’m ok with, I think after that injury he was rushed back too fast to the NHL, so this AHL stint will help him a lot.

 

I don't think he's old school.  I think he sees effort without results and wants to get that fixed,

There hasn't been any games where we failed to show up.  We've had stretches of poor play.

Or missing a period, but overall we have been good in almost every game.

 

It's not like he has a lot of players to choose from.

He could ask BT to call up Pelletier for goal scoring, but he doesn't see the AHL games.

We are down two RHS, so we get Froese called up.

 

We've lost 3 in a row, but none were blowouts.

Can only mix and match players so much.

Top line works 90% of the time.

Backlund has struggles a bit.

Dube still looks a bit off.

Monahan skating better and getting more chances, just seems like he's still missing torgue.

4th lin is what it is, can only get better.

[conundrumed]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

I don't think he's old school.  I think he sees effort without results and wants to get that fixed,

There hasn't been any games where we failed to show up.  We've had stretches of poor play.

Or missing a period, but overall we have been good in almost every game.

 

It's not like he has a lot of players to choose from.

He could ask BT to call up Pelletier for goal scoring, but he doesn't see the AHL games.

We are down two RHS, so we get Froese called up.

 

We've lost 3 in a row, but none were blowouts.

Can only mix and match players so much.

Top line works 90% of the time.

Backlund has struggles a bit.

Dube still looks a bit off.

Monahan skating better and getting more chances, just seems like he's still missing torgue.

4th lin is what it is, can only get better.

I don't really think that there's much to do but wait. Our prospect pool is pretty solid, Sutter's had BT (imo) bring in some standards for bottom 6. Goaltending was total Satoshi Nakamoto within the org, that was addressed pretty well. I didn't see any of these changes having this kind of an impact. this early. I think we're only getting better. Sutter's a great hockey guy. I like to think that I'm decent and understand decently. Sutter's on another planet. Gudbranson? Honestly?

As soon as Gudbranson said, "Daryl called me in the spring". I kmew right away that he knows exactly what he's doing.

Trying to gage what he's doing is hard. But to be clear, Sutter is a frigging terror of a coach at this top level.

I honestly think that he's just toying for now. Win or lose, he 's coaching for the playoffs imho. I think he's doing the 5D chess thing. Getting his reads and sitting back waiting. Crazy like a fox.

[travel_dude]

There's no doubt Sutter sees it all.

Knows what the Flames were lacking.

We are the top defensive team in the league.

Pretty solid PK (near the top).

Upper level PP, even though it looks bad at times.

Top 5v5 scoring forward, but Tavares gets all the love.

 

I was thinking Big Zaddy would be positive, but didn;t expect Guddy to be the better of the two.

I will give him benefit of doubt for sitting Valimaki.

He was making mistakes, though I though he was better that that.

In hindsight, it was giving him a pass for poor overall play.

We need him to grow into the role, not just play here.

 

A litttle surprised that Vladar didn't get the start, but whatever.

Marky usually plays well after a loss.

I expect Ruzie to have a good game.

Him and Lewis are starting to connect.

His defensive game is getting better too.

Would like to see him lower the boom a bit.

He seems like he gives too much respect out there.

[redfire11]

50 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

We need him to grow into the role, not just play here.

 

Well said about Valmaki

51 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

Him and Lewis are starting to connect.

I am starting to appreciate Lewis's game. He is good for Ruz

[MP5029]

3 hours ago, conundrumed said:

I don't really think that there's much to do but wait. Our prospect pool is pretty solid, Sutter's had BT (imo) bring in some standards for bottom 6. Goaltending was total Satoshi Nakamoto within the org, that was addressed pretty well. I didn't see any of these changes having this kind of an impact. this early. I think we're only getting better. Sutter's a great hockey guy. I like to think that I'm decent and understand decently. Sutter's on another planet. Gudbranson? Honestly?

As soon as Gudbranson said, "Daryl called me in the spring". I kmew right away that he knows exactly what he's doing.

Trying to gage what he's doing is hard. But to be clear, Sutter is a frigging terror of a coach at this top level.

I honestly think that he's just toying for now. Win or lose, he 's coaching for the playoffs imho. I think he's doing the 5D chess thing. Getting his reads and sitting back waiting. Crazy like a fox.

Yup well said…

[conundrumed]

Interesting...

 

[conundrumed]

Looks like we'll get back to Dube centering Bread. I like that.