2022 Calgary Flames Playoff Thread

[rickross]

Red Mile is gonna be wild! This series will be a tough hard fought one. I know a lot are pegging Backlund to step up his shutdown game but when Backlund tries to play with intensity he just makes stupid plays and takes ill timed and unnecessary penalties. Maybe Sutter reigns him in but I think Jarnkrok will be more effective. I’ll take the Flames in 6!

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, The_Snowbear said:

what is weird is they practiced at the dome today and they didnt have the playoff signs on the ice

 

I don't think that is just the Dome.

Minny, same thing.

The only thing that suggests this is the playoffs is "NHL Bracket Challenge".

EDM has nothing.

And the ice is like crap there.

Spent 5 minutes fixing the ice in the opening period.

It's not warm or golf season yet for them.

[The_Tribal Chief]

I just want edmonton to lose lol lol

[The_Tribal Chief]

Kings are playing a style like calgary right now team comes back score again re-take the lead keep the pressure

[travel_dude]

59 minutes ago, The_Snowbear said:

I just want edmonton to lose lol lol

 

They are trying.

Already 3-3.

[The_Tribal Chief]

Imo there goaltending is still suspect

[travel_dude]

5 minutes ago, The_Snowbear said:

Imo there goaltending is still suspect

When wasn't it?

Same OLD Smith.

Looks like he's fighting it.

[travel_dude]

Smith caused the loss.

Typical.

Handles the puck way too often for his own good.

Selfish play.

[The_People1]

Just now, travel_dude said:

Smith caused the loss.

Typical.

Handles the puck way too often for his own good.

Selfish play.

 

Smith does it again,

 

[travel_dude]

You would think that someone on the team would tell him to just leave the Blockchaining puck.

They didn't need a stretch pass to the F way down the ice.

Sure, it would have looked good, but it was a blind pass.

I guess the Oilers still need 4 PP's to score more than a goal.

They defended well on the PK, but 5v5 is what wins you games.

[redfire11]

The Edmonton loss was a thing of beauty. 

[travel_dude]

7 minutes ago, redfire11 said:

The Edmonton loss was a thing of beauty. 

 

They are by no means done, but they were outplayed 5v5 the entore night.

I thought LA was a clog it up team, not a high flying team.

Outscored 4-1 at 5v5.

What could go wrong.

[LouCifer]

9 hours ago, rickross said:

Red Mile is gonna be wild! This series will be a tough hard fought one. I know a lot are pegging Backlund to step up his shutdown game but when Backlund tries to play with intensity he just makes stupid plays and takes ill timed and unnecessary penalties. Maybe Sutter reigns him in but I think Jarnkrok will be more effective. I’ll take the Flames in 6!

 

Here's hoping I can be a part of it again if we make the final!  Go Flames Go! 

 

Also, not sure if any of you caught the Leafs game, but TBag was not prepared to play and thoroughly didn't show up for the game... I couldn't believe how slow and sloppy they were - completely disengaged. It was the worst game I've seen them play - they couldn't connect on a pass or enter the Leaf zone. It was like they were playing in mud. I think TBag entered this series thinking the leafs will be easy. Bad, bad look last night. 

[conundrumed]

1 hour ago, LouCifer said:

 

Here's hoping I can be a part of it again if we make the final!  Go Flames Go! 

 

Also, not sure if any of you caught the Leafs game, but TBag was not prepared to play and thoroughly didn't show up for the game... I couldn't believe how slow and sloppy they were - completely disengaged. It was the worst game I've seen them play - they couldn't connect on a pass or enter the Leaf zone. It was like they were playing in mud. I think TBag entered this series thinking the leafs will be easy. Bad, bad look last night. 

I agree with that assessment. The Leafs won every facet of that game. Toronto's PK was more a threat than TBag's PP. That was weird. Could see Kucherov trying to do it by himself by the time it was 3or4-0.

Even Vas didn't look sharp.

Always respected Cooper as a coach. And Yzerman for taking a "prospect" approach with him. AHL, then NHL. Cooper, I think, was a USHL coach at the time he was hired to coach their A team.

Anyways, he's not looking 1 oz concerned in his post-mortem from Game 1. He's very level-headed.

https://www.nhl.com/lightning/video/jon-cooper--postgame-r1g1/t-277437434/c-11588374

[travel_dude]

25 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

I agree with that assessment. The Leafs won every facet of that game. Toronto's PK was more a threat than TBag's PP. That was weird. Could see Kucherov trying to do it by himself by the time it was 3or4-0.

Even Vas didn't look sharp.

Always respected Cooper as a coach. And Yzerman for taking a "prospect" approach with him. AHL, then NHL. Cooper, I think, was a USHL coach at the time he was hired to coach their A team.

Anyways, he's not looking 1 oz concerned in his post-mortem from Game 1. He's very level-headed.

https://www.nhl.com/lightning/video/jon-cooper--postgame-r1g1/t-277437434/c-11588374

 

Had the Leafs lost, the city would be in full panic mode.  The players would be doubting the series or the goalie.

 

On the other side of the country, EDM fans are starting to think Smith is a liability.

Which is a laugh, since they made their choice and decided Smith would be the wagon they hitched to.

Koskinen has played well at times, but overused while Smith was out.

Even when he is shutting the door, the team is front is making it hard on him.

 

I didn't think Smith looked at all good last night.

Quick looked like he stole the game, but really EDM was sloppy and didn't start on time.

[LouCifer]

34 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

I agree with that assessment. The Leafs won every facet of that game. Toronto's PK was more a threat than TBag's PP. That was weird. Could see Kucherov trying to do it by himself by the time it was 3or4-0.

Even Vas didn't look sharp.

Always respected Cooper as a coach. And Yzerman for taking a "prospect" approach with him. AHL, then NHL. Cooper, I think, was a USHL coach at the time he was hired to coach their A team.

Anyways, he's not looking 1 oz concerned in his post-mortem from Game 1. He's very level-headed.

https://www.nhl.com/lightning/video/jon-cooper--postgame-r1g1/t-277437434/c-11588374

Thanks for the link, I was curious what he'd say in his presser. He was pretty composed behind the bench as well. Didn't see him talk much at all. He even said "you don't want to give any team a game in a playoff series, but we did there". He even addressed how they've been great on the PP lately, and it seemed they expected to be quickly lining up at center ice... message sent. He tied a nice bow on the end of the presser when he said something to the effect of "you can't really judge either team on the performance of that game". Indicating the Leafs aren't as good as they looked and the Lightning aren't as bad as they did. 

[cross16]

Pretty crazy to me that after all this evidence and all the goals against caused that a coach wouldn't simply pull Smith aside as say "don't do that". 

[LouCifer]

2 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

Had the Leafs lost, the city would be in full panic mode.  The players would be doubting the series or the goalie.

 

On the other side of the country, EDM fans are starting to think Smith is a liability.

Which is a laugh, since they made their choice and decided Smith would be the wagon they hitched to.

Koskinen has played well at times, but overused while Smith was out.

Even when he is shutting the door, the team is front is making it hard on him.

 

I didn't think Smith looked at all good last night.

Quick looked like he stole the game, but really EDM was sloppy and didn't start on time.

💯 but now that they won by that margin, they believe they're the best team in the world... lol @ Leaf fans. 

 

Smith didn't look great last night. That 3rd goal looked like it hit the middle of the net.. not sure why he overplayed it to his left, unless he thought he was going to get run into by his own D-man... but still, wide-open cage there... The overplaying the puck is something we're all too familiar with. I liked the Kings' game though. Quick was dialled in. 

 

Didn't catch much of the St. Loo game, but I'm hoping Minny takes it to'em in this series. I expected CAR to beat BOS in game 1 - it was a pretty exciting game. That series may go 7.  

[LouCifer]

5 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Pretty crazy to me that after all this evidence and all the goals against caused that a coach wouldn't simply pull Smith aside as say "don't do that". 

 

I'm sure they have. But, Smith don't listen to nobody. Didn't you see the "pass of the year" highlight he made that one time?!?!

[travel_dude]

2 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Pretty crazy to me that after all this evidence and all the goals against caused that a coach wouldn't simply pull Smith aside as say "don't do that". 

 

It's almost like they just look at it as a giveaway, no different than a D-man making a booboo.  Debrusk says that 88% of the time it works out, so you don't change Mike Smith.  Hrudey said he needs to apologize to the team.  Yeah, as if that somehow makes it right.  If they want that kind of goalie, this is what you get.   

[conundrumed]

3 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Pretty crazy to me that after all this evidence and all the goals against caused that a coach wouldn't simply pull Smith aside as say "don't do that". 

And they never do. Almost like Smith has an intimidation factor that really isn't good for anyone these days. I played goal at fairly high levels. If I ever thought to chew out my dmen for goals against I literally would have been behind the arena in a fight afterwards. That Satoshi Nakamoto just does not fly. I have no idea how it does for him.

I don't think he's a bad goalie, but christ the Satoshi Nakamoto that comes with him can be toxic. I get the competitive thing, but you also need to be positive with your teammates. He always seems to be blaming. The attitude sucks. Remember with us Neal ripped on him? He puts everyone on edge in the wrong way imho.

He's a good goalie, but damn...

[sak22]

16 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Pretty crazy to me that after all this evidence and all the goals against caused that a coach wouldn't simply pull Smith aside as say "don't do that". 

Mike Smith playing the puck is like Brett Favre.  Can make some plays that others can't, but tries making others that nobody should, I think he has the gunslinger mentality of a Favre and at this point in his life just can't change.  And comparing him to Brett Favre in one aspect is still a compliment, when it comes to being a goalie he is a Ryan Fitzpatrick at best very average with stretches of really good.

[pikey7883]

1 hour ago, conundrumed said:

I agree with that assessment. The Leafs won every facet of that game. Toronto's PK was more a threat than TBag's PP. That was weird. Could see Kucherov trying to do it by himself by the time it was 3or4-0.

Even Vas didn't look sharp.

Always respected Cooper as a coach. And Yzerman for taking a "prospect" approach with him. AHL, then NHL. Cooper, I think, was a USHL coach at the time he was hired to coach their A team.

Anyways, he's not looking 1 oz concerned in his post-mortem from Game 1. He's very level-headed.

https://www.nhl.com/lightning/video/jon-cooper--postgame-r1g1/t-277437434/c-11588374

For me, I think the refs took Tampa out of the game with the penalty to Clifford. I think Tampa was ready to drag Toronto into the alley, and then capitalize on penalties. But when Clifford got tossed, I think it took the wind out of Tampas sails, because they could no longer be the aggressor knowing the refs will be watching for anything dirty as retaliation. I think it threw them off, and the 5 minute PK by the leafs was then digging in and it turned into a track meet, and Tampa wasn’t ready for that. 

[travel_dude]

55 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

And they never do. Almost like Smith has an intimidation factor that really isn't good for anyone these days. I played goal at fairly high levels. If I ever thought to chew out my dmen for goals against I literally would have been behind the arena in a fight afterwards. That Satoshi Nakamoto just does not fly. I have no idea how it does for him.

I don't think he's a bad goalie, but christ the Satoshi Nakamoto that comes with him can be toxic. I get the competitive thing, but you also need to be positive with your teammates. He always seems to be blaming. The attitude sucks. Remember with us Neal ripped on him? He puts everyone on edge in the wrong way imho.

He's a good goalie, but damn...

 

When he was here, I was really sick and tired of his impact.  Does he save the D from punishing hits from time to time?  Sure.  But, crap on a cracker, all he does is impact the game in the wrong way.  Stop the puck behind the net on a dump in is fine 90% of the time.  You don't always have to do it, as the D-men know how to play it.  Let the D-men take the puck out of the zone.  Instead, he thinks he needs to make a pass to a winger and skip the D.  Wonders why the ply comes back in 10 seconds or less.  

 

Smith adjusting will be Smith trying to put it glass and out.  Cringe time.  Either he trusts the D, or he doesn't.  No way Keith is telling him to bomb it to Draisaitl, who is at the Kings blueline watching.  

 

I found it odd that Brandon Lemieux played less that 3 minutes, even with that goal.  Must have been a result of Byfield looking lost and being on his line.

[robrob74]

12 minutes ago, pikey7883 said:

For me, I think the refs took Tampa out of the game with the penalty to Clifford. I think Tampa was ready to drag Toronto into the alley, and then capitalize on penalties. But when Clifford got tossed, I think it took the wind out of Tampas sails, because they could no longer be the aggressor knowing the refs will be watching for anything dirty as retaliation. I think it threw them off, and the 5 minute PK by the leafs was then digging in and it turned into a track meet, and Tampa wasn’t ready for that. 

 

there were a lot of calls that game that aren’t normally playoff penalties. I never look at who is reffing to see how long they’ve reffed or how many playoff games. I was wondering if the refs wanted some spotlight too. 
 

penalties have a way of killing momentum. If the PP isn’t “on” then the team loses its sails. 
 

my dad was a leafs fan so I’ll kind of cheer for them out of respect for him, but ya, I guess with how the game was officiated, there is no way to gauge where either team could be. Many are eight TB didn’t get up for the game, and the leafs were ready. I do hope that matthews and Marner keep getting points for my pool of 20… 

 

i should have picked Perron, I had a sneaky feeling he is playoff grit. 
 

Chose the two up North because even if they lose the series they probably get 15 points each .