Yost: Giordano/Hamilton Best Defense Pair in Hockey

[Bingo]

The Flames have what looks to be a very strong emerging core, the difference now between a playoff team and a true contender is supplementing with first contract, self developed add ons.

You can't keep paying top dollar for low end depth, and you can't just hope to find assets on scrap heaps if you wan't to go to that next level.

Kulak, Andersson, Kylington, Wotherspoon, Hickey, Fox ... they need to start getting looks (the first half especially)

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The reality is that it is Mark Spector that is the huge disappointment. He couldn't wait to write the Flames obituary so much that he wrote it before there were nails in the coffin. Maybe he was used to Oilers season being over in December but that's not the case for the rest of the league.

He's an Oiler fan, which is fine. But he does a terrible job of hiding it. I almost wish he wouldn't try to hide it. It's the obvious joy he takes on the Flames having a rough stretch masked as observation or disappointment that grinds my gears.

Would Oiler fans want to read Francis' takes on their team? Painful.

[Dan403]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

i'm surprised there was no love for the oil... don't they have 4 or 5 giordanos up there??

I'm pretty sure they know a thing or two about Giordanos.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by Bingo

He's an Oiler fan, which is fine. But he does a terrible job of hiding it. I almost wish he wouldn't try to hide it. It's the obvious joy he takes on the Flames having a rough stretch masked as observation or disappointment that grinds my gears.

Would Oiler fans want to read Francis' takes on their team? Painful.

Brilliant idea: Eric Francis, author of The Oil Spill. I'd read it.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by atb

Supports this image I saw a few weeks ago. It's not the best formatting but you can see how well Gio & Hamilton are ranked comparatively:

What's funniest about this is that Stone's old pairing is very last in the league in the bad quadrant.

Maybe it was just a bad combination.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

What's funniest about this is that Stone's old pairing is very last in the league in the bad quadrant.

Maybe it was just a bad combination.

That whole team is awful. It's almost a badge of honour to have the worst-looking stats on a bad team, because it often means the opposition is sending out its best players against you.

The Coyotes are trying to multi-task a tire fire, a train wreck, and a thirty-car pileup all at the same time, while having one foot in the grave, the other on a banana peel, and holding a cyanide capsule in their teeth. You wonder how they can fit in so many disasters at once.

[Itse]

Before Giordano-Hamilton, Brodie-Giordano was one of the best pairings in the league.

I don't know, I just feel like there's a pattern here of some sort.

[SebC]

Did anyone else look at that chart and think: "Who's Josh Manson?"

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by SebC

Did anyone else look at that chart and think, "Who's Josh Manson?"

Not me!

#JustCPHLthings

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Itse

Before Giordano-Hamilton, Brodie-Giordano was one of the best pairings in the league.

I don't know, I just feel like there's a pattern here of some sort.

It's simple. We have three really, really good defensemen.

Put two of them together and they dominate.

I'm pretty confident a Brodie/Hamilton pairing would be a top pairing around the league as well.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Itse

Before Giordano-Hamilton, Brodie-Giordano was one of the best pairings in the league.

I don't know, I just feel like there's a pattern here of some sort.

This is what I think as well.

Hamilton is really a great young defender who is only going to improve as the years go on. Flames are lucky to have him.

Brodie is so silky smooth - and though he has experienced a rough patch this season - is really a fantastic defencemen and the Flames are definitely so lucky to have him.

However, it is Giordano that is this team's best defenceman, and he gets overlooked and underappreciated far too often by everyone - even fans on the team. I find myself thinking back to all the really great defencemen this team has had since I started following them as a kid in 1981, and it makes me wonder:

"Is Giordano the single best 2-way defencemen this team has ever had?"

Al McInnis - well, he was definitely the best offensive defencemen this team has ever had, and especially as he matured his defensive game vastly improved and he became dependable. I guess I would rank him as the better all-round defencemen, but it is not without a conversation.

Brad McCrimmon was a monster back there - might have been the Flames best defensive defencemen (and that is saying a lot since I really loved Macoun and Regehr), but offensively he didn't put up the numbers.

Gary Suter was probably the Flames' best puck-mover/passer/skate up with the puck type - but defensively he left something to be desired at times.

Giordano really is a nice combination of all three. He has a nice, hard accurate shot like MacInnis, Gary's wrister and passing/skating ability, and MacCrimmon's defensive acumen (though not enough of MacCrimmon's nastiness).

That's the way I look at him anyways. I am not saying Giordano was or should be considered a 'better' defencemen than any of those three (or some of the other notable defencemen that Calgary has had), but I merely suggest that he is probably the most 'complete' defencemen that does absolutely everything at a high level.

Just some food for thought. Some might agree with that statement, some might think I am crazy. It is NOT a ranking on Calgary's best defencemen of all time - though such a ranking has to include Giordano fairly high up there now. Just a 'most complete' type.

[sixpacked]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

This is what I think as well.

Hamilton is really a great young defender who is only going to improve as the years go on. Flames are lucky to have him.

Brodie is so silky smooth - and though he has experienced a rough patch this season - is really a fantastic defencemen and the Flames are definitely so lucky to have him.

However, it is Giordano that is this team's best defenceman, and he gets overlooked and underappreciated far too often by everyone - even fans on the team. I find myself thinking back to all the really great defencemen this team has had since I started following them as a kid in 1981, and it makes me wonder:

"Is Giordano the single best 2-way defencemen this team has ever had?"

Al McInnis - well, he was definitely the best offensive defencemen this team has ever had, and especially as he matured his defensive game vastly improved and he became dependable. I guess I would rank him as the better all-round defencemen, but it is not without a conversation.

Brad McCrimmon was a monster back there - might have been the Flames best defensive defencemen (and that is saying a lot since I really loved Macoun and Regehr), but offensively he didn't put up the numbers.

Gary Suter was probably the Flames' best puck-mover/passer/skate up with the puck type - but defensively he left something to be desired at times.

Giordano really is a nice combination of all three. He has a nice, hard accurate shot like MacInnis, Gary's wrister and passing/skating ability, and MacCrimmon's defensive acumen (though not enough of MacCrimmon's nastiness).

That's the way I look at him anyways. I am not saying Giordano was or should be considered a 'better' defencemen than any of those three (or some of the other notable defencemen that Calgary has had), but I merely suggest that he is probably the most 'complete' defencemen that does absolutely everything at a high level.

Just some food for thought. Some might agree with that statement, some might think I am crazy. It is NOT a ranking on Calgary's best defencemen of all time - though such a ranking has to include Giordano fairly high up there now. Just a 'most complete' type.

Have to agree. Very good comparables up there. When in beast mode, very hard to play against.

[Split98]

I would love an all-star format where lines and pairs go together. Seeing the 3M line and the Gio-Dougie line up against all-comers would be great to watch

[united]

They are truly unbelievable to watch and the numbers show just how good they are relative to other elite pairings.

It's awesome how well setup the Flames are on the back end moving forward with the two of them and Brodie. If the Flames can find Brodie a good partner this off season, combined with addition by subtraction in losing Wideman and Engelland (hopefully Bartkowski is in the minors next year), they will have a scary good top four who can all eat heavy minutes.
Unpopular opinion, I know, but I still see Stone as a third pairing defenceman - I haven't been overly impressed - "meh" would describe it - as his play here has been masked by Elliott's incredible goaltending of late. To be clear, he's miles better than the alternatives. Still a small sample, though. If the Flames can get Stone on an affordable home town deal for the third pairing going forward, assuming a legitimate second pairing defenceman is also acquired, that would be incredible work by Treliving and the Flames would almost certainly have the best defence core in the league moving forward.

[-TC-]

The thing with Gio is he does a ton of little things really really good, over and over in games.

He did a couple things last night and against Washington, when the pace quickened and the rushes started, that made me smile.

He makes it look so easy when it's clearly not...

[killer_carlson]

I think that's a great summer topic. Who formed the best d-pairing in franchise history.

For me the Suter - McCrimmon pairing is still the pinnacle. The 87-88 and 88-89 seasons they were dominant. McCrimmon won the NHL Plus Minus award in the 88 season, which was as far as advanced stats got at the time. Suter was 2nd team all NHL and a finalist for the Norris.