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Old 09-06-2017, 06:48 PM   #1
GranteedEV
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Gulutzan noted in his interview the other day the Flames had strong special teams once everyone figured out their roles last year. Will he look to tweak as the roster seems to have improved, or will he not want to rock the boat?

These were our PP units last year, essentially:

Brodie
Gaudreau-Monahan-Versteeg
Brouwer

Giordano-Hamilton
Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik

With Bennett, Ferland, and Chiasson very occasionally getting cycled in here and there (Bennett a bit more than the other two).

Will Brouwer stay on PP1?
If we sign Jagr, where does he fit in? PP1? PP2? No PP? In whose place?
Will Bennett replace Frolik on PP2?
Should Brodie stay on PP1? If not, and Hamilton is promoted to PP1, should Brodie play on PP2 or should Stone?

These were our PK units last year, essentially:

Giordano-Engelland
Backlund-Frolik
Bouma-Stajan

Brodie-Stone
Bennett-Chiasson

(Bartkowski-Hamilton)
(Monahan-Brouwer)

Three players are no longer with the team. However we should have a wealth of skaters who have shown they can kill penalties well - Travis Hamonic, Mark Jankowski, Curtis Lazar, Garnet Hathaway, Freddie Hamilton.

Hamonic and Brodie might be a 5-on-5 pairing, so maybe they become a PK pairing too?
Will Bennett be promoted to the second PK pairing, considering he outperformed Stajan last year in basically every PK metric?
Will Stone be promoted to the first PK pairing? Or Dougie Hamilton, Giordano's ES partner?
Who will replace Alex Chiasson as Bennett's PK partner?
Will Stajan continue to kill penalties as his effectiveness starts to decline?
Who will replace Lance Bouma as Stajan's PK partner?
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Old 09-06-2017, 08:51 PM   #2
Gaudfather
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Will Brouwer stay on PP1?
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Old 09-06-2017, 09:07 PM   #3
TheScorpion
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Here's what I want to see from the special teams units this year.

Powerplay 1:

Versteeg - Hamilton
Gaudreau - Monahan
Ferland
--opposing net--

Versteeg clearly works at that position, as we saw last year when he led the Flames in powerplay goals. Hamilton, I feel, is a better offensive defenseman than Brodie, and has a better shot. Ferland should replace Brouwer in front of the net, as he seems to have more sandpaper and scoring touch at this point.

Powerplay 2:

Stone - Giordano
Bennett - Backlund
Tkachuk
--opposing net--

Tkachuk would be a really intriguing net-front presence. We all know that he's chippy, and he has good skills in tight. Bennett NEEDS powerplay time this year and playing him with two really good offensive forwards in Backlund and Tkachuk should give him ample opportunities to contribute. Stone and Giordano both provide cannons from the points.

Powerplay 3:

Hamonic - Brodie
Frolik - Jankowski
Brouwer
--opposing net--

I feel like Hamonic and Brodie have styles that suit each other well, but aren't perfectly suited to the powerplay, so I'll put them on a "third unit". Brouwer goes in front of the net by default, because he is large. Janko would be an interesting powerplay experiment, and Frolik is a good distributor and shooter who can provide offense.

PK 1:

--Flames net--
Giordano - Hamonic
Frolik - Backlund

Hamonic should seamlessly replace Engelland in his old role. The two forwards are obvious, as is Giordano.

PK 2:

--Flames net--
Brodie - Hamilton
Stajan - Lazar

This is where it gets less obvious. Stajan is obviously a very good two-way centre, and Lazar is perhaps being bred into that mold. It'd be interesting to see how they perform together.

PK 3:

--Flames net--
Kulak - Stone
Bennett - Tkachuk

Might as well throw Kulak on a special team if he's in the lineup and earns a permanent spot, which he certainly could. Stone is bruising and physical a positive attribute for the PK. Bennett and Tkachuk would be fun to watch together.
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Old 09-06-2017, 09:12 PM   #4
prizefighterinferno
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If the miraculous happens and Jagr is signed...

Bennett replaces Brouwer on PP1, Jagr replaces Frolik on PP2 (or swap, if preferable).

Gaudreau-Monahan-Bennett/Jagr
Versteeg-Brodie

Tkachuk-Backlund-Jagr/Bennett
Gio-Hamilton

Also wouldn't hate seeing a set up like
Tkachuk
Gaudreau-Monahan-Backlund
Hamilton

Last edited by prizefighterinferno; 09-06-2017 at 09:14 PM.
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Old 09-06-2017, 09:21 PM   #5
drewtastic
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Let's talk about spe-cial teams
Let's talk about the PP
Let's talk about Gio, Johnny, Brodie, Mony
Kris Versteeg
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Old 09-06-2017, 09:35 PM   #6
P-DAZZLE
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheScorpion View Post
PK 3:

--Flames net--
Kulak - Stone
Bennett - Tkachuk

Might as well throw Kulak on a special team if he's in the lineup and earns a permanent spot, which he certainly could. Stone is bruising and physical a positive attribute for the PK. Bennett and Tkachuk would be fun to watch together.[/CENTER]
Might be looking at too many 5-on-3's against us with these two out there together.
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