General Heat discussion thread - Page 13 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Pierre "Monster" McGuire · 02-01-2012, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

How is Breen developing? I haven't heard his name pop up in any discussions for a while. Last I heard, it seemed he took a step back from last season. Is this still the case? Is he looking less likely to make the NHL?

He didn't start very well, you're right.

More recently, he's gotten a bit better. He's looking more like the shutdown guy he's expected to be. I believe at the time of all of these D-Man callups he was playing 2nd pairing minutes and was relied heavily upon for the PK.

With Breen, one can't look at his stat line because it tells nothing about him. The fact is, I don't know where he'll be in the lineup now that Carson and Connelly are going to be in Abby full-time, but Carson and Breen are usually the ones out there against the top pairing guys. Guys like Wilson and Connelly are usually on the ice in offensive zone situations.

I'll hold off as to whether or not he's NHL worthy. As of right now, no. We'll have to see how he closes out the season and progresses through to the post-season.

Roof-Daddy · 02-01-2012, 06:11 PM

As a Heat season ticket holder (you are one, no?), are you happy with the Kolanos signing PMM?

Glad to have him back for another year, should he fail to earn a full time gig with the Flames?

Pierre "Monster" McGuire · 02-01-2012, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

As a Heat season ticket holder (you are one, no?), are you happy with the Kolanos signing PMM?

Glad to have him back for another year, should he fail to earn a full time gig with the Flames?

No, I'm not a season ticket holder. I wish I was haha. I get $12.50 student tickets, which turns out to be cheaper than buying season tickets (which would be, at the cheapest, $17.00-$19.00 per ticket).

As for the Kolanos signing, I love it as a Heat fan because that gives the Heat better chances at winning the Calder Cup. On the other hand, as a Flames fan, I think it's a decent signing because it fills a role for them temporarily. As everyone has been saying, low-risk/high-reward.

I know for a fact that all of the Heat fans are ecstatic about the signing from a Heat fan's stand point.

To be quite honest, I don't think Flames fans should care much about this signing because it's almost inevitable that he'll be sent back down. At worst, it takes a contract spot away, but that hardly matters as he would've likely been re-signed in the off-season anyways. In reality it's a 1.3 year contract.

devo22 · 02-02-2012, 11:52 AM

Howse is close to returning, according to his twitter:

Ryan Howse Rhowse22
Great feedback from that RH2 haha classic and shoulder is back to normal will be ready when we play in Calgary next week

Roof-Daddy · 02-02-2012, 07:59 PM

The Heat are really lickin balls lately.

Lost 3-0 to the Rochester Americans tonight, despite out shooting them handily.

Now 3-7-0 in their last ten, and have fallen ten points back of division leading OKC......soon to be 12 with OKC winning in the third period of their game.

They're still only 1 point back of the Aeros for 2nd, but 4th place San Antonio has creeped up to within three points of the Heat.

They need Nemisz back, and hopefully the recent additions of Irving, Horak, Byron and Connelly get them back on track.

Also, it'd be nice to see Howse come back and make an impact as well.

flames_fan13 · 02-02-2012, 09:36 PM

The heat really do need Nemisz back, especially with Kolanos and Bouma now up with the big team. The heat will probably get Kolanos back at some point but I'm thinking Bouma's up for the season. Add injuries to Rheault and Howse and the team's offense is going to be hard pressed to find goals unfortunately. On the plus side it's going to showcase Irving's talent and ability to steal games.

devo22 · 02-03-2012, 08:09 PM

Heat win 3-2 in OT today against Rochester. Wilson scored the OT winner and also had 2 assists, Irving grabbed 1st star honours with 27 saves. Aliu and Sylvester with the other goals. Walter had two assists, and Connelly got his first point as a Heat player (assist on the GWG).

devo22 · 02-04-2012, 04:57 PM

Abbotsford and Toronto are tied 2-2 after two periods (it's the Heat's 3rd game in 3 nights). Horak got his first goal for the Heat after being sent down and Wilson also scored. Connelly has assists on both goals, giving him 3 assists in 3 games with the Heat now. Danny Taylor got the start in net and has 2 for 24 so far.

flames_fan13 · 02-04-2012, 05:14 PM

7 points in the last 2 games combined for Wilson (2 goals 2 assists) and Connelly (3 assists). The Heat will need help in the offensive zone from the D, with the top scorer in Calgary and Rheault just coming back from injury.

JiriHrdina · 02-04-2012, 05:15 PM

How has Connelly looked so far?

shermanator · 02-04-2012, 06:01 PM

If I'm reading the stats on the SM-LIIGA website correct, Ortio is 1-0-1 in his first 2 games, with a 0.96 GAA and .970 SV%.

Looks like he had a SO in his debut.

flames_fan13 · 02-04-2012, 06:22 PM

Heat fall 5-2 to the Marlies. Looking at the scoreboard the team had a decent middle frame but bad 1st and 3rd. Outshot 14-3 in the first and outscored 3-0 in the third.

Edit: anyone hear any updates on Nemisz? Only news I found so far is a breif mention that he'll be missing weeks with a shoulder injury.
http://canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/2012.../19269236.html
Just wondering how much longer he'll be out.

Freeway · 02-06-2012, 12:53 AM

I'll be LIVE at the Heat/Barons game on Thursday night. If anyone wants specific questions asked of specific players, shoot me a PM between now and then. I'm anxious to see how Karlsson looks on his conditioning stint and how the "fringe" Flames/Heat players adapt.

Wronskian · 02-06-2012, 11:40 AM

How is Aliu looking? Does he have a shot at making the flames anytime soon?

Pierre "Monster" McGuire · 02-06-2012, 02:32 PM

For those who were asking about Breen, Dan Kinvig of the Abbotsford News did an article on him. He basically just confirms what we all knew was the case with Breen; that his play was quite poor through training camp and into the beginning of the season and now he's picked it up as of late.

Link: http://www.abbynews.com/sports/heat/138333789.html

Quote:

Breen struggled at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton in September, compounding matters by pulling his groin midway through the prospect showcase event. Then he fought the puck at Calgary Flames training camp, and was reassigned to the Heat without tasting so much as a single exhibition game.

In Abbotsford, he continued to flounder – he was scratched from the lineup twice in the first month of the regular season.

Breen has been looking more like himself lately, though. He’s been moving the puck with more confidence, and has reasserted his role as a key cog on the Heat’s terrific penalty-killing unit.

Quote:

“It was weird,” he mused. “I don’t know why it happened, but it wasn’t the start I was looking for.

“I think it was maybe how things went in Penticton, and it just snowballed. Mentally, it was weighing on me, and after training camp I guess I got a little down on myself. But I just needed a little confidence to turn it around.”

Quote:

“I’m playing a steady defensive game – making simple plays and simple passes, and seeing the game a lot better,” he analyzed. “The coaches stayed on me and helped me out, my teammates helped me out, and I’ve been able to turn things back around.”

kirant · 02-08-2012, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wronskian

How is Aliu looking? Does he have a shot at making the flames anytime soon?

From what I've seen Aliu is the same as he has been for the Heat...a hard hitting grinder with decent hands.

He's a project at any rate. Give him time...I'd say 2-3 years before we can really call him as good or bad.

I know it seems all I do is ask questions is out of our local frequent Heat watchers, but I was curious what type of coach Ward in creating a team. It's obvious that he's a ballsy coach who doesn't hesitate to do call out players...but what type of game does he coach? He started off saying he wanted to be a puck possession team...did that ever come true?

Curious as a lot of people are thinking of Ward as the next Flames head coach.

Pierre "Monster" McGuire · 02-08-2012, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirant

From what I've seen Aliu is the same as he has been for the Heat...a hard hitting grinder with decent hands.

He's a project at any rate. Give him time...I'd say 2-3 years before we can really call him as good or bad.

I know it seems all I do is ask questions is out of our local frequent Heat watchers, but I was curious what type of coach Ward in creating a team. It's obvious that he's a ballsy coach who doesn't hesitate to do call out players...but what type of game does he coach? He started off saying he wanted to be a puck possession team...did that ever come true?

Curious as a lot of people are thinking of Ward as the next Flames head coach.

Ward is an amazing coach IMO. He's a "player's coach", no doubt about it. He's very approachable from everything I've seen and read from players and, in return, those players want to work hard for him and get wins.

In terms of the way he coaches, he teaches a puck possession game but not in the dump-and-chase sense. He wants his players to continuously go after whoever has the puck and finish a check IF it doesn't put your team at risk. Sometimes the players will dump-and-chase, and other times they'll carry the puck in.

Whatever will get them the puck, they'll do (most nights haha). However, he does insist they play a structured game. What that structure or system is, I have no idea. But you can almost see the difference between games where they lose (where Ward says they didn't play the system) and games where they win or lose (where Ward says they did play the system). It's kind of tough to explain haha.

I'm not much help in terms of explaining how Ward coaches, all I know is the players think the world of him.

Everyone should check out this video, BTW. It's on Ward:

Pierre "Monster" McGuire · 02-08-2012, 08:03 PM

Also, here's a video from the Flames' site on Aliu and Connelly:

Sounds like Aliu really likes being in the Flames organization. Everyone, especially Ward, has made Aliu comfortable and I think that speaks volumes about the type of guy Ward is. If he can make a person of Aliu's personality type fit into the team, and more importantly, feel comfortable on the team, then I think that's quite the accomplishment.

For those of you asking about Aliu, I haven't been able to watch him since being signed, so I'll let everyone know after I get to watch him another couple of times.

TurnedTheCorner · 02-09-2012, 02:03 AM

What's Horak been doing in Abootsford? The stats page shows him as playing only 6 games so far - has the schedule been that light, is he hurt?

getbak · 02-09-2012, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

What's Horak been doing in Abootsford? The stats page shows him as playing only 6 games so far - has the schedule been that light, is he hurt?

The schedule has been that light. He was sent down during the All Star break, which was also the AHL All Star Break. The Heat have only had 4 games since he was sent down this time around, and he's played in all 4 (his other 2 games were the first time he was sent down in December).