General Heat discussion thread

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Damn. Ugly game tonight. This could be the last we see of Taylor. I could see Irving starting at home on Saturday.

[devo22]

do I read that right, did Kolanos just took a tripping penalty five seconds after going on a powerplay? Damn, that's frustrating.

[junior]

Looking at the box score. Down by 3 with 10 minutes left and Ward pulls the goalie? Is this what happened? Anyone know?

[Roof-Daddy]

Well, the Heat certainly weren't going to sweep their way to a Calder Cup win.

Get up boys, dust yourselves off, and come out guns a blazin' in game 3.

[Hustle]

Originally Posted by junior

Looking at the box score. Down by 3 with 10 minutes left and Ward pulls the goalie? Is this what happened? Anyone know?

Yeah, the Heat had a PP and Ward pulled Taylor to make it a 2-man advantage.... Kadri potted into an EN.

I thought the scoreboard looked way worse than the actual gameplay was. Scrivens stood on his head (the guy has a wicked glove hand) and Taylor struggled a bit (the 4th goal was one I thought he should have had). The Heat PP was terrible tonight although I'd give some credit to the Marlies PK.

As for our guys,I thought Horak was the best player on the ice tonight for the Heat. Very quick and was pushing the pace while still playing a solid two way game (Ie, he looked more like the guy we saw in October and less like the guy we saw in February). Also, he might need some seasoning in the AHL but Reinhart is going to be a player. You can tell how smart the guy is already and he was creating opportunities out there. Really liked Nemisz game too... maybe it's because it's at an AHL level but his skating looked vastly improved.

I was kind of surprised by how many Flames jerseys were in the crowd... pretty neat to see that at Ricoh.

[Savvy27]

Any word on whether Irving will get the start tonight?

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Savvy27

Any word on whether Irving will get the start tonight?

No official word, but I really wouldn't be surprised. I think the plan all along was to ride the hot goalie, but the moment he flounders a bit, Irving's in. I guess we'll see.

When there's big crowds at the AESC, Irving always gets the loudest cheers and he seems to feed off that. I personally hope he's in tonight. It'll be like a bit of a relay: Taylor took the team half way, now he can hand the baton off to Irving.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Here's another article on Troy Ward by James Mirtle of the Globe & Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ce=twitter.com

After carting his family from small-town Wisconsin to Denver, Dubuque, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Trenton, N.J., over a decade of climbing the coaching ladder, his journey to hockey’s top level hit a detour.

“At the end of that year, I’d been married for 11 years and my wife asked me for a divorce,” Ward said. “I basically spent the next couple of years trying to save my marriage.”

He is at the rink most days by 4 a.m. – five hours before players arrive – and has a unique approach to getting to know his team, inside and out.

“Sometimes you walk in in the morning and you can tell he’s got a caffeine buzz going, his hair’s all messy, he hasn’t showered and he was awake at the rink all night,” defenceman Chris Breen said. “So he’s dedicated.”

“It’s usually a 14, 15-hour day, on average,” Ward said, noting that it helps his family is more than 3,000 kilometres away in Cross Plains, Wis.

“He wants you to become a better person,” defenceman J.P. Testwuide said. “Just the way he cares about each individual player, it takes a lot of time for him I’m sure but it pays benefits. I don’t think it’s that common.

“I’m thankful that I got him early in my career so I can have him as a mentor. He’s a born teacher. That’s what he loves to do.”

Just further evidence that Ward's the guy for the Flames IMO. His dedication to getting to know his players and understand his team is second to none in this organization I think.

[Roof-Daddy]

Irving gets the nod, Marlies score a minute in.

Heat down 1-0 half way through the first.

In other news, San Antonio is up 4-3 late in their game with Oklahoma.......wow. If they hang on they'll be up 2-0 in their series with the next three games back at home in San Antonio.

[Roof-Daddy]

Now it's 2-0 Marlies.

Come on Heat.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

The Heat are getting severely outworked right now. This is such a frustrating game to watch right now.

And as soon as the Heat get even a small amount of momentum, Kadri dives or embellishes and the Heat have to go back on the PK.

Holy I'm mad.

Edit - I swear Burrows faked that injury at the WC, came to Abbotsford, and put on a Kadri jersey. He's been that bad tonight.

Man I hope Luke Strand tears a strip off this team during intermission.

[BloodFetish]

That 2nd goal was one of those ones your goalie HAS to stop. Irving just got beat there.

Hope they can regroup in the intermission and get one back quick.

[BloodFetish]

Connoly really struggling tonight.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

Connoly really struggling tonight.

He really is. Not only is he playing horribly, but he's being really selfish too. Ward just gave him #### for always spearing and slashing in retaliation.

I think other than Tuzzolino and Testwuide, our whole defense is struggling.

Ugh. Ugly game so far. Now it's Cail Maclean's turn to try and rally the guys.

[Roof-Daddy]

Not that it matters much if the Heat keep laying eggs, but to update the OKC/San Antonio situation, OKC scored to tie it with 10 seconds left (Pajaarvi), and then won in OT.

That series tied at 1 a piece.

[BloodFetish]

Hey PIM, are you enjoying the complete lack of Canucks jerseys in the crowd tonight?

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

Hey PIM, are you enjoying the complete lack of Canucks jerseys in the crowd tonight?

I did enjoy that, but they were all replaced by Toronto fans with bloated egos haha.

[flamesrule14]

So does Irving get another chance in game 4 or do they go back to Taylor?

[PlayfulGenius]

Was tonight's game Irving's first of the playoffs?

I'd think their much better going with him in net, no?

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Alright so I don't know how anyone else felt, but that was probably a top 3 most frustrating Heat game I've ever watched. I gotta hand it to the Marlies, their sticks were all in the right places and gave the Heat absolutely NOTHING.

The Good:

- Not much to be honest. There were maybe a handful of players that were half decent tonight. The only good players IMO were Testwuide, Tuzzolino, Reinhart, Nemisz, Bancks, and Byron. Others that had their moments, but weren't that noticeable were Horak, Rheault, and Sylvester.
- Guys, I'd be hard pressed to find something good to say about this game, so I'll mention the only thing that truly impressed me tonight: Reinhart and Nemisz's chemistry. I'm starting to see a bit of a pattern emerging. First, Nemisz and Baertschi's chemistry in the NHL resulted in Baertschi scoring three goals (two of which came as a direct result of Nemisz's hard work). Now, Nemisz and Reinhart have found instant chemistry as well and they're doing very well together; tonight was no different. They were discussing set plays with eachother before faceoffs. A couple of times those plays resulted in fairly good chances.

The Bad:

- Lots. Too much to talk about.
- There were far too many floaters tonight. Aliu, Desbiens, Kolanos, and Walter were big time floating tonight.
- There were two goals that Irving probably should have had tonight. Right from the start, Irving looked shaky and it basically stayed that way throughout the game. I will, however, say that he did make a few good saves on breakaways.
- Connelly was without a doubt the worst player on the ice tonight. He was a slow, constantly behind the play, couldn't hold the line, Marlies were shrugging him off the puck like he was a fly, and then if he got hit he would spear or slash them in retaliation. Just an awful game by him.
- To top it off, Ward took Breen off of Wilson's line and put him with Carson and paired Wilson and Connelly. This is never a good idea because Wilson and Connelly are the two weakest defensemen we have.
- Breen struggled all night as well. He was just no match for the tenacity of speed of the Marlies. He also made a couple of completely bone-headed plays where he turned the puck over in his own zone (one of those turnovers was the reason for the first Marlies goal).

Oh well, hopefully they put this game behind them. They have two days off and three days of practice before they play again. They need to rest, watch video, and find out how to crack this Marlies PK because at this rate, the Heat are never going to score a PP goal on them.

I also think it was a bad move by Ward to take Piskula out and put Carson in. Carson was ok, but he made way too many mistakes. And I hate to say it, but PL3 needs to be put back and Aliu should be taken back out (unless he can pick up his game).

In sum, this game was frustrating as hell to watch. I hope I never have to see that again.

P.S. For all you people on CP that want the Flames to pick up Kadri in a trade, you have no idea.