[Cali Panthers Fan]

Bouwmeester-A-: JBo has found his offensive touch under Hartley. His defense hasn't fallen off and has been better this year despite a struggling Gio.

Giordano-C+: A passing grade, but Gio hasn't seemed comfortable or confident at all this year. He's hesitating a lot and his decision making has suffered because of it leading to a -4. It's not his physical tools that seem to be an issue, so I'm sure he'll get better as we go along.

Wideman-A: Not overwhelming or dominating, but Wideman has been doing well in all 3 zones and helped to improve our powerplay drastically.

Brodie-B: Has done well in a regular top four role, but has panicked a couple times and made dumb plays you expect of a young player from time to time. Shows flashes of offensive production but hasn't put enough points up for my liking.

Butler-F: He's played himself down from top four minutes to the 7th man on a team that doesn't have a lot of depth on D. He's a team worst -5 in very limited minutes. A guy who has some physical tools but never uses them well. Unless he figures it out there may not be much of a future with the Flames (I see Wotherspoon in his role soon).

Sarich-C: I haven't noticed him, which usually is a good thing for Sarich. He needs to be more physical when he gets in the lineup.

Smith-B-: He's been put in a tough position going in and out of the lineup, but when he's in he always looks solid in his own zone. I wouldn't mind him feeling free to skate the puck up ice and jump in the rush.

Babchuk-TBD

BTW, the goaltending has made this defense look much worse than the numbers suggest, so the ratings are all appropriate.