Quote:
Originally Posted by calgARI
I am very confused after that one. They were very good in the first period then turned in their almost gamely get scored on a bunch in a short period of time in the second then managed to come and shock the world in the third period with three very unexpected goal scorers. Obviously the primary positive is that they won but this continues to be a very tough team to gauge.
Liked the lines at the end a lot more with Tanguay with Cammaelleri and Iginla and the Czechs together. Hudler and Cervenka are going to generate offense regardless of who they are with whereas Iginla has been so quiet this year so get those two guys with him. Certainly Comeau wasn't going to do the trick and I have never thought Glencross and Iginla play well together.
Thought Glencross had one of his grittier games. He has scored this year but I think his grinding style has not been prevalent enough at least until tonight. This team has no top nine forwards who consistently bring it physically so Glencross really needs to fill that void. He seems to understand this better when playing on less offensive line though ironically his grinding it out played a big role in the Stajan goal.
That big Comeau hero experiment centering Iginla sure didn't last long though ironically again that line gave the team the winning goal. Jackman though, what the hell does this guy bring to the table? Still will never forget him almost getting traded at the deadline then inexplicably resigned.
Thought Butler played very well tonight and seems to have gotten himself that #5 spot. Babchuk on the other hand is beyond useless. He has a big shot that we rarely see. That's all he has going for him (for 2.5M).
Bouwmeester the best Flame and I have no problem saying he has been the best Flame this season. Jumping into the rush a ton but also very very effective defensively. He is kind of symbolic of the team's defensive zone disaster in that he is usually struggling for 5-10 minutes a game which is when the team gets scored on several times.
Certainly the terrible goaltending is a big factor in why this team gives up goals in bunches. If you look at the first and third periods, they gave up very few scoring chances. The Flames are going to need to score a lot of goals over the next couple of weeks because there is no way they are winning any 2-1 or 3-2 games any time soon with this goaltending and the dramatic inconsistency of the team defensively.
I still don't understand how this team can be built so flawed down the middle and think it is an enormous problem that is glaring a fair amount - definitely a significant factor in the team's poor defensive play. You just cannot turn two wingers into centers and expect to be able to shutdown other teams.
This team is weird and definitely different than any Flames team we have seen in a long time. They are not at all physical and don't really grind it out but they have a lot of scoring depth. Not really any top end talent but all kinds of offensive threats which I think has made them kind of hard to play against.
|
Was going to post as I don't want to big the poster who only vents after a loss but you hit the big points
Czechs good
Stemps-Staje-Glenny good
Butler played well in his #5 D slot
Bouw continues to impress
MacDonald good enough to win
Good to see contribution from the fourth line - would Jones have buried that like Begin did?