Quote:
Originally Posted by Psytic
They look like they have a chance when its not against big physical teams. Maybe they just need to trade out some guys for some size and 2 way forwards. They aren't really that fast so I don't think it would hurt anything.
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I definitely agree. Feaster thinks he addressed the team's lack of toughness by bringing in McGrattan but the only forwards who actually play a regular shift that can play a physical style, Iginla and Glencross, don't do it very much anymore. I will say that this team has shown a lot more willingness to play in high traffic areas than the previous few years and they score a lot more goals by driving hard to the net.
But the bigger issue is that the blueline is very very soft and of course there isn't any size or strength up the middle so they are going to get manhandled down low by big, strong teams like...Anaheim, Los Angeles, Colorado which make up 6 of the team's 11 losses. The only big, physical defenseman is one of the slowest skaters in the league and rarely even dresses. Not a very well-built hockey team but they can definitely move the puck and generate offense a lot better than many Flames teams from over the years. Even if they can hang in the playoff mix, I do have trouble seeing this team having success in physical, tight-checking, low scoring battles down the stretch drive.