[thymebalm]

McGrattan has seen his job title shift over the last year from 'undisputed heavy-weight' to 'locker-room lucky charm'. I'd say he is still filling his role on showing the kids what hard work is, how to overcome adversity and all that.

Bollig and Engelland were mistakes. Plain and simple. Treliving hadn't spent enough time around the team to know what he was getting and plugged some holes. These guys are square pegs for round openings unfortunately.

Teams likely don't fear them when they are on the ice, to the contrary, i'm sure it excites them. Opponents look out on the ice Engelland or Bollig and see a guy in the minuses, who has been a part of two scoring plays all season long.

Being that neither them can hold their own for 10 minutes of nightly ice time, I think it's safe to say they are having a negative impact on the team.

I hate to beat up on them because we are a winning team this season, but they are the new goats with Setoguchi gone.

The Flames need a legitimate #3 defender. It would push Kris Russell into the 4 slot, which he's perfect for, and slide Wideman down to the #5 slot+PP, which he's also much better suited for. Smid is better as a #6 than a #5, but I get the sense Wotherspoon will take that #6 slot soon enough. Smid as a #7 is outstanding. That's depth I can live with.

Make those changes, and having some puck moving guys on that bottom pairing will hopefully lead to less time getting buried in the defensive end, better outlet passes, and thus better games for all those forwards on the ice with the 5/6 d-unit.

I'm loving where the team is at this year, but in raising the bar on my expectations, my critical side is being heightened as well. Last year I just sat back and let it play itself out, this year I'm feeling tantalized by the idea of competing again.