[Calgary4LIfe]

I have noticed that this team doesn't stick up for one another as much as they did in past seasons. This is not 'Flames Hockey' to me. Since about 86 or so, this team has always had that certain swagger that they will not be intimidated physically, and will more often than not be the ones intimidating out there.

Hartley was known for 'liking his goons', but he never really allowed them to do their thing out there, outside of some rare instances. Yes, that Vancouver line brawl was blamed all on him, but I still think that wouldn't have happened except for Torts expecting it to happen, and building it up. Hartley's teams were some of the more disciplined teams in the NHL under his tenure. I actually thought that was one of the reasons he was let go, especially when Burke brought up that players like Bollig aren't being played enough.

Same thing is happening with Gulutzan - team is too disciplined.

I am not saying to go out there and goon it up - I really don't like that. I think this team should not only respond, but respond in unison. Whack Johnny's wrists? Well, we are going to play chippy, and we are going to try and ram your team through the boards all night, and muck it up in your goalie's crease, and we will have Engelland, Ferland and whomever else do bench drive-bys lipping you guys off all night.

I don't want them to start hacking wrists back - that is a ######bag move, IMO. I don't want the Flames to be a dirty, cheap team in that manner. They just don't have that swagger. Maybe the reigns are on too tight and players are overly afraid of taking a bad penalty? This team has little swagger. The only guy out there with swagger is Engelland, and you can't expect him to fight every night. I loved the swagger he showed against Lucic when the Flames were playing McDavid hard (but not cheap and dirty, and especially not attempting to injure), and the second Lucic beaked at him, Engelland yelled at him and skated up to him right away. I thought that was a sign of things to come this season. I also thought when Tkachuk got hit into the boards with a (IMO) dirty hit, and left the ice in the preseason, Ferland took that guy's number and went after him the next shift. Gulutzan made a big thing about it on the bench and in the media.

We still have a team that doesn't stick up for one another.

If it takes a game where the Flames are already down, through discipline out the window. Make the game chippy as hell, and try to instigate a line brawl. However, as others have mentioned, the Flames HAVE to complain vociferously to the league about the un-called slashings first. When the league gives Treliving a call about the line brawl, Treliving can tell them it wouldn't have happened if the refs called the slashings more frequently, and the players themselves are too fed-up with it.

I can take the losing for long periods of time. It happens.
I can even take boring hockey for a while too, where coaches coach the fun out of a game.
What I can't take for long is seeing a team without any swagger or courage to stand up for one another. That to me just stopped being a team.

Flames became so much better after that line-brawl in Vancouver - they got their swagger it seemed after that. Confirmation bias? Maybe. But this team has absolutely no swagger, and on the ice they look like they are not only trying to be the most disciplined team out there in their playstyle, but seem almost scared at times. Buffalo got so screwed up after Lucic ran Miller that game - the wheels were already falling off for Buffalo, but that just yanked out any heart that team had left.

A goon or two isn't going to solve this. This team needs to look one another in the eye and know that they got each other's back out there. That isn't happening. I think that is also partially why the Flames are losing and can't seem to put in consistent efforts as well - there is no emotion out there except fear and frustration, IMO (as much as I can tell anyways).