Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Do you consider 2016-17 to be a successful season for the Flames?

GranteedEV · 04-16-2017, 11:26 AM

Strictly talking core:
Bennett - went from future first line talent to perceived bust. Still, took some defensive strides. Probably already our second most dependable center in his zone aside from Backs.
Monahan - improved two-way game, but still overall a sub-par two-way center who isn't impacting the game if his shot isn't going in.
Gaudreau - Went from ppg+ expectations to button hooking playmaker who never a threat to score goals
Brodie - went from from speedy top 5 D in the league to average speed average top 4 D on the team
Giordano - sacrificed elite offense to be a Hjalmarsson type shutdown guy
Hamilton - Thrived in system, career year offensively. Still not trusted to kill penalties and has to work on stick discipline.
Tkachuk - Hell of a rookie year. Improved discipline immensely as year went by.
Backlund - Career year offensively. System helped him overall become a corsi monster.
Ferland - Buried most of the year behind scrubs, finally got a chance late in the year and grabbed it full tilt. Insanely disciplined on minor penalties, great offensive ability, but for some reason not being developed into a penalty killer when that should be the natural next progression for a guy with his tools and anticipation.
Frolik - Regular Frolik year

Overall, I think the core kind of stagnated (with the exception of adding Tkachuk) but key players around them were better defensively than the year before (Elliott/Johnson/Chiasson/Stajan specifically were better than Hiller/Ramo/Colborne/Stajan) which got us into the playoffs. For us to take the next step, Gaudreau has to be a 30G/50A threat again, Bennett has to be put back on track, Monahan has to make even more strides defensively, Brodie has to return to form, and Tkachuk has to improve his skating to be able to dominate as in this kind of cycle-obsessed system he pretty much needs to be our best player.

Was this year a success? We made the playoffs so it definitely wasn't a fail. Personally though I see this team trending more towards mediocrity than I did the day the season started, mostly because of Brodie, Bennett, and Gaudreau who along with Tkachuk should be our three most important pieces.

I guess I give this season a C, unless of course they miraculously beat the Ducks in 4 of 5. Then it would jump to an A+++ because **** the Ducks. Although that would only last insofar as how they perform against the Oilers.

Biggest hope for me is we can somehow drop Brouwer's anchor contract, otherwise it's going to be three years of wasted cap space in what basically amounts to the end of Giordano's prime.

04-16-2017, 11:26 AM	#20
GranteedEV Franchise Player Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Calgary Exp:	Strictly talking core: Bennett - went from future first line talent to perceived bust. Still, took some defensive strides. Probably already our second most dependable center in his zone aside from Backs. Monahan - improved two-way game, but still overall a sub-par two-way center who isn't impacting the game if his shot isn't going in. Gaudreau - Went from ppg+ expectations to button hooking playmaker who never a threat to score goals Brodie - went from from speedy top 5 D in the league to average speed average top 4 D on the team Giordano - sacrificed elite offense to be a Hjalmarsson type shutdown guy Hamilton - Thrived in system, career year offensively. Still not trusted to kill penalties and has to work on stick discipline. Tkachuk - Hell of a rookie year. Improved discipline immensely as year went by. Backlund - Career year offensively. System helped him overall become a corsi monster. Ferland - Buried most of the year behind scrubs, finally got a chance late in the year and grabbed it full tilt. Insanely disciplined on minor penalties, great offensive ability, but for some reason not being developed into a penalty killer when that should be the natural next progression for a guy with his tools and anticipation. Frolik - Regular Frolik year Overall, I think the core kind of stagnated (with the exception of adding Tkachuk) but key players around them were better defensively than the year before (Elliott/Johnson/Chiasson/Stajan specifically were better than Hiller/Ramo/Colborne/Stajan) which got us into the playoffs. For us to take the next step, Gaudreau has to be a 30G/50A threat again, Bennett has to be put back on track, Monahan has to make even more strides defensively, Brodie has to return to form, and Tkachuk has to improve his skating to be able to dominate as in this kind of cycle-obsessed system he pretty much needs to be our best player. Was this year a success? We made the playoffs so it definitely wasn't a fail. Personally though I see this team trending more towards mediocrity than I did the day the season started, mostly because of Brodie, Bennett, and Gaudreau who along with Tkachuk should be our three most important pieces. I guess I give this season a C, unless of course they miraculously beat the Ducks in 4 of 5. Then it would jump to an A+++ because **** the Ducks. Although that would only last insofar as how they perform against the Oilers. Biggest hope for me is we can somehow drop Brouwer's anchor contract, otherwise it's going to be three years of wasted cap space in what basically amounts to the end of Giordano's prime. Last edited by GranteedEV; 04-16-2017 at 11:46 AM.