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Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee
Was at the game tonight too.
Smith was bad, agreed, wasn't sharp. In fact if he stops the two softies Calgary wins so that was the difference.
Jankowski looked alright. I think he's overrated on these boards but he didn't look out of place. His puck handling seemed poor though. Seemed to constantly bobble it or couldn't seem to control it very well.
Gaudreau and Monahan I thought looked good which was encouraging. Ferland is not a top line RW and I wish he would go back to what made him which is hitting and mucking it up.
The NHL product seems to focus on the refs and some of the calls tonight were ridiculous. I can't remember a preseason game where there was no fights, and I've probably been to a preseason game just about every year since the mid 90's. The NHL product taking fighting and even hitting seems removed from the game just sucks any energy out of the sport. It really just isn't that interesting without that raw intensity or emotion which comes from the physical play. There was a moment where Draisaitl was being a ###### bag to Giordano and they both got called on the play. They went to the box and were chirping each other. I thought something might come of that... a hit... a fight... a something but no looks like they peacefully and diplomatically resolved their issue through discussion in the penalty box. Talk about boring.
Kylington made a nice move at the blue line once. Dube should have scored on a breakaway, barely missed the last part of a nice deke.
Brouwer should be cut, legitimately. I'm not sure he is a NHL player.
Mangiapane took a penalty when the refs decided in one of those moments that the game was about them, so somewhat unfair to him. Still, not sure he's a NHLer.
Hamonic looked not noticeable (in a good way for a dman). Brodie played good. Valimaki was smooth but unnoticeable in a good way.
Gillies I thought looked good. I hope the Flames are quicker to move kids into the roster if we get goaltending like Smith showed tonight so we don't burn 1/4 of a season on subpar NHL goaltending.
That's about my thoughts tonight.
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Thanks Really good summary..
It is really hard to tell how good the Flames are when a soft goal goes in. If the soft goal is stopped it changes the flow of the game. Maybe the team that gets a soft goal would work harder to get a good goal or play tougher defense without the lead.
I doubt that soft goals were near as a big thing with Smith in Arizona. It will be interesting how Smith stands up to the fan outrage when he lets in a softie. He plays as poorly in the first 3-4 games in the regular season and he will not want to read CP or the Calgary papers.
It is pretty obvious that Ferland is not a top-6 forward talent. If the league listens to the Gaudreau lobby and banishes slashing from the game there is no reason or rationalization that most skilled player available not be put on the big line.
Hudler was a 30-year old with a history of 40-55 pts seasons before he got 76 with Gaudreau/Monahan. Versteeg is 31 and a solid 40-50 pt scorer through his career. Is that move just too obvious?