[CaptainCrunch]

Watching the game, I couldn't help but be impressed by

Jankowski's vision, sure he skates well, he's a big body, he has a good without the puck game. But good smart players know where the puck is going and see the seams on the ice very well. He's got that good hockey IQ that makes him dangerous

Kulak He's extremely detail oriented, I've noticed that since he started playing. He's not a superstar skater, he's not a teeth rattling hitter, while he makes nice passes, he's not the guy to headman the puck out of danger. But he does the little things really well. He beat the force check in the Flames zone down low by making one step to his left after securing the puck and making the safe ring around behind the net. He doesn't take risks at all.

Overall, when Lack came in this team modified its game and locked it down. We can talk about 4 goals against, but really the ones against Lack were more about St Louis puck luck then anything else. But now the Flames will have to adapt to Lack not being Smith in terms of puck movement.

Bennett I've never questioned his work ethic, I have questioned a lot of his on ice mistakes to pressing and desperation, but the guy just works, and he seems to go to the right places in the offensive zone even when the pucks not going in for him. It will be interesting to see what he does going forward with a bit of confidence.

Ferklund I've always loved this kid because I think his skill set was a bit under rated, a lot of people saw him as that kid making 10 hits a game and being a face puncher with some skill. But unlike Johnny and other supremely skilled players, Ferland makes space for himself with his body position and his strength, but he has a savagely under rated set of hands and the ability to see the seams on the ice. Bob Probert was similar, in that he was an absolute physical beast who could destroy you and that kept coaches from really using his under rated offensive skills. Ferland is a great option in a league that is going to pocket enforcers who can play the game but stand up for team mates when needed. I would like to see him get into it a couple of more times and hit someone with his knockout punch because he has heavy hands.

Jagr Man, he is slow out there, but it doesn't matter because he has elite experience and an elite hockey mind, and when his line was struggling its because he was thinking the game so far ahead of them, now that they're getting on the same page and being able to anticipate what he will do its really effective. He's also great along the boards not just because he's heavy and deceptively strong, but because he's seen it all and knows the trips.

What I've loved about how this team has been built.

While teams like Edmonton draft based on skill set and probably fancy shoot out goals. the Flames seem to put the emphasis on hockey IQ and smarts. You can see when this team is on and playing well that they just out think other teams. We might not burn teams speed wise every night, this team is dangerous because they understand where the seams are and they understand where they need to go and they find other teams vulnerabilities.

I would like to see this team pick up its own zone play a bit though. The problem isn't positioning, or losing players, the problem is that they make one or two dramatic mistakes a night that ultimately end up in the net.