Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
David Perron is 1 year older than Backlund.
David Perron has 3 x 50 point seasons to Backlund's 1.
Perron has 6 x 40 point seasons to Backlund's 2.
Perron has 4 x 20 goal seasons to Backlund's 2.
It is completely reasonable and downright expected that David Perron is a better offensive player than Mikael Backlund.
Gallant deserves credit for how well that team is playing. But they are a deeper roster. They get scoring from all 4 lines. The Flames struggle to get scoring from 2 lines.
The Flames NEED their defenders to score goals to win games, and even then, struggle.
The point isn't that there is just one team better than Calgary and they are vegas and they are a fluke, it is that there are multiple teams in the west better than Calgary and they can't all possibly be flukes.
I don't think Gallant turns Brouwer into a 40 point player, do you? Is Brouwer's problem the coach?
The Flames have multiple players having career offensive years this year. Is that just happenstance?
You can't have your cake and eat it to. The top end of the roster is performing amazingly. The rest of the roster is full of has beens, bargain basement reclamations and guys that don't belong in the league.
Frolik has played for DeBoer, Quennville, Maurice, Hartley and Gulutzan and has scored more than 20 goals twice, and that was almost 10 years ago. How delusional do you have to be to expect him to score 20-25 goals in a season? He won a cup with Chicago scoring just 10 points in 45 games. How is this possible?
Well, the depth chart for Chicago at the time looked like this:
Kane
Hossa
Shaw
Frolik
Flames Depth Chart:
Ferland
Frolik
Hathaway
Brouwer
Gee, what's the missing element here....
|
Hold on a sec... you are implying that Vegas has more TALENT than Calgary. That's what we are disagreeing about, no? Is Vegas a better team than Calgary? Undeniably they are, but as to my argument, a lot of that is based on they system being employed and the general 'awesomeness' that is Gallant.
Not sure why you suddenly find the need to compare Chicago to Calgary, but sure, I agree there. The right side could use some propping up - they have one big hole and that is the 3rd line RW. Ferland is fine - look up all the RW'ers in the league right now and you will see that his 1st line status is not some crazy outlier, and given Gaudreau's and Monahan's success this year, is unquestionably not a drag on that line.
Frolik is what he always is - a defensive specialist that is very adept at shutting down other players. Call it 2nd line, call it 3rd line - I call it the checking line that goes head to head against the team's best lines (like Backlund). They get a + at the end of the season, they are doing their job.
It is the third line that needs to upgraded desperately.
However...
That is the ONLY position that Vegas 'owns' Calgary. Want to compare LW? Center? Defence? Goalies are a push - at least with Smith in the lineup. Push at worst with Calgary's depth there in the system.
That is the crux of this argument. It isn't if Vegas is a better team or not. You imply they have more talent than the Flames. I vehemently disagree, and I don't think they are a bunch of shlubs either. They have quality depth, but nothing outstanding. They are an incredibly well-coached squad that have a system that fits perfectly to their strengths and weaknesses, and Gallant is squeezing every little drop out of that lineup.
Can you say that the Flames are performing better than the sum of their parts? Worse than the sum of their parts? About as expected?
If you answer anything other than "Performing worse than the sum of their parts", then I guess we will just have to agree to disagree until a new coach arrives. Whether you like Gulutzan or not, want a coaching change or not, or even attribute anything negative to Gulutzan or not, this is still a results based business, and especially in a cap world, it is a heck of a lot easier switching out a coach and making a few minor moves than it is to completely dismantle and rebuild an organization on the fly.
If the Flames fail to make the playoffs, I really don't see a scenario that Gulutzan survives in Calgary. Make the playoffs, it gets into the grey area - get bounced? sure, he is gone too, have a 7 game competitive series and lose it on an unlucky bounce, he probably swings back to being retained. Make it to the 2nd round and onwards, he sticks around.
I hope we don't get to see who is right and wrong here, as I would rather see the Flames in round two and beyond, but if there ends up being a coaching change (and an actual respected and proven coach), it would not surprise me to see the Flames have a much more successful season.