[united]

I typically give teams 20 or so games before being confident in judging the direction they are heading, and 25 or so for teams with new head coaches. So taking that into account, it's difficult to draw conclusions on the team as whole but you can start to pick out certain aspects. Adding to the difficulty is how poor judging tactics on TV is, especially with defencemen. With that out of the way:

- Great job by Hamonic stepping up a weight class in Dube's defence. Problem is he shouldn't even have had to if the referees do their job properly there. Hope he's okay.
- What is the point of Michael Stone, who struggled immensely last night? Rasmus Andersson is a clear upgrade but the Flames want more physicality back there and want Andersson getting all the minutes in the minors. Okay then so why not Dalton Prout, who plays even more physical, actually sticks up for his teammates, and is better in the room? Stone has the big shot that he gets off twice a game from 50 feet out? Neither is quick or good at moving the puck so go with the guy who makes life tougher on the opposition.
- The powerplay is so frustrating again. No one-timer options, no ability to cause rotation among the penalty-killers, everything is predictable and telegraphed. Why Brodie, who has shown he isn't good or comfortable playing the role? The drop pass is fine for causing false gaps, but when you do it every god damn time it is ineffective - you need a dual threat to cause uncertainty. Wasting a +6 differential against a ####ty team is a tough one.
- Please take my pre-season advice and keep Czarnik with Tkachuk and Backlund - his fore-checking ability and offensive creativity compliments them perfectly.
-Colborne to Hartley, Brouwer to Gulutzan, Ryan to Peters? Let's hope not, but can't say we weren't warned.
- Mike Smith can't let the fourth goal in. With Gio's angle and Vertanin having one hand on his stick, on his backhand, his only option is fivehole.
- Awesome first game from Noah Hanifin. A sign of things to come?