Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Flames are a pretty slow team at forward. Let's review our top 9
Centre
Monahan - Probably the slowest "1C" in the NHL, or right there with Joe Pavelski. His footspeed causes issues with weak backchecking, forechecking, breaking the other team's cycle, and carrying the puck through the middle of the ice.
Backlund - Above average skater, but will always be outclassed speedwise trying to check McDavid, MacKinnon types to the point where he was going 100% and his stamina became an issue and he faded late into tight games. Doesn't have the explosive speed through the middle needed to generate much offensively through tight checking. Not a problem if he's your second-best C (a la Soderberg in COL) but in reality he's probably our best C which IS a problem.
Jankowski - Not very quick at all. Outclassed by Colorado's speed, no getting around it.
Left Wing
Gaudreau - He's a good and deceptive skater, but when push comes to shove and he gets any sort of advantage in open ice he usually gets caught by a good backchecker because his straight line speed is nothing to write home about.
Tkachuk - Fast is not a word I would use to describe him. This hurt us against with him in a checking role vs the Avs' top players as he couldn't win any races to loose pucks or play the passing lanes usefully.
Bennett - Much like Gaudreau he's a good skater with fine edgework but he too doesn't have high-end straight line speed he used to have before he put on the muscle he did. That said his addition to the Gaudreau line resulted in the only time that line played with anything resembling speed, because he was playing fast and efficiently. His speed is also limited by the wing position as he rarely has much open ice to wind up and go the way that makes him most effective.
Right Wing
Lindholm - Decent skater, but like Bennett the wing position limits his speed and he doesn't really have much explosiveness.
Frolik - See Lindholm/Bennett, but Frolik does seem to have a better feel for how to use his speed as a winger, probably because he is a natural winger.
Neal - Lead-footed, no other description necessary.
On defense, yes by the end of the series Giordano, Brodie, and Valimaki all played with speed. Andersson did too, though physical foot speed isn't a strength he was playing fast outside of one pretty bad sequence in game 5.
But still - even one of our better skaters, Noah Hanifin looked like he was skating in concrete during that series as he wasn't mentally playing with anything resembling pace, nor was his partner Hamonic. That pair's lack of pace was an absolute momentum killer. This was one of the knocks on Hanifin by Hurricanes fans a year ago and it culminated in our second pair being easier to get in on than a prostitute in Amsterdam.
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Nice effort. Pretty much agree with everything. The Flames have great puck moving defensemen who can transition from defense to attack so the Flames can play a fast game. But in general, our forwards lack that extra gear that is needed in the playoffs and it was on full display vs the Avs when every foot race and 50/50 puck was basically won by the other side.
Also, one of the biggest problems I find up the middle of the ice for the Flames is that not only do they lack exceptional foot speed, but they don't play a heavy game either. They sort of straddle that line Take Monahan for instance, he isn't fast, but he also doesn't have that strong game down low.
That's probably why Tkachuk is such a productive player even though he might be the slowest player on the team. He doesn't play 1st line minutes, he doesn't even play with Gaudreau, but when he has that puck down low, it's glued to him. Nobody takes it from him and he buys a lot of time for his teammates to get open so he can dish. If Monahan had this ability in his repertoire, at the very least, the 1st line could cycle more often, but they're almost exclusively a dangerous rush line.
I think Treliving needs to work on finding more big, heavy, fast players and quick, feisty, skilled players. This should help the Flames become a more difficult team to play against in the playoffs.