My thoughts. Kuemper was excellent tonight, lets not take anything away from him. That whole dust up doesn't happen if the officials do their fn job and call the penalty where Gaudreau takes a slew foot. The NHL still has an officiating problem but it will never change because the League does not hold officials accountable. As for the Flames they have entirely to many passengers. Reider is not an NHL calibre player, waive his ass and bring up Dube who will provide a spark. Put Quine back in and bench Jankowski who while is a decent PK is a black hole in every other aspect. Frolik is a 4th liner now, that is where he belongs. The biggest problem with the Flames this season imo is Michael Backlund. This guy has been a giant bag of suck since playing a terrible series against Colorado last year. He is still a decent pk guy but he is an offensive black hole, he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. I would rather Derek Ryan play 2nd line C right now than Backlund. Even worse, the guy is making 5+ million which was good value when he was playing like a Selke calibre forward but he is playing like a 4th liner. So when you saddle Tkachuk with two guys playing like 4th line scrubs it is amazing he generates the offence he does. BT should be looking to put together a package of Backlund plus picks/prospects to get this team another legit top 6 C. Mangiapane is getting better and can tow the line as 2nd line RW if needed but this team is winning sweet F all with Michael Backlund as our 2nd line C.
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