Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
What's funny to me is that just last year they were pretty much unwatchable garbage. Coach Q and Bobrovsky were there. Most of the defensive corps was the same. They couldn't stop a beach ball.
All of a sudden this year Gudas signs to add a physical edge on the lower pairs, and Weegar becomes a top pairing defenseman when he was barely staying in the league. Ekblad was having a Norris season before he got hurt. Forsling has been a revelation too.
The forwards had a big overhaul, but honestly I thought it would be the team's weakness. Sure, you had Barkov and Huberdeau to build around, but they added major question marks in Duclair, Verhaeghe, Wennberg, and an over-the-hill Hornqvist. Guys like Tippett, Lammikko, Luostarinen, and Marchment had done nothing of note in their careers until this season. None of it should have worked, but everything went much better than expected.
Sometimes a team does well due to calculated risk taking, but other times it's just dumb luck that it all comes together at the same time.
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I think when you have a coach like Q it's only a matter of time before it clicks. Last year was a bit of a transition, but it seems like the whole team has bought in this season and it's working perfectly
As a Flames fan I hope Sutter can instill a similar work ethic and culture with this group and turn it around next season
To keep it on topic for the thread, I wish Bennett was a part of this Flames group still lol. I'll be cheering him and the Panthers on in the playoffs this year