[News Roundup] Game Day News

[Dion]

Confidence bottoming out

“When you’re going through a rough stretch, your confidence isn’t going to be high,” said Flames forward Joe Colborne. “When you’re on a roll, sometimes you can have those hiccups and missed assignments, and the puck will hit the post and go out.

“Right now, each one of those are hitting the post and going in. That doesn’t mean we can sit here and say, ‘It’s bad luck,’ though.

“It’s us.”

“As individuals, right now you’ve gotta go out there and simplify things and do the little things early in games that give you confidence, and then, as the game goes on, you get better and better,” Giordano said. “I think once we get those one or two games where things go right and we play well and don’t give up much, it’ll go a long way.”

“Winning is the best tonic in this business. We’re all human beings. You know you get in the room after a win, whether it’s an ugly win or a good win, and you feel good,” Hartley said. “Look at the body language coming out of Edmonton (where the Flames won 5-4 on Saturday night) — when you’re coaching a group of proud people, they want to be successful.”

“I don’t doubt one bit the willingness of our guys,” Hartley said. “We’re hurting right now — it hurts. We’re trying to find solutions.

“We’re a little bit like the drunk guy who thinks he’s pushing the wall, but he’s laying face-first on the sidewalk and the sidewalk won’t move.”

http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/11/04...-bottoming-out

Flames GM Brad Treliving staying the course

“We know where we are in our development individually and as a team, and a lot of our young players are still our top players, but I’m not using that as an excuse,” said the second-year GM whose club is wallowing at 3-9-1 following an embarrassing 6-3 loss Tuesday to the host Colorado Avalanche.

“We have under-performed. We will look tirelessly to correct it, but we don’t do things just for the sake of doing things — not if it hurts us long term. Right now our results are unacceptable, and we need to find a way to be better.”

“Ultimately the improvement has got to come from within,” Treliving said.

“We’ve got enough in here to be better. There aren’t 20 new guys coming through that door — that’s not realistic.”

“Oh, yeah … you get a whole lot more friends,” Treliving said. “I don’t know if they’re trying to cheer me up or throw me an anchor as we’re sinking. Emotion can be a dangerous thing in our business. You usually make poor decisions and you’re not in a good position when things are going like this. Am I aggressively trying to improve ourselves? I do that every day. But when you are in the position we are, you can do things that can have long-term implications.

“We’re banging on every door we can, but we can’t mortgage the future.”

“Our ability to keep the puck out of our net as a group … that’s No. 1,” Treliving said. “We’re averaging north of four goals against a game. I don’t care if you are playing Mary’s Sister of the Poor, you aren’t going to win like that. That’s plagued us from Day 1.”

“Sometimes the result can blind you — there was a lot of good that happened (Tuesday) night, but you lose 6-3 and feel like a piece of garbage,” said the GM, who reiterated how important it was to narrow focus and ignore the mountainous terrain they’ll have to climb to salvage the season.

“We see them all — the famous one now is that you have to be in a playoff position by U.S. Thanksgiving. To me, we’ve got to focus on a very small picture here. It can’t be anything other than to get our game back. Statistics and precedents and what teams have come back from what … the minute we start worrying we have to win three-of-four and five-of-seven, you have lost focus. My focus is getting us consistently better for longer periods of time.”

“Every ounce of energy is focused on getting our team up and going and righting the ship.”

http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/11/04...ing-the-course

Sam Bennett learning tough lessons like Calgary Flames rookies before him

“Sammy had a great game (Tuesday) night on the offensive side of the puck — I’d say he was our best forward,” Hartley said.

“He was skating well and generating chances for us. He’s fearless, and he’s a competitor, and he wants to do it the right way. He’s learning the game, and that’s normal for a 19-year-old kid. It’s quite a job for a 19-year-old kid to play centre in the NHL. He’s going to make mistakes, and he’s going to learn from them.”

“I think it’s really my confidence, I guess,” said Bennett when asked what the difference seemed to be as he’s racked up two goals and seven points in 12 NHL outings during his rookie season.

“It’s huge in this league, and it seems to be working for me right now. I definitely know I still have to improve defensively, and there’s always things I can do better.

“That’s still one of my main focuses and one of the team’s as well.”

“We made the same commitment with Sean Monahan two years ago and with Johnny (Gaudreau) last year, and we’re going to keep building,” Hartley said.

“Those young kids are unbelievable players for us and are a big part of our future, and it’s our job to teach them. As long as they have energy and a willingness to learn, I will live with those mistakes.”

http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/11/04...ies-before-him

Flames notes: Defensive struggles continue

"At key points in the game, we’re giving up big goals against,” said Flames captain Mark Giordano. “That’s been the problem. Our offence is coming and we’ve been skating well. We just have to eliminate those goals at key times of games.”

“Sometimes we get guilty of when things aren’t going well and we’re giving up a lot of goals against, we’re trying to do too much,” Giordano said. “When you do that, especially defensively, it makes it even worse. I think just as players, you have to keep it simple in the D-zone and it’s all about details.”

“It’s like watching the same soap opera,” said Flames head coach Bob Hartley after going through a morning of meetings at the Scotiabank Saddledome with his players. “Sometimes just the actors are changing. We’re losing momentum by our fault. Whether it’s bad penalties or turnovers or bad decisions and suddenly, we’re on our heels … we were not able to get the big first goal but we did lots of good things.”

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hock...ggles-continue

Hartley well aware he lives in a pressure-cooker.

Wednesday, Treliving re-iterated that pledge of faith.

“I feel,’’ he said, “the same way about Bob today as the day we extended him, the way we felt about him at the end of last season.

“What we’re going through right now is not a coaching thing. The issues we’re going through right now … it’s on ALL of us. The notion, the speculation, that Bob could be in peril? Couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Put that out of your mind.

“That’s nothing we’ve even contemplated, believe me.’’

“It’s a tough league to dig a hole in,’’ he agreed. “And we’re digging a big one for ourselves. But right now we need all the energy we have to fix the problems, not look for excuses or scapegoats.

“I’m looking for solutions and I think Bob’s a big part of the solution.’’

Bob Hartley understands the drill. Knows the risks.

And that target stencilled on his forehead?

Nothing new. His choice.

“We’re public people. We’re under scrutiny, for good or bad reasons. And whatever people might say or write?” A resigned shrug. “I might not think it’s right or it’s fair, but if I don’t like it, well, the windshield plant is closed now, but I can still go home.

“If there was a lack of commitment or a lack of care. I would be worried for the well-being of this group. But I have no doubt we have great leadership and we’re going to pull out of this.’’

Hartley may have lost some hockey games. But he hasn’t lost his sense of humour.

“Things,’’ he muttered, reaching into a pocket of his Flames’ track suit as he headed off towards the coaching office, “must be getting bad.’’ He pulled out a ballpoint, springs missing, plastic casing cracked, turned it over in his hand.

“I haven’t even got a damn pen that works.”

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hock...ressure-cooker

[FBI]

Wonder what Hartley says to raymond in those 1 on 1 meetings.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by FBI

Wonder what Hartley says to raymond in those 1 on 1 meetings.

"Keep up the great work!"

Honestly, it seems like he likes Raymond quite a bit. He keeps giving him assignments.

[JoelOtto29]

“We’re a little bit like the drunk guy who thinks he’s pushing the wall, but he’s laying face-first on the sidewalk and the sidewalk won’t move.”

What a beauty.

[dissentowner]

Like I said in the who is the next coach if Hartley is fired thread, Bob Hartley is not getting fired. We are all going to be damn thankful too in the long run.

[polak]

“We’re a little bit like the drunk guy who thinks he’s pushing the wall, but he’s laying face-first on the sidewalk and the sidewalk won’t move.”

So Hartley did see me at the game last week!