What ails the Flames?

[Bunk]

Lots of good debate on here and twitter as to what is ailing the flames most this year.

Lots of candidates to choose from.

Poor special teams (much of the year)
Poor shooting
Poor bottom six
Slow playing style
Poor goaltending in Smith’s absense
Poor mental preparation
Poor home play
Poor coaching generally
Poor roster management
Poor in-game management
Defensive breakdowns

I am of the opinion that it is really all these factors combining and compounding and rearing their ugly heads at different moments in the season. Or is there one or two overriding factors screwing up their season?

What are the best solutions for next year? Many arguing not to panic and to tweak the lineup or to change coaching staff.

[codynw]

Coaching.

[GranteedEV]

A decent run and gun roster....

.... trying to grind out pseudo-physical wins for a stubborn coach trying to appease a pseudo-Modern GM who pays lip service to what works and then acts the opposite as he attempts to appease a Neanderthal POHO who is out of touch with the game while trying to appease a fanbase that is out of touch with what a winning team looks due to the exaggerated makeup of one team in one run over a decade ago while enabling an ownership group that wouldn't sacrifice a season or two of asset building if it meant a slight off chance of the revenue of two home playoff games.

... But mostly the stubborn coach.

[FiveSeven]

Coaching + Bottom 6. I feel like anything else is just a symptom of these or is overthinking.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by FiveSeven

Coaching + Bottom 6. I feel like anything else is just a symptom of these or is overthinking.

To be fair the bottom six could be better if Gulutzan dressed Lazar and Shore instead of Stajan and Glass.

And getting Ferland and Versteeg back won't hurt either.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by codynw

To be fair the bottom six could be better if Gulutzan dressed Lazar and Shore instead of Stajan and Glass.

And getting Ferland and Versteeg back won't hurt either.

Changing 2 players who would pass through waivers, for 2 players that might not pass through waivers, won't make much of a difference. I would still make that change but results aren't going to equal a bunch of wins

I'm on the need coaching change and a retool on players. There's a lot wrong with this team. That said they got some great pieces

[FlamesAddiction]

I would say coaching generally, but especially the PP.

I think roster management has been a bit of a failure as well. Treliving has done a pretty good job, but there are still some pretty big holes to fill. A legitimate 1st line RW would probably see increasing returns as well. Gaudreau would probably be leading the league in points if we had one. No offense to Ferland, but he is not that player.

Obviously getting a top RW is not easy though so it's difficult to put blame on Treliving, but I do question why we needed to spend valuable assets on Hamonic in the off-season. Don't get me wrong, I like Hamonic and he is a welcome addition for sure, but I feel the move wasn't the biggest priority to give up what we did.

[Hey Connor, It's Mess]

A roster that isn't very good.

[Hammertime]

A mentally weak, young team struggling to manage the pressure of big games and a tight playoff race.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[blender]

I agree with the comment about quality debate. Nice to see that at least.
I think that the axe has to fall on the coaching staff. Coaching hasn't been the sole issue, but the old adage that you can fire the coach but you can't fire the team applies here.
The NHL is a result-driven league and GG hasn't gotten them. I think the most damning indictment of the current coaching staff is that I doubt any other staff would net worse results. It is certainly hard to imagine.

The bottom half of the roster is not good enough, but luckily that is the easiest part of a roster to fix. The core is very good and on very good contracts. I think the prudent move would be to augment the core with a better system, suited to strengths and tweak the bottom six.

Obviously easier said than done, but should be achievable.

That being said, some points to consider:
Are the Flames the Jets? Are they ready to break out next year with minor tweaks and another year of growth, staying the course? It is tempting to believe, but I'm not convinced. The Jets are deeper than the Flames, and have more pure talent (Calgary losing their 1st this year is really going to sting). Prudence and patience should be kept in mind, but changes are needed.

Is the season actually over? Don't get me wrong, it feels over and there is nothing to take away from the last stretch of games that suggests any different, but with 16 games to play there is part of me not wanting to give up. I assume that the team is of the same mindset. They are a young team and having the right attitude is critical. Now is no time to fold. Make the playoffs has to be the message.

I doubt we see massive upheaval and wholesale change that some are calling for. The Flames are not a bad team by any measure. They are in the mushy middle and need to be better, but I don't support the argument that there is something major rotting them out from the inside.

Just my .02

[dissentowner]

Man Management: The system is fine but the choices made on lines and ice time are mind boggling.
Special teams: If the Flames had a half assed decent PP they would be solidly in a playoff spot despite the above.
Mike Smith's injury: I like what I see from Gillies and Rittich but neither can carry the mail right now at the level of Smith.
TJ Brodie: He has single handedly cost us games this year with his blunders. He reads the offensive play well, he can make an outlet pass when not pressured, and he has good instincts when to jump into the rush but he is absolutely terrible when under pressure in his own zone, his skating on the back check is lazy, he gets owned physically by stronger guys and he gets walked a lot. He is also terrible when teams have sustained pressure in our zone cycling the puck, he gets lost in positioning. Combine that with the major blunder at least once a game where he makes an inexcusable play under no pressure where he just makes a bad decision and you have a recipe for deflating plays that kill the team.

[bigrangy]

Only one actual good offensive player, and the 2nd and 3rd most talented guys are stuck playing defense all game.

The defense that the team is incredibly invested in is not being deployed/utilized properly either.

Couple that with failing to develop any impact players from outside the top 6 draft slots in the last 7 (!) years and you're going to struggle to win games, even with Vezina level play from your goalie and Hart level play from your best forward, and continual dominance from your top pairing. Now that the Smith is injured and Johnny is cold, it gets really easy to see how reliant the team is on them.

I made fun of the grease for being a 2 man team last year but the Flames have been arguably more top heavy than they were.

[djsFlames]

Scoring talent, and head/PP coaches.

Those are the two big killers.

These guys can fly when they feel like they can be game breakers / when their hearts are in it. Hard to maintain that level of confidence when most of the scoring ability comes through two players. When their games dry up, so then does the team's.

GG doesn't motivate well, his system drains creativity, creates fewer odd man rushes, and allows for the opposing team to enter the zone with complete ease. It relies on a near perfect 60 minute execution to pull out wins, whereas you'll see a number of teams that can win their fare share of games on a few quick rushes and being opportunistic, which so happens to be the sort of game that the Flames' weapons could thrive on. The two coaches don't adjust when it's needed, and only well after the answers are made obvious.

Add scoring talent, swap the coaches/system and I think you see results.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

A decent run and gun roster....

.... trying to grind out pseudo-physical wins for a stubborn coach trying to appease a pseudo-Modern GM who pays lip service to what works and then acts the opposite as he attempts to appease a Neanderthal POHO who is out of touch with the game while trying to appease a fanbase that is out of touch with what a winning team looks due to the exaggerated makeup of one team in one run over a decade ago while enabling an ownership group that wouldn't sacrifice a season or two of asset building if it meant a slight off chance of the revenue of two home playoff games.

... But mostly the stubborn coach.

ruthless

[mrdonkey]

Coaching and abysmal forward depth. Our 2nd line would be a 3rd line on a cup winner (Darryl’s words, not mine), and our bottom 6 belongs in the AHL (my words). There is so much work to be done in terms of depth it’s not even funny.

First line is pretty good though. Ideally Monahan and Ferland are on your second line but Johnny makes them dangerous on his own (not dissimilar to guys like Crosby and McDavid, so you can cheat a bit here).

With the coaching, there’s no excuse. These issues were obvious in November and Treliving sat on his hands.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by codynw

To be fair the bottom six could be better if Gulutzan dressed Lazar and Shore instead of Stajan and Glass.

And getting Ferland and Versteeg back won't hurt either.

Yep, but not better enough to make a difference in the standings or even move the needle, or even help it to produce many more points than they have now for that matter.

Glass is trash & Stajan is done, but the rest of the bottom 6 except for Bennett & Janko don't likely have the upside to be much if any more than what they are right now, which is non NHL quality hockey players.

I am almost convinced the organization wants to help get Stajan his 1,000 games & silver stick before they consider scratching him.

[CliffFletcher]

A deeply rooted culture of mediocrity.

[81MC]

My glasses must be seriously rose coloured, because I don’t see the Stajan everyone else does.

[vanisleflamesfan]

Yes. All of the above. Everything on your list. All at once and every game all season long, for ever and ever.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Karl

I am almost convinced the organization wants to help get Stajan his 1,000 games & silver stick before they consider scratching him.

Oh well playoffs are a pipedream now anyways, might as well get him there and then offer him a job of some sort in the off season.