[GDT] Flames @ Oilers, 8 pm, CBC/SN

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Flames: 32-40-6, 70 points, 6th in Pacific, 12th in West, 26th in NHL.

Oilers: 30-42-7, 67 points, 7th in Pacific, 14th in West, 30th in NHL...yes, seriously. 30th yet again. Un-be-lieve-able.

Dear 8 pound 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus. Please help the Flames beat the Oilers tonight. The season series is tied and this cannot be the first year during their multi-build that the Flames drop the season series. We have no hope of out-tanking the Oilers. They're far too experienced at this time of year. Please, salvage some pride, and make sure we finish ahead of the Oilers and win the season series. Amen.

This is about as close as we get to a must-win game right now. Make it so.

The discussion continues as to who should be the rookie of the year. For an absolutely cringe-worthy quote, check out the preview from NHL.com/Flames website.

http://flames.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/...id=DL|CGY|home

McDavid will be in contention for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. "I really think he has to be nominated," Hall told the Edmonton Sun. "Everyone knows who the best rookie is. There are a couple of others (who started strongly) and maybe haven't kept the pace that they had at the start of the year. I think it's a lot harder to put up points like Connor has at the end of the year."

No Taylor, it's not harder, it's called "garbage time". It happens to be when you pad your stats so you can still say you're a good player, when clearly you're awful. I can't really fault Taylor Hall too much, because for Edmonton, the end of the season happens around the end of October, so for them, the entire season is the end of the year, which probably makes it quite competitive the whole time. And really, despite their supposed offensive talents, the Oilers still rank near the bottom of the league in GF/G, ranked 26th with 2.41, so it's clearly hard for anyone on their team to score goals, but that's what happens when you're spend most of the night in your own end.

Taylor Hall...too much "derp" for one man.

Do I think McDavid will be in the conversation for rookie of the year? Sure, but it's far from a foregone conclusion. Players like Panarin, Gostisbehere, Eichel, Larkin, Domi, Duclair, etc. will also deservedly be in the conversation. Missing half the season will probably detract from McDavid's case, for it becomes debatable whether he would have maintained his scoring pace all year long as fatigue and the rigors of the schedule take it's toll. But of course, as it always is in Edmonton, a player is given far more credit than they deserve and they figure that the league owes them something. Such a decrepit and disgusting culture they've managed to create around that team. McDavid is slowly being ruined before our eyes. Not from a talent standpoint, but purely from a mental approach to the game. I kinda feel bad for him.


Let's move on to a few more end of year reviews:

Michael Frolik (A-): G-15, A-17, P-32, +1, GWG-4, SH points-4. Giveaways/Takeaways-21/27. Frolik came in as advertised IMO. A solid two-way player who does all the little things that help a team win. Scores 15-20 goals, kills penalties, takes care of the puck etc. I wish he would have added offense a little more frequently this year though. He's pretty much contributed exactly what he did last year, so he's obviously incredibly consistent. That's not sexy, but on a young building team, consistency is so important to pick up the slack when the young kids are having an off night. That's why Frolik gets such a good grade from me. You knew what you were getting from him every night, and it was mostly very effective. He showed good chemistry with Backlund this year, and those two probably make up 2/3rds of our 3rd line when we are a playoff contender. The nice things about those two is they can easily move up to the 2nd line and be effective as well. I think Frolik was Treliving's best free agent signing to date.

Sam Bennett (B): G-17, A-18, P-35, -12, Hits/G-1.5, GA/TA-27/29. Sam Bennett will be an exceptional player one day, but he definitely had his struggles this year, as is to be expected from a rookie who lost an entire season last year due to surgery. When he was hot, he was unbelievable, creating offensive from nothing and being incredibly tenacious. When he was cold, he was a perimeter player who was barely noticeable. Lots to learn for him this year obviously, and I think he's improved quite a bit from the start of the year. Learning the center position in the NHL is very hard, and he definitely has taken time to adjust to the position, but from what I've seen he can handle it and it will just take more time to finish learning. He's a sharp kid, so I don't have any doubts that he can improve, but he isn't anywhere close to a finished product yet. I also think if he adds more weight this summer that will make his particular style of game far more effective. He's already a solid NHLer, now we just have to wait to see how high his ceiling really is.

Dougie Hamilton (B-): G-11, A-30, P-41, -14, PP points-15 (4th on the team), GWG-3, GA/TA-58-15. I highlighted that last stat because I think it points out Hamilton's season in a nutshell. He really struggled with puck management, and the defensive zone early on, and it took him quite a while to stabilize. I may be in the minority here, but I think he still has some major mistakes with defensive zone coverage most nights, and has plenty of learning to do. He also isn't nearly as good as he should be when battling for the puck in his own zone, and that really limits his effectiveness. He can use his size and skating ability to easily separate players from the puck, but he doesn't do it nearly often enough. HOWEVER, I love his offensive game. He clearly has the talent to be an elite offensive d-man in the league; great vision, good instincts, amazing shot, high-end passing skills, good skating. Hamilton has all the tools to be a PP quarterback and top pairing d-man, so I'll forgive him a little for his d-zone play this year since he's still quite young and obviously still learning the game. He could also add a few more pounds and be more dominant physically. Still a great piece moving forward.

Jyrki ("Kevin") Jokipakka (B-): CGY: Games-14, G-0, A-4, +/-: 0, Hits/G-1.4, BkS/G-1.4. NHL total: Games-54, G-2, A-8, P-10, +1. Looking at his numbers from Dallas, the way he's played in Calgary is pretty much what you can expect from him. He's a solid, but unspectacular defender, who uses the body well and makes it hard on attacking forwards. He's not a mean player, but he's effective and will hit with regularity. Offensively, he's fairly limited, but he's a decent skater, and as long as he makes a good pass to get out of his zone, that's all we really need from him. Kevin completely stabilizes our bottom pairing, and can play on the second pairing adequately when needed. He's only 24 and it's just his 2nd year in the league. He's a pretty good piece moving forward.

Micheal Ferland (C): G-4, A-10, P-14, -18 (team worst), Hits/G-1.8, GA/TA-22/36. I don't know if it's fair, but I was disappointed by Ferland this year. No, not for his lack of being a freight train, rather for his lack of offense. He played with pretty good players all year long, including some time on the top line with Gaudreau and Monahan, but still struggled to produce any offense. When I watch him, I see a kid with good wheels, strong on the forecheck, decent hands, and a nose for the net. You look at his giveaways to takeaways, and he's strongly on the positive end of that stat with a +14. Yet all those attributes produced just 4 goals on the year, the same amount as both Markus Granlund and Mason Raymond in half the games played as Ferland. 2 fewer goals than Matt Stajan, who has had an atrocious year. Not to mention Ferland's proclivity for taking quite a few unnecessary penalties and a team worst -18. I know he was a late bloomer, and I like what he can do if he puts it all together, but he's never really put it all together at the NHL level. Even though he's young and learning the game, I openly wonder if he'll be on the team next year.

Just to recap the reviews so far:

The A's: Gaudreau (A), Brodie (A), Monahan (A-), Giordano (A-), Backlund (A-), Frolik (A-)

The B's: Ramo (B+), Engelland (B+), Bennett (B), Hamilton (B-), Hudler (B-), Jokipakka (B-)

The C's: Russell (C+), Colborne (C+), Ferland (C), Smid (C), Granlund (C), Stajan (C-), Bouma (C-), Jooris (C-)*

The D's: Jones (D), Bollig (D)*, Raymond (D-)

The F's: Wideman (F), Hiller (F---)

*(having more time to think, I dropped their final grades)

That's pretty much the regulars this year. As you would expect, a LOT of below average grades (more than half the team). Next week I'll review the play of the callups. Some will have a pretty limited sample size to judge, but I'll still relate what I think about them going forward.

Roster Notes: Frolik is out for the Flames today, nursing some sort of ailment, but should be back for the next game. That allows Poirier to remain with the club another game more. Kulak was reassigned to Stockton following the end of his emergency recall. Ortio is expected to be the starter tonight. As for the Oilers, they will continue to be without Klefbom, Nugent-Hopkins, Pouliot, Davidson, Gryba, and Pardy. I'm having trouble finding accurate information about today's lineups, so take what I post with a grain of salt. We still have one too many forwards.

Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Shinkaruk
Ferland-Bennett-Colborne
Bouma-Backlund-Poirier
Bollig-Stajan-Grant
Jooris???

Brodie-Hamilton
Giordano-Engelland
Jokipakka-Nakladal

Ortio

Oilers
Maroon-McDavid-Eberle
Hall-Draisaitl-Yakupov
Korpikoski-Letestu-Pakarinen
Hendricks-Lander-Kassian

Sekera-Fayne
Oesterle-Reinhart
Nurse-Clendening

Talbot






Go Flames Go!!!!!!

[StrykerSteve]

Go Oilers go.

[Puppet Guy]

Our Hero, out for some plunderin', comes across a defenceless oil tanker:

Spoiler!

[bubbsy]

Wish hiller was playing.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

Go Oilers go.

Mods...ban for life?

[Yoho]

Pretty much 4 point game.

[tvp2003]

Final BoA at Northlands/Rexall:

[Enoch Root]

would give a 2nd thanks for the Ricky Bobby reference

[Strange Brew]

Thanks for the OP. Some of those grades look a little inflated for a near last place team just to be nit picky.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

Go Oilers go.

Shame on you.

[J79]

I don't like losing. In general.
It frustrades me when my Flames lose.
And I absolutely hate losing to the Oilers.

And today I scared myself by thinking: It's for the best if we lose this game.

And no matter how many times I repeat myself, I'm just sick of myself for thinking that's it's okay to lose... to the Oilers.

[Flamesguy_SJ]

Flames are 2-0 with a combined score of 11-3 against the Oilers when I am in attendance at Rexall...anyone want to pay to have me flown into town to ensure victory for the good guys?

[killer_carlson]

Are we sure Ortio is starting?

I think it will be Backstrom

[Bandwagon In Flames]

I'm all for getting a better draft position but there is absolutely no reason to cheer for a loss on this one...

We cannot catch the Oilers at this point and that will probably be a statistical certainty after this game.

A loss tonight MIGHT give us a 1% better chance at landing the 1st OA. Count me out.

[killer_carlson]

Great article on the Flames history at Rexall

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hock...medium=twitter

That’s something for the fans at Edmonton’s new downtown palace to look forward to.

“I’ve been through their new arena, which is going to be absolutely phenomenal,” McDonald said. “Yes, Rexall Place will be gone. But how cool would it be to have Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Gio and TJ Brodie and the likes take up the charge in the new building — and hopefully new buildings — against Connor McDavid and Taylor Hall and the likes up there?”

My favorite bit is that Fleury is top 5 on the list for all time points and penalty minutes.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

I'm all for getting a better draft position but there is absolutely no reason to cheer for a loss on this one...

We cannot catch the Oilers at this point and that will probably be a statistical certainty after this game.

A loss tonight MIGHT give us a 1% better chance at landing the 1st OA. Count me out.

A loss tonight puts the Oilers 1 point behind us, with the Oilers having 2 games left against Vancouver.

[Vinny01]

I want the win tonight! Go Flames Go

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

I'm all for getting a better draft position but there is absolutely no reason to cheer for a loss on this one...

We cannot catch the Oilers at this point and that will probably be a statistical certainty after this game.

A loss tonight MIGHT give us a 1% better chance at landing the 1st OA. Count me out.

First of all, I completely agree about not cheering for the Oilers.

To the bold though, it is not as certain as you suggest. If the Oilers win tonight, they would be 1 point back. And they play the Nucks twice - not at all a stretch to suggest they get 2 or 3 points out of that.

Meanwhile, the Flames play LA, VAN and the Wild. Probably looking at 2 points.

If the Oilers finish with 3 wins (I. know), they probably finish ahead of us.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

A loss tonight puts the Oilers 1 point behind us, with the Oilers having 2 games left against Vancouver.

The Oilers also have 1 more game played, so it's not that simple.

Vancouver sucks but they don't know how to out tank Edmonton.

[REDVAN]

Flames win in SO