[News] Giordano will have surgery for torn biceps tendon. Done for the season

[Stay Golden]

Damn Gio deserved the Norris. Making the playoffs was is a 50/50 roll of the dice.
But Gio had a better than 90% chance of winning the Norris and a 100% chance he would be at least nominated.
Damn we are all pulling for a 100% mental physical recovery Gio!

[theTrumanShow]

Originally Posted by Split98

Don't be surprised if Ramo gets a contract and one of them is traded on Draft Day. No way the Flames let him walk the way he's playing right now.

As long as we don't lose an asset like him for nothing I would be okay for Ortio to start next season in the minors as the starter. As the season progresses, trade Hiller/Ramo call up Ortio to backup. Eventually trade who remains of Hiller/Ramo after that and make Ortio your #1.

[theTrumanShow]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Damn Gio deserved the Norris. Making the playoffs was is a 50/50 roll of the dice.
But Gio had a better than 90% chance of winning the Norris and a 100% chance he would be at least nominated.
Damn we are all pulling for a 100% mental physical recovery Gio!

Cap definitely deserved it to this point. Too bad, but maybe ok for contract negotiations next year. Winning the Norris would probably equate to another $1M/year on his next contract. That is probably the only good thing I can remotely think of with his injury.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I'm not really being fair to Diaz though. He's been solid since getting regular minutes.

It was just the visual. Lining up a sack of cats with one head poking out and a stick taped to the bag for an opening face-off. Just made me chuckle.

[Dan02]

bah humbug

[Stay Golden]

Bernier even though it was a fluke injury to Gio. Karma is going to you for that pitchfork into the skates.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by theTrumanShow

As long as we don't lose an asset like him for nothing I would be okay for Ortio to start next season in the minors as the starter. As the season progresses, trade Hiller/Ramo call up Ortio to backup. Eventually trade who remains of Hiller/Ramo after that and make Ortio your #1.

Ortio has to clear waivers next season, and he's got a one way contract. He's not going to the minors.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

This team deserves McDavid if this causes the playoffs to slip away. It would be sweet justice, no team is more anti tank than this one.

[foshizzle11]

If we just miss out on the playoffs and win the lottery to get McDavid it would be a miracle. I can't imagine how much the oiler and canuck fans would be freaking out, it would be like xmas but about 100x better.

I wonder if the flames players knew on thursday last week if he was done for the season. I feel so bad for him, he was having such an amazing year. blah.

[troutman]

Brodie looked really good in the NYI game.

I think he can handle the extra load.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by troutman

Brodie looked really good in the NYI game.

I think he can handle the extra load.

Bigger question is will the top 3 be able to handle the extra minutes without burning out.

Hartley doesn't seem willing to give the bottom 3 more minutes to take some pressure off the top 3. That to me is the biggest issue going forward.

[Bonded]

Well that sucks.
Would be amazing to get into the playoffs now.

[Dime_On_Flames]

That Schlemko pick up is looking pretty good now.

Next man up!

[N-E-B]

The Flames are the type of team that will battle through it and keep proving all the nay-sayers wrong. They might not make the playoffs, but they'll be in it until the bitter end. I'm not going to hit the panic button yet.

[nik-]

12th to 14th overall pick here we come

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by nik-

12th to 14th overall pick here we come

We went on quite the slide without Gio last year. I'm thinking closer to 10.

[Geeoff]

Brodie to pick up the Norris in Gio's absence?

[atb]

Even with the Gio news, throwing in the towel and selling players would have been something out of the Oilers playbook. The message to the Flames players and staff this year was all about rewarding hard work. No one can argue against the fact that the majority, if not all, the players have put in the hard work to get themselves into a position where they are in a playoff spot with just over a month to go in the regular season. To turnaround and start selling players now would basically be telling the players that all the work they have put into this season is meaningless. That's the way you build a losing culture (See Edmonton).

I see Treliving as having the perfect trade deadline, shipping out players who weren't going to sign here in the off-season (and whose absence isn't going to really hurt the team's playoff chances), and adding early round picks in what is supposed to be a deep draft.

Losing Gio is a huge blow, but I think the faith Treliving has shown the players by not moving anyone else out will be a huge motivator for the team and give us a real shot at making the post season.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Where the hell is Smid btw? I totally forgot he was even on the team until last game.

[DiracSpike]

This team never quits and has been surprising us all year long, for my money I see them using this as an all-in rallying cry to make the playoffs. Just need to stay ahead of LA and we can avoid any future McDavid talk.