[PGT] Flames win! Monahan with his first goal!

[stemit14]

Love the team speed... Definitely a huge asset this season. Brodie looks better every game and he is becoming one of those blueliners that can dictate the pace of the game with how poised he is with the pick and his awesome speed.

Loved the Monahan, baertschi, and stempniak line. Sean is going to be such a great player... You can really see what everyone means when they say his hockey IQ is off the charts. Not trying to get everyone's hopes up too high but his game reminds me a lot of toews as a rookie. In his rookie year, toews was one of those kids who did all the little things right and, most importantly, got better every game. I could see Monahan following the same path. Awesome to see him winning battles and making plays to the net against seasoned vets.

I think players like take hall and Tyler seguin have tons of skill and speed but their weaknesses are that they don't have the elite level hockey IQ of a giroux or toews. I'm excited that Monahan could one day be that kind of player. It might take some time and his ceiling might not be as high as those guys but I think he's got all the tools to be the perfect kind of franchise guy that's a winner.

[Tinordi]

Fun to watch an nhl team instead of Iggy and friends getting their shoes shined at the country club. Hartley agrees with that too.

[Badgers Nose]

Very fun team to watch. Win or lose, it looks like you will get your money worth going to games.

Not sure I like the idea of cammi coming back and upsetting things. I guess we will have to see how that plays out.

This team seems more coachable. They seem to be willing to all play the system. I only saw a few broken east west plays at he blue line last night. Versus almost every shift last year.

[liamenator]

It's really quite amazing to see how re-energized the whole organization is from the top down. They can't keep this pace up, but it appears everyone is excited to come to the rink again, and this is going to be a fun year.

Hartley has impressed me so much this year. He's remaking the team in his image, emphasizing exactly what this team has lacked for so long: conditioning, hard work, 5 men units, back pressure, etc. Seems to be pushing all the right buttons.

I'm not hanging this all on Iginla the leader or the player. But sometimes things get stale. Turning the page has been refreshing for the organization and, it seems, the player.

[GreenLantern]

Agree with all of the above, the team looks completely different from last year and I love it.

This is a great foundation to build a contender on for the future.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Firstly, for those who are banging on Colborne already, give him a break. He was forced into the lineup early before he learned Hartley's system. A few days and a handful of practices is not a lot for him to get up to speed. Not to mention he didn't have the conditioning drills that the other players on this team did, so he's likely to be behind the pace a little. I thought his decision making was solid and he was trying to take care of his own zone first. Nothing wrong with that.

Hudler was really good, and even when he made a mistake he would make up for it. He's a very craft player with his stick, even defensively.

Baertschi looks much better in his own zone and neutral zone. You can tell he's distracted offensively though by trying to make sure he takes care of his own zone first. He was the other guy covering for a pinching defenseman on several occasions. I would like him to try and fight through his checkers a little more as that seems to be how you create a defensive breakdown in the NHL these days, but everything else in his game was pretty good last night. He will get better as the year goes on, I'm sure of it.

Brodie looked much, much better tonight. I'm very impressed with how he uses his body well to position himself between players and pucks, he skates it out of trouble effortlessly, and always makes a solid first pass. If they were stuck in the D-zone with him on the ice, it was always because the forward didn't chip the puck out or turned the puck over at the blue line. Pretty great game from Brodie IMO. Honourable mention to Kris Russell for being Brodie light and not bad in a top 4 role.

I really like D. Jones' game out there. Very tough and physical, while driving the net hard on every shift. Our last RW power forward stopped playing like that years ago. I'm glad to have a player like that again.

McGrattan has been amazing so far by drawing penalties, skating hard, and backchecking well, and that's not even what he's on the team for.

Galiardi showed up to play tonight and really looked like he wanted to make amends for his dumb play last night. I love a player that holds himself accountable. We've been missing that for some time.

Glencross looked really lazy for the first period again. He did a poor job of covering on the PK leading to their first goal. He made some better plays as the game went on, but for a team built on good hockey I.Q., he sticks out like a sore thumb.

MacDonald did enough to get the win and was solid, but he always takes way too long to get across to the other side of the net. That trait led directly to the 3rd goal tonight and that's the difference between a starter and a backup. Ramo didn't blow me away in the first game either, so goaltending might be an issue if they don't improve a little this year.

Shane O'Brien is a dirty, dirty player. Not only that, he is still pretty bad defensively and takes a lot of penalties that he doesn't necessarily need to. Quite frankly, I believe he will be gone as soon as Sieloff is ready.

I really want to give credit to Bob Hartley and Jay Feaster. Feaster got rid of the dead weight and brought players in who want to contribute and be part of the team ethic. Hartley has taken that group and managed to get them all to buy into the team concept, along with great conditioning and work ethic. I love the never quit mindset, even when things look bad out there. There will be some ugly nights this year because the talent level still isn't that high, especially in goal, but I'll take this kind of effort even 75% of the games year. Much more enjoyable to watch than the last few years.

[fatso]

Unfortunately, I only caught glimpses of the past two games. But wow, are the Flames ever fast! And, on top of it, they seem to be able to actually play at that speed (as opposed to Comeau-esque breakneck speed but failing to accomplish anything).

From the little I saw, Backlund really stood out for me. Very impressive, and it's starting to really come together for him. Very excited to see what he can do this year.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by timbit

I understand. This coming from the poster who always believed that the Flames were always so close to a playoff spot , ergo a Stanley Cup contender.

I think we all realize that the only thing you have anymore, Timbit, is the past. But you really need to stop living in it.

[FlamesAddiction]

Congrats to Monahan. He looks very mature and composed out there. I like that he and Bartschi are going to have a lot of time to form chemistry.

[Mr.Coffee]

Caught both of the games and the Flames look like they're having fun, are working about 50 times harder than any of the versions of the recent past, and are surprising I think everybody with their speed. They're forecheck is extremely aggressive. And you saw Columbus' comments after the game to that effect too.

As exciting as it is though, and lord knows this fanbase needs a breath of fresh air and the right to be excited again- we do need to keep things in perspective I think. That way if the team starts to falter, which as young players is going to happen- we don't have fans slamming the panic button unnecessarily.

Good times to be a Flames fan. It's the best when you watch the games with no expectation, but just enjoy them. As a fan, you can feed off the love of the game the players have for it- when they show it. Like they are right now.

[stemit14]

Stempniak and street also should get done praise for their play in the last 2 games. Both playing great hockey and doing all the little things right. Live the way street plays that north south game and puts the puck to the net every chance he gets.

[JobHopper]

I really enjoyed watching the first 2 games and I think the Flames are going to be a competitive team and not as bad as people may think.

Nice goal by TJ Galiardi. Sean Monahan getting his first NHL goal and second point, the young guys are making it exciting to watch and show they can get it done.

Sven Baertschi looks good but I would like to see him shoot the puck more.

[Street Pharmacist]

2 games in, my observations:

- Allowing a lot of shots. Allowing 36 shots per game on average will not win you many games. However, they seem to be pushing the shots to the outside
-The D are not good at stopping the rush all that well, but the forwards come back hard which helps. This seems to lead to some of the chances off the rush. I haven't seen any breakaways or 2 on 1's that I can remember, can anyone else? Am I missing something? That's quite a feat if true.
-Goaltending. It'd be nice to see a goalie that stops a shot they shouldn't once in a while, but they're stopping all the ones they should. That's really all we can ask I guess.
-Forwards are making smart plays and coming back hard. Despite this they're scoring. It's nice to see two guys in on the forecheck. It sure makes things more exciting and has caused more turnovers on the forecheck than I've seen since 2004. The speed is the obvious difference, but another difference is what happens when they get the puck. I might be making stuff up, but it seems as though they pass to the supporting forward the instant they retrieve the puck, which seems to help with possession.

Overall they are exhibiting the exciting game they promised and I'm a lot more invested than I thought I'd be. If we're out of playoffs, and too far behind Edmonton and Vancouver, I'm not sure I'd have much to watch though. I hope they keep this up!


Edit: forgot about the breakaway goal in Washington against Ramo

[stemit14]

Love what baertschi is doing out there. He playing great in all areas of the ice and he's constantly creating scoring chances for the flames. He has that deceptive speed and skill to get around defenders and turn 2 on 2's into partial 2 on 1's. He's working hard and getting better every game. He'll start shooting the puck more and then he's really going to light it up.

[LouCypher]

Still so early but really does look to be a team game that they are adapting too. They reminded me more of what they looked like when Darryl was coach, everyone seems to be a key cog for the whole of the team to be at its best. I'm sure they will still have their struggles and kinks to work out but last place might be to ambitious to expect from a team willing to compete hard.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by haiku

hudler dancing in
a phonebook-like area
top shelf laser beam

Quoted for awesome
even though it's a Kerr phrase.
I both laugh and rage.

[Henry Fool]

(EDIT nm, redundant)

[Robo]

Originally Posted by JobHopper

I really enjoyed watching the first 2 games and I think the Flames are going to be a competitive team and not as bad as people may think.

Nice goal by TJ Galiardi. Sean Monahan getting his first NHL goal and second point, the young guys are making it exciting to watch and show they can get it done.

Sven Baertschi looks good but I would like to see him shoot the puck more.

This he could probably have a goal or two if he shot instead of passed on some of those plays

[Soliak]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

Quoted for awesome
even though it's a Kerr phrase.
I both laugh and rage.

Kerr is awesome, I don't care what anyone says!

[Igster]

Could this team be any more fun to watch now? Keep it up boys. Awesome work.