[PGT] Flames lose 6-3 vs Avs

[868904]

When Glencross is going well, he's good. When he's not, you can tell pretty early and he sucks really bad, and the coaching staff has to sit him for the rest of the game. The guy just looks lazy when he's out of it, like Bourque.

Iggy, I really wouldn't cry if he was traded at this point. I really think this team will be better off without him. Call it the Mark Messier affect or whatever, but I think he just casts too big a shadow over this team. It'd be better for him and the Flames to part ways.

The defensive struggles with this team are nothing new. Even when they were a "defense first" team with Brent, they still were terrible in their own end, and it all boils down to poor defensive coverage. The forwards are ALWAYS flying the zone early and leaving no outlets for the defenceman which leads to turnovers. Sure Butler sucks and flubbed his outlet pass, but if Glencross wasn't cheating to fly the zone, he would have at least prevented Mitchell from getting the puck in a prime scoring area. The leaders have to lead and they have to make sure that puck gets out of their zone.

I honestly don't know why the kept giving the Iginla line more ice time. By the second period, you knew they didn't have it. The Hudler line was going well, and they should have been out every shift. Backlund was great in the third and should have been double shifted.

[Sakari]

Okay as harsh as i was not 5 minutes ago.. my overall analysis is fairly simple.

As a goaltender myself I know that when you don't have a consistency in the shots your facing the game becomes difficult, which is probably why Kipper had a hard time tonight. 2 of those goals should have been stopped, there is absolutely no excuse for letting those in.

On the other hand, Kipper almost had that 5th goal with his blocker, in fact he got a piece of it but it bounced down. Would have been a great save, and it shows he's still capable of being the most athletic goaltender in the league.

We can't say, oh, Kipper's gotta go, after this. He really was let down by his team tonight. Obviously the 12 up front were excellent for roughly 50 minutes of the game, but the 6 in the back definitely should have been better, Jay was easily the best defenseman and has been for the past 2 games. For 6.7 million a year, that's what he needs to do.

A first line I wouldn't mine seeing would be Hudler-Iginla-Cervenka. Iginla should be the one shifted to center, if anyone. He's great in the dot as we've seen. That line would probably light up every goalie they face. If Hudler and Cervenka get broken up, I would not be shocked. Hartley broke up Baertschi and Backlund, and now Baertschi has probably lost a lot of confidence and Backlund lost this teams most skilled finisher.


We weren't a bad team tonight. Our goaltending should have been better, and I say that very rarely, so I'm not going to say Kipper's bad. Our defense should have been air tight in the last few minutes, and our PK needs to be worked on. Our powerplay should have been high-pressure "go-go" style, maybe then we would have won.

And for christ's sake, HIT THE NET!

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I'd give the Avs some credit, they really stepped it up in the 3rd.. they got tired of losing too.

they were dominated until they scored the PP goal then the flames quit

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Good God the whining about Butler is so tiring.

He deserves a portion of it, but he has been unjustly stigmatized and will be blamed regardless of what happens.

The third Av goal is a perfect example tonight.

[minnow]

Originally Posted by 1stLand

Maybe change the captain.

He'll be asking for a change if this crap keeps up.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Chad_Flames

Before everyone starts letting loose, I think we should be fair for a second. There's been a lockout for months and absolutely no training camp. You have to give the boys some slack.

They get the same slack as every other team that had no training camp.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Itse

Hey, as bad as they are, I would still rather watch them play this way and lose than the way they lost games last year. At least I didn't fall asleep.

I agree. Hudler's 2nd goal tonight, you didn't see a goal that pretty in the entire Brent Sutter regime.

[BigRed]

I got a good new sig line out of the GT. That's good.

[SkunkyJosh]

The Flames have been bad since i joined this forum.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by dino7c

they were dominated until they scored the PP goal then the flames quit

But they created the PP with some nice rushes, they got 2 PPs in the 3rd.

[Poe969]

Well I thought it would be 6-2, they did better than I thought they would!

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Chad_Flames

Before everyone starts letting loose, I think we should be fair for a second. There's been a lockout for months and absolutely no training camp. You have to give the boys some slack. They're obviously not in tip top form yet but once they get there we'll look really strong. Hell, we already looked pretty dominant throughout.

Kipper is going to regain form and then we have a solid team. We saw tonight that the Flames could be dominant. It was pretty much Kipper's fault but he hasn't played in so long and needs some games to regain his rhythm and what not.

I could easily see this team finishing 5th or 6th in the west once we get some more practice in and some jelling. Liked what I saw from Hudler!

5-6?! Wow...

You realize that everyone is out of shape right? It's not like every team in the NHL was playing during the lockout but Calgary...

[zamler]

Originally Posted by SkunkyJosh

The Flames have been bad since i joined this forum.

You know what to do...

[nieuwy-89]

1-4, pathetic start to the season.

This was such a winnable game, tied at home going into the third against a tired and depleted team.

Gigeure outplayed Kiprusoff and the Avs outworked the Flames along the boards all night long. It wasn't just one or two breakdowns, it was almost every time the Avs gained possession in the Flames zone.

I really miss the old Darryl Sutter coaching days when a 1 goal lead at any point in the game almost guaranteed a win.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by SkunkyJosh

The Flames have been bad since i joined this forum.

nice one

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

kipper is allowed to have a stinker once every 8 years or so.

He will bounce back, but i have no problem starting N Dynamite next game.

Kipper's spot in the SV% Leaders board in Calgary

03/04: 1
05/06: 3
06/07: 9
07/08: 30
08/09: 32
09/10: 10
10/11: 34
11/12: 9
12/13: 41 (so far)

There are normally around 45-goalies on the list.

Kipper hasn't been all that good the previous 5 seasons. He was very good last season where he kept a team in contention that had no business being in contention. But outside of that he has ranged from average to not very good.

The biggest question mark for me this season is how Kipper would perform. Especially under an offensive coach. So far that answer has been very positive.

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by SkunkyJosh

The Flames have been bad since i joined this forum.

Coincidence?

[SkunkyJosh]

Originally Posted by zamler

You know what to do...

That?

[Chad_Flames]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

5-6?! Wow...

You realize that everyone is out of shape right? It's not like every team in the NHL was playing during the lockout but Calgary...

Yeah but the Flames are an older team. They need a bit more time to get their legs together.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by Chad_Flames

Before everyone starts letting loose, I think we should be fair for a second. There's been a lockout for months and absolutely no training camp. You have to give the boys some slack. They're obviously not in tip top form yet but once they get there we'll look really strong. Hell, we already looked pretty dominant throughout.

Kipper is going to regain form and then we have a solid team. We saw tonight that the Flames could be dominant. It was pretty much Kipper's fault but he hasn't played in so long and needs some games to regain his rhythm and what not.

I could easily see this team finishing 5th or 6th in the west once we get some more practice in and some jelling. Liked what I saw from Hudler!

I'll have what he's having.