[PGT] Flames @ Coyotes. Flames lose 4-2

[Igster]

Flames play the Yotes 4 more time hey? Well, just give me the score at the end. I never miss a Flames game, but I'm not watching that crapfest Tippett calls hockey anymore. Just fricken' brutal.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bouw N Arrow

The flames were so boring when they were making the playoffs eh? Under sutter's boring system? Come on...

They weren't exactly exciting but I don't think they purposely slowed down games to a snail's pace. The Coyotes try to lull teams to sleep and take away their speed and transition game by just mucking things up then when they get a lead they play with 3 men back and just keep the puck between the blue lines without mustering much of an attack. It worked perfectly as they had like 4 shots on the Flames after taking the lead and as soon as the Flames tied it up they out of the blue started skating and playing offense again which caught the Flames totally off guard and resulted in the winning goal which was followed by them promptly going back into their shell again for the rest of the game. Tippet is a master of this broken style of gameplay and it's served that franchise well so I'm not faulting the Coyotes for doing what it takes to get wins and points.

I get why they play that way and you can't argue it isn't effective but it's hard to watch. The key to beating the Coyotes is to get the lead and to force them to get out of their shell. Flames didn't do that last night and the results were predictable.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by New Era

This loss squarely hangs on MacDonald's neck. Overplayed every goal. Heck, he was in better position to make the save on the empty netter than he was on the goals he actually let in. When you're as slow and nonathletic like MacDonald you can't get caught out of position as badly as he was. Mad for some pretty easy goals for the Coyotes.

On the pace of the game and the entertainment level, that clearly is on the Flames as well. The only time the game was exciting to us Flames fans was the start of the third, when the Flames decided to skate and fight through the checking of the Coyotes. When they believed they had a chance to win they were fully engaged and made a game out of it. When they went back down they went back to trying to make the perfect play and allowing Phoenix to play their game, rather than forcing the play. Phoenix plays a brand of hockey we may not like, but it wins games and that is entertaining to the fans. A lot can be forgiven when there is a mark in the win column.

It was just par for the course for MacDonald. Most of the "nice" saves he makes in any given game are just routine saves that look "nice" because of his poor positioning and late reflexes. Goalies tend to look good when they are striving to make saves and people tend not to peel back the reasons that they were striving to begin with. Then he will always let in a pretty bad goal and many fans will forgive it because all the other "nice" saves he made in the game.

There is a reason why he used to typically start every season on waivers.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by BigT112

Probably the worst effort of the season, especially goalie wise.

As much as we can blame the Flames lack of effort, it's moreso the suffocating style Phoenix plays that gives the illusion that the team wasn't trying as hard. Phoenix does this to every team in the league. Suffocating, physical style that just wears you down and leaves you with no room to do anything. Were not the first team to fall victim to this style, and won't be the last.

I was so happy when MIN left our division, but now they've been replaced by a better, more boring team in Phoenix. Yuck.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by puckluck2

I think I am going to be a goalie in my second life because I always have been a goalie apologist. I didn't think Macdonald had that bad of a game.

I didn't think so either. Unfortunately when some poster does not like a player around here there's nothing a player can do (good or bad) and he will still a bum. The love for Ramo and Berra is ridiculously annoying. I get it that some people would want to have Berra in the NHL but Flames still have to compete or at least show that they are throwing the towel for the season by having 2 rookie goaltenders in the lineup. I am a fan of Joey Mac but the guy is a career backup and he can help Ramo.

Joey Mac is the not only one some poster hates. Same thing they get blinded by their hate no matter how a player plays in a game, he still sucks. Backlund, i don't get the hate. The guy was forechecking, hitting, playing defense, trying to defend the goalie Ramo on SJ game and he still sucks because he only had one shot. Glencross sucks every game, Butler same thing, Jackman who's been a healthy scratch sucks all the time. Some don't like Ben Street and he sucks too even though the guy plays with energy and playing well defensively. Maybe all players I mentioned haven't scored a lot of goals that's why some posters thinks they suck. Season is too early on this REBUILDING year and we hear a lot of negatives already. Geez!! I wish people will just watch the game with an open mind and not to nitpick on the players they don't like.

[old-fart]

Flames were playing the 3rd game in 4 nights (and back to back) with the first two games being very physical games against SJ and LA... and it showed. They were very slow off the mark in the 1st and didn't really seem to get their legs until half way through the second, or even a bit later.

Didn't help that Joey was brutal. He was so far out of position on the first goal it was basically an empty net. Was in poor position on the second, although that was a good tip. And the third goal mirrored the first - way out of position and very slow to react. That's not counting at least two other pucks that got by him and if not for great defensive saves by Squid on one occasion and Russell on another would have allowed five goals. And he had at least two saving posts too. He also just seems really bad at playing the puck behind the net. There were several occasions where he had a d-man coming back and instead of playing the puck to the d-man, or leaving it for him to get, he shoots it the other way right to a Phoenix player. WTF man?

If Ramo plays that game, we probably get a point. I'm ok with the effort in the last half of the game and they gave themselves an opportunity - which is better than I had expected they might be this year, so no real complaints. Win in Dallas and a 2-3 road trip, considering the teams we faced, isn't horrible.

[Burner]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

While Macdonald did suck, I think we gotta remember he's not going to be any starter material. Everyone's bound to have a crappy game after not playing for a few games.

Glencross on the other hand. Dang, he's gonna make it hard for us to trade him. Maybe he only wants to stay in Calgary so he can go cowboyin'.

Defense felt poor without Gio. Hope he's fine as Brodie seems to be struggling whenever there's added pressure on him. Lack of muscle/size?

THen he is going to make a lousy backup if he cant sit a couple of games and come in and play well -

[Stanley]

Perhaps Glencross should stick to rodeos, chuckwagons, skeet shooting and his ranch, clearly where his heart is at.

As for Joey Mac, the way he gets out of position is scary...Ramo pls.

[troutman]

Attendance = 10,141

If there were 1000-2000 Flames fans there, that is really weak. Is Gosbee out of his mind?

Maybe not - there are indications that ratings, ticket sales and corporate sponsorships are up.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance

Averaging 13,121 to start the year (29th in NHL).

All last season = 13,923 (but they usually start slowly in the Fall).

[Erick Estrada]

Fans are actually blaming MacDonald for this loss? Wow. I think Ramo looked really good last game but do fans really have to trash other players on the team to justify the guy they like better? I highly doubt Ramo would have been able to stop those two back door plays that were perfectly executed by the Coyotes.

[bubbsy]

macdonald took like 5 seconds to react and move his body to the left to even see the guy shooting those (neither were one timers). he also looked out of sorts and fighting a lot of pucks, at least early on.

when the team gets only a handful of shots each period (i think they had 5 uptil the mid second period) hard to fault the goalie on much though.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by troutman

Attendance = 10,141

If there were 1000-2000 Flames fans there, that is really weak. Is Gosbee out of his mind?

Maybe not - there are indications that ratings, ticket sales and corporate sponsorships are up.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance

Averaging 13,121 to start the year (29th in NHL).

All last season = 13,923 (but they usually start slowly in the Fall).

To be remembered, the Flames played bad and boring hockey for the last few seasons. No wonder we're not exactly an attraction as a visiting team.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Fans are actually blaming MacDonald for this loss? Wow. I think Ramo looked really good last game but do fans really have to trash other players on the team to justify the guy they like better? I highly doubt Ramo would have been able to stop those two back door plays that were perfectly executed by the Coyotes.

I was thinking just the opposite. I find that some people give MacDonald way more rope than he deserves. I get it... people like to root for the underdog and are more reluctant to be patient with prospect or a project (not sure what to call Ramo and Berra). Ramo was called out by many after his 1st NHL game in 4 years, where the team collapsed in the 2nd half. MacDonald should be held just as accountable.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Itse

To be remembered, the Flames played bad and boring hockey for the last few seasons. No wonder we're not exactly an attraction as a visiting team.

The Flames (and Oilers, Canucks, Jets) bring in lots of fans in the middle of winter. Too early for snowbirds to be there in big numbers yet.

[Anduril]

MacDonald lost sight of the puck on the 1st goal, no more needs to be said. The 3rd one was definitely a beautiful play by the 'Yotes. I don't know if you could blame MacDonald much for that one. Can't remember what the 2nd one was like though.

[Gary83]

First game this year that I fell asleep through.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by BruceCody

Backlund -2
Glencross -2
Jones -2
Wideman -2
Baertschi -1
Cammalleri -1
Stempniak -1

Butler +1
O'Brien +1
Colborne +2



okay, here it is a new era

+/- is a garbage stat when looked at in a vacuum

[Enoch Root]

MacDonald was the difference - his lateral movement and rebound control were both terrible.

I remember one play where a guy sent a 50 ft wrist shot in and MacDonald gave up a rebound about 15 ft straight up in the air and bounced down into the slot. Turned a dump-in into defensive zone bedlam and almost a goal.

On both the 1st and 3rd goals, he did his typical down-onto-the-knees-and-then-can't-get-back-up-or-move-laterally trick. Simply brutal.

Oh well, he's a back-up and we knew tis going in. I can live with it, but to say he didn't play poorly is just masking the truth.

[Erick Estrada]

This pro-Ramo crowd and their agenda is getting tiring. Anyone that says MacDonald was the difference clearly didn't watch the game as the Flames didn't even have a legit scoring opportunity until the 2nd half of the game. I don't see how you can fault a goaltender for a team not even generating offense for half a game. Granted that's by design of the Coyotes but you can't fault your goaltender because your forwards couldn't fight through the neutral zone.

[Enoch Root]

O'Brien had a really good game.

Hardly noticed Breen, which I would say is good for his first game. He is fricken huge out there - pretty funny to see him standing beside Cammy.

I thought they could have won the game with a bit of puck luck- countless shots blocked and tipped wide. One good bounce would have made for a different game. Oh well, they worked hard to stay in it.

They don't show replays when the opposing team scores in Phx. Absolutely bush league.

Comment of the game: woman behind me when the the Yotes shot for the empty net with about a minute left: <shreaking> "OMG - what happened to the goalie? Where did he go?"