Top Pairing GIO-BRODIE

[GoJetsGo]

Some perspective on how well Brodie is playing this year on what is pragmatically a fairly poor Flames team overall:

[GoJetsGo]

This one is just fun

[Calgary4LIfe]

If Brodie works on his shot like Giordano has, I think eventually he will start to be considered elite in the coming years. Both are starting to turn heads this season and getting well-deserved respect from around the league - mostly Giordano at the moment. Listen to the other teams' broadcasters during Flames games, and you will hear Brodie's name being mentioned much more often as they marvel at his poise, skating ability and near-perfect passing ability.

[Enoch Root]

^ Agreed that Brodie needs to work on his shot - both the accuracy, and getting it off faster.

He also needs to learn to just dump it out sometimes when he is under pressure and there isn't a play. He occasionally holds onto it too long. However, that is because he is 23. He will learn that with experience.

His skating is elite, and when he learns those two things ^ he is going to be an elite defenseman in this league.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

This one is just fun

Cue BigTuna telling us all about how elite Dion Phaneuf is.

Phaneuf is just not very good. Gio is certainly a top 20-30 defenceman in the NHL, but Phaneuf is maybe top 40-60 at best.

[PeteMoss]

And he's about $3m/year cheaper.

[united]

They are no longer just a top pairing, they are a top 10 pairing in the NHL. Playing big minutes and dominating other teams' top lines night in night out with with the Flames' cast of forwards has been an amazing accomplishment. Both are criminally underrated, although they are starting to get the attention of the league now. I hope both are Flames for a long time!

[nik-]

Yeah, if we've already answered the top pairing problem it would be so massive for this rebuild. Yes, Gio is older than the rest of the group coming up, but 5 more years out of him isn't an unreasonable expectation.

I just don't bother thinking about Brodie's ceiling any more. Each time I have he's just blown it out of the water. If he can step up that offensive game he's basically Keith Lite.

[MissTeeks]

Even old mudcrunch is talking about these two (Warning: Corsi talk):

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/g...ce-in-calgary/

Starting with their game against Phoenix on Jan. 22, the Flames have gone 14-9-0 for 28 points, a 100-point pace. Fun comparison: another rebuilding team in Alberta, which shall remain nameless, hasn’t managed to post at least 28 points in 23 games since a December-January stretch in 2008-09, when it put up 29. What’s more, the Flames’ underlying numbers suggest that, while they’ve probably had a little bit of good fortune, there’s been some real improvement.
The most critical number associated with Calgary’s recent run of good results is an increased Corsi%. The Flames had a Corsi% of 45.8 percent prior to this stretch; since Jan. 22, they’ve posted a Corsi% of 49.3 percent. Their improvement with the score close—within a goal in the first two periods or tied in the third—has been even more dramatic, going from 44.4 percent prior to Jan. 22 to 49.9 percent since. Corsi% is favoured by hockey analysts because it tends to be very consistent over time. Sustained improvement in Corsi%, like that enjoyed by the Flames, tends to be real, a sign that a team has actually improved as opposed to simply riding a hot goalie or a stretch in which pucks are going in. A team that can post a 50 percent Corsi% has a solid foundation.

Essentially, what’s happened is that Calgary has enjoyed a massive improvement when Giordano, who is generally paired with TJ Brodie, is on the ice. The Brodie-Giordano pairing can make a pretty fair case that it belongs amongst the NHL’s elite this season. They’re playing a lot of minutes and, despite toiling on a poor team, dominating those minutes.

The existence of a pairing like this in Calgary casts the Flames’ rebuild in a bit of a different light. They appear to have one of the most difficult things to find when rebuilding already in place—they’ve got a first-defence pairing that has produced elite results, even on a terrible team. It would be nice if Giordano was a few years younger, but it does make the job presented to whomever is tasked with managing the Flames a little easier.

Giordano’s been an underrated defender for some time, but the emergence of he and Brodie as a pair—along with Calgary’s stated aversion to tanking—sets up a pretty fascinating contrast between the Flames and the Oilers over the next few years. Calgary won’t add the level of prospect the Oilers did through the first two years of their rebuild—Monahan and whomever the Flames pick this year are unlikely to be on the level of Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins—but Edmonton hasn’t had a defence pairing of the quality of Giordano-Brodie either.

If Calgary has a few forwards emerge or come in and excel and acquires some better goaltending, it’s possible to imagine the team competing for a playoff spot in the immediate future. It’s not much but, in this bleak endless winter, it’s about the closest thing Canadian NHL hockey has to a bright spot.

[codynw]

All this media positivity surrounding the Flames is weird. I don't like it. I liked it better when they were under the radar.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by codynw

All this media positivity surrounding the Flames is weird. I don't like it. I liked it better when they were under the radar.

We haven't been under the radar in 10 years. First it was the "built for the playoffs" underachieving era. Then it was the out of the playoffs, mocking, we have no prospects era. Then it was they're rebuilding lets deride the hell out of them era. We're still in that era, make no mistake, this is just a temporary blip until we lose a few in a row.

Always on the radar, just different types of missiles fired.

[djsFlames]

Damn, that is some major positivity.

Would be both hilarious and awesome if the Habs and Flames were the only Canadian clubs in the dance next season.

[FireGilbert]

They have been playing great, however ideally the Flames need a top RHD to play with Gio on the first pairing and another solid RHD to play with Brodie on the second pairing. This would give them two top pairings that can play scoring and shut down roles.

Unless the Flames win the draft lottery or make a major trade this is not happening though so I'm still very happy with a Gio/Brodie top pairing going forward.

[HelloHockeyFans]

They're definitely having a season that can rival duos in St. Louis and Chicago in my opinion (Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo and Seabrook-Keith).

[gvitaly]

One thing is for sure- at the cost of $6.15M for both they are the best bargain top pairing in the league!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

This one is just fun

I cant stop thinking about that terrible play against St. Louis. Does anyone have a gif?

[AC]

Originally Posted by nik-

I just don't bother thinking about Brodie's ceiling any more. Each time I have he's just blown it out of the water. If he can step up that offensive game he's basically Keith Lite.

Funny you should say that, my brother was saying the same thing recently.

These are TJ Brodie's career stats so far:

Age 21   2011-12    54 GP    2 G   12 A   14 PTS    +3
Age 22   2012-13    81 GP    3 G   21 A   24 PTS    -16 (pro-rated due to lockout)
Age 23   2013-14    73 GP    4 G   23 A   27 PTS    +2

And these are Duncan Keith's equivalent seasons:

Age 22   2005-06   81 GP    9 G   12 A   21 PTS    -11
Age 23   2006-07   82 GP    2 G   29 A   31 PTS    even

Keith's 24 year old season was when he broke out with 12 G, 20 A, and +30. It'll be interesting to see how Brodie continues to develop.