Spector - Flames have bigger plans beyond key 2014 draft

[MissTeeks]

I didn't really know where to put this so I thought I would put it in it's own thread. Some quotes from Treliving:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/f...ey-2014-draft/

New Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving wants to get this straight and on the record:
“The path to Calgary is going through Adirondack,” he said, referring to Calgary’s new American Hockey League affiliate. “Too much time in the minors is never (a bad thing). A young player very, very seldom can be overcooked. The ramifications are not like that in the opposite scenario.”
So, just days into Treliving’s tenure in Calgary, we’ve hit on his first challenge: build a group of forwards inside the Flames dressing room that is good enough that Johnny Gaudreau can not walk in and immediately crack the lineup. And while Treliving is at it, amass a defensive corps that 21-year-old Tyler Wotherspoon can not make, and find a backup goalie that will afford Joni Ortio 65 AHL starts next season.

It’s easy — and correct — to say that players should cool in the minors the way they have in Detroit, New Jersey, and Anaheim for a long time now. But there’s a cycle involved here too. When you are picking in the Top 4 — wisdom alert — it’s because you’re finishing in the bottom four. That means you’re getting a better player with that first round draft pick then the good teams draft, and he’s walking into a lineup that, obviously, isn’t nearly as strong.
Edmonton is the most recent example of a team that drafted three No. 1 overalls, each of whom was better than what they had on the big club’s roster, so they couldn’t send them back. It hasn’t helped Edmonton in the standings, and we’ll never know what a couple more years of junior hockey and two more in the AHL would have done for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, or Taylor Hall.

“We’re crawlin’ here right now,” he says. “It’s about accumulation right now. Identifying, internally, your core. Identifying who we have in Calgary, in Adirondack, and our reserve list. Is this a core player? Is this a good player? Is this a support player? And looking at how do we accumulate (assets). We’re in the accumulation stage right now.”

“And it’s what you do after you call their name,” Treliving adds. “In our (cap) system, you have to draft your players, you have to develop them, or you have zero chance. I don’t want to make it as simple as that, but it’s as simple as that.
“If you don’t have players on your team that you’ve grown, you’re going to be chasin’ it. It doesn’t work. It won’t work.”

And what about Gaudreau, who is good enough to be thrown over the boards for Team USA at the World Championships with their goalie pulled and the tournament on the line? Can he jump from the NCAA to the NHL?
“I’ll say this,” Treliving said after six weeks of examining the depth charts here. “There are more interesting assets here than I thought there were. Now, we haven’t played a game since I’ve been here yet either.”

[googol]

I feel that Johnny Gaudreau can crack any NHL team given his performance at the world championship.

[TheGrimm]

Well his plan should all but assure us a crack at McDavid at least.

[Da_Chief]

Lol @ Doug Mclean, he really wants an NHL job again. Love the jab by Kypreos "last thing this team needs is someone with 10-15 years of experience coming in and saying I can do this faster" to which Mclean says "I don't agree with that". Good comedy.

[dustyanddaflames]

A lot also felt Sven Baertschi could crack any NHL team given his short stint with the big club two years ago. Fact is, there is a maturation process that needs to take place for most, if not all, drafted players. I like what I hear from Treliving.

[Flash Walken]

This breath of fresh air is making me dizzy.

Acquire picks? Draft a core?

Now, I know Treliving hasn't accomplished anything yet and thus this is premature, but goddamned, it's nice to have substance instead of flash.

[Imported_Aussie]

quotes aren't super revealing. If anything, this is parroting Burke.
One difference is that there is no "we will make the playoffs" statement

[Flash Walken]

Doug MacLean: ""Because all of a sudden, you've got three relatively, totally inexperienced guys running your team."

What.On.Earth.

[MissTeeks]

I'm not going to lie, I didn't even watch the video at the top when I posted this. Some interesting stuff.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Doug MacLean: ""Because all of a sudden, you've got three relatively, totally inexperienced guys running your team."

What.On.Earth.

When you're a terrible GM, sour grapes is your dinner entree every night.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

When you're a terrible GM, sour grapes is your dinner entree every night.

It probably hurts a proud guy like MacLean to see all these GM job openings over the past five years and not hear his name called for even the odd interview. Unfortunately for him he can't undo his body of work which is still one of the prime examples of how not to run an NHL team.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Doug MacLean: ""Because all of a sudden, you've got three relatively, totally inexperienced guys running your team."

What.On.Earth.

I simply couldn't get past this statement.

[Vulcan]

It sounds to me like we're going to have a great team in Adirondack next season.

[Ashasx]

MacLean seems to think the Flames are doing it wrong because they're not doing it how the Oilers are doing it.

The Flames showing up every night "hurt their draft position". Like we should be ashamed?

Sportsnet is treating the Flames like they're the team being run by Kevin Lowe.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

It sounds to me like we're going to have a great team in Adirondack next season.

It's definitely going to be a very prospect heavy roster, even if a couple of these guys manage to make the big club, or get traded.


1. Baertschi - Granlund - Reinhart
2. Gaudreau - Arnold - Poirier (Could go back to junior)
3. Ferland - Knight - Jooris
4. Agostino - Elson - Hanowski (RFA)

Extra - VanBrabant, Wolf

1. Wotherspoon - Billins (RFA)
2. Cundari (RFA) - Sieloff
3. Kulak - Culkin

Extra - Ramage, E. Roy (Could go back to junior)


1. Ortio
2. AHL Guy

[Pagal4321]

Good, I don't want any player to be handed a spot on this team. Any prospect, Johnny Hockey included, will have to PLAY their way on to this team.

We've lived through a version of the Flames where veterans were handed a spot in the lineup, even if they weren't good enough for an AHL team.

[nik-]

I'm sure it will only take 3 or 4 more years of the Oilers being trash before the media finally accepts that it's not the way to build a team.

It takes at least 5 years to sway them.

[Vulcan]

Except for Maclean who has his nose out of joint because he's stuck on a third class sports network, I didn't find them thinking the Flames are poorly run. They seemed very positive.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

It's definitely going to be a very prospect heavy roster, even if a couple of these guys manage to make the big club, or get traded.


1. Baertschi - Granlund - Reinhart
2. Gaudreau - Arnold - Poirier (Could go back to junior)
3. Ferland - Knight - Jooris
4. Agostino - Elson - Hanowski (RFA)

Extra - VanBrabant, Wolf

1. Wotherspoon - Billins (RFA)
2. Cundari (RFA) - Sieloff
3. Kulak - Culkin

Extra - Ramage, E. Roy (Could go back to junior)


1. Ortio
2. AHL Guy

That lineup could probably beat the Oilers on any given day.

[Ashasx]

MacLean spent 5 minutes trashing Burke and his meddling in hockey operations (he should be meddling, he's President of Hockey Ops) then he says he disagrees when Kypreos says the last thing you want is someone coming in with 10-15 yrs experience and dictating moves, apparently because the Flames GM and AGMs have no experience.

So apparently we need somebody to do what Brian Burke is doing right now, just not Brian Burke.