(Hellfire) Flames vs. (Schwarzenegger's) Predators, 7 p.m., SNW
Happy Halloween everyone!
Tonight is the final game of the home stand for the Flames, which might be a good thing since they've fared better on the road so far this year. The last game was hard to swallow, as not only did the Flames lose in a heartbreaker of a shootout after being the better team for most of the game, but they also lost the services of Colborne, Stajan, and eventually Backlund in that game. This was coming after placing Raymond on IR earlier in the day. That's 4 key forwards in the span of 48 hours…ugly, ugly stuff to deal with. this has called for 2 more recalls in Granlund and Ferland. The good news is the drop off in skill is not much of one, if any, but the bad news is that the experience level at center is at an all-time low. Monahan, Granlund, Byron, Bouma, Jooris. This alone might be the undoing of the Flames tonight when they go against the experience of the Predators centers: Cullen, Ribeiro, Jokinen, Roy, Gaustad. I could look up the collective games played of those two groups, but we all know it's not even close. The Flames will need to lean heavily on their defense and goaltending, and have the forwards help out down low more than normal. This means that an offense that isn't exceptional and missing key players will have to go against the team with the best GAA in the entire league (1.78).
This is no shock, the Predators have a healthy Rinne and a d-core that might be the most underrated in the league: Weber, Josi, S. Jones, Ellis, Volchenkov, Eckholm. This is also a team that learned how to play defense from Trotz for years, and that doesn't necessarily leave when Barry does. Surprisingly, their penalty kill is in the bottom 10, and only percentage points ahead of the Flames' kill which was in the low 60s at one point. All they need is a couple goals a game to win, and they've been getting it so far. Ribeiro and Forsberg (stupid Capitals trading him for Erat. It's a good thing Latta has worked out for them) lead the team in points with 7 a piece, and Neal leads the team in goals with 5. Even though Weber already has 4 goals, only 1 has come on the power play that is operating at an anemic 7.4% and ranks 3rd last in the league. Obviously, like the Flames, their strength is 5 on 5 with a ratio of GF/GA of 2.00, ranking 2nd in the league behind Minnesota and just ahead of…the Panthers? So the Flames are going to need to be better than they were against Montreal when it comes to their power play, because they aren't likely going to score 5 on 5.
The lineups are total guesswork at this point with so many bodies going down and Colborne still a possibility for tonight (but unlikely).
Hartley said that Jooris would be coming out (again before Backlund was put on IR). Will be interesting to see what Hartley does in terms of filling Backlund's spot.
Keep in mind that though they called up Ferland, it is not a guarantee he plays tonight.
As for the game, it'll be great to see some of the kids try to prove they're worth keeping up on the big club. Hopefully that giant bully on their defense doesn't crush any of our forwards like the oilers game.....
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Fan of the Flames, where being OK has become OK.
Anybody else more excited to watch the team with Granlund and Ferland in the lineup in addition to Jooris and Gaudreau? I feel bad for the guys who are hurt but watching a rebuild is more fun with 2 or 3 rookies out there and more importantly actually seeing some icetime.
Hartley said that Jooris would be coming out (again before Backlund was put on IR). Will be interesting to see what Hartley does in terms of filling Backlund's spot.
Keep in mind that though they called up Ferland, it is not a guarantee he plays tonight.
Yup. My guess was that with Backlund going down they have to move Byron to center, but he's not suitable to the top 2 lines, so 3rd line center. That leaves a big hole on 1st line RW which Hudler can fill, but Jones and Setoguchi can't really fill. Glencross or Gaudreau would fit on 1st line LW, but they probably want Monahan facing tougher competition, and Gaudreau is probably less able to defend than Glencross still, so Glencross on Monahan's wing. The 2nd line is a little more obvious with Granlund being an offensive center and Jones needed to be the size and corner grinder on that line, although Jooris could be a good fit there too. 3rd line made sense from a size, skill, and experience standpoint, but I could see Bouma as the center instead of Byron. McGrattan is due for a game, so it's possible that Jooris sits, or Setoguchi, or Ferland, or…I dunno. I'll just wait for the tweets later. This is giving me a headache.
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"You know, that's kinda why I came here, to show that I don't suck that much" ~ Devin Cooley, Professional Goaltender
If these are the lines, I won't be expecting a win, but will still be darn excited to watch the team play. Gaudreau finding his confidence with the puck; Monahan getting healthy; Byron establishing himself as a legitimate energy NHLer; Granlund looking good last year; Ferlund looking great in camp and the NHL; Brodie, Gio, and Hiller bringing it every night....
We Flames fans are really starting to reap the benefits of Hartley's ability to instill a great work ethic and management's re-stocking of the prospect pool.
The next few games will be interesting to watch. The injuries to key Flames are pretty devastating and hopefully the prospects can make something happen. The goalies are going to have to play exceptionally well. The next 4 games are against tough teams.
We are looking really bad down the middle. Won't be a good night face off wise and the goalie will be busy due to lack of experience in the centre ranks
Should be an exciting game nevertheless with Granlund (and hopefully Ferland) suiting up
(Hellfire) Flames vs. (Schwarzenegger's) Predators, 7 p.m., SNW
