If someone had told me in October that we'd be in a playoff position in mid December I would have laughed. The fact we are is due in large part to the collective effort from this team. Vets get hurt and prospects fill in quite nicely. The players believe they can win every night and it shows in their effort.
The losing streak isn't much of a surprise to most as it was probably expect to happen at some point during the season. It's also not something i'm going to lose any sleep over.
What I loathe is the overly negitive posts we see lately in the PGT's. You'd think that the sky was falling and the season of the Flames was crumbling. No balance in the posting just gloom and doom from the usual suspects.
Well when you are going into the season as cup contenders and all of a sudden you hit a bad patch in December, this was bound to happen.
Eric Francis said something on Kerr's show I agreed with. Even if the Flames fall down this season, it's been a success, because we've seen what we have for building blocks and it's pretty good.
But why are they falling down? Brodie was playing at the level of a Norris candidate, but the last few games he's looked like a rookie, so many stupid decisions with and without the puck. Even Giordano is making blunder plays, have they just both caught a case of the stupid? The forwards aren't any better, the only player with any confidence with the puck right now is Gaudreau, everyone else is treating it like a grenade. Watching the one powerplay against the Penguins where they spent almost the entire thing in their zone simply passing it back and forth, never even getting a shot on net, was extremely frustrating. No one wanted to take charge and make something happen, hell no one even skated to create room, they all just stood still playing hot potato
To go from a group of guys so confident in themselves that late period comebacks could become a regular occurrence to the entire lot suddenly turning timid is ridiculous. This is where Hartley needs to do something to get their mental health straight, because right now they look like one seriously fragile group
To go from a group of guys so confident in themselves that late period comebacks could become a regular occurrence to the entire lot suddenly turning timid is ridiculous. This is where Hartley needs to do something to get their mental health straight, because right now they look like one seriously fragile group
They just outshot the Sabres 45-19. A timid group doesn't do that. They played ok against the Sharks and should have had at least one point. Okay 1st, bad 2nd, and dominated the 3rd against the Leafs, another point they could have had. Could have won again last night against the Pens.
They don't look timid to me as much as a team that's having a few brain cramps defensively and bad luck offensively. No team plays great for 82 games.......this is the Flames' bad stretch. We can take comfort knowing Gio and Brodie can both play much better, same with the goalies. Win or lose against the Hawks, I can see this team going on a big run again soon.
Time for Treliving to look at getting a trade done. Stajan just doesn't belong anymore, and Bollig shouldn't have a spot either.
The Flames do have a good situation, but spots are being given back without guys having to earn them anymore. Hopefully Wotherspoon can add some stability and they get rid of Diaz. Now is the time to open up a couple of roster spots.
PGT sucks after losing. But honestly, step back everyday and think about where this team is, and where it's supposed to be. The Stanley Cup champs may have already had a 4gamer!
IMO this success is found money. The kids are experiencing the sacrifice required to win, led by a captain, who would give a limb for a win. So those who like to compare us to the oil for fun, HAVE AT IT!!
Has the losing streak put us out of the playoffs?
Will there be ups and downs? Obvious. But not obvious to all apparently...
Because it's an 82 game season and we're not an elite team?
Read what you wrote. It might not have felt like it while you were typing it, but it's full of borderline panic.
This is a young team that still has a lot of growing to do. We have been playing way over our head to this point. It's a good team with a lot of good pieces, but there was no way we were going to continue at that clip.
We've lost a few, but even in those losses we've played well. We only need to look up north to see what it looks like to really lose with no character or push back.
There's simply no need for all this over-analyzing and borderline panic.
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One thing that is positive is, even though the Flames are losing right now, its not in the same manner as the Avs and Leafs and Wild before them.
Their underlying possession numbers are actually trending upwards. The great thing is, I dont think management does anything stupid even with an extended losing streak, because playoffs weren't even a goal this season.
Just let the season play out and what happens happens.
But mostly, get rid of Smid, Bollig and Engelland. 3 of the worst players I have ever seen in Flames jerseys in the last decade. They look like #### by the eye and by the stats. No matter how you swing it, Treliving and Burke screwed up acquiring those three.
Well there's so much negativity in this thread (to be expected) that I won't bother adding to it, so here's the positives I saw last night.
Penalty Kill: This is one area that, until recently, I would cringe watching them try and kill a penalty. They would spend a crazy amount of time in their zone with very few clears, and the only way they would actually kill it is if the goalie stood on his head or the other team misfired on the glorious opportunities we would give them. Last night was an excellent PK. The Pens (1st ranked PP) couldn't even get set up for most of their PP time, which was plentiful. We finished the night going 6-6 against the top power play in the league. I know it was missing Crosby and a couple others, but there's still plenty of positives to take away from that.
Defense: Yes, I know that we had an awful first 5 minutes, but after that I saw the team really buckle down in it's own zone and limit opportunities for a team that has a top offense even 5 on 5. The Penguins only managed 22 shots on goal. They average 30.4 shots for per game. Really a great road game if not for those 2 early goals.
Goaltending: Hiller looked like his old self again. Sure, we can debate whether or not he could have had the Comeau shot, but that's his strength and Comeau has always been dangerous shooting from the slot (plus he's red hot at the moment). The other two goals were simply not his fault.
Energy/Work Ethic: It wasn't the highest I've seen this year, but it was pretty close. Considering they were playing the 2nd of a back to back, on the road, and 3rd game in 4 nights, that was a pretty great effort. It's even more impressive when you consider the Penguins hadn't played since Monday and should have displayed more energy than a road weary team.
Yes, the offense is stumbling at the moment, but they'll get it figured out again soon. I am more encouraged by the list above being rectified because that's how they'll win a lot of games the rest of the way.
Oh, and a couple posters mentioned the Flames weren't going to the "dirty areas" to score and stuck to the perimeter. I didn't see that at all. The shots were coming from the perimeter, but there were plenty of guys in front for rebounds and such. The problem was the Penguins were excellent at denying guys the puck in front of their net, a hallmark of a strong defense. I saw so many pucks come to Flames in front, but their sticks were tied up. Again, a good habit that didn't result in any success last night, but it definitely will in the future.
I'm not concerned in the slightest. This team will start winning again very soon.
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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
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It's kind of sad how the performance of this team affects my emotions so much. Like I'm actually really sad and frustrated. As many have said we could have/should have won at least 3 of the 4.
C'mon boys let's go into Chicago and show the league now pissed we are!
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The kids have experienced great success this season under outstanding leadership. I actually think this slump will be good for them. Figuring out how to turn it around will be part of their maturing as pros.
If the Flames can get their power play to be a legitimate threat, this team could pop up really high in the standings. Johnny draws at least 2 or 3 penalties a night by catching someone flat footed. If they could bury these chances, man, the potential!
Time for Treliving to look at getting a trade done. Stajan just doesn't belong anymore, and Bollig shouldn't have a spot either.
The Flames do have a good situation, but spots are being given back without guys having to earn them anymore. Hopefully Wotherspoon can add some stability and they get rid of Diaz. Now is the time to open up a couple of roster spots.
Honestly, only an idiot would actually think Stajan hasn't earned his spot. The guy has been nothing but a pro since he was traded to Calgary. And if you honestly think Corban Knight did more to stay in this lineup, well, you should probably step away from the keyboard until you learn what perspective is.
To go from a group of guys so confident in themselves that late period comebacks could become a regular occurrence to the entire lot suddenly turning timid is ridiculous. This is where Hartley needs to do something to get their mental health straight, because right now they look like one seriously fragile group
Nobody - not even Gio is going to play at 100% for 100% of the games.
Early in the season, our top pair was able to cover for a lot of mistakes by the forwards, and those two plus Wideman were able to drive the offence. But it is their turn for a rough patch, and that was always going to leave us in trouble.
As noted, this is and has always been a rebuilding team. They can still defy the odds and stay on the right side of the playoff race, but what is happening now should not have been a surprise to anybody.
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Building on what I said before about Francis' comments, there's a couple key points:
1. The Flames were never going to finish last, they were likely going to improve on last year - so getting the top chance for McDavid and a sure bet for Eichel was just not in the cards.
2. Outside of the top three players, the rest of the draft is really deep, and the players are very interchangeable. So finishing 4th last versus 16th last isn't the difference is was in past years. This is different than last couple years where you needed to be in the top 4-5 picks (and in which the Flames did very well at their spot each time).
So we have three scenarios: they just make the POs (great, there are pretty darn good players in the bottom half of round one this year); they just miss but get a really decent player anywhere from 4-16 or so (great, look what they've gotten with middle first rounders in the recent past, in worse draft years, plus a remote chance at McDavid), or the Flames fall even further and have a good chance at McDavid.
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But why are they falling down? Brodie was playing at the level of a Norris candidate, but the last few games he's looked like a rookie, so many stupid decisions with and without the puck. Even Giordano is making blunder plays, have they just both caught a case of the stupid? The forwards aren't any better, the only player with any confidence with the puck right now is Gaudreau, everyone else is treating it like a grenade. Watching the one powerplay against the Penguins where they spent almost the entire thing in their zone simply passing it back and forth, never even getting a shot on net, was extremely frustrating. No one wanted to take charge and make something happen, hell no one even skated to create room, they all just stood still playing hot potato
To go from a group of guys so confident in themselves that late period comebacks could become a regular occurrence to the entire lot suddenly turning timid is ridiculous. This is where Hartley needs to do something to get their mental health straight, because right now they look like one seriously fragile group
I don't think Brodie and Giordano are playing any differently. They like to be active all the time and early on they'll make some mistakes but it is not resulting in a goal against that's why we don't notice it as much. The last few games when they make a mistakes, it results in a goal so now we are noticing it. Teams are starting to notice how good Giordano and Brodie are now and a lot of teams probably studied what they like to do. I hope Gio and Brodie doesn't change their play because that will make this team pretty boring to watch. Maybe they'll just need some minor tweaking. The whole team is struggling a bit and I am sure they'll start adjusting. The biggest adjustment I think they should do is having to start fast. Being down 2-0 early on is kind of suck and it takes a lot of their energy to try to tie it up right away.
Last edited by OzSome; 12-13-2014 at 11:43 AM.
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So people thought the Flames would have no adversity this year?
So they lose 5 or 9. Who cares?
Rebuild is going great. If they make the playoffs overcoming this losing streak will give them a good experience that will help them if they get down in a series.
All of the games were close losses too. As they get better at mucking out wins I expect them to win more of these sorts of games.
I think the only worrying part of the losing streak is that most of the players that are struggling during it are our veterans, Johnny, Jooris and Granlund have arguably been our best players the past few games. I think most people expected the losing streak to come when our production from the kids slowed down as it was their secondary scoring that was key to many of wins.
Streaks like this I think you want your veterans to step up and be the driving force in games, even if you don't win. Hopefully one of Glencross, Jones, Raymond, Stajan steps up in the Chicago game and leads the charge back to the win column
