[PGT ] Calgary Loses 2-1

[N-E-B]

Glencross was bad but he had been playing his best hockey of the year before tonight. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Still don't get why people hate him so much given how much he produces on such a cheap contract...

Paul Byron needs to sit. Absolutely invisible tonight (and the past few games IMO) and hasn't produced in forever. If he's not going to put up points he better bring some energy and tonight he didn't do either.

Hiller had a solid game. Gave the team a chance to win.

Thought Monahan had one of his worst games of his career. Wasn't the worst player tonight but I have higher expectations from him than a guy like Byron.

Russell really struggled as well. Seemed like he was fighting the puck at times.

Johnny was Johnny. Kid's a treat to watch every time he touches the puck.

Boring game that could have gone either way IMO. The Isles were just a bit better in every aspect, but not by much. That's a good team and we kept them to only 2 goals. Shake it off, enjoy the rest, and get a W next game against the Red Wings.

[dieHARDflameZ]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Irrational hate is odd, isn't it?

Oh he fixed it, I was just curious where Doom was going with that one.

Now in terms of Curtis Glencross, where do I begin. I guess for me personally the irrational Glencross defenders is hilarious. I honestly don't understand how people can continue to defend him. Now I will admit, I have had it out for the guy for a couple of seasons so whatever I say should be taken with a grain of salt...

For me that guy can not get off this team soon enough. He is one of the worst passers I have ever witnessed play for the Flames, and more often than not completely misses the guy he's attempting to get the puck to. He turns the puck over a ton with stupid plays and poor decisions... He mails it in more often than he shows up and for a team that plays with as much heart as this year's Flames, it's disgusting to me at times...

With all of that being said, IF and when he decides to show up, and that is a very big if, and he plays a hard-nosed, go to the tough areas style of game, he can be very effective. I'm just not seeing it that often and it's infuriating.

/end rant

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Naw, bench Colborne. Every time he touched the puck it resulted in a turnover. It was brutal.

I don't agree. He was one of the better forwards at making at least something happen. At the risk of being called a hater, I thought plays died when Gelncross took a one and done shot or passed into feet tonight.

The PP was good before when Wideman could get the puck through. Now he can't, so it's time to try a slap pass or more down low plays.

IMO the only really good players were Gio and Hiller. There were a lot of mediocre players for most of the night, including Johnny and Monnie. Glencross and IMo Brodie didn't a&e great nights, neither did Jooris and Granlund.

Stajans line did surprisingly well but I agree they were given too many minutes. I think Stajan's penlalty was borderline and the result of him using that play for years only to have it now be illegal. In fact, he didn't cover the puck, he bumped it back only a little. Almost not even noticeable IMP.

[Dan02]

I think the only thing that needs to be said about tonight's game is that the better team won.

Byron just hasn't been playing at a NHL level lately

[Caged Great]

I agree with Byron. Move him out to the press box, or waivers to Adirondack possibly when Backlund comes back.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by dieHARDflameZ

Oh he fixed it, I was just curious where Doom was going with that one.

Now in terms of Curtis Glencross, where do I begin. I guess for me personally the irrational Glencross defenders is hilarious. I honestly don't understand how people can continue to defend him. Now I will admit, I have had it out for the guy for a couple of seasons so whatever I say should be taken with a grain of salt...

For me that guy can not get off this team soon enough. He is one of the worst passers I have ever witnessed play for the Flames, and more often than not completely misses the guy he's attempting to get the puck to. He turns the puck over a ton with stupid plays and poor decisions... He mails it in more often than he shows up and for a team that plays with as much heart as this year's Flames, it's disgusting to me at times...

With all of that being said, IF and when he decides to show up, and that is a very big if, and he plays a hard-nosed, go to the tough areas style of game, he can be very effective. I'm just not seeing it that often and it's infuriating.

/end rant

How is it irrational to defend a guy who has 8 goals and 18 assists for 26 points in 40 games? Those are pretty good numbers, and they are excellent when you consider he only makes $2.5mil. He would be the leading scorer on Arizona, Buffalo, Carolina, Colorado, Edmonton, Florida, New Jersey, and Ottawa. He would be 2nd in scoring on Boston, Columbus, LA, Montreal, and Nashville. He would be a top 2 scorer on almost half the teams in the NHL, and not all of those teams are bad teams.

There's plenty of guys making equal or more than him who put up worse numbers. He clearly likes playing in Calgary, he took a hometown discount to be here. People say he has a bad attitude and that he's lazy, but newsflash, lazy people don't make it very far in life, and certainly not to the NHL. Also, do people really think Hartley is stupid enough to give a person with a bad attitude and work ethic an 'A' on their sweater? Probably not.

If you ask me, the hatred of Glencross is way more irrational than the defense of him.

[stone hands]

definitely time for Byron to rest those little legs a bit

also about 2 weeks ago I would have been real sad about having to take granlund out of the lineup but backs could not br coming back at a better time

[jaginla]

Benching him may be an overreaction by me immediately after, but it felt like his stick was where old pucks went to die tonight. Missing a perfect tee from johnny at the top of the circle was the icing.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by jaginla

Benching him may be an overreaction by me immediately after, but it felt like his stick was where old pucks went to die tonight. Missing a perfect tee from johnny at the top of the circle was the icing.

I agree he didn't play well tonight, and maybe should have been benched in the third, but this season I've seen people who want him in the press box, and one person even said he should be put on waivers, and the reality is he isn't that bad.

When people start to hate on a player, they focus on his mistakes a lot more than they would for a player they like, and they start to blow them out of proportion. The opposite is also true. I can think of many examples of Gaudreau making bad plays (the fall during the last Chicago game, for example), but since we all love him so much, we tend to forgive him much more easily.

Glencross really hasn't been as bad as some people think this year. But I will agree he was bad tonight, but so what? Everyone has a bad game here or there.

[wired]

Originally Posted by dino7c

he has been one of the best players lately, give the guy a break

He has also been one of the most dissconected players on the team.
Time to bench the players who are in need of it.
Bollig played like crap....put McG in

[wired]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

How is it irrational to defend a guy who has 8 goals and 18 assists for 26 points in 40 games? Those are pretty good numbers, and they are excellent when you consider he only makes $2.5mil. He would be the leading scorer on Arizona, Buffalo, Carolina, Colorado, Edmonton, Florida, New Jersey, and Ottawa. He would be 2nd in scoring on Boston, Columbus, LA, Montreal, and Nashville. He would be a top 2 scorer on almost half the teams in the NHL, and not all of those teams are bad teams.

There's plenty of guys making equal or more than him who put up worse numbers. He clearly likes playing in Calgary, he took a hometown discount to be here. People say he has a bad attitude and that he's lazy, but newsflash, lazy people don't make it very far in life, and certainly not to the NHL. Also, do people really think Hartley is stupid enough to give a person with a bad attitude and work ethic an 'A' on their sweater? Probably not.

If you ask me, the hatred of Glencross is way more irrational than the defense of him.

I think the guy needs to be sat......I have even said put on waivers. He is not consistant, and is a liability to the team at times.

[CaptainYooh]

I was at the game tonight. It was boring and slow except for the last 5 minutes, when Flames suddenly realized that they are going to lose and woke up. This is not good. Yeah, it's exciting when they sometimes able to come back in the third and win the game, but this is not a good regular hockey and, definitely not a good playoff hockey. I do get Glenncross' stats vs. his pay, but when he doesn't show, he is invisible. For a player of his size and stature, that's very noticeable. Same as Stajan. Stajan looks just unlucky and so easy to get off the puck these days. I wouldn't mind if they both get traded for picks at the deadline.

I wonder if Giordano is playing through an injury. He seems quite a bit slower since November and doesn't shoot from the point much.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by wired

I think the guy needs to be sat......I have even said put on waivers. He is not consistant, and is a liability to the team at times.

Lol "put on waivers". Hard to take anything you post seriously with crap like that.

[calgarywinning]

You need to get real, extremism is sucky. He makes smart moves and smart plays. He doesn't make selfish choices many of the times. The flames were pinned in their own zone for most of the first (because of penalties). They were on the defence most of the night.

He smartly cleared the puck out a couple of times without icing it, unlike his counterparts. He was playing with new line mates tonight and I clearly remember a pass to an open and unwitting participant that didn't know what to do with it.

Originally Posted by N-E-B

Thought Monahan had one of his worst games of his career. Wasn't the worst player tonight but I have higher expectations from him than a guy like Byron.

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

Just a poor game overall, the team with the most dominant player generally wins these games - and did again tonight.

The ridiculous love/hate on this forum for certain flame players is going to spawn a lot of new trolls, and deservedly so.

GlenX is still the 4th leading scorer on the team and even he would admit he hasn't been at the top of his game. Still....he's ahead of the Phenom, still... he's on pace for 50+ pts and 16 goals. But, I get it, we blew this team up, some even made sure to blame Iginla for our failures, and we must make sure this team and its players are on the incline - Agreed.

But the suggested Cavalry? The players mentioned that would be better or equal? Nothing short of baiting. The shotblocking "B's" (every forward on the flames roster starting with that letter) are not the answer to lack of production, never have been, never will be. Career they are point pp2.5+g for a reason.

Happy to put the 30+ aged players out for trade, but not if it means 17mins of the "B's" each night.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Flames lose a game and everyone has to find a scapegoat. More often than not it seems to be Glencross. I just don't get why everything falls on him when plenty of players didn't play well enough last night.

It's just possible that the Islanders played an excellent game and deserved the win. Not saying the Flames couldn't have played better at times, but they played to the level I've expected from them most of the year and it wasn't quite good enough resulting in a 1 goal loss to a great team. So be it. I couldn't pick out an individual player that had a bad game. Engelland was overmatched on the 2nd Tavares goal, but that's to be expected. Not a whole lot to get upset about in this game, but then people like to invent reasons to get mad about to justify their anger I guess.

It's a good time to get a break without a holiday distraction so the boys can work on a few things and fine tune their game. A loss before that much time off is good motivation. I expect them to come out flying next game.

[locsofblu]

Originally Posted by jaginla

BENCH GLENCROSS. That was horrible to watch

Brilliant.

[Chingas]

I thought Engelland had a pretty good game, and without him we would have severely been out muscled tonight.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Flames lose a game and everyone has to find a scapegoat. More often than not it seems to be Glencross. I just don't get why everything falls on him when plenty of players didn't play well enough last night.

It's just possible that the Islanders played an excellent game and deserved the win. Not saying the Flames couldn't have played better at times, but they played to the level I've expected from them most of the year and it wasn't quite good enough resulting in a 1 goal loss to a great team. So be it. I couldn't pick out an individual player that had a bad game. Engelland was overmatched on the 2nd Tavares goal, but that's to be expected. Not a whole lot to get upset about in this game, but then people like to invent reasons to get mad about to justify their anger I guess.

It's a good time to get a break without a holiday distraction so the boys can work on a few things and fine tune their game. A loss before that much time off is good motivation. I expect them to come out flying next game.

I would have to say I thought Granlund was horrible last night; worst of the forwards. Possibly his worst game as a Flame yet.

And yes, Engelland was overmatched on that 2nd goal but Diaz was even more so IMO. Tavares beat Diaz around the net, then Tavares eventually used Diaz as a screen to beat Hiller once Okposo kicked the puck back to him. That said, more credit to Tavares & Okposo for making a great play there than anything else.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by wired

I think the guy needs to be sat......I have even said put on waivers. He is not consistant, and is a liability to the team at times.

And everyone who plays for the Flames is a liability at times, so what's your point??