[PGT] Oilers claim 10% of their wins this season tonight vs. a very bad Flames team, 5-2

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I couldn't even be bothered to finish the game last night. That's how disgusted I was with that performance. It takes an awful lot for me to turn off a Flames game. I mean, I sat through a lot of those games in the late 90s, even when there was no hope of winning, but I sat through it anyway because I appreciated their effort.

Last night was such an abomination in terms of effort and cohesion...or just simply giving a crap. How can you not get up for a game against Edmonton on your home ice? How badly does this team need to be embarrassed in a game for them to wake up? It happened opening night, and that's pretty much the only time they should have allowed it to happen all season.

Win. Lose. I don't worry about that so much anymore. The NHL is a league full of parity; the separation between the good and bad teams is usually pretty thin. What I cannot stomach is poor effort and preparation. You are a professional athlete/coach. You have to be ready to play. You have to play a full game. You have to look like you give a damn. So far this year, they just haven't, and what's worse, they aren't showing any signs of figuring it out. That is the most distressing thing to me. It's almost as if they feel like they accomplished more than they needed to this year, so maybe they feel like they should get a free pass for a while.

Well to that idea I call bull####. The fans appreciated them last year because they didn't take anything for granted, but those same fans will turn on them in a heartbeat if they start to take it for granted that they can win games. We are 5 games in and they look like the OPPOSITE of the team we watched last year. Disorganized. Listless. Poor work ethic. Delicate and weak. Non-believers.

I don't know if training camp was different this year, but by all accounts there still seemed to be that focus on conditioning, work ethic, and internal competition. However, last year I heard the same comment over and over, "This is the most competitive camp we've ever had". I didn't hear that sentiment this year.

Regardless of all that stuff, we are just 5 games into the year. Nothing is over. Nothing is permanently lost. What they need to do now is focus. Focus on their game plan (which starts with Hartley possibly reimagining how they will win games this year) and making improvements. I'll let this start go if they start to show improvement every game...WITHOUT falling apart again like they did against Edmonton.

If that doesn't happen then you have to start making some moves with the roster, starting with the goalies. No more sub .900 Sv % nights. Next goalie to do that get sent down or traded. No more careless turnovers at the offensive blue line. You do that, you sit for the rest of the night and possibly the next game. No more weak puck battles in your own zone. If you get beat more than once on the same shift, you sit. Accountability. It has to start being enforced regardless of the player.

I took a long time to think about this today. This isn't a snap response to a loss. It's a calm and measured assessment of what I think ails this team. It's about attitude. It's about approach. This is not a problem of talent. We have enough talent to succeed. This is a problem with the mental side of the game, which is also sometimes the hardest one to fix.

Get it together boys.

p.s. When the Florida Panthers look infinitely more engaged, prepared, and capable than the Calgary Flames, there's a problem.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Patience is required. Absolutely. And I expect some growing pains. But to say the Flames are still rebuilding means different things to different people. Short of dumping Glencross what "rebuilding moves" has the team made in the last few months?

Exactly. Looking at it with the larger picture in mind, we're in year 3 of a rebuild and some key members of that rebuild got some good playoff experience last season - that doesn't mean we're done the rebuild, that very simply means key components now understand what it takes to win when the chips are on the table (even if they aren't showing it at the moment).

Coming into the season, the only thing I wanted to see was the work ethic from last year carry forward to this year. That's why I'm pissed right now - it just isn't there at the moment.

[442scotty]

[QUOTE=Cali Flames Fan;5465246]I couldn't even be bothered to finish the game last night. That's how disgusted I was with that performance. It takes an awful lot for me to turn off a Flames game. I mean, I sat through a lot of those games in the late 90s, even when there was no hope of winning, but I sat through it anyway because I appreciated their effort.

Last night was such an abomination in terms of effort and cohesion...or just simply giving a crap. How can you not get up for a game against Edmonton on your home ice? How badly does this team need to be embarrassed in a game for them to wake up? It happened opening night, and that's pretty much the only time they should have allowed it to happen all season


I also tuned out in the third for the same reasons...

[Gaskal]

Reading the M & G postgame recap was really, really sad. Especially the part about Kris Russell. Because it was true.

The most damning part is that Russell simply looked like he quit. He wasn't showing that shot-blocking gusto and bravery that made his name last year. After the silly play described in [the Yakupov goal], he barely even hustled to the bench. For a team that emphasizes things like positivity in the face of overwhelming doubt, refusing to take a shift off, and continuous work, Russell showed none of that, and he's been given the 'A' for the season.

[Lanny_McDonald]

I think people forget just how many injuries we had before the team took off and started playing "Flames" hockey. A lot of the veterans some of us were so disgusted with coming out of camp were playing like crap and disinterested. The injuries started to pile up and the kids were recalled, which provided the spark and the team started to play for each other. This year, its the same crap again. The major differences are you have Raymond cast in the Setoguchi role and the goaltending is absolute garbage instead of playing to league average. To me, the issues are pretty straight forward. You have to solve the goaltending predicament, one Treliving created himself. Then you have to dump some of the vets to make room for that youth that charges the room up. There is too much complacency on the team, and it falls on those veterans who know the team will have problems moving them. Treliving has done some really good things, but his inability to purge the team of overpaid players that are now 4th liners has become a real problem going forward.

[Crumpy-Gunt]

Raymond hasn't been our worst forward. Maybe one of our best. The problem is that we as fans are going from the playoffs to a bad start in the first 5 games of the season. It's no big deal. But the fan base expected us to be dominant and spank everyone this season with the additions of Hamilton and Frolik. We are missing half of the top defensive pairing in the NHL last season and a big top 9 forward. We have a brand new defenceman who is learning the system whilst playing first pairing minutes

, We have played well in spurts and I personally am not worried. I think people forget how inconsistent this team was in parts of last season.

We will go on a run and people will be back to talking about our chances of winning the pacific or making the playoffs.

A year where we clearly miss the playoffs may be beneficial. Maybe if gives us a chance to shed some of jones Stajan wideman Hudler engelland smid bollig etcs contracts and move on sign our players and see what happens in free agency. Maybe we should still be rebuilding

Perhaps we can snag some young pieces to add to our core in trades for wideman and hudler. I know for a fact we won't be trading these two if we are in the playoff picture come he trade deadline.

I don't think missing the playoffs this year, where we have assets coming off career seasons who could walk for nothing as free agents; would be the worst thing ever. We have 3 core players to sign in the next 2 seasons. 2 top liners coming off elc. Why not ship out a few older players we can't pay and don't fit into our future plans and trade them for picks or younger assets.

[Mathgod]

The Flames last year had a way of mounting 3rd period comebacks and won a ton of games that way. Take away even a couple of those and the Flames wouldn't have even made the playoffs. Then in the 1st round the Flames played a Canucks team that was dealing with key injuries.

Expectations for this season have generally been far too high as this team is still rebuilding.

[Mister Yamoto]

They are giving away Oiler points. Now would be a good time to panic.

[Samonadreau]

Losing is one thing. But last year we rarely got out worked. This year weve been outowrked in 4 of the 5 games. We still outworked the other team in lots of the games we lost last year but you wouldnt be crapped out cause they worked and crashed and banged and went to the net hard and you could tell the team was for the most part always trending in the right direction. Albeit only 5 games in but so far im not seeing the same compete.

I think thats whats perterbing the most. All it takes is one game to turn it all around - lets hope they come out with a fire lit under their butts against the caps and turn this all around. And please start Ortio.

[Kjesse]

I was at the game last night and I was so disappointed with how the Flames played, outside of the first few minutes in the first and a few minutes in the third, they looked awful. The second period was bad.

What bothered me most was that we all talk about how awful the Oiler defence is, but we had something like 15 shots on net through the first two periods.

Also, McDavid is the real deal. Some of his moves were incredible.

[Jimdon]

russell has looked really bad this season. Every other season there were fancy stats people pointing at him and saying his numbers were sub NHL quality numbers but at least we could say he tried hard and set a good example for the team, he lost that so far this season.

[Samonadreau]

Maybe they just play better with a chip on their shoulders. Last year everyone counted them out before the start of the year and thought they would eventually drop off after starting well. This year it was the opposute and to boot they have the pressure of not pulling a Toronto/Colorado. Maybe its simple as that and they just have to learn to play with the spotlight and pressure on them. Just get back to basics. Take shots, drive to the net, win the 1 on 1 battles.

I dunno, could be a load of crap but just thinking out loud at this point.

[SHOGUN]

I don't think we can pin point just one player for their terrible play... the whole team are playing an awkward brand of hockey.

[AcGold]

It's called figuring out our stretch pass strategy. Turns out most of our strategy relied on a guy breaking out early and catching a stretch pass at centre, uh oh, that's been solved. There's a lot of reasons we are sucking, that is #1.

#2. No 1a starting goalie yet
#3. Giordano injury
#4. Brodie injury
#5. Expectations
#6. Colborne and Bouma injured

A lot has gone wrong to start the season. We need to get the goalie thing figured out asap, Gio needs to get back to form, Brodie needs to come back, the team needs to stop reading the damn press clippings and get back to work, Colborne and Bouma will go a long way into helping us get possession of the puck back. All is not lost but this goalie crap better be figured out in the next 2 weeks or the season will disappear.

The d pairings will end with Gio-Brodie, Russell-Hamilton, Wideman-somebody, Ortio will be our starter and we'll make the playoffs again. They're playing like lost children because they are, the other teams figured out our strategy, time to adapt.

[doctajones428]

If Bennett is back next game I would really like to see:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Frolik
Hudler - Bennett - Jones
Ferland - Jooris - Bollig
Granlund - Stajan - Hathaway
xBacklund

Waive Raymond

Giordano - Wideman
Nakladal - Hamilton
Kulak - Engelland
xRussell

Ortio
Who Cares 1
xWho Cares 2

Shake the lines up, add some hungry youth, reward guys like Jones and Frolik, let guys like Russell and Backlund get pissed off and light a fire under their asses. We can't keep doing what we're doing and hope Brodie saves everything when he gets back.

Also, get Byron back on this team.

Wake the #### up boys.

[Vinny01]

the way this team had been coming the past couple years I was hopeful the hard working identity was fully integrated and not something we had to worry about wavering at all. I hoped with higher expectations we would see that work ethic increased another notch. I feel this team read the press clippings and even though they said all the right things they did think it would be easier this year and have lost their way.

The Flamea are a fast team with some good skill but are still a very small team. They don't have to ability to be out worked and still get wins. The goaltending is not strong enough to steal multiple games. They need to take a long look on th mirror and get back to what made them a great team to watch the past season and a half

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by FiveSeven

Well when you have nearly every person outside of flames fans, and even some fans, and the media beat the drum of regression that's got to get into the heads of everyone.

Not really. The only people banging the regression drum hard are the spreadsheet warriors who need to have their doomsaying from last year retroactively validated. Most everyone else is expecting we make the playoffs again. The reality was always that we would not be likely to make the playoffs again with a mid-40s CF%, but an improving team with additions like Frolik and Hamilton should end up with a higher Corsi anyway to balance it out.

You did touch on what I think the Flames' problem is right now though. Last year, this team was unified and motivated by a desire to prove all the naysayers wrong. They don't have that this year as most do expect Calgary to be a playoff team. These guys haven't yet figured out what will drive them this year, and the result has been a listless team that looks even worse than the Flames of four years ago. And with the next six games being against quality opposition, this team needs to find that drive fast, or they may find themselves completely buried.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

the way this team had been coming the past couple years I was hopeful the hard working identity was fully integrated and not something we had to worry about wavering at all. I hoped with higher expectations we would see that work ethic increased another notch. I feel this team read the press clippings and even though they said all the right things they did think it would be easier this year and have lost their way.

The Flamea are a fast team with some good skill but are still a very small team. They don't have to ability to be out worked and still get wins. The goaltending is not strong enough to steal multiple games. They need to take a long look on th mirror and get back to what made them a great team to watch the past season and a half

They are not as fast or skilled without Brodie on the ice for 25 minutes. Brodie is basically just over 8% of the total Flame team.

the elephant in the room is 40M 32 year old Giordano.

Gio became the "best" d man in the league around the time he got paired with Brodie. He was not in the top 40 D in the league in 2012-13 as a 28 year old when he was paired with Bouwmeester. He and Hamilton have played as to the same level of as Gio-Bouw.

Brodie made Engelland into as plausible top-4 d-man at the end of last year. Right now based on the most recent body of work Brodie-Engelland >>>>>> Gio-Hamilton

[Vinny01]

Flames really are missing Brodie and I am convinced the Brodano pairing is out back together as soon as TJ is back. Gio has been rusty to say the least but I don't think he has been that bad. Major chemistry issues with Dougie though.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by doctajones428

If Bennett is back next game I would really like to see:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Frolik
Hudler - Bennett - Jones
Ferland - Jooris - Bollig
Granlund - Stajan - Hathaway
xBacklund

Waive Raymond

Giordano - Wideman
Nakladal - Hamilton
Kulak - Engelland
xRussell

Ortio
Who Cares 1
xWho Cares 2

Shake the lines up, add some hungry youth, reward guys like Jones and Frolik, let guys like Russell and Backlund get pissed off and light a fire under their asses. We can't keep doing what we're doing and hope Brodie saves everything when he gets back.

Also, get Byron back on this team.

Wake the #### up boys.

First of all, Byron isn't that much of a difference-maker. He's a good utility player with good energy, but we have lots of those guys on the team and on the farm.

I like the idea of bringing up Hathaway, but you can't bring both him and Nakladal up without sending someone down. Probably not gonna happen.

Your lines are intriguing though. I'd change it just a little bit (omitting Nakladal and Hathaway).

Gaudreau - Monahan - Frolik
Hudler - Bennett - Jones
Ferland - Jooris - Bollig
Granlund - Stajan - Hathaway
xBacklund

Waive Raymond

Well they already waived Raymond, but I suppose you're advocating sending him to the farm. Not time for that just yet since he's had some good games, but he's still borderline. You can just scratch him again and let some other players have a shot at a higher spot in the lineup. Here's what I would do:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Frolik
Hudler-Bennett-Jones
Ferland-Granlund-Jooris
Bollig-Backlund-Stajan
xRaymond

Giordano - Wideman
Nakladal - Hamilton
Kulak - Engelland
xRussell

Giordano is struggling, especially defensively, so you can't pair him with a guy who is arguably our weakest defensive defenseman. Also, despite a poor play now and then, Russell is not the problem. Unfortunately, the right side of our defense is so weak that it makes sense to keep the pairings as they are and just work on improving. Not much else to do until Brodie returns. Then you have my permission to go all crazy with the combinations. Until then it's this:

Giordano-Hamilton
Russell-Wideman
Kulak-Engelland

Ortio
Who Cares 1
xWho Cares 2

Couldn't agree more. Not happy with either veteran goalie at the moment, so it's time to give Ortio a shot.