[PGT] Disaster on Broadway. Flames fall 4-1

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Also, why focus on just Hamiton when guys like Bennett have done nothing and Jooris' only contribution to the team so far has been a series of minor penalties?

We've got five guys out of a 23-man roster playing with any semblance of determination right now. Picking on one guy out of that group of 18 misses the forest for the trees.

+ Monahan seems to be thinking the game and executing at snail's pace. So many wasted plays dying on his stick because he waits too long to make decisions.

+ Russell isn't blocking shots like he needs to. He hasn't been in position to do it as much.

+ Backlund's been somewhere between "warm body on the ice" and "that's definitely a guy trying to play hockey" Same goes for Jones aside from the goals he's not a player making a noticeable impact night to night.

[flylock shox]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Also, why focus on just Hamiton when guys like Bennett have done nothing and Jooris' only contribution to the team so far has been a series of minor penalties?

We've got five guys out of a 23-man roster playing with any semblance of determination right now. Picking on one guy out of that group of 18 misses the forest for the trees.

A huge part of it is just expectations. The hype and the cap hit that came with Hamilton put him under a microscope and magnify any shortcomings. That said, some of his errors so far are also quite blatant and have directly led to goals against. That makes it easier for the average fan to question him, as opposed to other players whose failings haven't had such obvious and direct consequences.

As for Bennett, he has been the subject of concern so far too, but he's younger, cheap, and his shortcomings haven't had such obvious negative effects on the team. Similar things could be said for Jooris.

All in all, the team is struggling as a whole, and I'd say offence and steady goaltending are it's biggest problems so far. But this is a team that relies on offence from its defence too, so our highly paid defencemen have to bring both points and sound defensive play. When they bring neither, that's a problem too.

That said, Hamilton will almost certainly get there. He simply cannot be as weak as he's appeared so far, and is no doubt struggling with confidence as well as adaptation right now. It'll be interesting to see what impact Brodie's return has on Hamilton's role and the confidence of the whole team.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Didn't see the game, thankfully, but that gift Johnny gave to Hudler on the Flames goal was special.

[Ryan Coke]

Must be some kind of system they run in Boston that makes Hamiltons transition so difficult. Apparently they don't compete hard, they let guys stand in front of the net without tying up their stick, and they stare at the puck carrier behind the net and don't look for the open man in the slot.

Maybe it's the incredibly complicated 'system', or the expectations of the big new contract, but whatever the excuse is for his head not being in the game it is just that. He needs to think and compete. I hope he gets there, preferably sooner than later.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Nobody wants to talk about how terrible the Flames power play has been? 0 PP goals in the last 3 games. In todays league you don't win very many games without a powerplay that's clicking. Unless you have an all star goalie that won't let in more than 1 goal a game, which we obviously don't.

This is on Hartley. He needs to completely revamp our PP system and lines. Last night there was a power play where the Flames had control 99% of the time, but everything was to the perimeter and nothing resembled a scoring chance. It was the definition of pathetic.

Something is wrong when a fan couldn't care less about receiving a powerplay opportunity when you already know how useless it's going to look.

[Royle9]

Is it just me or is everyone rotating through the different "problems" with the team. On any given night over these first 7 games its been the following:

a) Goal-tending
b) Defense
c) Secondary scoring

I think the answer here is:
d) All of the above - Aka the whole system

The flames are playing a style of game that is both predictable (same as last season) and not very reliable long term (over 60 minutes). As every coach/GM says it starts from the net out and the flames have had 0 help from both Ramo & Hiller thus far. I don't think there's a game outside of the Detroit OT win where a goalie stood on his head and gave us a shot to win.

From there we go to the defense and the poor play in both the defensive and offensive zone. Stretch passes from behind the net DO NOT WORK, last year they were unpredictable and firing at about a 70% success rate, this year teams know to clog the neutral zone and stay "man on man" and thus were at about a 20% rate and we've gotta be one of the top ICING teams this year. Outside of Wideman we've had no real offensive push this year, last year it was a key factor in our success, teams are clearly onto that as well. Defensive coverage is terrible, we've tried mixing up the pairings that were a complete success last year, yes Brodie will help here but I see no reason for Nakladal not to draw in, we need to shake something up here big time. The goals against is a team problem and our coverage has been terrible.

Last but not least its our offense and more so the lack their of. Outside of Johnny generating 90% of the offense for the first line, we've had little to no secondary scoring/pressure and that's on the "system" errors. Bennett has shown the drive, Frolik has had some flashes of brilliance but nothing has transpired, I feel were a few moves/lineup changes away from securing a proper 2nd & 3rd line which will allow us to see some points generated. Our biggest failure this year is the powerplay and the terrible 2 "takes" we utilize on any given night just not working.

You've got take #1 where they do the drop pass to Johnny and he's left to try and dangle his way into the zone from about half way between the flames blue line and center ice, sometimes it works but fizzles out on the pass afterwards however most teams now know to pressure the puck and the 2 players on the sidewall waiting for the drop. When it does work we get in and get a scoring chance but that's not happening near as much as last year. Take #2 the dump and "dont chase" usually our defense bring the puck up and they fire it into a corner (70% of the time its too hard and we dont see the puck) however the problem here is they do this when our PP1 line is out there and you've got Hudler and Johnny attempting to battle in the corner and they just aren't strong enough to get the puck. Most of the time the other team's on it long before our guys even get there and the pucks back out of the zone faster than ever.

The flames need a RESET button, and fast. We need to play to our strengths and I firmly believe we need either a) top line RW or a top 6 winger that can score to shake up the monotony that is our current offensive pressure. Whatever it is, it has to come fast. Our Ortio excuse ends tonight, and if we end up losing another big game (4-1, 5-2) who do we blame now outside of Hamilton?

Get your #### together boys.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

Nobody wants to talk about how terrible the Flames power play has been? 0 PP goals in the last 3 games. In todays league you don't win very many games without a powerplay that's clicking. Unless you have an all star goalie that won't let in more than 1 goal a game, which we obviously don't.

This is on Hartley. He needs to completely revamp our PP system and lines. Last night there was a power play where the Flames had control 99% of the time, but everything was to the perimeter and nothing resembled a scoring chance. It was the definition of pathetic.

Something is wrong when a fan couldn't care less about receiving a powerplay opportunity when you already know how useless it's going to look.

It's the difference between having Mikael back Lund as your second line centre compared to Patrice bergeron.

[Scary Eloranta]

If Backlund is your second line center, you are in huge trouble. He's a third line guy at best and probably should be a career AHL player. Not pinning it all on him, they simply don't have much offence.

[HartAttack]

If you are not defending well, you aren't going to be getting a ton of quality scoring chances. The Flames have the talent to score goals, but they aren't right now because they're so concerned with keeping pucks out of their own net.

By fixing the D (with a magical 'fix the D' potion I presume), we will begin to breakout quicker, move through the neutral zone with more speed (as opposed to standing still when catching passes), and be more dangerous in the offensive zone.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

It's the difference between having Mikael back Lund as your second line centre compared to Patrice bergeron.

That's no excuse with the amount of skill the Flames have up front and in the back-end. Wideman, Gio, Russell and Hamilton should be able to contribute more than enough offense to make up for not having a legit #2 center.

The Flames system is not working this year. Plain and simple. Adjustments need to be made when special teams are this atrocious.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Scary Eloranta

If Backlund is your second line center, you are in huge trouble. He's a third line guy at best and probably should be a career AHL player. Not pinning it all on him, they simply don't have much offence.

Now Backlund should be a career AHL'er.

Jesus christ.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by nik-

Now Backlund should be a career AHL'er.

Jesus christ.

If you're gonna do hysteria and panic, may as well go all out

Monahan is junk. Trade him for a 7th rounder. Gio's old, buy him out.

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by nik-

Now Backlund should be a career AHL'er.

Jesus christ.

I agree that goes to far to say AHL, but he is getting exposed on the second line centre roll.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

That's no excuse with the amount of skill the Flames have up front and in the back-end. Wideman, Gio, Russell and Hamilton should be able to contribute more than enough offense to make up for not having a legit #2 center.

The Flames system is not working this year. Plain and simple. Adjustments need to be made when special teams are this atrocious.

The Flames have pretty much no skill up front aside from the top line.

The team only has 4 bonafide top 6 players, Gaudreau, Monahan, Hudler and Frolik and 3-4 of those guys don't play with much Jam.

Calgary is loaded with 3rd and 4th line players. Jones, Jooris, Colborne, Bouma, Ferland, Stajan, Raymond.

That's not a lot of skill to be honest. The biggest reason for Calgary's offense last year was having 4 defenders score 40 pts, this year that offence is more high risk than high reward.

If you have Backlund, Wideman and Russell on the ice together at the same time, you're going to bleed goals against.

[Armchair Quarterback]

People might think this is out in left field but that score flatters the Rangers. Sure we only got one but we had some great chances and this loss was an improvement on what we have seen so far this season. The Rangers are an excellent team and we just are not there yet. That's okay.

Not too worried about roster tinkering, lines, etc. right now. I AM worried about the team not playing with enough heart out there. I'm seeing Frolik, Gaudreau, and maybe Colborne playing with heart. But the others...where's the spark? Come on boys. We saw the comeback vs. Detroit and know that the Flames can do it, but it seemed like last night they just weren't in it. Seems like they have softened up mentally. They come out strong at the beginning of the period then kind of wither away as it goes on.

This team needs to go back to having some fun. Making it to the second round seems to have changed them mentally as they are putting too much pressure on themselves. Have some fun and enjoy the game like last season, and the fans will too.

[cannon7]

I look at that Kevin Klein goal last night and that pretty much sums up the Flames season thus far. Bennett blindly tosses the puck out of the zone, Girardi collects it and handes it off to Yandle during a line change and the Flames are caught flat footed. Hiller has to make two spectacular saves and despite this the Flames can't get a stick on the puck and Klein just throws it at the net for a goal.

1. Panic in our own zone, blindly throwing the puck away.
2. A clogged up neutral zone where the opposition badly outnumber the Flames and thus can quickly transition.
3. Godawful coverage in our own zone, especially in front of the net. Getting outmuscled by pretty much everyone.
4. Leaving our goaltending out to dry after they have to make a spectacular save.
5. Letting this breakdown lead into further breakdowns until the game is out of reach.

Hartley can bag skate this group into the ground. It ain't gonna solve nothing. The compete is there for the most part, we are just getting outcoached and it's killing team confidence/morale.

Sure Hiller let in a soft goal or two, but that was after the team in front of him pretty much gave up. Our goaltending needs to be better, but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Flames' problems.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Scary Eloranta

If Backlund is your second line center, you are in huge trouble. He's a third line guy at best and probably should be a career AHL player. Not pinning it all on him, they simply don't have much offence.

[Scary Eloranta]

Sorry guys, just never been a big Backlund fan. Too soft and can't score. Slightly above average defensively. Whats to like about the guy?

[polak]

Originally Posted by cannon7

Hartley can bag skate this group into the ground. It ain't gonna solve nothing. The compete is there for the most part, we are just getting outcoached and it's killing team confidence/morale.

Yeah the fact that we have issues on all fronts is making me start doubting the coaches. Goaltending, okay, they can't really control that too much but the complete lack of any success else where even though the players appear to be putting the effort in has to at least partially come down to the coach.

The system is clearly not working.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Scary Eloranta

Sorry guys, just never been a big Backlund fan. Too soft and can't score. Slightly above average defensively. Whats to like about the guy?

He's a good third line player in this league. It's not his fault he's the team's 5th best forward.