[PGT] Long Island/Brooklyn Massacre: Flames lose 4-0

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

This team looks suspiciously similar to the Brent Sutter flames.

No offensive confidence at all. Players looking to pass when they need to shoot. Everything they manage to generate goes through the singular efforts of an exceptional winger.

Highly touted addition to an already strong (on paper) defensive core who ends up completely sucking.

Every player looks miserable and lifeless. The only difference at all is the lack of an all-star goaltender to pull their asses out of the fire.

Having a captain who pots 30 every season helps.

They do look like a Sutter team though. Way too wound up on expectations. The acquisitions they made take up a lot of cap space in terms of salary.

Frolik - 5.5m
Hamilton - 5.5m
Hiller - 4.5m
Ramo - 3.8m
Raymond - 3.15m

Treliving spent like a drunken sailor. He's never managed a max cap team "going for it" before. That's a ton of waste for a team that finished top 8 last season.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Calgary is no good.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by BigRed

And don't forget Bouma. He was our warrior last year. Missing both of those guys hurts.

Yea, that's what's missing. Another grinder with hands of stone.

[Armchair Quarterback]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Having a captain who pots 30 every season helps.

They do look like a Sutter team though. Way too wound up on expectations. The acquisitions they made take up a lot of cap space in terms of salary.

Frolik - 5.5m
Hamilton - 5.5m
Hiller - 4.5m
Ramo - 3.8m
Raymond - 3.15m

Treliving spent like a drunken sailor. He's never managed a max cap team "going for it" before. That's a ton of waste for a team that finished top 8 last season.

Yep, way too much big game hunting with mediocre results.

[SuperMatt18]

We are missing that spark to get the team going.

Both Bouma and Byron were great at providing that spark that got the team some positive momentum last year.

Team misses both of those guys, forward group looks slow this year IMO.

[Badgers Nose]

Steinberg, 'why so Wideman?'

Haha!

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by codynw

Yea, that's what's missing. Another grinder with hands of stone.

you mean the stone hands that popped in 16 goals last season?

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Gazza

I agree. NYI showed if you shoot the puck things happen. You can see them struggling and over thinking.

Case in point, Bennett had a chance to shoot in the third. Instead he holds onto it and ends up behind the net trying a wraparound.

I gotta defend Bennett on the wraparound here. He's on the left side of the goal with a left shot, the point of release on the shot itself would be at a ridiculously bad angle. Halak was square and hugging the post too and the best Bennett could've hoped for with a bad percentage shot would be a rebound to the slot.

Neal made a point of this.

Once I got used to it, I really elevated my game, because whenever I shot the puck on my forehand, the release point was closer to the net. I was a threat at all times, especially on one-timers. I ended up scoring 40 goals the next season. So whenever a guy switches wings, it has a lot of implications for how he plays.

[Flame$4Ever]

This team has to get back to Basics of hockey...get the puck to the net and look for rebounds and the d-men block shots...quit the fancy #### to try to create plays..dump and chase..get into the dirty zones. This team is LAZY..

[saillias]

Originally Posted by codynw

Yea, that's what's missing. Another grinder with hands of stone.

He's the best hitter on the team. We're currently relying on Jooris, Colborne and Smid to be the practical truculence. Ouch.

[Machiavelli]

So… Is the 2016 draft class as strong as 2015?

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Another tough one. Like a lot of folks are saying in one way or another, the last 2 games haven't really bothered me. Since the Red Wings game, I think we are actually seeing the Flames we knew last year, more or less, and I've been impressed with the efforts.

The truth of the matter is, the Flames no showed the first 6 games of the year, and there is no way to get those games back. But the last 3, that has been Flames type hockey. The NY back to back road trip is a tough one, and the scores in both games actually flattered the opposition. The team is now playing well, but are losing games the same way we did last year, when the scoring just seems to dry up (mostly due to the fact we really only have one consistent scoring line). Keep playing like this, they are going to start to win some games.

Some thoughts, I think the secondary scoring is maybe not going to be there quite yet. I've actually really liked Bennett's game especially recently, but I think he's going to need some more seasoning this year before he starts to make an impact like Johnny and Mono are, which is fine, but I think folks were counting on immediate offensive impact from him to give us a legit 2nd line threat. Might need to cool those expectations.

Hamilton, still looking lost, but people need to remember he's 22 and need to look at him as an investment in long term success and a building piece, versus expectations of immediate top defender expectations. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting more out the gate, but we need to be patient with him. I don't care what the system was in Boston or who his partner was, you don't put up numbers like that in the NHL as 21 year old d-man unless you are the real deal, let's not strap the goat horns on to this kid due to our desires to jump from re-build to contender in 2 short years.

Ortio looked sharp. I was dissapointed in the 2nd goal only because it looked very Hiller like. Solid play all game then a soft one, even if it went off Russel's stick. But overall, liked what I saw, certainly was just as good if not better than anything we've seen so far this year.

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by BigRed

And don't forget Bouma. He was our warrior last year. Missing both of those guys hurts.


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He didn't look great before the injury.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

So… Is the 2016 draft class as strong as 2015?

Matthews is pretty good. Maybe better than Eichel.

Don't know about the depth, but there's some decent high end talent.

[Badgers Nose]

I hope Hartley lays off them. He already tried the bag skate (before winning against Detroit, uh oh).

These guys don't need to be punished for playing well and collapsing in the third.

They are up to a solid 40 minutes, in three straight games. Maybe we'll get 60 soon.

[Gazza]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

I gotta defend Bennett on the wraparound here. He's on the left side of the goal with a left shot, the point of release on the shot itself would be at a ridiculously bad angle. Halak was square and hugging the post too and the best Bennett could've hoped for with a bad percentage shot would be a rebound to the slot.

Neal made a point of this.

Fair enough. I was trying to make the point that when a team is struggling to score throwing it on net might be the best option sometimes.

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[Inferno]

Make them walk to Ottawa.

[AC]

The Flames are just going through this season's version of the 9 game losing streak early, then we'll turn it up!

Please.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by saillias

He's the best hitter on the team. We're currently relying on Jooris, Colborne and Smid to be the practical truculence. Ouch.

With how often Engelland's being played too, I'm really disappointed with how little physical play I've seen from him. Oh, he'll get in the mix-ups and scrums after the whistles but I'm not seeing any of the thunderous hits or the angry crosschecks to the numbers in front of the net. Smid has been more noticeable in two games back than Engelland has all season.

[Badgers Nose]

I think positive Hartley is much more effective with young guys. I am happy to hear him keeping it positive.