To those who are spitting the hate towards Bennett as of late - I would've thought that everyone here would have learnt their lesson when it came to hating on young, developing players. It's not like we aren't watching Backlund and Hamilton act as the backbone of this team right now or anything...two guys who took an extreme amount of punishment on CP over the years (Hamilton much more recently).
Patience, for pity's sake. Bennett as trade bait? Come off it.
Last edited by ComixZone; 01-13-2017 at 10:37 PM.
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During the San Jose game they talked about some crazy stat where the Flames had a bunch of wins and only 3 losses when they kept the other team to two goals or less. One of those three losses was the Winnipeg game on Monday, and here is another one tonight.
The lack of offence from everyone other than the Backlund line and the fourth line -- especially 5 on 5 -- is killing them. They've managed to get by thanks to amazing special teams but thats not going to cut it for the rest of the season.
Chad was stellar -- refused to give up that third goal. I hope he gets the start again tomorrow.
Is anyone in the organization going to get mad? Slam a door? Kick a chair? Call out someone? We are too soft, too small and too nice. That and no desire. No heart. No one fears the Flames. The Oilers are licking their chops right now. Another effort like that and tomorrow night could be the worse loss this franchise suffers in years.
Sorry the 4th line offense ... Am I missing the player who provides the 4th line offense this year?
The fourth line gets a pass because it's not their job to provide consistent offence. Although if you want to get technical they have chipped in a couple of goals in the past two weeks. Wish I could say the same about Bennett's line...
I think there is still a lot of reason to have hope for this team moving forward.
- They are safely in a playoff spot, for now.
- The core is still so young, and god no Sam Bennett is not a damn bust
- The goaltending has been mostly great
- Most of the scoring has been from secondary guys like Frolik, Versteeg, etc. so when Johnny, Monahan, Bennett eventually, inevitably rebound, the team will be in even better shape
- The top 3 defence has been mostly fine, and there are lots of good options on the UFA market this summer who the Flames will be able to afford
- Even most of the underachievers are young and have room to develop. Johnny, Mono, Bennett, Brodie, Bouma, Chiasson, Jokipakka - these guys have been either inconsistent or just bad, yes, but they are all also 26 or younger.
- Other guys who are poorly performing are all UFAs after this year. Wideman, Elliott, Engelland... their money is off the books after this season.
This is a young team with a ton of upside. The worst players are either still young (Jokipakka, Bennett) or are gone after this year anyway (Wideman, Elliott). There are no anchor contracts here. The Sutter era of a million NMCs is by a bygone, distant memory.
This is an awesome time to be a Flames fan. Don't let a one-goal January loss to New Jersey get you down. This team has an incredibly bright future, controls its own destiny contracts-wise, and has very competent management. Just because Gaudreau is on a cold streak doesn't mean that any of this is less true. Losses happen.
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Floating around in mediocrity like Minnesota was the last few years. Right now I would seriously look at trading this year's first and a prospect for a RW. Something big and mean would be wonderful. Dare to dream I guess.
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Floating around in mediocrity like Minnesota was the last few years. Right now I would seriously look at trading this year's first and a prospect for a RW. Something big and mean would be wonderful. Dare to dream I guess.
We would then be forced to expose Ferland in the expansion draft.
I agree that the time to spend some assets to round out the roster is getting closer, but not yet. Not until after the expansion draft.
Can't believe they lost to this sad sack team. They lost to possibly the 3rd worst team in the entire NHL and a team that looked like hot trash against the Oilers and against most other teams for that matter. Embarrassing.
Win tomorrow and much (but not all) will be forgiven.
I watched the 2nd and 3rd period. Thought Gaudreau was bad and a lot of defensive miscues is what I noticed the most. Didn't think the other forwards played too badly.
