[PGT] Golden Knights 4 - Flames 2

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Don't over think this people.

You should tell that to the coach. The player made a horrifically bad play. Staple his ass to the bench. Simple. Instead the coach overthinks and feels if he keeps him on the ice he will try to make up for that mistake and the results kind of speaks for itself.

[Demaeon]

I think it's a bit of a stretch to pin the GWG on Frolik.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I just don't get this.

Frolik is one of the most dependable wingers on the team, hell the whole league. If you want to bank on a guy that will be money in helping respond to a gaff he's the guy.

The line itself is the league's second best possession line and had scored the go head goal late in the second.

Leaving them out there wasn't a bush league coach move, it was hockey. It happens. A series of bad bounces and occurrences and the game blew up.

Don't over think this people.

He's a human, not a robot running on statistics-based algorithms. It's one thing to expect him to regroup and come back; it's another to have him remain out there as everyone stares at him.

Don't overthink this.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by Demaeon

I think it's a bit of a stretch to pin the GWG on Frolik.

I don't. I think it's a stretch to pin it on Brodie. Yeah, he wasn't ready for a pass, but why would he be? He's expecting Frolik to get the puck out of the zone. It was a bad play by Frolik, nothing more.

The witch hunt is on for Brodie, he's not a perfect defenseman. The sooner people accept that the sooner people will appreciate him. Reading garbage like "get this loser off our blue line" (not from you, from last page) is horrible and embarrassing for our fanbase. 30 other teams would love Brodie on their blue line. I'm really not sure what people expect from Brodie. He's on a good deal, he's not going to win the Norris, so let's just calm down. I think some people here hate Brodie so much they'll spin the story any way they can to blame him.

Edit: my apologies. Completely different goal.

[AC]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

I don't. I think it's a stretch to pin it on Brodie. Yeah, he wasn't ready for a pass, but why would he be? He's expecting Frolik to get the puck out of the zone. It was a bad play by Frolik, nothing more.

That wasn't the GWG though.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Yeah, the GWG could be pinned on Hamilton. I’m not sure what he was doing and why they let Vegas chip it in the middle for Marchessault to pick up so easily.

I didn’t like Smith on the tying goal. Caught napping.

[Robbob]

That loss last night was right up there with the Game 3 loss in terms of going from what was thought as a sure win to a loss.

I feel bad for Frolik, but he took it standing tall and accepted the blame for his mistake. There were a lot of good things last night and given the exact same scenario up by one with 90 seconds left in the game 1000 out of 1000 I would want that same line out there. At the end of the day the Flames were gracious hosts and gifted the Knights two points. Have to forget about it and move on to the next game.

[stang]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

https://twitter.com/user/status/958771878667022336

That was a nice goal. Smart move.

Why even have the mouth guard though?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Demaeon

I think it's a bit of a stretch to pin the GWG on Frolik.

The line was in a daze. Take them off the ice and get another line out there. Maybe another center would have won the faceoff seeing Backlund was pretty bad in the circle last night.

[chummer]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The line was in a daze. Take them off the ice and get another line out there. Maybe another center would have won the faceoff seeing Backlund was pretty bad in the circle last night.

The team was stunned, including Smith who should have had the 3rd goal.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by drewtastic

Just home from the game. I'm sure the freak 90 seconds has been played to death. And all of it was as horribad live (my seats are in the Flames defensive end) as you imagine.



Nevertheless, there are so many other problems with this team right now that the Frolik error and subsequent faceoff are, in my view, merely symptoms of a tremendous lack of focus and grit that permeates this lineup.



Frolik's failure to clear the zone was only the last of about a dozen similar instances where the Flames got the puck to the defensive blueline, only to nonchalantly attempt to skate the puck out, resulting in turnovers and more defensive time in our zone. Needless errors like these make games far more difficult than necessary.



Conversely, the Flames simply refuse to cycle the puck and grind in the offensive zone. As a result, many rushes are "one and done", if that. Rarely do the point-men decide simply to keep the puck in deep in order to maintain possession, instead preferring wrist shot after wrist shot from the point. I understand that the coaches have instructed the defencemen to get pucks on net, but how many times does a puck have to hit an onrushing forward's shin/skate before these guys realize that it's really difficult to get a solid object through another solid object?



And, of course, the powerplay was atrocious. Again. In the Saddledome, it's coming to the point where fans know that a Flames powerplay is a two minute bathroom break. It's bad enough that the PP hasn't been effective in months, but that it gives up quality chances against is unforgivable at this point in the season. Stop me if you've heard this one before: if the Flames scored at least ONCE on the powerplay (as the Knights did), we aren't even talking about Frolik's blunder.



Perhaps the most infuriating thing I saw tonight, after all was said and done, was that, with the game 3-2 and the Flames needing to pull the goalie, Mike Smith skated to the bench, waving his arms, trying to get the coaching staff's attention. He was less than fifteen feet from the bench before they gave him the sign to leave the ice. For me, this is representative of the whole team's lack of mental sharpness or focus. And for this, who else can be responsible except the coaches? (God bless Mike Smith--I shudder to think where the Flames would be without him.)



It is now five straight losses, no matter how you want to justify the OTL points gained. And it's not even THAT they lose, it's HOW they lose.



The next game against Tampa will speak volumes about this team's character. Sadly, outside of a few players like Smith and Tkachuk, I am uncertain as to their collective ability and desire to commit to the work ethic and focus required to be a consistently good NHL team. Hoping to be proven wrong in two days' time.

This post completely encapsulates what I’ve been thinking about this team.

The insight you provided on how Mike Smith had to get the focus of the coaching staff really illustrates the problem we have, and it is a huge problem. If the coaching team aren’t sharp and focussed, how can they demand that of the players?

It seems we are getting the performances from Thachuck and Smith despite instead of because the way they are managed.

This has to change.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by AC

That wasn't the GWG though.

Whoops, you're right. Completely zoned out there.

I would agree pinning the GWG on Frolik is a stretch.

[Infinit47]

Originally Posted by chummer

The team was stunned, including Smith who should have had the 3rd goal.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I don't think hindsight is required to know your team is rattled. Even the annoumcers, who are the rafters, were talking about it. A good coach sees what happened, takes a time out and settles his team down.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by stang

That was a nice goal. Smart move.

Why even have the mouth guard though?

He's going to swallow and choke on it one day.

[442scotty]

The tying goal was a complete shock to everyone in the building. Gulutzan should have called a time out immediately before the face off... Thursdays game will dictate the fate of the team this year IMO

[Classic_Sniper]

The whole time out blame game is such horse crap. You call timeouts to stop the opposition's momentum or when your team is on their heels. We had our most reliable and trustworthy line on the ice and they had just changed. Where does a timeout make sense in this situation?

What if the team got scored on anyway after a timeout? Do we then blame the timeout for causing the goal? Timeouts don't guarantee anything. It's not the team or even a line that caused the goal to be allowed, it was a single individual's mistake and that doesn't require a timeout to recover from.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

The whole time out blame game is such horse crap. You call timeouts to stop the opposition's momentum or when your team is on their heels. We had our most reliable and trustworthy line on the ice and they had just changed. Where does a timeout make sense in this situation?

What if the team got scored on anyway after a timeout? Do we then blame the timeout for causing the goal? Timeouts don't guarantee anything. It's not the team or even a line that caused the goal to be allowed, it was a single individual's mistake and that doesn't require a timeout to recover from.

Seems the Knights had a fair bit of momentum after the tying goal, no?

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

The whole time out blame game is such horse crap. You call timeouts to stop the opposition's momentum or when your team is on their heels. We had our most reliable and trustworthy line on the ice and they had just changed. Where does a timeout make sense in this situation?

What if the team got scored on anyway after a timeout? Do we then blame the timeout for causing the goal? Timeouts don't guarantee anything. It's not the team or even a line that caused the goal to be allowed, it was a single individual's mistake and that doesn't require a timeout to recover from.

Well not calling the timeout sure didn't help anything, did it?

Would it have killed him to call a time out? No.

Would it MAYBE have given Frolik a chance to recover from the biggest mistake of his career? Maybe. But maybe is better than doing nothing.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by stang

That was a nice goal. Smart move.

Why even have the mouth guard though?

Same reason Burke "wears" a tie?

[Toonage]

Also, Smith is likely a bit stunned and out of sorts but he can't leave the ice to collect himself. You can change the line and throw fresh bodies out there to get some clear heads but what about your goalie? That wasn't a routine goal against. Give him, and your team, a minute.