[PGT] Flames 3 Rangers 4

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

That is a direct result of poor stretches last year and there's nothing that can be done about that now.

It's not Cherry picking to point out how well and tight they've largely been playing over six weeks.

Mentioned above:



speaks to how much better defensively the team has been playing over that stretch. There is a noticeable difference.

You can spin it any way you want. When we look at the difference and consistency through the last six weeks, it's definitely a team playing very well.

Expecting that we're going to run nearly unbeaten through the rest of the year to make up for the slow start and inconsistency in 2017 isn't at all realistic or logical.

2017 is part of this season. I don’t get why the turning of the calendar is significant.
I am not going to defend any overreactions and I don’t see the point in debating why people feel and react the way we do. But the team is 9th in the conference and can’t say I wouldn’t be bummed if things stayed that way. With all the things that have worked in the teams favor compared to last year, missing the playoffs would be a disappointment and likely result in changes.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

2017 is part of this season. I don’t get why the turning of the calendar is significant.

Because it was six weeks ago. And that is a large sample size, of which the team has been playing extremely well since.

I'm not sure how I can be any more clear.

To see them playing as well as they are as of late, and still listening to people whine about how it's below their expectations, is grating.

They aren't going to play .900 hockey to close out the year.

So if your expectations was fighting for first in the west, the numbers as they are have us in a spot where that expectation is no longer realistic.

So people seem to have a choice of looking at what's actually happening right now (the team playing well) or packing it in because you're now set up for disappointment.

There's a lot of good teams in the west and it will be a fight tooth and nail to the finish. With how well they've been playing as of late, I feel pretty good we're going to get in. It's supposed to be a fun pass-time. That fact is easily lost with sizeable contingent of very vocal people.

[ThePrince]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

Or 3 wins in their last 10 games, which is .300 hockey. It's easy to cherry pick good stretches to support your argument but that doesn't really refute my point.

They're in 9th in the conference. I'm looking at the season as a whole. 9th is not good enough. No other way to spin it for me. I expected higher and I still do.

If you expected a bubble team that's fine, but I didn't and I still don't.

Uhh, no it's not. They're 3-3-4, in their last 10, which is 10 points or .500 hockey. Is that going to get us into the playoffs? No, but using the last 17 games isn't cherrypicking good stretches, it's the most recent 20% of the season. If our "bad" stretches are .500 hockey, I'd say we're a pretty decent team, especially considering getting into the playoffs is .585 hockey.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

2017 is part of this season. I don’t get why the turning of the calendar is significant.
I am not going to defend any overreactions and I don’t see the point in debating why people feel and react the way we do. But the team is 9th in the conference and can’t say I wouldn’t be bummed if things stayed that way. With all the things that have worked in the teams favor compared to last year, missing the playoffs would be a disappointment and likely result in changes.

everyone here i think would be really disappointed if Calgary missed the playoffs..

while it is a case of underperforming by the Flames, i think LV was a totally unexpected development...without the knights, i think calgary would finish solidly in 3rd place in the west.

one less playoff spot is now available as a result of LV shattering expectations of what an expansion franchise is capable of

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by ThePrince

Uhh, no it's not. They're 3-3-4, in their last 10, which is 10 points or .500 hockey. Is that going to get us into the playoffs? No, but using the last 17 games isn't cherrypicking good stretches, it's the most recent 20% of the season. If our "bad" stretches are .500 hockey, I'd say we're a pretty decent team, especially considering getting into the playoffs is .585 hockey.

That's ".500" hockey. It's a bit misleading but I suppose with the NHL's point system you are correct. But even still, it's only 3 wins in 10 games.

I was never arguing they're playing bad recently, I argued that this season as a whole has not met my expectations. Like it or not, we can't just magically erase the first half of the year which was largely inconsistent.

If the Flames can play at this current pace for the rest of the season I'm sure they'll be fine, but as of right now they're not in a playoff spot and I think most of us expected them to be.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

That's ".500" hockey. But even still, it's only 3 wins in 10 games.

3-3-4 is awful. They have lost 4 more games than they won. Not good enough.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

everyone here i think would be really disappointed if Calgary missed the playoffs..

while it is a case of underperforming by the Flames, i think LV was a totally unexpected development...without the knights, i think calgary would finish solidly in 3rd place in the west.

one less playoff spot is now available as a result of LV shattering expectations of what an expansion franchise is capable of

LV is a real surprise for sure. But making the playoffs in the West was never much of an accomplishment as 8 out of 14 make it. Now it’s a little harder but you still don’t even have to be average to do it.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm disappointed but I can't remember a team ever giving up on a top 5 draft pick before he even turns 22. We all expected better but it's laughable how over the top fans are in regards to his struggles.

The team isn't giving up on Bennett. But is it really that shocking a lot of fans are? High draft picks sometimes bust. And sometime it doesn't take until they're 24 to recognize that they're busts. Brett Connolly. Griffin Reinhart. Ryan Strome. Thomas Hickey. Nail Yakupov. It happens.

The only reason we have to be more optimistic about Bennett than we are about Virtanen or Dal Colle is we're Flames fans. How many of us would lay down $100 on either of those latter guys hitting 300 career NHL points?

[Locke]

I havent read the thread through yet, but what on Earth was Gulutzan doing using his coach's challenge on the disallowed goal? Even after the refs waved it off the first time?

That was going to be disallowed every day of the week and twice on Sundays? I wanted it to count and knew it wouldnt, why did he feel that was an important hill to die on?

Once the refs wave it off you regroup, rally the troops and storm the Goddamned gates, not continue to whine.

Was there something there that I didnt see? I was watching it with the sound off so I couldnt get all of the commentary but from what I saw there was no way that was going to count and I couldnt even tell when the whistle went.

[AC]

I thought so too, except I've since realized the puck enters the net not because of Lazar but Paul Carrey bumping into Lundqvist all on his own and kicking the puck into his own goal. I think given that the puck was loose and tucked between his pads, Lazar didn't really interfere causing a goal. But I can see why we didn't win it either.

It was basically the same series of events leading to Gulutzan challenging and winning for the tying goal in Montreal earlier this year.