[GDT] Devils @ Flames. 7pm MT. Sportsnet

[djsFlames]

Yeah Quine has a higher floor and is further along in his development as of currently.

Dube has a top six ceiling but he isn't there yet. Needs time to ripen still.

[868904]

I don't disagree with Peters putting the pressure on the boys after a win, but I do wonder if maybe he could have waited one more game.

The fact is that the team was still playing the 3rd game in 4 nights (4th game in 6 nights) after a cross country trek and the first game back is always tough.

Hopefully this works out and doesn't turn the players against Peters.

[GeoRock]

Due to my emotional attachment to this team, I promised my wife I'd ease off on watching every game this season (I know, I know... but she's a good cook).

All I can say is that of the six or seven games I've watched this year, we have won all but the outdoor game (got a point!). Random chance? Potentially. Will we win tonight because I'm going to the game? Possibly. Will I drink so much that I'll forget who won when I wake up in the morning? Probably.

Go Flames!

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by savardandjokinen

Frolik has awful stats so far this season

So do Bennett, Backlund, Lucic, Reider and Jankowski or the majority of the Flames bottom 6. I guess you can't sit them all so Frolik gets the abuse. Bottom line is that not one of these guys has been nearly good enough this year.

[EVERLAST]

Great article describes how certain players are trying to do it all themselves and there being no cohesiveness .

I see a few players guilty of this allot this year but it does seem to correct itself after awhile. Theyll be okay but BSD needs more support.

[Johnny Makarov]

We need to beat them by like 7 goals tonight, and in a nice way so Hall signs with us next year.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

So do Bennett, Backlund, Lucic, Reider and Jankowski or the majority of the Flames bottom 6. I guess you can't sit them all so Frolik gets the abuse. Bottom line is that not one of these guys has been nearly good enough this year.

We have discussed Monahan and Gaudreau a lot for their scoring slumps but much more is needed offensively from the 2nd line center as he's been ice cold all season. That said there's no way Backlund is going to be benched because he's still a top ice time forward for this team in a defensive role. The reason Frolik is being benched is that he used to be a fit on that line but this season like Backlund, he's been ice cold and it seems he's only useful when playing with Tkachuk and Backlund. Hopefully he can responde like he did last season after a benching as this team needs some of their depth players to break out.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

We need to beat them by like 7 goals tonight, and in a nice way so Hall signs with us next year.

Yes. Let's impress the hometown boy tonight. Let the courting begin.

Poor guy has been on a circus tour all of his career needing to be the #1 guy on every team he's been on. Here he would not.

[WhiteTiger]

Go Flames go!

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

So do Bennett, Backlund, Lucic, Reider and Jankowski or the majority of the Flames bottom 6. I guess you can't sit them all so Frolik gets the abuse. Bottom line is that not one of these guys has been nearly good enough this year.

Eh. I don't think you can paint all those guys with the same brush and imply Frolik is just being arbitrarily selected.

on-ice 5v5 goal differentials

Bennett +4 in 176:45
Carnik +1 in 70:12
Ryan +4 in 195:04
Mangiapane +2 in 175:10
Quine 0 in 70:40
Lindholm 0
Tkachuk -1
Lucic -1 in 160:52
Gaudreau -2
Monahan -4
Backlund -3 in 248:31
Frolik -9 in 192:28
Reider -4 in 106:22
Jankowski -7 in 111:58

Whatever it is, call it luck or call it poor play or call it utilization but the team gets outscored badly when Fro or Janko are on the ice. Reider hasn't been great either but at least has a +2 penalty draw differential. And as unlucky as Janko has been offensively, his defensive strugglrs have put him in the press box deservedly too.

Guys like Lucic, Backlund, Bennett etc have not been killing us, they've simply been treading water as they wait for their confidence to build and some bounces to start going their way, which is par for the course in an 82 game season, especially for players who don't have the benefit of first unit powerplay time and double shifting to iron out the kinks in their timing and processing. The "big four" have had way more opportunity to build a rhythm (and even then Monahan and Gaudreau have 5v5 point rates that are barely ahead of Bennett - their production is very much thanks to special teams.).

Yes the team as a whole is out of sync, but the middle six guys shouldn't be taking the brunt of the blame - other than Frolik.

[Jacks]

Apprehensive about the Gio - Hamonic pairing
Optimistic about the Hanifin - Andersson pairing

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Apprehensive about the Gio - Hamonic pairing
Optimistic about the Hanifin - Andersson pairing

Agreed.

I would have sooner seen:

Giordano - Brodie
Hanifin - Andersson
Kylington - Hamonic

I just haven't been all that high on Hamonic this year, and still believe that he's the player we should be moving if we are in fact trading a defenceman. Gain something useful for Hamonic, and then let Brodie walk in free agency.

[Aarongavey]

Thought Lucic looked his best over the past two games. Not sure if he will look as good tonight. Flames should still win tonight either way.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by FiveSeven

Didnt sign Tkachuk longterm because of trying to keep Fro ffs. Potentially another big mistake if he doesnt start playing decent hockey.

What? No, Tkachuck signed short term to keep Frolik (If you believe his explanation). Long term is what we needed from Tkachuk as he can now leave as a UFA in 4 years. More likely is that Tkachuk and his agent wanted the shortest path possible to UFA and this contract does it.

Brad wanted more, but having Frolik prevented that. So here we are.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Agreed.

I would have sooner seen:

Giordano - Brodie
Hanifin - Andersson
Kylington - Hamonic

I just haven't been all that high on Hamonic this year, and still believe that he's the player we should be moving if we are in fact trading a defenceman. Gain something useful for Hamonic, and then let Brodie walk in free agency.

I was looking at some stats from Corey Sznajder who measure clean zone exits and Hamonic has been pretty brutal on that front this year.

High failure rate on his exit attempts, and when he has been able to exit it's rarely with possession.

Kind of jives with what I've seen from him getting hemmed in the zone a lot this year.

[N-E-B]

I don’t mind the shake ups at forward but the D pairings seem really weird to me. I have been very pleased with our D (for the most part) this season.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I was looking at some stats from Corey Sznajder who measure clean zone exits and Hamonic has been pretty brutal on that front this year.

High failure rate on his exit attempts, and when he has been able to exit it's rarely with possession.

Kind of jives with what I've seen from him getting hemmed in the zone a lot this year.

Yes, though this was previously one of his strengths. His outlets were not fancy before, but they were effective. This may partially be due to poor forward assistance and/or being put in less advantageous spots by Hanifin, who has, IMO been a bit riskier. But he definitely has fallen into more ring arounds which are easily stopped.

[GranteedEV]

Personally, I think Hamonic's been playing injured since game 1 or 2 of the season (remember the game he got hurt? Or was that preseason?).

Even as someone who thinks Hamonic is grossly overrated, the level of his play is still lower than I expect. Would legitimately prefer Stone on the ice in his stead.

[GioforPM]

I've said before that, while previously I thought Hamonic's skill set was more unique on the team than Brodie's, Andersson might be developing a more Hamonic-like game as far as defensive/positioning/physicality attributes are concerned. So maybe this is an audition for Andersson on the second pairing as much as anything else.

[Enoch Root]

Hanifin - Andersson

It's about God damn time!