Practice Notes - February 3, 2020

[Robo]

I have no confidence at all that this team will make the playoffs, so naturally they will go on a run and I'll get my Hope's up only to have them crushed again

[JJolg]

Id like to see them get Gio off the first pp. Maybe some minutes saved there will help him 5 on 5 but hes not getting shots thru and lately just isn't shooting

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by JJolg

Id like to see them get Gio off the first pp. Maybe some minutes saved there will help him 5 on 5 but hes not getting shows thru and lately just isn't shooting

Something we lack on this team in general are D men willing/able to shoot the puck. Though stone hasn't been great on the D side I feel like he has created opportunities purely by shooting the puck from the back end when he does play.

Actually, the team is lacking players who are willing to shoot from behind the circles in general. Lindholm is pretty much the only forward who does so on a regular basis.

[activeStick]

Lucic has responded:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1224427410659016704

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

^ maybe throw a few big hits. Be a bit disruptive and intimidating. I’ve seen him do it to other teams. Having good possession numbers does very little for us when we’re talking about the biggest toughest guy in the team. Play big, scare somebody. Stop guys from roughing up your line mates

[Toonage]

I get the impression Lucic feels he wasn't being put out there when he would have been needed most or against the players we'd expect to see him out there against and that he couldn't just go attacking whoever. Putting his lack of involvement on the coach maybe?

Fine. But after the melee he was out there against guys who took liberties with our players. He was out there with Khaira, he was out there with Gagner. Was he not?

(not condoning he beat up the much smaller Gagner, but this is where a few good hits could have been dished out)

[FlamesFanTrev]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Lucic has responded:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1224427410659016704

"I gotta be able to catch them first...."

[868904]

Originally Posted by Toonage

I get the impression Lucic feels he wasn't being put out there when he would have been needed most or against the players we'd expect to see him out there against and that he couldn't just go attacking whoever. Putting his lack of involvement on the coach maybe?

Fine. But after the melee he was out there against guys who took liberties with our players. He was out there with Khaira, he was out there with Gagner. Was he not?

(not condoning he beat up the much smaller Gagner, but this is where a few good hits could have been dished out)

After the score got out of hand, he should have ragdolled Kassian on Saturday night period.

Works out for him too, he wouldn’t have to fight or throw any punches at his buddy, embarrassed him a little for not fighting, answers for the Tkachuk rag doll.

That was probably the best response he could have had and would have been “something”. He could have went for a beer with kassian after and laughed it off too.

Sure it wouldn't have made any difference in the standings but it would have given his teammates, the media and Flames fans something to be happy about instead of just despair with the score, with losing pretty much every fight, and having both our goalies shown up. It was just a horrible night all around.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by 868904

After the score got out of hand, he should have ragdolled Kassian on Saturday night period.

Works out for him too, he wouldn’t have to fight or throw any punches at his buddy, embarrassed him a little for not fighting, answers for the Tkachuk rag doll.

That was probably the best response he could have had and would have been “something”. He could have went for a beer with kassian after and laughed it off too.

Sure it wouldn't have made any difference in the standings but it would have given his teammates, the media and Flames fans something to be happy about instead of just despair with the score, with losing pretty much every fight, and having both our goalies shown up. It was just a horrible night all around.

This. He let a goon from the Oilers rag doll their highest scorer and future captain and won't do the same to Kassian. Pathetic. Why even have him?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Lucic has responded:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1224427410659016704

Probably unintended but he's kind of marginalizing himself with this comment. He was face punching players with gloves on in the beginning of the season and now he can't even grab an Oilers player and shake him or start pushing players around? If he can't do anything then why is he still in the NHL? Certainly not for his scoring prowess and there's plenty of AHL players that can do what he's doing for much, much cheaper.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by 868904

After the score got out of hand, he should have ragdolled Kassian on Saturday night period.

I think this is what Lucic is saying. He was never out there with him?

Does anyone know if thats the case?

Like I said at the start of this thread, I'm mad at the guy. I think its a load of #### that he didn't do anything and I'm trying to make some sense of his comments.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Probably unintended but he's kind of marginalizing himself with this comment. If he can't do anything then why is he still in the NHL? Certainly not for his scoring prowess and there's plenty of AHL players that can do what he's doing for much, much cheaper.

It's not his fault. The contract was untradeable until the Flames decided Neal just absolutely had to go.

This trade is in the running for franchise worst IMO.

[sempuki]

I don't think anyone's asking him to go full Burtuzzi on any of his friends. But damn, get in someone's face. Be vocal. Finish a check.

If being in Calgary is that embarrassing for you, there's always room in the A.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Lucic has responded:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1224427410659016704

You mean like how Kassian attacked our leading scorer and punched him in the back of the head 9 times and didn't have to answer for it? Or how about how Tkachuk even had to fight Kassian himself the next game.

I'm not a fan of Lucic at this stage. I defended the dude when we acquired him, and was cheering him on hard to start the year - I even have a Lucic jersey. What he's saying here is the same type of crap Brouwer did when Gaudreau's hand got broken by all those slashes.

Complacent overpaid veterans can piss off.

Hamonic can bugger off too. "We're a good team, we like where we're at". 15 regulation wins in 53 games, -17 goal differential - and Hamonic is getting out-battled in front of the net by Chiasson and Yamamoto.

Also, has anyone seen Mikael Backlund? Dude has completely vanished for this team.

[kukkudo]

This team needs a major culture change going forward.

[IamNotKenKing]

According to ShiftChart, Lucic and Kassian were only on the ice together at the 44-45 minute mark and the 47-48 minute mark.
Interestingly enough, Kassian was put on 5 times immediately after Lucic left.
Lucic had most of his shifts from 42-48 minute mark, being on the ice 4 times for about 3 or so minutes.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I recall reading a comment as well that Lucic was overly friendly with an Oiler player? What happened there?

The BOA game last Wednesday, I noticed that during a stoppage he was skating alongside an Oiler player and chatting him up. It wasn't chirping either. I was reading their lips and it was literally ''how you doing? I'm good. Good to see you''. Then a head nod and they skated away from each other.

Not sure if that's what the other comment was about. But as dumb as it sounds that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Sure you have friends on the other side. But you play for the Flames. Save the friendly chatter for the hotel pub afterwards.

I actually kind of feel for Lucic with all the backlast he's gotten since the last game. With his statement, news has clearly reached him about fans not being happy about what happened. Obviously we all want him going around and being intimidating. But a couple things need to be remembered. He's right, it's not the 80s anymore. There's a place for physical play and scrums, but he's not going to get instructions from the coach to hop off the bench and break someone's face.

There's also a mighty strong push from the league to eliminate fighting all together. Past players are literally dead due to the damage their brains took from fighting in hockey games. As much as I'd like to see a brawl-fest, I have no qualms with any player who doesn't want to fight. Even a monster like Lucic has a family to grow old with after hockey is done.

It's funny how we've all read the news about player's dying early and the damage their brains took during their careers. We're all saddened by what happens and agree that sometimes the damage their brains take is too much. Yet at the same time we all want a guy like Lucic going around and doing that exact same thing we think is so horrible. Some people here are upset because he literally did not go around beating the #### out of someone and causing potential brain damage to them.

I'm not trying to excuse Lucic's lack of pushback during the past couple games. He obviously has a role he should be playing, and for 6mil/year it's something he should be doing consistently. But I also think he's played pretty well most of the season. He might not be smashing faces like some people want. But he also doesn't cough up the puck consistently like some other forwards do every game. In fact I can't even recall a play where I cursed his name due to him screwing up and it resulting in a goal. I think for the most part, most of us are happy with his play relative to how Neal did.

[GioforPM]

It's like I said a lot earlier, he wasn't going to leave the bench during the brawl and get booted. And the only tough guys I recall him being on the ice with in scrums were Nurse (in a pretty minor one) and maybe Khaira, who was trying to be tough but not succeeding.

I would have liked a few more hits on their D. It's worked in the past.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Oh god I agree with Spector. I need a shower. If Lucic doesn’t want to fight, then do something else. Big hits, screen goalies, make life miserable for other teams around their net, push people around. Just do.....something. Anything.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1224452304025210880

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Nm