Many thanks to Gaskal in what must be a huge undertaking with the ATL report.
There was some gems on the Canucks board too. Most complimentary.
Spoiler!
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Battle of Alberta finally living up to its name! Take no prisoners hockey!
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Oilers 4 shots halfway through the game. Teams are gonna have fits with the Sutter led flames
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oilers are completely unprepared for this kind of hockey.
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Calgary is a much, much better team under Sutter. You would think that teams would catch onto the fact that hiring good coaches helps win games, right?
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This period of the Cal-Edm game was more entertaining than the entirety of our game. Calgary looks much more structured with Sutter coaching.
Dube is really developing nicely for Calgary.
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Tanev plays against McDavid so well
He's the guy I miss the most
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Man we had so many chances to hire competent coaches and yet we are still stuck with TG.
I still want gallant to coach here
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What a difference! Under Ward it seemed almost the opposite. The Flames would trail all game and maybe get a win at the end with barely any time actually in the lead. They seemed to be permanently chasing.
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"If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"
Khara with a cheap shot to Kyllington's head. Should be a game or two suspension, but he shouldn't start serving that suspension until after he remembers his own name. Ritchie filled him in but good. Generally I don't hate him, but that looked like a pretty intentional cheap shot to the head of a vulnerable player who was already engaged with another Flame. If that was Tanev dropping the boom on McDinglepuss as he was tied up with Tkachuk, the Coiler fans would want the death penalty. No sympathy for Khara not knowing what year it is - a little sympathy for his wife having to remind him who she is for the next few weeks (assuming he's married, not that I know or care).
I love the drive and skill in EatBread... but can this kid not stand up on his skates? I lost count how many times he seemed to just fall over, often with zero contact or even any Coiler anywhere near him. Good thing he seems pretty good stickhandling from his stomach. Needs new skates, or edges, or equilibrium...
As much as EatBread falls down, the Coilers as a team seem to also not be able to stay on their skates, falling over anytime there was a breath anywhere close to them. One particular head first dive by McDinglepuss had me wondering if he forgot the water was frozen. Haven't seen a team dive so much since Vancouver of the 2012 era.
Smith is a clown. Glaring at his own teammates after a giveaway or a screen, then being the direct cause of the Flames 2nd (or 3rd?) goal with no ownership. Guys a fool that can go on little hot streaks - which he has been. Hopefully he is now starting his corresponding cold streak where he can't stop a beachball.
If the Flames had lost that game, it would be because of their PP. Not only did they not generate any quality scoring chances, they basically handed any momentum back to the Coilers with each successful kill. It truly was a case of being better off just declining the penalty, or having a D man stand behind their own net for the 2 minutes to let the clock run down. That needs a lot of work.
Overall, good game by the Flames. Did what needed to be done while not having their best game under Daryl. I suspect as they get things worked out and it becomes more second nature, this team will only get better.
Conversely, with few games against Ottawa left on the schedule, the Coilers are due for their mid-season dive in the standings. Looking forward to both Montreal and Calgary passing them in the next few weeks.
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Before this game Smith was 9-2 with a .927 save percentage and they are blaming him and saying they need better goaltending???
He made a bad play on the third goal, but he also made some darn good saves. The guy will crash soon enough, but to this point he is probably their second or third most important player.
All the goon/reffing/Sutter talk was just wrong. What an out of touch fan base. They are like two steps away from claiming their losses are fake news.
Khara with a cheap shot to Kyllington's head. Should be a game or two suspension, but he shouldn't start serving that suspension until after he remembers his own name. Ritchie filled him in but good. Generally I don't hate him, but that looked like a pretty intentional cheap shot to the head of a vulnerable player who was already engaged with another Flame. If that was Tanev dropping the boom on McDinglepuss as he was tied up with Tkachuk, the Coiler fans would want the death penalty. No sympathy for Khara not knowing what year it is - a little sympathy for his wife having to remind him who she is for the next few weeks (assuming he's married, not that I know or care).
I love the drive and skill in EatBread... but can this kid not stand up on his skates? I lost count how many times he seemed to just fall over, often with zero contact or even any Coiler anywhere near him. Good thing he seems pretty good stickhandling from his stomach. Needs new skates, or edges, or equilibrium...
As much as EatBread falls down, the Coilers as a team seem to also not be able to stay on their skates, falling over anytime there was a breath anywhere close to them. One particular head first dive by McDinglepuss had me wondering if he forgot the water was frozen. Haven't seen a team dive so much since Vancouver of the 2012 era.
Smith is a clown. Glaring at his own teammates after a giveaway or a screen, then being the direct cause of the Flames 2nd (or 3rd?) goal with no ownership. Guys a fool that can go on little hot streaks - which he has been. Hopefully he is now starting his corresponding cold streak where he can't stop a beachball.
If the Flames had lost that game, it would be because of their PP. Not only did they not generate any quality scoring chances, they basically handed any momentum back to the Coilers with each successful kill. It truly was a case of being better off just declining the penalty, or having a D man stand behind their own net for the 2 minutes to let the clock run down. That needs a lot of work.
Overall, good game by the Flames. Did what needed to be done while not having their best game under Daryl. I suspect as they get things worked out and it becomes more second nature, this team will only get better.
Conversely, with few games against Ottawa left on the schedule, the Coilers are due for their mid-season dive in the standings. Looking forward to both Montreal and Calgary passing them in the next few weeks.
Maybe Mangi needs to use his stick for balance. It's why he is so good with the puck
The PP, yes, lot's of work there. It will come down to top players playing like top players. They just haven't been that great lately.
I just had a good look at the remaining schedule and it is very interesting...
MTL has the easiest schedule, with the most home games, and 5 games left with OTT
EDM has the hardest schedule with the fewest home games and the fewest games against OOT (2). Add to that the fact that they have the most suspect goaltending.
Things are going to tighten up and get very interesting down the stretch. Here are the games remaining, home, away, games with OTT:
WPG finishes the year with 3 games against OTT, where they will likely have packed it in for the season already. The Jets will be hard to catch.
EDM has the fewest games, the fewest home games, and the fewest games against OTT - they are in serious trouble.
MTL has 17 home games and 5 games against OTT - I don't think that they will be the team that misses.
This is going to be an absolute horse race the rest of the way. The game tomorrow night is HUGE. We could be 3 back of the Oil with 2 games in hand, or 7 back, which would make it tough to catch them.
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I think I can honestly say I didn't see the "trip" on McAvi they were complaining so bitterly about. I actually thought it was (mostly) a decently reffed game, with them missing the elbow on Kyllington and a x-check on (I think it was Dube). A couple of whacks by the Flames I thought were ignored...so I see that as pretty even, surprisingly for such a hard-assed game.
I loved to see Sutter talking to his players, leaning over, pointing out something, giving them a tap and moving on. He's got their full attention.
