Practice Notes: Jan 20

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

And there have been maybe 2-3 games this season where you can say Huberdeau had a good day. He has been atrocious.

I think this is pretty rich, honestly.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Could you imagine Johnny starting out his career in Calgary with Sutter as a coach he probably would have buried him long time ago.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Constant losing? They wont a division last year and a playoff round ... the guy won the Adams.

They're on pace for a mid 90s point season this year.

Yeah .... way over the top

Flames are 6-91-12! Terrible this year.

Oh wait no. Sorry, my phone was upside down.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I'd like to see them string several together

And then not proclaim that we're planning the parade route

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Mindtravellee

I'd like to see Hub, Kadri and Lindholm and see if that works, bump up backs line and have Dube center the 3rd with Lucic + prospect

Yes

This hasn't yet been attempted

[Savvy27]

Huberdeau Kadri Lindholm
Mangiapane Backlund Coleman
Ruzicka Dube Toffoli
Pelletier Zohorna Lewis/Lucic/Phillips/Ritchie

I strongly believe this would be a better line up. It's really rare that a team is good and doesn't have a clear-cut top line. Beyond that, I think Dube is a better C than winger and is better suited to the third line matchups.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

You lost two guys who drive play - Tkachuk and Johnny - and replaced them with Huberdeau and Kadri.

To my mind this is it right here. I can't really name a forward who drives play this year. Maybe @Bingo has the fancy stars, but I can't name a forward this year who drives play anywhere near what those two did. If I had to pick, I'd say that Backlund is the best play driving forward this year.

(I think this is best measured by CF%, but maybe the analytics folks can eli5 me)

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I think this is pretty rich, honestly.

Atrocious might not be the right word, but mostly a non-factor. No more useful than an average 2nd liner at this point. It's not like he has been impressive and just isn't getting points. He had a small streak of being a PPG player, but most 2nd liners do the same thing from time-to-time.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by redmile04

Sorry, I will be more specific, in my defense I felt it was obvious when i mean playoffs as yes, we have been better in the regular seasons but you don't have parades for regular season awards dominance.

I am not looking back 35 entire years either, just gets tiring when the result is similar every year, even more frustrating now with higher expectations. At least during the young guns era, there were no expectations lol

With 32 teams in most leagues now I think 65% of each fan base thinks they are uniquely qualified to explain misery.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

To my mind this is it right here. I can't really name a forward who drives play this year. Maybe @Bingo has the fancy stars, but I can't name a forward this year who drives play anywhere near what those two did. If I had to pick, I'd say that Backlund is the best play driving forward this year.

(I think this is best measured by CF%, but maybe the analytics folks can eli5 me)

I'd say Backlund for sure.

I'd add in Dube of late, and Kadri in a different way (he takes the zone and with that adds some offence but doesn't use his teammates)

The rest of the roster are pitch and catch attack players (give and go and feed off of a teammate getting open)

[Kasi]

I love Backlund and all but if he’s your best play driver than it’s hard to argue you’re Stanley cup contenders.

[Stanley]

This team is simply boring af to watch.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Kasi

I love Backlund and all but if he’s your best play driver than it’s hard to argue you’re Stanley cup contenders.

Who is actively making this claim?

They're a bubble team until proven otherwise.

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I think this is pretty rich, honestly.

He's suppose to be a $10.5m player. Can you name over 3-4 games where you can say, "he played a franchise forward tonight"? Actually like go through the games and try to find games where he performed at or above your pre-season expectations.

In my view, Huberdeau is an elite player. He's not playing anywhere close to that.

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Who is actively making this claim?

They're a bubble team until proven otherwise.

I've actively made that claim based on their on-paper construction. What's not to like? Elite goaltender, high quality defense corps, three high quality centers deep, franchise playmaker, decent top-9 forwards. In my opinion, they're one game breaker away from being pretty close to an ideally constructed team within a cap world.

On paper this is the best flames team since the year Keenan coached them.