Hopefully he’s working on a plan to have his client announce his retirement because that’s the only way we are going to get out from under this boat anchor of a contract to end all boat anchors of contracts.
Huberdeau is a nightmare. Is that the worst contract in the NHL? He looks not even like a NHL player. I’m serious. Pelletier is straight up better. Hell, Walker Duehr is better. You give Duehr the linemates and icetime Huberdeau has had this year? He outperforms Huberdeau. Pelletier absolutely does.
Lucic had a 1:40 shift. After literally standing still in the first period. Like, he was on the ice, but he was just watching. I’m not even exaggerate. None of his limbs were in motion. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
Meanwhile Walker Duehr, who has literally outplayed like 75% of this roster over the last couple months, is not dressed. Half the Wranglers would have outperformed the Flames tonight. I’m not even sure the Flames could beat the Wranglers right now.
Are we seeing the NHL equivalent of ‘quiet quitting’ or ‘bare minimum Mondays’?
Do you think it may be: ‘let’s pretend we are snake bitten quiet tanking’
Look at all the high skill plays. The speed the Panthers attack with - how they all attack the middle of the ice.
Huberdeau isn’t the problem on this team.
Darryl Sutter and the slow, old, mediocre roster is. You could not pick a worse coach, worse system, and worse line mates for a player like Jonathan Huberdeau. Just a terrible combination, and yeah…I’m done with Darryl Sutter hockey. It is garbage. I’m not sure why we’d even defend it either - he got out coached by that Just for Men guy in Edmonton in the playoffs.
Honestly...I watch the package and compare it to the flames this season, and think the difference is the player playing like complete ass this season.
Sutter has a quick shelf life. Apparently for Huby, the Sutter shelf life it's 0 games because he sucked from day one. And relative to his ability, he has has sucked more than any other player on the team.
I wouldn't be surprised if Huby just doesn't like Calgary and isn't adjusting well. Cant handle the pressure of a hockey market after being in low pressure Florida his entire career. Can't handle being the big man here after hiding behind Barkov and Ekblad in Florida. Can't handle the $10.5m contract.
Great guy, but just can't handle the pressure. Maybe that's why no one within the organization is calling him out. Why the response to his agent was so muted.
Maybe he's just not meant for this kind of market.
I’m also blown away that piss poor efforts aren’t being called out for what they are. I think people have forgotten what it looks like, to be honest. If someone is moving their body quickly and checking and playing hard. I don’t know how else to describe it. But we get huge segments of games like tonight, or the last home game against Minnesota, and then I see so many people on here baffled as to why they are losing. And specifically saying effort isn’t an issue.
You don’t lose a must win game to the Ducks with a performance like that if effort isn’t an issue. Unbelievable poor effort.
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When your franchise player that you owe zero loyalty to is garbage for a whole season, I don't know how you come back with the same franchise player.
You can’t trade away his contract with his current level of play. The only way you can is if he shows that he can be an elite player again. Look at Karlsson this year. Teams started to show interest in taking on his big contract because of how good he’s been on a bad team. It’s easier to fire Sutter and bring in a coach that suits Huby’s style more than to trade him away
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Last edited by Hockey_Ninja; 03-11-2023 at 05:13 AM.
If the Flames are gonna save the season, I think these are the lines.
Huberdeau - Lindholm - Toffoli
Dube - Kadri - Pelletier
Mangiapane - Backlund - Coleman
Ritchie** - Lewis* - Duehr
*I personally want Ruzicka in the 4C spot, but I accept that Sutter hasn’t shown a willingness to scratch Lewis, probably because Lewis is a PKer, whereas Sutter has shown a willingness to scratch Lucic this season.
**You could also try Ruzicka on LW, especially if Ritchie continues to take dumb penalties.
The Flames need four functioning lines. Why are they willingly playing a winger who cannot skate with another slow forward more than 10 minutes every game? That line is a liability.
At this point, the Flames must be willing to try something different. They have to win at more than a .750 clip now, and what they’ve been doing until now has not produced more than 3 wins in a row at any point this season.
I hope they lose 4 or 5 straight and just get it over with.
It’s like they don’t really care. Why waste everyone’s time having to watch it?
If they do this, I want to see all the legit prospects get significant playing time. Zary plays big minutes. Give Matthew Phillips 10 games with legit players. Tell Wolf that he’s going to play a few in a zero pressure situation for his continued development. And of course, if and when Coronato is signed, get him into the lineup or at least into the AHL for the playoffs.
Huberdeau was fine tonight. Being stapled to Kadri is killing his game. Huberdeau is on a completely different level of play than Kadri and it is painfully obvious. Just this game he made some really heady plays then rolled to open ice where Kadri had an easy opportunity to move the puck back to Huberdeau for an easy scoring opportunity. Kadri instead tried to beat multiple players rather than move the puck against the grain. They just play different games and it is painful to watch. I mean, it's obvious to everyone watching this team except for the guys behind the bench.
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And tell me with a straight face that’s good effort. With this team.
On paper coming into this season this was a #1 seed and actually a Stanley Cup contender. They won the division last year and many said the off-season moves improved the team. And you’re going to tell me tonight was a good effort?
Kadri is garbage. Brutal attitude. You’re being paid millions to play hockey, try.
Kadri is more frustrating for me than Huberdeau. He had Huberdeau wide open for a tap-in and took a long shot. He has no vision, his passing is horrible.
Plus he was supposed to replace the edge that the Flames lost with Tkachuk. When was the last time he got in a players face?
If they have to choose between Lindholm and Backlund this off-season, I hope they try to ship Kadri out and keep the other two. He is bringing nothing right now.
You can’t trade away his contract with his current level of play. The only way you can is if he shows that he can be an elite player again. Look at Karlsson this year. Teams started to show interest in taking on his big contract because of how good he’s been on a bad team. It’s easier to fire Sutter and bring in a coach that suits Huby’s style more than to trade him away
I don't think we even have that slight glimmer of hope. The problem with the contract is not restricted to value - it is the term (that hasn't even started) that is the killer here.
If they do this, I want to see all the legit prospects get significant playing time. Zary plays big minutes. Give Matthew Phillips 10 games with legit players. Tell Wolf that he’s going to play a few in a zero pressure situation for his continued development. And of course, if and when Coronato is signed, get him into the lineup or at least into the AHL for the playoffs.
This is NOT going to happen regardless of position in the standings. The next chance young players get will be in training camp. Phillips is done with Calgary. He's going to be a class VI UFA and will go somewhere he thinks may give him an opportunity. So the Flames aren't wasting a callup on a guy that isn't in their plans yet still may contribute to a championship in the minors.
