Discussion: favorite and least favorite roster players on Calgary Flames

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Sandman

To everyone who dislikes Huska, I have to disagree. Despite being on the losing side most nights, I thought the team played well and employed a solid system. I think Huska is good at utilizing players the right way, and was really good with the youngsters. As somebody who was a Huska detractor at the start of the year, I was pleasantly surprised. Give him a worthwhile roster, and he'll do very well.

For at least the first half of last season, I thought we were in every game- even when the score was lopsided.

He deployed a terrible system. He has a smaller skilled group playing a North/South game. Outside perimeter and point shots with no traffic in front as well. That is not to mention really mind boggling decisions like using Hunt as an extra attacker with the goalie pulled. I have also heard that he went above Savard on the PP a lot and those two didn't get along. Near the end of the year Savard got more freedom to run things the way he wanted and the PO vastly improved, I think Toronto will have the next best PP next to Edmonton this upcoming year, maybe better. I guess if the goal is to be a bottom three team in the league next year he is definitely a keeper as head coach for now.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I'm not crazy about Rasmus. But that's post-accident Rasmus. And that might not be his fault. He said there were lingering effects there.

Maybe take the contract out of it and just look at the player. I like Huberdeau the person a lot. Would be nice if the on ice play matched the talk off the ice though.

Weegar has Gio levels of respect from me. Doesnt complain and leaves it all out there. Zary became a favorite of mine last season with his confident play.

Andrei let's go to playoffs Kuzmenko and Legogovich. I ####ing love those guys.

Kuzzy might be the best interview I've seen since Bryzgalov.

[activeStick]

Rasmus is my favorite player, which I've mentioned before.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

He deployed a terrible system. He has a smaller skilled group playing a North/South game. Outside perimeter and point shots with no traffic in front as well. That is not to mention really mind boggling decisions like using Hunt as an extra attacker with the goalie pulled. I have also heard that he went above Savard on the PP a lot and those two didn't get along. Near the end of the year Savard got more freedom to run things the way he wanted and the PO vastly improved, I think Toronto will have the next best PP next to Edmonton this upcoming year, maybe better. I guess if the goal is to be a bottom three team in the league next year he is definitely a keeper as head coach for now.

Everything Savard talked about we did the opposite. From the way Huska talked he sounded like he axed stuff he didn't want.

He talked a lot about offensive freedom, and defenceman jumping up in the play with the puck to draw a defender to open up lanes and that just didn't happen.

Oh well.

Huska won't be the coach when this team is ready to contend. The defensive system is fine, but his mind is stuck in the old school like Sutter when it comes to the modern game.

[CsInMyBlood]

Favorite: Backlund

Least favorite: Tie between Rooney and Hunt.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

He deployed a terrible system. He has a smaller skilled group playing a North/South game. Outside perimeter and point shots with no traffic in front as well. That is not to mention really mind boggling decisions like using Hunt as an extra attacker with the goalie pulled. I have also heard that he went above Savard on the PP a lot and those two didn't get along. Near the end of the year Savard got more freedom to run things the way he wanted and the PO vastly improved, I think Toronto will have the next best PP next to Edmonton this upcoming year, maybe better. I guess if the goal is to be a bottom three team in the league next year he is definitely a keeper as head coach for now.

Is this an option, or do you base it on any kind of insight?

Huska in his interviews after the coaching hires mentioned that MacLean was a big reason behind our offense turning it around.

I don't love everything about Huska's system, but I think that he helped a lot of players succeed:

• Markstrom looked like a top 10 goalie.
• Sharangovich became a 30 goal scorer and broke the records for Belarusian players.
• Coleman found his offense and scored 30
• Weegar got 20G from the back end while being a very good 2 way D
• Kadri looked like a #1B Center, scoring at a PPG pace after the first 10 games
• Kuzmenko found his offense again in CGY, scoring at a 40G pace
• Hanifin had a career year both offensively and defensively, solidifying himself as a top D in the league.
• Zary, and Pospisil provided more offense and pace than anyone imagined at the start of the year.
• Waiver claims Greer, Pachal, and Hanley all looked like found gems under Huska.
• Huberdeau showed a lot of flashes of his old self, the 3rd period benching was a good move by Huska
• Rooney and Hunt looked like effective 4th liners

Players that underperformed under Huska: Andersson, Lindholm, Backlund(less effective than under Sutter), Dube, Ruzicka, Duehr.

I think that any coach would've struggled with the UFA cloud hovering over this team. Then he lost 3 of his top 5 D, and had them replaced by Miromanov + waiver claims. The Flames were still in the chace until the Hanifin and Tanev trades.

[Hockey-and_stuff]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Is this an option, or do you base it on any kind of insight?



Huska in his interviews after the coaching hires mentioned that MacLean was a big reason behind our offense turning it around.



I don't love everything about Huska's system, but I think that he helped a lot of players succeed:

• Markstrom looked like a top 10 goalie.
  
• Sharangovich became a 30 goal scorer and broke the records for Belarusian players.
  
• Coleman found his offense and scored 30
  
• Weegar got 20G from the back end while being a very good 2 way D
  
• Kadri looked like a #1B Center, scoring at a PPG pace after the first 10 games
  
• Kuzmenko found his offense again in CGY, scoring at a 40G pace
  
• Hanifin had a career year both offensively and defensively, solidifying himself as a top D in the league.
  
• Zary, and Pospisil provided more offense and pace than anyone imagined at the start of the year.
  
• Waiver claims Greer, Pachal, and Hanley all looked like found gems under Huska.
  
• Huberdeau showed a lot of flashes of his old self, the 3rd period benching was a good move by Huska
  
• Rooney and Hunt looked like effective 4th liners
  

Players that underperformed under Huska: Andersson, Lindholm, Backlund(less effective than under Sutter), Dube, Ruzicka, Duehr.



I think that any coach would've struggled with the UFA cloud hovering over this team. Then he lost 3 of his top 5 D, and had them replaced by Miromanov + waiver claims. The Flames were still in the chace until the Hanifin and Tanev trades.

Huska is doing as well as you can do without any elite talent in the lineup. You won't get top results without that.

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[Savvy27]

Favorite is Weegar. The Gio comparison made previously is one I agree with. Super talented guy who is fearless and passionate.

Least favorite is Rooney. Seems like a nice guy but I don't like his game at all and am still baffled he was re-signed.

I like this group of players quite a lot even if it is a weak roster on paper. Even Rooney works his butt off.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Conroy deserves more credit for Kuzmenko than Huska

Vancouver buried him for coach decided reasons, Conroy scooped him up

Can’t give Huska credit for a gift he received

[DeluxeMoustache]

Let’s spice things up . I’m going to pick the same guy for favourite and least favourite, and he has barely even played



Favourite: Wolf. He is smart, reads the play well, anticipates, and reacts well. He’s accomplished almost everything a goalie can at all levels, including being frickin’ MVP of the AHL - the entire league. The sky is the limit.


Least favourite: Wolf. He has shown glimpses at this level… and has also been schooled.

I have to say, I don’t mind a goalie quirk like how Patrick Roy wouldn’t skate over lines, that a small amount of people picked up on over time. But I am mixed on this lengthy routine starting with the straight arm salute water bottle squirt, the squat, high jump, skating backwards and bopping his back off the crossbar. It’s a lot.

The position gets a lot of attention

I’ll say a goalie (other than maybe Hasek, and I’d have to look back) is only going to be elite based on what his D allows. His stats aren’t bad because he’s been bad (for the most part). But like I say, it’s a lot. Fans notice, other teams notice… if things go south for the Flames, why wouldn’t his opponents be merciless?

Kipper was bloody awesome, had record setting stats for Sutter, I’d say middling stats under (#### defence) Keenan, and stats that tracked Brent Sutter’s philosophy under his tenure. He quietly went about being ####ing awesome, often with highlight reel saves, but overall stats kind of varied fairly consistently in line with the team’s play

Consider Martin Brodeur … great stats. But if he was outside of NJ? Who knows. That team nearly killed hockey with their trapping

I don’t think I can say I like the ridiculous routine Wolf has. It’s fun to watch and point out the first or second time. Love the confidence. But goalie results are too much a product of what their team asks them to do. The greats were all quiet except maybe Roy a bit.

I hope this kid is tough mentally.

Even more so, I hope the Flames put him in a position to succeed. He’s good. Really good.

Again, I hope he’s mentally tough. This year could really go any direction



Love to hear your thoughts

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Conroy deserves more credit for Kuzmenko than Huska

Vancouver buried him for coach decided reasons, Conroy scooped him up

Can’t give Huska credit for a gift he received

Huska used Kuzmenko in the best way to give him an opportunity to be successful. Kuz is a bad skater, and deficient in his own zone- he needs to play in advantageous situations with the right players.

[PepsiFree]

How is his pregame routine related to mental toughness and why would teams be merciless because he has a pregame routine…

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Let’s spice things up . I’m going to pick the same guy for favourite and least favourite, and he has barely even played



Favourite: Wolf. He is smart, reads the play well, anticipates, and reacts well. He’s accomplished almost everything a goalie can at all levels, including being frickin’ MVP of the AHL - the entire league. The sky is the limit.


Least favourite: Wolf. He has shown glimpses at this level… and has also been schooled.

I have to say, I don’t mind a goalie quirk like how Patrick Roy wouldn’t skate over lines, that a small amount of people picked up on over time. But I am mixed on this lengthy routine starting with the straight arm salute water bottle squirt, the squat, high jump, skating backwards and bopping his back off the crossbar. It’s a lot.

The position gets a lot of attention

I’ll say a goalie (other than maybe Hasek, and I’d have to look back) is only going to be elite based on what his D allows. His stats aren’t bad because he’s been bad (for the most part). But like I say, it’s a lot. Fans notice, other teams notice… if things go south for the Flames, why wouldn’t his opponents be merciless?

Kipper was bloody awesome, had record setting stats for Sutter, I’d say middling stats under (#### defence) Keenan, and stats that tracked Brent Sutter’s philosophy under his tenure. He quietly went about being ####ing awesome, often with highlight reel saves, but overall stats kind of varied fairly consistently in line with the team’s play

Consider Martin Brodeur … great stats. But if he was outside of NJ? Who knows. That team nearly killed hockey with their trapping

I don’t think I can say I like the ridiculous routine Wolf has. It’s fun to watch and point out the first or second time. Love the confidence. But goalie results are too much a product of what their team asks them to do. The greats were all quiet except maybe Roy a bit.

I hope this kid is tough mentally.

Even more so, I hope the Flames put him in a position to succeed. He’s good. Really good.

Again, I hope he’s mentally tough. This year could really go any direction



Love to hear your thoughts

I agree 100% that a goalie’s success and failure will ebb and flow with different coaches, different teams, and different systems. Brodeur is a legend and most hockey fans consider the act of disparaging him to be blasphemy, but the majority of his years in NJ, he played for defensive-minded coaches under Lamiorello, which helped him out a lot.

Some don’t like to hear it, but of course the goalie is affected by the team in front of him. You can’t judge a goalie purely on stats, you have to watch- Wolf and Vladar are in tough this season, playing behind this defense. No matter how good they play, their stats will be affected, and most fans judge goalies by the numbers.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Favourite: Wolf.

Love to hear your thoughts

First of all, I have a hard time thinking of any goalie as my favorite after Kipper, so I'm a bit biased.

In Wolf's case, I expect a bit of a pendulum in his game to start. It will take some time for the NHL, and rival video coaches to get the book on Wolf. Then it will be up to him and our coaching staff to address those holes. In Kipper's case it was a hole between his glove-hand's elbow and his body. For Markstrom it was east to west passes that made him move.

Back to Wolf, I really like the movement in the crease, and his lateral movement. The compete level is also great, and he excelled at every level so far. His reaction time to deflections also seems pretty good, and I liked him when he faced breakaways.

That said, I expect the Flames to have a very porous defense next year. That's why I can see Wolf's GAA being north of 3, despite making several highlight reel saves each game. He seems mentally tough, so hopefully he can handle all the breakdowns and losses without trying to do too much, and making things worse.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

How is his pregame routine related to mental toughness and why would teams be merciless because he has a pregame routine…

Are you actually serious? I’m surprised by this question

This is not a culture of intellectuals, his on ice peers (including opponents) And maybe you aren’t aware, but goaltenders are regularly scrutinized and evaluated in terms of mental fortitude

The egregious pregame routine makes him stand out

Say he ####s the bed. Any hotdogging is fair game for mockery.
It’s really that simple. You can’t hotdog and #### the bed without people noticing. Intimidation is part of hockey, always has been.


You’ve seen guys waiting and not letting other guys being last off the ice. Or staying on to stop the ‘last pregame skater’ empty netter,

You think people notice those little things but don’t see Wolf’s silly egregiously long routine?

Jesus. You forget people being up in arms about Rittich’s stick throw and what happened after that?


Like I say, I’ll take a Kipper, who is quietly good, and the only way he stands out is never looking rattled by anything, any day, and every day

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Are you actually serious? I’m surprised by this question

This is not a culture of intellectuals, his on ice peers (including opponents) And maybe you aren’t aware, but goaltenders are regularly scrutinized and evaluated in terms of mental fortitude

The egregious pregame routine makes him stand out

Say he ####s the bed. Any hotdogging is fair game for mockery.
It’s really that simple. You can’t hotdog and #### the bed without people noticing. Intimidation is part of hockey, always has been.


You’ve seen guys waiting and not letting other guys being last off the ice. Or staying on to stop the ‘last pregame skater’ empty netter,

You think people notice those little things but don’t see Wolf’s silly egregiously long routine?

Jesus. You forget people being up in arms about Rittich’s stick throw and what happened after that?


Like I say, I’ll take a Kipper, who is quietly good, and the only way he stands out is never looking rattled by anything, any day, and every day

He does it before the game, it’s pretty hard to argue that it’s hot dogging or related to Rittich’s stick throw at all, and it hasn’t impacted him up until this point when he’s done it in every game in every league, so can you better explain why you think it matters given that?

It’s fine if you just don’t like it. I’m just not sure projecting that onto other people makes sense.

[Zary's-Mustache]

Favorite is Zary.

Least is probably going to be Mantha. I've always hated his game.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Zary's-Mustache

Favorite is Zary.

Least is probably going to be Mantha. I've always hated his game.

Lol, yet to play a single game under Huska/rhe Flames.

This tracks.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Huska used Kuzmenko in the best way to give him an opportunity to be successful. Kuz is a bad skater, and deficient in his own zone- he needs to play in advantageous situations with the right players.

Until the Flames were out of it he was using Kuzmenko on the 4th line at times. Kuzmenko really didn't pop until Savard got to run the PP the way he wanted and Huska gave the forwards more freedom to just go out there and create chances however they wanted. Hopefully he learned from the end of the season and adapts to a more East/West creative style, otherwise players like Huberdeau will continue to struggle badly.

[gvitaly]

^ dis I enjoy your posts, and I would love it if you could specify when you're speculating, presenting an opinion, or sharing facts.

I just have a hard time buying that Huska wouldn't let Savard do his own thing on the PP, especially since one of the talking points throughout training camp was trying new things on the PP, and how good a PP guy Savard is.

At some point, I could see Huska attempting to help fix a PP that was clearly hurting the team.