Some positives

[FBI]

- Coronato is back on pace for 30 goals
- Cooley is looking great and providing us comic relief this season
- The guys are still a close knit team
- Frost looks to be taking over the Backlund role a bit, provides 0.5 PPG and a steady presence +0 on a crap team and is way better at shootouts
- Farabee looks to be taking over the Coleman role, 0.43 PPG and a solid defensive presence
- Zary looks to be finding his game slowly with Backlund and Coleman
- Bahl is +9 and looking like a nice piece of the core
- Kuznetsov is off to a fantastic start
- Parekh is skating again

All our trade chips are doing pretty damn good:
- Andersson is on pace for 18 goals and playing the best we've seen him play in a year
- Kadri is his usual self, just a bit down in goals but just as competitive as ever, scoring cluctch goals
- Coleman has good value with 7 goals so far

- We are likely getting a great pick this year

I don't think things are as bleak as we think they are..

[LokiMotion]

Thank you! I (possibly a fair few fans) needed this after the negative vibes from this past week especially.

[Flamesfan05]

Need to tank hard to get top end scoring talent. It’s desperately needed

Agree with most of your points except Zary. He continues to look like a scrub, maybe the injury was worse that thought. At this rate, he will be out of the league in a year

[nieuwy-89]

Zary made a nice power move to drive the net in the third last night. Wasn’t rewarded but it was the first confident play I’ve noticed from him in a few weeks.

Even thought Sharangovich had some good looks like nice and popped off a few good shots.

Hopefully these guys can get going.

[MacFlame]

100% agree with all of this.

Farabee and Frost are slowing turning into the second line players I hoped they would. I think they'll get there and be a part of the team as it transitions to more youth over the next two years.

Zary is the key for me. If they can get him back to where he was pre-injury, it would be huge for this team moving forward.

I'll add that Sharangovich looked much more confident with the puck last night. Hopefully, they can get him back too.

[gvitaly]

A couple more positives:
- The Flames have 100% win percentage since bringing in Beecher.
- The Flames PP is looking much better scoring in 3 of the last 4 games and converting at a rate of 28.6%(4/14) during that time.
- Morton is playing well, has 66.7FO%, fit well on the PK, and it looks like there's more offense there.
- Andersson is tied for 6th in the NHL in scoring for defensemen.
- Huberdeau is heating up with 4P in 4GP.
- Kadri figured out how to score in the shootout.

[FBI]

Yeah time to put Kadri as the 2nd or 3rd shooter

[CaptainCrunch]

Wolf is back to showing that he's one of the best goalies in the NHL after a rough start, and has a chance to win a Vezina as a goaltender on a bottom feeding team if he keeps up his level of play.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by FBI

Yeah time to put Kadri as the 2nd or 3rd shooter

Kadri has found a move...he is a 22% shootout guy though its not shocking they weren't using him

[Goriders]

From my perspective the positives so far are:

- Cooley has been lights out
- Farabee has looked a lot better this year
- Coronato’s game is coming around
- Kuznetsov’s intro has been seemless
- Andersson has improved a lot over last years version
- Honzek looked great until he got hurt
- Coleman has been very consistent
- the young callups like Morton have fit in well

[Reggie Dunlop]

Cooley might be worth extending for a few years.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I didn't realize Bahl was a +9

Thats Really impressive on this team.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Cooley is my favorite story of the year overall, I just dont want to jinx it by giving it hype.

I feel like every performing backup goalie that I've buzzed about cools (no pun) off not long after.

[Lewis_D]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Cooley is my favorite story of the year overall, I just dont want to jinx it by giving it hype.

I feel like every performing backup goalie that I've buzzed about cools (no pun) off not long after.

Might be time for an appreciation thread. Frontrunner for most likeable guy in the league IMO. His post-game interviews make me feel like I'm watching a freaky friday type movie where a kid who aspires to be a goalie one day wakes up in the body of an NHL goaltender lol.

[nieuwy-89]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Cooley might be worth extending for a few years.

I’d like to see a larger sample size, but yeah right now this looks like a solid tandem to go forward with.

[D as in David]

A positive is that Maloney hasn't granted another interview since Friday.

[PepsiFree]

It’s just refreshing to hear a player who recognizes it’s just a game and absolutely loves playing it to the point he seems in awe he gets to do it for a living, not taking a second of it for granted.

Helps that he might be the most unapologetically Californian player in the entire NHL.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Aside from losing and having to rebuild, I don't take this period of time as too depressing. Ignoring the tone-deaf Maloney spots in which I felt like I was being spoken-down to, and Hozek's injury, there isn't really much to be upset about. I realize that often, things get much worse before they get better, and I believe that this is the 'worst season' before the light starts shining a little.


This organization has needed this probably since.. 2020? Definitely since Gaudreau left. There was an excitement in the air as Calgary entered a rebuild in 2013, and that excitement persisted for seasons afterwards. Then it slowly faded into disappointment, and in the last few seasons, frustration, and even a little apathy from watching a losing product with no real entertaining superstar(s) to get us out of our seats. Back then, we got to watch Monahan, Baertschi, Gaudreau, Bennett, Tkachuk.. not all of them made it, and not all of them became what they were, but they were fun to watch. Heck, Hudler was so fun to watch that first season. That feeling will return soon.


Rebuilds kind of suck, no question. Just focus on the individual entertainment that the youth can provide, plus the story-lines from all the players. That's what I do here.


Klapka is sort of fun to watch - huge guy that is pretty fast, and I love it when he is deking guys out and ripping a shot off, or crunching guys along the boards.


Coronato is playing well again - so tenacious, and finding the right spots. Was very surprising when he came back after that dirty hit by Ratanen, more surprising not coming out with a full cage, and then I was very impressed by how he just didn't lose a step - was maybe even more tenacious out there checking hard and winning puck-battles.


Backlund is old, and he is probably not going anywhere. Yes, he is declining, no question. However, will he end up being the longest-tenured Calgary Flame of all time? I am enjoying him playing out the rest of his career (even If I understand some people may not). He has always loved the Flames. I still remember years ago him doing a video game segment when he was really just a kid still, and scored on Luongo and said: "Yeah, Luongo isn't very good" - he hated the Canucks back then. To think back to then, and see him consistently take on whatever job the Flames gave him without complaint, to know what he has done behind the scenes - it is nice to watch him wrap up his career here in Calgary where he belongs.


The goalies - both! Calgary is getting pretty good goaltending right now! Hopefully both of them go on to have great careers. They are both so easy to cheer for.


I can go on and on. Yes, some of these games are rather.. dry. There just isn't those high-end superstars. However, this is an entertainment business. Just think of it like a movie or a long tv series - this is the point in time where they do some character development, things get a little bit bland, but then it takes off again. I think the wins won't come next season still, but the entertainment value will dramatically increase. Then it improves from there. Just hang in there this season, enjoy what there is to enjoy (and there are things to enjoy aside from wins and losses), and don't get too serious.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

It’s just refreshing to hear a player who recognizes it’s just a game and absolutely loves playing it to the point he seems in awe he gets to do it for a living, not taking a second of it for granted.

Helps that he might be the most unapologetically Californian player in the entire NHL.

The Flames' very own Spicoli.

[GioforPM]

More positives than negatives really. Cooley, Kuznestov, Honzek have all come up and done well. The two Fs have developed. Huberdeau is having a good season IMO. Coronato has returned to form (hopefully he beak doesn't affect him). I like Bahl and I think he could really develop into a shutdown D man.

My disappointments are limited to Parekh not taking the team by storm as I hoped, Sharangovich disappearing and Zary hitting something of a wall. Plus the unfortunate injuries to Parekh and Honzek.