[PGT] Flames 3 Coyotes 2

[SeanCharles]

Am I the only one who is still unhappy with the bottom 6 configuration and overall play?

Top 6 is rolling.

Defence looks strong.

Goaltending has been, more or less, steady.

But contributions from the bottom 6 has been basically non-existent on the offensive side of things.

[Harry Lime]

Jankowski - Bennett - Dube
Lucic - Ryan - Czarnik

is the most obvious solution.

Edited because GEV is absolutely right.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

Am I the only one who is still unhappy with the bottom 6 configuration and overall play?

Top 6 is rolling.

Defence looks strong.

Goaltending has been, more or less, steady.

But contributions from the bottom 6 has been basically non-existent on the offensive side of things.

Keeping Czarnik in the minors is silly. Team is better with him than without, even if he isn't the defensive player that Rieder is.

[Kovaz]

Dube-Bennett-Ryan
Lucic-Jankowski-Rieder

With the third line running more of a Monahan-Lindholm situation where they share the C duties. And the 4th line is pretty well a lost cause offensively but a safe, dump-and-chase, grinding line is fine.

[djsFlames]

Yeah, we maybe need to shuffle the bottom 6 around, maybe bring in rinaldo for Rieder again, and try to get a spark from down there.

Going to need them to chip in when the top six is having a tougher time.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Yeah, we maybe need to shuffle the bottom 6 around, maybe bring in rinaldo for Rieder again, and try to get a spark from down there.

Going to need them to chip in when the top six is having a tougher time.

Reider has been getting some scoring chances but the guy has no finish.

[sa226]

I think they like Rieder for his work on the PK. He's really good at it.

Its great when guys like Lindholm, Backlund etc kill penalties for you, but when you have 4th liners that are excellent penalty killers, you can alleviate the minutes of your top forwards who also kill penalties.

Guys like Backlund and Lindholm do some really heavy lifting 5 on 5. You don't want to burn them out on the PK if you can avoid it.

Regarding the guys on the 4th line, Jankowski and Bennett are such enigmas. Say in an unfortunate situation Monahan and Ryan get injured. You would likely keep the 3M line together, but after that I bet Bennett shifts back to the 3rd line and Jankowski gets some reps on the top line (I'm spitballing here) I bet, playing with Gaudreau and Lindholm, Jankowski would flourish. He's proven in his young career that he's defensively responsible. So he can handle the 200ft game. He just doesn't have that effort, consistency or will to reach the next level. He absolutely doesn't deserve a promotion, I just have this feeling that if he was handed the opportunity, he would flourish.

Bennett has been debated ad nauseam so I'm not going to get into that. It just seems like with Mangiapane and Dube finding places in the top 9 and Lucic becoming a fixture with Ryan, Bennett has kind of been buried in the lineup. He looked great when Ryan was out.

The league is littered with players like that, I just have a feeling that when the likely summer retool occurs and the dust settles 2 guys in Jankowski and Bennett are going to find themselves in other organizations where I believe their new situations are going to allow them to excel. I find that unfortunate.

[GioforPM]

The bottom six is playing and producing like, well, bottom sixers.

[djsFlames]

Interesting how Janko and Rieder are carving out regular spots for PK prowess alone, since they add virtually little to no offense. You'd hope you're killing off 90% of them if you're eating up a couple spots for specialists.

[AC]

Caught this guy as the game ended. He cracked me up way too much not to capture:


And just the last part isolated:

[Dragomir]

Anyone know why Czarnik is buried in the minors despite being over PPG down there? Did he burn bridges or something? He’s clearly an upgrade for our bottom 6.....

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Dragomir

Anyone know why Czarnik is buried in the minors despite being over PPG down there? Did he burn bridges or something? He’s clearly an upgrade for our bottom 6.....

How is he clearly an upgrade?
He hasn’t proven that he can perform at the nhl level

[Dragomir]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

How is he clearly an upgrade?
He hasn’t proven that he can perform at the nhl level

He’s faster than Lucic or Dube and was on a hot streak before getting injured, if anyone in the bottom 6 gets hurt he has to be given a shot over Rinaldo imo.

[sa226]

With the emergence of Mangiapane and Czarnik not being particularly great defensively, that combined with trying to play a tighter defensive game. I'm not surprised at all that he's been stuck in the minors.

You wouldn't know it with the teams inconsistent play, but I think there is an organizational push to be much better defensively. To play the way they have the last 2 games. Aside from the brain farts of course.

I think last season that emphasis was there, but there wasn't a full buy in because they found they could outscore their troubles. With the drastic drop in scoring this year, I think the buy in has been accelerated to what we're seeing now.

I think its been a season long struggle in that regard. Players living in the past, trying to get back to the success of last year, with nothing to show for it. Then slow reluctance to buy into the 200ft game. Because they have no choice. You combine that with the coaching distraction, Brodie scare and some extended lineup experiments and you have the recipe for an up and down season.

They're not there yet, but this does look like a group that is starting to hit its stride.

[btimbit]

I really do like Czarnik but right now he's slotted right where he should be imo

[Roof-Daddy]

The Czarnik situation is so disappointing. I was so happy they signed him, really thought he had a great chance of breaking out here. Especially when it was reported that Treliving and Peters flew to him on free agency day to convince him to come to Calgary and then inked him to a 2 year deal.

I mean why in the #### did they bother to do that for if you're only going to play him about 10 minutes a game? Who flies out to convince a tiny 4th line AHL tweener to sign a deal with your club?

This org is constantly leaving me shaking my head in bewilderment and disgust.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by Dragomir

Anyone know why Czarnik is buried in the minors despite being over PPG down there? Did he burn bridges or something? He’s clearly an upgrade for our bottom 6.....

I remember that his defense was leaving a lot to be desired. I'm sure he will be a black ace when the injury bug rolls around.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

Am I the only one who is still unhappy with the bottom 6 configuration and overall play?

Top 6 is rolling.

Defence looks strong.

Goaltending has been, more or less, steady.

But contributions from the bottom 6 has been basically non-existent on the offensive side of things.

Since Ryan has come back, there hasn't been any offense provided from the third line anymore.

I think enough games has past that Bennett should be given a legitimate shot back on the 3rd line. Either move Lucic or Ryan down to the fourth line, and see if it'll lead to more goals from the line. The Flames shouldn't be content with having only two lines that could realistic score a goal in a game. Having three would give the team much more firepower and resiliency.

[SeanCharles]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Since Ryan has come back, there hasn't been any offense provided from the third line anymore.

I think enough games has past that Bennett should be given a legitimate shot back on the 3rd line. Either move Lucic or Ryan down to the fourth line, and see if it'll lead to more goals from the line. The Flames shouldn't be content with having only two lines that could realistic score a goal in a game. Having three would give the team much more firepower and resiliency.

The chemistry between Dube and Bennett is a real thing to consider as well.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

The Czarnik situation is so disappointing. I was so happy they signed him, really thought he had a great chance of breaking out here. Especially when it was reported that Treliving and Peters flew to him on free agency day to convince him to come to Calgary and then inked him to a 2 year deal.

I mean why in the #### did they bother to do that for if you're only going to play him about 10 minutes a game? Who flies out to convince a tiny 4th line AHL tweener to sign a deal with your club?

This org is constantly leaving me shaking my head in bewilderment and disgust.

The frustrating part is that the team never tried to find a fit for him in the lineup. They slotted him with Tkachuk and Backlund and were then disappointed he couldn't play a total shutdown game, as if that was the only role they could find for a speedy, possession-driving, RHS forward. Plenty of solid top nine forwards in the NHL would look out of place on that line, which is effectively a checking line by usage.

They never tried him with Monahan, Lindholm, or Bennett as centers. That's asinine, those are the three centers who could actually fit beside him. How about Gaudreau - Lindholm - Czarnik, see what those guys can do with some sheltering? Their speed and possession would give other teams' defensemen so much trouble on the breakout.

Bennett and Czarnik had some chemistry last year on opposite wings, but were dragged down by Jankowski down the middle. I was still disappointed we never tried Neal - Bennett - Czarnik last year, in a more sheltered role. Lucic - Bennett -Czarnik or Dube - Bennett - Czarnik would have made similar sense this year.

The guy's a natural center, but we never tried him as a center (and don't give me that size speal, Tampa's got a bunch of sub 5'10" centers in Tyler Johnson, Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde and they're the class of the league because they've actually tried those guys there). Plenty of players break out when they finally get moved to the middle with the extra space they get. A guy like Czarnik isn't going to give you much along the walls as a winger, so maybe you could try him at his natural position and see if that opens up his game.

Like a lot of talented players we have, there's just too much inflexibility in how we use them. Hartley was the last coach to really experiment with what he had.