[PGT] Flames 4 - Senators 2 - We Win!

[DropIt]

The sheer excitement you see out of Baertschi, jooris, Byron and Granlund and how contagious it is throughout the rest of the bench is awesome.

I dont care if Baertschi admits that he gets extra jump after hitting the scoresheet, cause when he gets that confidence up, he has high level NHL skill.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by browna

Good game for sure, Flames look very confident in the offensive zone, which was always going to be the huge question mark this season. Granlund, Jooris (who looked fantastic in the only preseason game I saw), just know where to be, and the Flames are very good and keeping control and have the skill and confidence to be making those cross ice passes which opens up so much more.

If Colborne and Backlund were ready tomorrow, I wouldn't put them back in.

That said, there were a couple stretches in the 3rd where Ottawa was all over the Flames, about halfway through the period for a solid 3 minutes. Bobby Ryan was on fire after his goal. First Ramo's save, and then the crossbar, and a whole bunch of scrambles where the Flames couldn't clear it....that plus the two gifts from Anderson and you've got the scoreline.

ANA will be a great measuring stick Tuesday.

even with the hot streak, Backlund is impossible to sit at this point

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

Also need to add that Hrudey is awesome, so glad he calls our games. So calm and insightful. Also thought the panel tonight was pretty good, even Cox who I hate. It was a fun night.

Funny thing about the panel. Strombo made the Clouseau jab at the other desk guy's moustache. Cox the reporter tries to ride him emphasizing back pedalling. The former players Hrudey and kypreos say to own it and Strombo says he stands behind it. Classic hockey dynamic, reporter vs guys in the room.

Panel was good but Cox is incredibly and easily forgettable and replaceable

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by DropIt

even with the hot streak, Backlund is impossible to sit at this point

Where ru Chris O'Sullivan begs to differ

[combustiblefuel]

All 4 goals were by Ex- Heat players.

Its just truly amazing how the development of prospects has changed.

[Major Major]

Great game. For the record, I thought the officiating, cbc broadcast and ramo goaltending were all very good tonight. Some people are seriously out to lunch in this thread. Could you imagine if a delay of game call was levied against the Flames if they flipped the puck out with 0 seconds left of a period? Also, a ton of love from the entire cbc cast tonight. Ya, cox is a known idiot. He wasn't over the top with it though. Love this team baby

[DeluxeMoustache]

Flames top the west in gf by a good margin. So many things to discuss that we ignore.

[dammage79]

I missed my first game of the year tonight. For shame I say, FOR SHAME!

Hartley's got this team right in the sweet spot, doesn't have to look for motivation, doesn't have to temper the ego's.

Treliving is going to have a hell of a time sorting this out. Jooris, Granlund and now Sven are all diggin their heels in to keep their roster spots.

Bittersweet blessing for the roster conundrum, Jones' glass shoulder looks to have broke again. I feel for the guy, he has Backlund syndrome in the worst way. What I mean is, he seems to always derail any momentum he gets with another injury. Only difference is, his last longer than Baklunds. Poory guy.

No way Setoguchi slots in any time soon. Colborne has be close.

All I am going to say on my expectations for the rest of the season is this.

If Calgary can get the W in the Honda Center, they make the playoffs. I swear, getting that over sized Gorilla off of this franchise's back will be like releasing the hounds in a fox hunt.

This hard work is the foundation of their success, even if they slow down during the season, they can always fall back on that and limit the damaging losing streaks.

It's damned exciting to be a Flames fan right now.

[icarus]

Sportsclubstats.com:

Flames
Chance will make playoffs: 83.6% (6th in NHL)
Chance will win cup: 5.5%

Oilers
Chance will make playoffs: 9.4% (28th in NHL)
Chance will win cup: 0.1%

[dammage79]

Also, Lance Bouma has redeemed the #17 and cleaned away the Rene Bourque stink from it. Good on ya lad.

[Machiavelli]

The thing about this team is they do not appear to be playing over their heads. They are outplaying others on a regular basis, in all facets of the game.

I can't recall many victories where after I thought "boy, they were lucky to win that one."

They're playing the right way and I'm really hoping they'll be rewarded with a playoff berth.

[robbie111]

Love the chemistry of the Baertschi-Jooris-Byron line. Team speed is unreal with the youngins up. Ottawa is a fast skating team and they couldn't match the Flames out there tonight. Loved that Karlsson couldn't catch Byron on one of Byron's breakaways. Also loved seeing Brodie go around him like he was standing still.

Hartley has said that Speed Kills and you can never have too much of it in a lineup. I'd like to see the same lineup with Poirier replacing Jones and Ferland replacing Bollig. Then figure out what we have after a month or two or however long it takes for the vets to be healthy and decide then who stays, who gets sent down or to the pressbox, and who gets traded. Treliving is going to have his work cut out for him.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Psytic

Edmonton<Arizona<Colorado<Dallas<Winnipeg<SanJose< Calgary<Vancouver<Nashville<Minnesota<Chicago<L.A. <St. Louis<Anaheim

We need to beat the Canucks and Preds to get a wild card spot is how I see it.

Not quite. According to your list, Anaheim, LA, and Vancouver are in for the Pacific Div., and St. Louis, Chicago, and Minn. are in for the Central, leaving Nashville and Calgary in the wildcard berths.

Generally, I agree, although I think Nashville stays ahead of Minnesota this season, and I am also optimistic that Calgary can overtake Vancouver. Either way, the two wild cards will likely be a battle between two of Calgary, Vancouver, and SJ from the Pacific, and between two of Minnesota, Nashville, and Winnipeg from the Central. Four teams from these six will be in the playoffs, meaning that Calgary needs to finish ahead of two of them. With Vancouver, SJ, and Winnipeg in the mix the Flames look like a pretty good bet to make it.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by nik-

We've only played three of the legit teams in the West so far (4 if you count Vancouver) We won half of them, but one of those wins we were totally shelled...

If the Flames play the top teams this year like they did last year, then there is very good reason to believe that they can make the playoffs. So long as they continue to beat the teams that they should beat, and if they can come close to splitting games with the best teams, they will be in.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Love Granlund. He's gonna come out of the shadows and shock the hockey world when he turns out to be the better brother. And after all that hype over Mikael... Would make for a real good story.

At this point, I don't even care if he is a better player than his brother. It is already a huge success for this mid-second-round draft pick to be not just playing in the NHL, and to be keeping pace with his older brother who was a former top-ten selection, and once regarded the best player not yet playing in the NHL.

FYI: I sure do love Marcus Granlund's self satisfied smirk in his official NHL bio-pic.


Smug #######.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Hammertime

Interesting stat I'm following this season.

Markus Granlund: 8GP 3G 3A 6P
Mikael Granlund: 16GP 2G 5A 7P

Small sample size so far, but I hope we got the better Granlund.

I have heard from some people that follow the Finnish youth leagues that Markus was actually the more talented one of the two, it's just that Mikael was deemed the better prospect for a few reasons. 1) He had a game more transferrable to the NHL, 2) He didn't rely on talent as much as work ethic to get the job done, and 3) He was a more complete all-around player at a younger age.

Since the draft though, Markus has made leaps and bounds in his development and Mikael has only had a mild improvement. I like our Granlund better.

[miraisoup]

It continues to amaze me how fast this team can be. It is crazy.

[Henry Fool]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

I have heard from some people that follow the Finnish youth leagues that Markus was actually the more talented one of the two, it's just that Mikael was deemed the better prospect for a few reasons. 1) He had a game more transferrable to the NHL, 2) He didn't rely on talent as much as work ethic to get the job done, and 3) He was a more complete all-around player at a younger age.

Since the draft though, Markus has made leaps and bounds in his development and Mikael has only had a mild improvement. I like our Granlund better.

I've never heard anyone in Finland say what you report there.

Mikael is and has always been more talented. But they play different games. You see Mikael with the puck a lot. He's a playmaker and possibly has the best vision-passing combo I've seen in a young player from Finland. It's not just great, it's exceptional. It hasn't fully manifested in the NHL yet but if you watch a Minnesota game, he looks pretty damn good already.

Given that Mikael centers the first line in Minnesota I don't know what's behind the currently modest point totals - could be just a fluke - but I'm sure he's growing into his role.

Mikael's improvement during the 2013 offseason was dramatic - nothing "mild" about it. Markus' game translates more easily to the North American game because he's bigger and doesn't need have the time and space with the puck.

[Henry Fool]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

At this point, I don't even care if he is a better player than his brother. It is already a huge success for this mid-second-round draft pick to be not just playing in the NHL, and to be keeping pace with his older brother who was a former top-ten selection, and once regarded the best player not yet playing in the NHL.

FYI: I sure do love Marcus Granlund's self satisfied smirk in his official NHL bio-pic.


Smug #######.

What I like is that kind of looks like he plays with a smirk as well. He looks extremely confident on the ice. Maybe a little conservative with his positioning currently but at the same time he never looks like he's trying to impress anybody or force plays that don't happen naturally.

One thing I see is that he doesn't get many shot opportunities currently. He's very often either covering defensively or standing in front of the net in the offensive zone. If he could get some open space for some one timers, he'd be able to use his offensive strengths more.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

I have heard from some people that follow the Finnish youth leagues that Markus was actually the more talented one of the two, it's just that Mikael was deemed the better prospect for a few reasons. 1) He had a game more transferrable to the NHL, 2) He didn't rely on talent as much as work ethic to get the job done, and 3) He was a more complete all-around player at a younger age.

I recall hearing the exact opposite. Mikael was the more talented one but Markus was the one who many thought was overall better suited for the NHL game.

The early results seem to suggest that is true. Mikael seems to have a little more flash and playmaking ability to his game, while Markus quietly, but fairly consistently, puts up the points and plays a solid game. He does have quite a fantastic shot as well.

I'm quite happy with our Granlund.