Valimaki: ‘Stupid’ that he’s sitting

[PeteMoss]

I thought Valimaki looked really good when he got into the Colorado playoff series. Then he blew out his knee that summer and hasn't looked the same since.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

These statistics lack score-and-venue adjustments. Which is notable since

1) Zadorov has played the majority of his games at home, Valimaki on the road
2) The Flames have trailed in more games Zadorov has participated in, and led in more games Valimaki has participated in

Further, Valimaki-Gudbranson were utilized as a second pair in the Pittsburgh game, which in a small sample like this skews their stats (especially since Andersson-Tanev and Kylington-Stone both finished a lot of shifts in the defensive zone that game). Zadorov-Gudbranson have been utilized exclusively as a 3rd pair.

Look I get your point of view, and that's why I was saying that both players played well with Gudbranson. The stats point to Zadorov being slightly better. His mistakes did seem more glaring, but most of them were while he was playing with Tanev, and in preseason.

Okay how about this as a stat: The Zadorov -Gudbranson pairing has been on the ice for one goal against! Just one goal against in 10 games. What's more impressive is that their advanced stats seem to match that with an expected GA of 1.36 per 60 minutes. At least that's pretty impressive from where I'm standing.

In fact Zadorov has been on the ice for 4 goals against. 2 of which were on the terrible Zadorov - Tanev pairing, 1 PP GA, and 1 with Gudbranson. Overall, that's not too bad, and he seems to be improving.

I want to see Valimaki succeed, but right now the 3rd pairing is far from hurting the team. I'm sure he'll get a chance to play, and it's good to have depth and competition in the lineup.

[Goriders]

I got the impression the flames loaded up on D because one of them was leaving if the eichel deal worked out. So now we almost have one too many.

Same comment with dube at center.

[ignite09]

Originally Posted by Goriders

I got the impression the flames loaded up on D because one of them was leaving if the eichel deal worked out. So now we almost have one too many.

Same comment with dube at center.

Treliving has always strived to have 8 or 9 NHL caliber D on his team. Nothing new here, except we won't be needing to send out a 3rd at the trade deadline to acquire a #6 d-man.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I remember when someone brought up the rumoured Stone trade and someone else correctly filled in the context of Stone not signing here… two weeks ago… and two weeks before that… and two weeks before that… and two weeks before that.

“Remember the Stone trade? I don’t really!” - One of CP’s greatest bi-weekly traditions.

Oh if you like that one you'll enjoy it's highly anticipated sequel

"Remember when the Flames wouldn't trade Matthew Tkachuk for Jack Eichel".

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by ignite09

Treliving has always strived to have 8 or 9 NHL caliber D on his team. Nothing new here, except we won't be needing to send out a 3rd at the trade deadline to acquire a #6 d-man.

Oh that will still happen.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Oh that will still happen.

No, this year it'll be a 3rd for a 4th line center to make us think things are different

[Classic_Sniper]

Zadorov has zero hockey sense. Time to sit him in the press box and watch hockey played from above to see if it helps him eliminate some of those brainfarts. Valimaki's skates are probably getting dusty, time to give him a game to loosen up the joints.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

I thought Valimaki looked really good when he got into the Colorado playoff series. Then he blew out his knee that summer and hasn't looked the same since.

Still only a 23 year old dman.

The impatience with him and Dube is insane. Let them develop. Not wvery NHLer is a bust at 21

[getbak]

It's time to set the Juus loose.

[FBI]

Yup hopefully brain fart play with 10 seconds to go is enough to get Valimaki back in..

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Oh that will still happen.

Haha Tre always figures he needs extra bodies for that long, grinding 6 game playoff run.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Zadorov has zero hockey sense. Time to sit him in the press box and watch hockey played from above to see if it helps him eliminate some of those brainfarts. Valimaki's skates are probably getting dusty, time to give him a game to loosen up the joints.

I don't think Valimaki will play much unless one of the LD gets hurt. It's pretty much the same for Stone on the right side.

The top 6 d have been very good so far this season.

[Classic_Sniper]

Yeah, they've been solid. But Zadorov's daily giveaways will eventually bite him and this team in the ass (almost did last night), so I do wonder what Darryl's tolerance threshold is for a guy like Zadorov who basically has the hockey IQ of a hockey puck.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Yeah, they've been solid. But Zadorov's daily giveaways will eventually bite him and this team in the ass (almost did last night), so I do wonder what Darryl's tolerance threshold is for a guy like Zadorov who basically has the hockey IQ of a hockey puck.

Zadorov is about the lens you use to watch him.

He is below average offensively, and certainly makes gaffs, but he also makes it tough for opposing forwards to get blue chip chances when he's on the ice.

Pretty sure Sutter is aware of that.

With that said metrics suggest his last game was one of his worst in weeks so he may get a sit to get Valimaki in for Thursday.

[talladega.25]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Oh if you like that one you'll enjoy it's highly anticipated sequel

"Remember when the Flames wouldn't trade Matthew Tkachuk for Jack Eichel".

I envision that will be a common saying next year and beyond when Eichel and the Knights play Calgary multiple times a year.

[GioforPM]

I think it will take at least one more game so that Sutter doesn't look like he's reacting to Val's complaints.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by DropIt

Still only a 23 year old dman.

The impatience with him and Dube is insane. Let them develop. Not wvery NHLer is a bust at 21

Absolutely. The issue is that sitting isn't helping Valimaki improve. Ideally he would be playing top pairing in the AHL but he can't so ideally he would start getting into the lineup more.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Zadorov is about the lens you use to watch him.

He is below average defensively, and certainly makes gaffs, but he also makes it tough for opposing forwards to get blue chip chances when he's on the ice.

These two statements don't agree. Suggest you may need to change one.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Zadorov is about the lens you use to watch him.

He is below average defensively, and certainly makes gaffs, but he also makes it tough for opposing forwards to get blue chip chances when he's on the ice.

Pretty sure Sutter is aware of that.

With that said metrics suggest his last game was one of his worst in weeks so he may get a sit to get Valimaki in for Thursday.

There's no doubt in my mind he'll be more important come playoff time as the game changes and ability to pin players and stop the cycle will be tremendously valuable. But in the regular season, his faults are more on display. I'm not even a huge Valimaki fan either, but for me, I think it makes more sense to play Zadorov in tight checking, low event games and give Valimaki the high event games where his vision and skill will be more prominent.

Full disclosure though, perhaps it's more so about me not wanting to see Valimaki pouting and for it to affect the room.