He had a couple of strong entries today where he made good passes to Lindholm and Gaudreau in space. He just needs to find some confidence again and trust himself to be able to make those plays.
I’m not talking about a couple good passes. I’m talking about the ability drive his line. Carry the play for prolonged periods. Creating something out of nothing. Use his frame to protect the puck and extend plays. Create his own shot.
He’s been invisible for a lot of this series despite going up against the likes of Copp? Eakins? Lowry? Roslovic? He’s the clear cut best center in this series and I couldn’t tell you what scoring chances he’s had so far or if he even has a shot on goal.
Been really disappointing so far. I can give him a pass on the MacKinnon series where he was clearly #2. But without Scheifele in this series, he needs to be better and be dominant considering his matchups.
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I stated my major observations on the last page of the GT. I will only add here that the Flames were satisfied to stay on the perimeter, and except for the couple of minutes after the Bennett goal, were just far too soft, and easy to play against.
That's the problem and a pattern with this core. Not willing to do what it takes to win, and they get way too pleased with themselves after a win. They had Winnipeg down should have come out like they did in game one.
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Not sure if that includes the post the Gustafsson hit. Still only lost by a goal.
If the PP can convert even once it's a different game. Not sure if they're trying to be too cute against Hellebuyck but the skill guys let them down big time.
This team doesn't like afternoon games. I haven't crunched the numbers, but I would bet the Flames record is terrible for afternoon games. No more afternoon games, please.
Or game two's in series.
Or consistent performances.
Or home openers.
Or scoring first.
etc
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The character of the team has been weak under 3 coaches.
Maybe it's their actual character.
Edit: Actually 4 coaches. Though Hartley got something out of the group, they then tuned him out.
The gm is responsible for 3 of the 4 coaches you have mentioned.
So the gm, over the 5 years hasn't established a good enough core(in fact he should be thanking feaster/sutter for leaving him the quality they did) nor has he established a winning culture by hiring a top end quality coach. If the flames don't get thru these qualifiers and doesnt win an actual playoff round, why would it be prudent to keep this gm around?? If you are gutting the core of the team, I don't want the guy who put it together in the first place, as the guy running the show to fix things.
The drop pass can't be the only go-to on every powerplay rush. It is getting pretty ridiculous and makes the entry slower as well as the jets being able to set up for it in anticipation every time. Worked for one game. Jets have adjusted, now its no longer viable, so switch up the entry.
I thought we might nuke that strategy after they were talking about special teams adjustments.
Is Gaudreau positioned at the circle on his off wing a thing yet? If not, why? Looked damn good in practice.
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Aside from our “star” players stinking it up, the Flames just have to get dirty. Winnipeg isn’t good, but Hellebyuck seems to be, so make it hard and exert whatever will you have. That’s how we won game one, and that’s why we lost game two.
Almost ever goal/chance in this series has come from scrambles and deflections. Get messy and just get the puck near the net and see what happens. Hellebyuck will handle 100% of the muffins above the pads, so get low and go.
Because of that, though, I do believe this game was never out of reach. The bounces and deflections didn’t go our way, but they did go Winnipeg’s way. That’s when you hope your skill guys make up the difference and they didn’t, but if that’s the game it’s going to be then go play that way top to bottom. Dump and chase with a heavy forecheck, bang around.
Lindholm and the Bennett-Dube-Lucic line is the best we have going right now. Follow that lead and you win the next two easy.
It doesn’t help that Gustafson and Hanifin make 3-4 boneheaded passes a game right now (each), but again, Winnipeg sucks, this series will not be hard to win.
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The drop pass can't be the only go-to on every powerplay rush. It is getting pretty ridiculous and makes the entry slower as well as the jets being able to set up for it in anticipation every time. Worked for one game. Jets have adjusted, now its no longer viable, so switch up the entry.
I thought we might nuke that strategy after they were talking about special teams adjustments.
Is Gaudreau positioned at the circle on his off wing a thing yet? If not, why? Looked damn good in practice.
The entry on the PP isn't the only issue either - our entries during 5v5 are getting jammed up and we can't enter the zone with speed. Bennett's goal stood out to me because of the move he made in the neutral zone. It actually allowed him to drive the zone with speed and take a shot off the rush. Looch did a great job of crashing the net and making the nice pass to Bennett who was already moving.
Do things with pace and purpose. That drop pass to Johnny stuff just doesn't gain the zone with any speed, and you're entirely relying on the first pass just as you cross the line - easy to read, easy to disrupt. If Johnny can't gain the zone and make that pass, he dumps it in at the line...when all of his teammates are already standing still which completely kills their ability to actually get in on the dump-in. Frustrating to watch.
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The drop pass can't be the only go-to on every powerplay rush. It is getting pretty ridiculous and makes the entry slower as well as the jets being able to set up for it in anticipation every time. Worked for one game. Jets have adjusted, now its no longer viable, so switch up the entry.
I thought we might nuke that strategy after they were talking about special teams adjustments.
Is Gaudreau positioned at the circle on his off wing a thing yet? If not, why? Looked damn good in practice.
They went back to Gaudreau on the left and Lindholm on the right. Even when they did connect passes (which was rare today) they weren't in position to shoot, and just kept passing. Just mind boggling that they don't play their off wings.
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I've said since it became the trend, the neutral zone drop pass entry should be one option in the arsenal, not the go-to just because it takes the pressure off of you when you do the drop pass. Get some balls, get creative, act like you actually WANT to get into the zone and score a goal. Most of the time, especially with the Flames, the drop pass just looks like "I dunno, you figure this out"
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This line has not been themselves, and have struggled to maintain offensive possession.
3rd Line (Lucic - Bennett - Dube)
CF%: 48.3%
xGF%: 50.0%
GF: 1
GA: 1
Third line has brought energy and some grit, they’ve been fine so far but need to tighten up penalties.
4th Line: Rinaldo- Ryan-Reider
CF%: 28.6%
xGF%: 24%
GF: 0
GA: 1
Barf, 4th line has been bad and Rinaldo shouldn’t play another shift this series.
The one thing being overlooked is the Jets top 6 has also been held to no goals for at 5v5 so far this series. So while people are on our top 6, they’ve actually outplayed the Jets top 6.
It’s been the Lowry line that’s hurt us so far. Flames need to look at a different lineup tomorrow. Jets will have last change so won’t be able to get favourable matchups for our top line, and 4th line could be bullied.
Let’s see Reider - Janko - Ryan as a 4th line. Janko may not provide much offence but generally he drives possession and doesn’t give up much defensively.
Last edited by SuperMatt18; 08-03-2020 at 05:07 PM.
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Cool. Why bring it up after every goal against of bad period, what does that accomplish? No changes are coming in this tournament, so is that not then talk better reserved for later when its appropriate and relevant?
Make a thread and title it this team needs a change, or something, and vent the big picture issues there.
Some people want to just observe the game happening now (and, god forbid) find some enjoyment and entertainment in doing so without the sky is falling folks butting into the conversation to have a pity party just because we gave up a goal or had a bad 5 minutes.
That #### is actually insufferable when you know nothing is getting done change wise for at least a few months. Its just complaining for no reason and oiler/jet lurker reading material. Why give that to them?
Try enjoying having hockey in a pandemic or vent it in an appropriate thread.
Fair enough. Did you enjoy that though? That was a tough game to watch.
The only shred of positivity I could glean out of that entire, frustrating game was the Flames played....arguably one of the worst games in recent memory, and were still within touching distance. They didnt get blown out, a bounce here or there and they could have won.
But the Jets man...you have to balance that positivity against the fact that the Jets are not a high bar. Even with their two best players they're not a very good team.
I kind of agree with nik here. Someone's ass needs to get kicked so that more asses down the line get kicked.
That was as blasé, sloppy and poor game as I can remember.
The GAF meter's needle doesnt go that low. What more do these people need in order to get engaged and focus?
Or maybe changes are needed.
I know its one game and they sky hasnt officially fallen. I have faith in this team because I think they felt the loss of Winnipeg's players more than the Jets did. Calgary always has a history of going into games with every advantage only for Lucy to pull the football away.
But that has to change at some point.
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I wonder what sort of lineup changes we see tomorrow. We probably see Jankowski come in, but do we see any changes in the D-Core? Does Stone/Kylington come in for Forbort? I don’t think so.
Talbot will and should get the start tomorrow.
Forbort has been a massive reason why the PK has been so good
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Aside from our “star” players stinking it up, the Flames just have to get dirty. Winnipeg isn’t good, but Hellebyuck seems to be, so make it hard and exert whatever will you have. That’s how we won game one, and that’s why we lost game two.
Almost ever goal/chance in this series has come from scrambles and deflections. Get messy and just get the puck near the net and see what happens. Hellebyuck will handle 100% of the muffins above the pads, so get low and go.
Because of that, though, I do believe this game was never out of reach. The bounces and deflections didn’t go our way, but they did go Winnipeg’s way. That’s when you hope your skill guys make up the difference and they didn’t, but if that’s the game it’s going to be then go play that way top to bottom. Dump and chase with a heavy forecheck, bang around.
Lindholm and the Bennett-Dube-Lucic line is the best we have going right now. Follow that lead and you win the next two easy.
It doesn’t help that Gustafson and Hanifin make 3-4 boneheaded passes a game right now (each), but again, Winnipeg sucks, this series will not be hard to win.
Well, Lindholm’s shot went off a Jet skate, and with Bennett’s goal, obviously the Flames did get a bounce there too.
