Notes from Nov 14 Practice

[getbak]

It looks like the Sens had airplane trouble this morning and had to bus it to Calgary. Curtis Lazar tweeted this earlier:

Curtis Lazar ‏@CurtisLazar95



A broken down plane means I get to experience another lovely bus ride down the QE2 to Calgary! #JustLikeJunior

[Gaudfather]

I think Hartley giving Ramo the start vs the Sens is more a vote of confidence in Ramo rather than any real concern about Hiller. He wants to keep both goalies sharp as much as possible. A day off for Hiller won't do him any harm, but Ramo needed some more game time.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by getbak

It looks like the Sens had airplane trouble this morning and had to bus it to Calgary. Curtis Lazar tweeted this earlier:

Edmonton flights are no good.

[CsInMyBlood]

I think Hiller looked so good in the beginning because he was getting loads of rest when Ramo and he were splitting starts. There have been recent games where he just doesn't look as sharp. Makes me wonder how good Miikka could have been had we had a solid backup. Especially in those playoff years that went to six and seven games and ended with us out in the first round.

Good to see Ramo getting another start, I expected him to play yesterday vs. Arizona. Hope he can come back with a strong bounce back game after his his last outing.

[GioforPM]

If the Flames play like they did last night, they'll at least give Ramo a chance to to win.

[killer_carlson]

I would have left the 4th line as it was. I didn't think that Reinhart and McGrattan played poorly, and to the contrary, generated some chances with Reinhart ringing one off the post.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Agreed. I even saw McGrattan bust his hump to get back and cover for his defenseman all the way into his own zone. He's not as much of a detriment to the team as people make him out to be, just low skill. Well, so is Bouma, so who cares. Grats will be replaced at some point by a younger player. Until then, utilize him.

[Gaudfather]

Look at the guys the Flames have brought up so far this year (Jooris, Granlund, Baertschi, Ferland, Reinhart) and none have disappointed so far. As some of our injured guys get healthy (Colborne, Raymond) Hartley (and BT) are going to have to start making some difficult decisions as to who stays, who dresses etc. On top of this there are more guys down in Glen Falls also doing their best to get noticed (Poirier, Arnold, Knight, Agostino, Wotherspoon, Ortio).

This is becoming an ongoing source of motivation for everyone on this team (youths and the vets) as the players know the depth keeps building around this team and the tolerance for anything less than a complete effort is going to be minimal. This is going to keep this team going full throttle, regardless of how many wins we pile up.

[gvitaly]

A little bit unrelated, but here is an interesting McGrattan article about him not getting as much action this season.

“When you sit for a long time, sometimes you wonder if you’ll ever see the light, but you have to keep an even keel even though sometimes it’s hard,” he said.

“I’ve been through it all, over the years: I haven’t played a lot, I’ve played a lot, I’ve been sent down, I’ve been hurt and missed half seasons with injuries, so I’ve experienced everything you can in this game. You just take it one game at a time because you never know — you could sit for two weeks and then play every game for the rest of the season. It’s a funny game how it works sometimes.”

“It’s still a pretty good life playing in the NHL,” McGrattan said.

“It doesn’t last forever — you just have to enjoy every moment of it.”

Calgary Flames tough-guy Brian McGrattan dusts off the knuckles

Also, I was wondering if anyone saw(or was it only my imagination) McGrattan skate away from the tunnel after the end of the game last night. It almost looked like he wanted to soak in as much of the NHL while he still could. It seems like just another battle the big guy has to face, all the while keeping on the mask of the tough exterior.

[chubeyr1]

I hope McGrattan is in the lineup next game. The team just seems to play better when he plays.

Bollig sat the other night, I have hopes that he got the message. Not saying he has been bad but just invisible most games.

Setoguchi? Does anyone see improvement from him? Serious question! I mean even whipping boy Sven looked good the other night. Seto needs to show something and soon. Not freaked out or anything, signed to a cheap contract and only for the year.

I think Ramo got hurt in practice prior to his last start and he played hurt, just a guess. He looked shaky in that game and was pulled. Not making excuses for him.

Hiller has been fighting the puck hard these past few games. We have won a few games now despite the bad goaltending. Big turn around from the beginning of the season where both goalies were lights out. I am fine with this too. Guys have off nights.

Hope Ramo gets the start.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by chubeyr1

Hiller has been fighting the puck hard these past few games. We have won a few games now despite the bad goaltending. Big turn around from the beginning of the season where both goalies were lights out. I am fine with this too. Guys have off nights.

Hope Ramo gets the start.

Steinberg says that Ramo will get the start for the Senators game. I would imagine they want to rest Hiller so they can start him against Anaheim on Tuesday.

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Ramo does need some time. He needs to recover from the last outing as well.

Ramo should get 3 starts unless he bombs in game 2. The whole idea of having 2 goalies is to push each other. Can't do that if one rusts.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by chubeyr1

I hope McGrattan is in the lineup next game. The team just seems to play better when he plays.

Bollig sat the other night, I have hopes that he got the message. Not saying he has been bad but just invisible most games.

Setoguchi? Does anyone see improvement from him? Serious question! I mean even whipping boy Sven looked good the other night. Seto needs to show something and soon. Not freaked out or anything, signed to a cheap contract and only for the year.

I think Ramo got hurt in practice prior to his last start and he played hurt, just a guess. He looked shaky in that game and was pulled. Not making excuses for him.

Hiller has been fighting the puck hard these past few games. We have won a few games now despite the bad goaltending. Big turn around from the beginning of the season where both goalies were lights out. I am fine with this too. Guys have off nights.

Hope Ramo gets the start.

Before the Hurricanes game Setoguchi had improved a fair bit without any results. That game was pretty bad, though he may have been still playing hurt from the previous game.

He's not as bad as people make him out to be, but he's not adding anything positive either. I think hes a warm body, that I wouldn't be afraid to dress for a game, but nothing more.