We lost our MoJo when...

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

Yeah. Sit out a couple game and work him in practice. Let him get his puck handling and decision making back to where it needs to be. His play right now shows he deserves to be benched. I hardly think that is dumb.

His play right now suggests he's someone who hasn't been on the ice in a real game situation for weeks. You bench players because they aren't putting the effort in, or because they need a chance to "see the game from above", or to create competition for jobs and provide extra motivations.

You don't bench players when their play is suffering due to lack of playing time, that simply extrapolates the problem. Practice doesn't simulate a game, and Raymond has already done the skating in practice to get as close to game shape as he could get. Now he needs more time to get his skills back up to NHL speed, which can only occur by playing at the NHL level.

Suggesting a player who has been injured for weeks should be "benched" until he's back up to speed is literally one of the silliest suggestions I've ever heard.

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

A good start to a game would be nice. Even if the flames score first, they seem to fall behind

[flamesfever]

The team played above their potential for the first part of the season, and now with the last 5 losses, they are just returning to where they should be in the standing. Was the return of the vets a contributing factor? Possibly, to some extent, but the fact they have played well in all 5 losses, suggests the affect of their return was minimal.

The fact is the team has improved to a significant degree from last year, and the rebuild is moving along... much faster than we could have hoped for. I would be ecstatic if we made it to the playoffs.

[Gaskal]

I accept the blame and responsibility for this team's bad juju.



The day our losing streak started, I handed in an essay worth 15% of my grade in for my writing class.

It was about how well the Calgary Flames were doing as a team and organization and how it was a great time to be a Flames fan.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

I accept the blame and responsibility for this team's bad juju.



The day our losing streak started, I handed in an essay worth 15% of my grade in for my writing class.

It was about how well the Calgary Flames were doing as a team and organization and how it was a great time to be a Flames fan.

You son of a bitch. You jinxed the whole works.

[Lanny_McDonald]

People don't appreciate the importance of chemistry to a team. When players are playing for each other you will see the highest degree of success, regardless of talent level. The young guys and the 'us against the world' mentality likely drove much of that never say die push at the end of each game. That may not be as evident with a more veteran lineup. Personally, I'd rather have the young guys in those roles. Their enthusiasm is hard to replace.

[northcrunk]

There are also a number of veterans who have been in the line up who's effort is leaving much to be desired.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by TheDebaser

We'll be fine. Pucks will start hitting twine eventually.

This doesn't just apply to sports. Our species has an innate drive to quantify data, find patterns and predict outcomes based on those patterns. When in reality it's mostly useless for a whole host of reasons, most of which are well documented (ie. all the biases). You should see how much time gets devoted to this in my line of work. 99% of it is BS.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

The team was playing well before those guys were injured though too.

I do think that when too many players come back at once, it affects chemistry and a little of that is happening here, but I also think that the team is still young and we can expect inconsistencies because of it. I don't think we have played terrible during the 5 game slump.

I agree. Putting 3 in the lineup pretty much as the same time kind of messed up the chemistry but I wouldn't be too worried about it. Give those guys some time to get back in the groove and Flames will be back on track. Like another poster says, Flames are actually playing well before those guys came down with the injuries.

[Max Cow Disease]

Much of our success this season had hinged on the performance of Brodie and Gio. I'd argue that their Norris-esque performances have taken a bit of a dip (Brodie, at least, has had some crappier games), and with that, the whole team has also suffered a bit.

It's definitely not one single thing though. You can tell that while still being pretty good for some of this stretch, they're squeezing their sticks a little bit and are less confident with the puck than they were when bounces were going their way (this being the whole team I'm referring to).

[djsFlames]

Power play
Perimeter shots
Neutral zone turnovers
Rusty players coming off injury
TJ Brodie not at his best

We didn't even play badly overall, but the lack of execution was more than half the reason we didn't come out with points. JJJ was the only line consistently producing. The PP was ineffective and probably cost us points in at least two games. I just didn't see the same killer instinct and confidence offensively that the team was playing with before.

I wish we didn't mess with the lineup going into the trip. It's not that the youth who were returned were difference makers on the scoreboard, but they held their own defensively, and probably brought a competitive energy into the dressing room. There was a notable chemistry and a belief with the team when they were winning. You sub players for other players and sometimes that can throw that balance off.

[MisterJoji]

It's easy to forget that we we're still playing very well early in the season before Colborne, Raymond, Stajan and Backlund went on IR. It's not like we suddenly started playing better with all the rookies in the lineup, we were maintaining a current level of play, so it's shouldn't be a huge surprise that we're slumping having guys back in the lineup that still need time to get back up to game speed. Keeping Colborne, Raymond and Stajan benched once they were healthy, as to not disrupt current chemistry would not reflect well. Always earned, never given, this still plays into effect as all our injured guys definitely earned a spot on the roster prior to their respective injuries.

[Matty81]

People keep citing how poor the bottom of the totem pole guys who went to the AHL were every time this point gets made... which is kind of irrelevant.

Raymond, Colborne and Stajan coming in didn't just eliminate 3 press box/4th line guys from the team, they bumped most of the lineup down a rung... guys who were thriving with 2nd line ice have had less opportunity and it's even changed the look of the powerplay.

So while not saying their return is the cause it's definitely not something you can immediately dismiss.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Those three were not difference makers, they were 4th liners. Raymond, Colborne and Stajan are playing bigger minutes, higher up the lineup for the most part. They are taking minutes away from other players not just the three you listed and they are playing bigger roles.

They will play through this and back to contributing - arguably Colborne is starting to get to back, the others not so much yet. But for now it is a hit even though on paper they are much better than those they replaced on the roster.

I could be wrong but haven't Stajan and Raymond been playing on the 4th line? If so then all they did was replace Sven and knight.

I think the 3rd pairing D has had more to do with loses then the 4th line forwards.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Locke

You son of a bitch. You jinxed the whole works.

Maybe we'll start winning again when he marks it.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Matty81

People keep citing how poor the bottom of the totem pole guys who went to the AHL were every time this point gets made... which is kind of irrelevant.

Raymond, Colborne and Stajan coming in didn't just eliminate 3 press box/4th line guys from the team, they bumped most of the lineup down a rung... guys who were thriving with 2nd line ice have had less opportunity and it's even changed the look of the powerplay.

So while not saying their return is the cause it's definitely not something you can immediately dismiss.

Sorry but this just ain't true. Stajan and Raymond played 4th line. Colborne didn't, but he's been good. And what changes to the PP are you talking about?

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Sorry but this just ain't true. Stajan and Raymond played 4th line. Colborne didn't, but he's been good. And what changes to the PP are you talking about?

Stajan you are correct, but Raymond sits ahead of guys like Byron, Jooris, Granlund, Jones, and Bouma in TOI/game. He's getting more ice time than a 4th liner would prior to his injury.

[hackamore]

Colbourne was playing well before he went down to injury. Raymond actually still looked a bit off at start of season, could tell he missed most of training camp due to injury, and was trying to learn Flame system on fly. He was starting to settle in when he got hurt. Still, both were in a small group of Flames pointing up points at start of season while waiting for some of the other players to get up to speed. If they had not been hurt it would have been interesting to see how much of a contribution they both would be making now. Having upper body injuries might have made it possible for them to keep skating, but you can tell they were not able to do a lot of shooting or puck handling drills during their recuperation time. It will take some time to get their timing back. The young guns had the advantage of Penticton, training camp and start of regular season. You could tell the difference between them and the Flames regulars right from the start of training camp. It took most of the vets a few weeks of regular season to start playing up to the level we expected from them

[hackamore]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Stajan you are correct, but Raymond sits ahead of guys like Byron, Jooris, Granlund, Jones, and Bouma in TOI/game. He's getting more ice time than a 4th liner would prior to his injury.

Never given, always earned. He was out playing, or playing a different role then the players you listed. Now he is playing catch up, and we will have to see if/when he earns his ice time back. He did not lose his spot because he was playing poorly before his injury. I hope all the returning guys find their stride soon, for their sake and the team's.

[Resolute 14]

Losing streaks begin before a team starts losing. Even when we were winning - and before the vets that certain so-called "fans" are so desperate to trash returned - one could see the defence was starting to crumble. There were more giveaways, more missed breakouts and more times where Brodie or Gio had to dance their way out of tricky situations during the last home stand because guys were starting to regress.

The return of the vets is coincidental to that. We lost our mojo because everyone loses their mojo at various points in the season, and because we are a rebuilding squad. That, and it would have been foolish to think players like Josh Jooris were going to stay on a 30-goal pace forever.