Who takes a step back and a step forward this year?

[Textcritic]

Step back:
Bouma, Hudler, Jooris, Wideman, Giordano

Each one of their scoring totals will be down. Giordano will still be near Norris-trophy form, but I think it will be in a slightly less gaudy season thanks to a redistribution of ice-time.

Step forward:
Gaudreau, Ferland, Jones, Colborne, Engelland, Ramo

Young players build on experience, Jones is healthy and comfortable, and Engelland is MUCH better apart from Smid*

*this is assuming E ahead of S on opening night.

[#-3]

Wideman, Monahan, Giordano and Engelland should all take a step back

Russell, Gaudrau, and Hudler are going to have hard time maintaining their level of play but I think they can do it.

I think Hamilton, and Backlund can take a step forward.

My bold predictions is by the end of the season we will all say Brodie has taken another step forward. He always does.

[pgsieve]

Step forward: Hiller
Step back: Hamilton and Ferland

[memphusk]

Forward: Brodie
Back: Russell

[Street Pharmacist]

Forward: Brodie, Ferland and Gaudreau
Back: Wideman, Russell and Monahan

[Oil Stain]

Forward:Ferland, Bennett, Granlund
Back:Hudler, Wideman, Giordano, Bouma, Jooris, Russell

[Neeper]

Step forward: Gaudreau, Ferland
and Colborne

Step back: Bouma and Wideman

[azzarish]

Step forward:
Brodie - will just move to a different level. Guy is special.
Gaudreau - sky is the limit
Ferland - a lot of upside and can play
Hamilton - will excel on a new team
Bennett

Step backward:
Hudler - just cannot expect him to maintain that pace
Granlund
Hiller - still not convinced by him, don't think he'll play as well as last year
Russell - didn't have him on here originally but it's inevitable he'll go backwards a little bit after last season's super human effort

I think Bouma, Gio, Backlund, Wideman, Ramo and Monahan will stay the same.

[N-E-B]

Forward: Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett, Ferland, Brodie

Backwards: Wideman, Hudler, Gio (they will not be massive drop offs, just slightly)

Bold prediction: Brodie is in the mix for the Norris

[T@T]

Originally Posted by pgsieve

Step forward: Hiller
Step back: Hamilton and Ferland

Does not compute,Step back from what?

I will say:

Step back:
Hudler, Jooris and Wideman

Step forward:
Gaudreau, Ferland, Colborne and Backlund

Stay the same:

Monahan, Gio and Brodie

[Imported_Aussie]

Step forward = Colborne. If Hudler is moved to play with Bennett, Colborne makes the most sense to me to be the 3rd guy on the Monahan line. Add to that how he has looked since the playoffs, and he is primed to make a jump. Jones is another guy who could get a look at that line, and has also looked good in camp.

Step back = Bouma. He will still play a role on the team, but don't expect a lot of goals. I could also see Russell taking a step back, as I can see him being the main loser of prime ES ice time on the back end, now that the Flames have 3 top D and Wideman getting all the offensive zone start minutes they can feed him

[heep223]

^ this is what I'm hoping for. Plus IIRC Colborne and Monahan have shown definite chemistry together when they have had shorts stints of playing together.

[ricardodw]

Step down will be Frolik. Moving from a heavy team to a light team will be a big adjustment for him. Look for him to be more like Chicago Frolik than Winnipeg Frolik.

Not really a step back but Hamilton will have to work hard to stay even with his expectations. He will have to earn his ice time where last year he was top-4 in Boston by default.

Very little chance that Russell and Wideman hold on to their current regular season rank as best #1 pairing in the NHL as they were the last quarter of 2014-15.

The Calgary defense will be better as a group but the individuals will not standout as much.

Monahan and Gaudreau have dramatically improved every year so why stop now. If the big line stays together Hudler will have a great year.

Bennett will have a hard time living up to my high expectations. I think that by Christmas he will be the clear #1/1a centre. Backlund will get pushed back in the line up and ice time. He will be solid but not improve his stats.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Imported_Aussie

Step forward = Colborne. If Hudler is moved to play with Bennett, Colborne makes the most sense to me to be the 3rd guy on the Monahan line. Add to that how he has looked since the playoffs, and he is primed to make a jump. Jones is another guy who could get a look at that line, and has also looked good in camp.

Step back = Bouma. He will still play a role on the team, but don't expect a lot of goals. I could also see Russell taking a step back, as I can see him being the main loser of prime ES ice time on the back end, now that the Flames have 3 top D and Wideman getting all the offensive zone start minutes they can feed him

Unless Ferland is able to play with Bennett it would be hard to put Hudler on his line. There will be a lot more physical play instigated by Bennett that Hudler will not be able to back.

I think that Hudler stays with Gaudreau and Monahan until someone figures out how to stop them.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Step down will be Frolik. Moving from a heavy team to a light team will be a big adjustment for him. Look for him to be more like Chicago Frolik than Winnipeg Frolik.

Not really a step back but Hamilton will have to work hard to stay even with his expectations. He will have to earn his ice time where last year he was top-4 in Boston by default.

Very little chance that Russell and Wideman hold on to their current regular season rank as best #1 pairing in the NHL as they were the last quarter of 2014-15.

The Calgary defense will be better as a group but the individuals will not standout as much.

Monahan and Gaudreau have dramatically improved every year so why stop now. If the big line stays together Hudler will have a great year.

Bennett will have a hard time living up to my high expectations. I think that by Christmas he will be the clear #1/1a centre. Backlund will get pushed back in the line up and ice time. He will be solid but not improve his stats.

Well, the only person on the planet that thinks that is you, so as soon as you decide that are not #1 anymore, you will be right - they won't have held on to that rank.

[ricardodw]

b

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Well, the only person on the planet that thinks that is you, so as soon as you decide that are not #1 anymore, you will be right - they won't have held on to that rank.

Who was a better defense pairing over the last 20 NHL regular season games played?

27 minutes a game and a ppg rate for both of them. Their team winning @ 125 pt pace put over a whole season when 1 or 2 more losses means missing the playoffs.


Maybe you should ask Hartley about why he played them every second shift for the last 20 games and how he think they did. IIRC he was saying that Wideman was in charge of managing his own ice time.

[Imported_Aussie]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Unless Ferland is able to play with Bennett it would be hard to put Hudler on his line. There will be a lot more physical play instigated by Bennett that Hudler will not be able to back.

I think that Hudler stays with Gaudreau and Monahan until someone figures out how to stop them.

Bennett is not a soft player by any means, so it is not like he needs a punishing hitter on his line to thrive. I would personally opt for a guy like Jooris on his line, or Shore if he starts to pick up his game. What you want more than anything on that line with Bennett is a guy who can take faceoffs, especially on the right hand. Jones may even be able to work in a pinch, but he is not going to be able to take a lot of draws, just capable enough if Bennett gets waved out.
It might seem high for a guy like Jooris at first glance, playing on what is arguably a 2nd line (flames will have 2a and 2b, since the Bennett and Backlund lines will need to be managed for matchups/zone starts). However, Jooris is the kind of guy who plays well with good linemates and rather than going for pure physicality, with Jooris you get a player who doesn't shy from contact and has the speed to keep up with Bennett

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Who was a better defense pairing over the last 20 NHL regular season games played?

27 minutes a game and a ppg rate for both of them. Their team winning @ 125 pt pace put over a whole season when 1 or 2 more losses means missing the playoffs.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

If you occasionally took care to think more seriously about context, then you wouldn't constantly promulgate such bizarre assertions. Like so many of your ideas, your opinion of Wideman and Russell is badly skewed by the very small sample size you have selectively isolated.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Step down will be Frolik. Moving from a heavy team to a light team will be a big adjustment for him. Look for him to be more like Chicago Frolik than Winnipeg Frolik.

RGI strikes again.

Frolik's increased offensive production in Winnipeg couldn't have anything to do with his increased ice time, could it?

In Chicago:
2011–12 — 12:52 ATOI, 19.1 SPG
2012–13 — 12:31 ATOI, 18.1 SPG

In Winnipeg:
2013–14 — 16:40 ATOI, 22.1 SPG
2014–15 — 17:30 ATOI, 24.2 SPG

Frolik is not going to be limited to <13:00 ATOI in Calgary.

[foshizzle11]

Step forward will be Colborne. I just thought he seemed to get it at the end of the season last year and he is bigger after training hard this offseason.

Step back will be Russel. I just don't think he will get the same amount of playing time with Gio back and Hamilton added to the mix. He will continue to be solid when he does play.

I agree with a few people above that Brodie will be in the mix for the Norris trophy. Who knows, maybe we see a Hamilton/Brodie pairing before a Gio/Hamilton pairing. All I know is nothing at this point, I can only hope and pray that our top 6 dmen stay healthy.