Kevin Rooney: the Flames' Barclay Goodrow?

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

Aside from never being any good anywhere he’s ever played, yeah totally. If Rooney contributes 20 points and ends up with a positive relative goals for % then a parade should be thrown for whoever scouted him.

Even this pre-season he’s been mostly bad in the 3 games I’ve watched. Even last night he was terrible in the first, and then played adequate hockey for two periods and got credit for an assist because Martin Jones isn’t an NHL goalie. He has been noticeably strong on the PK at least which is a positive at least.

But whining doesn’t change anything, he’s here for the rest of the competitive window here so I hope he’s awesome and about to have a later career breakout.

Not sure what you have been watching he has been one of the Flames best players...every single media member seems to agree and the coaching staff and GM does too

He is partially responsible for 4 of the last 5 Flames goals

Setup Dube goal in Edmonton with the forecheck
He was so bad in the first he caused the turnover that led to the Tanev goal

Drew the penalty for Stones goal
And a nice assist on the Hanifin goal

About that bias

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Sutter loves him because he's gritty.

No, this is Gritty.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Groot

Huberdeau - Lindholm - Toffoli
Mangiapane - Kadri - Dube
Rooney - Backlund - Coleman
Lucic - Ruzicka - Zohorna
Lewis

Swap Rooney/Zahorma as needed. Ruzicka and Lewis both take times as the 13th forward.

Probably correct.

But so disappointing to see Ruzicka as the only prospect making the big jump...

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

No, this is Gritty.

Imagine Gritty on a line with Klapka and Zohorna. Flyers should have traded him to us and then they would have had the cap room to sign Gaudreau.

[activeStick]

Nm

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Hmmmm. I'll pass along the concerns. Are you on mobile? We're still working out the kinks from our site redesign

It's not a bad idea going for a similar look to online newspapers. I'm just very accustomed to the blog format being a 'feed' type of web page layout.

[bax]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Pretty sure I'm the "someone" in your initial post but I think there were two things that Rooney's play really sparked in my mind last night.

1) The Goodrow-Gourde-Coleman line.

I remember being flabbergasted when Tampa gave up the picks they did to get Goodrow. This was a guy who had never scored more than 8 goals or 24 points in a season, didn't have amazing underlying stats, and they gave up a 1st and a prospect for him.

Rooney is a similar size to Goodrow, has similar career stats now to what Goodrow had when he moved from San Jose to Tampa, and think the could fill similar roles on a defensive shutdown line.

2) Garnet Hathaway

I think a big part of this was just the number 21, because I don't see Rooney being as physical or agitating as Hathaway but in terms of size and how they moved around the ice they looked really similar. Looking at the numbers and he throws about half the hits that Hathaway does (7.71 hits per 60, vs 15.24 hits per 60) but he's still somewhat physical (hit rate similar to Bennett, and Goodrow)

Hathaway really developed into a great role player and if Rooney can replicate that then he's a good fit on that line with Backlund and Coleman.

I'd be intrigued to see what he does with better linemates and more minutes this year too...his career shooting percentage of 10.2% is actually very strong for a bottom 6 foward. If he could generate more volume he could pop a bit.



They played 67 minutes together over their two seasons together in New Jersey, so they "played together" and would know one another but it's not like they were frequent linemates.

Sure, they gave up a first and prospect for Goodrow.

But the prospect was a 25 year old undrafted player- basically just a contract.

And Goodrow came with a 3rd round pick.

They basically got Goodrow for moving down 50 ish spots in the draft. The trade was never lopsided to begin with.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Exactly - they weren't slow, aggregately, but they weren't a team of burners either, by any stretch. They simply played a fast, uptempo game.

Let's compare this team to last year, for actual speed: in / out (my speed rating in brackets)..

Weegar (7) / Gudranson (6) Guds wasn't slow, but Weegar is more mobile

What the #### are you smoking? Are you doing the edibles now instead? seriously. Putting Weegar one point ahead of Gudbranson for speed is insane. At best, Gudbranson is a 4 and Weegar is an 8.

I respect you, but that rating is a real WTF moment.

[dino7c]

Yeah Gudbranson is ridiculously slow

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

What the #### are you smoking? Are you doing the edibles now instead? seriously. Putting Weegar one point ahead of Gudbranson for speed is insane. At best, Gudbranson is a 4 and Weegar is an 8.

I respect you, but that rating is a real WTF moment.

I always thought Gudbranson was under-rated with respect to his speed. Probably because he was big. Wasn't a bad skater though, IMO.

But yeah, I was probably kind to him. I was also trying not to be a homer about it.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by blankall

Probably correct.

But so disappointing to see Ruzicka as the only prospect making the big jump...

Coaches and management probably are too. But everyone got a chance and like Sutter said. No one grabbed the ring.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Groot

Huberdeau - Lindholm - Toffoli
Mangiapane - Kadri - Dube
Rooney - Backlund - Coleman
Lucic - Ruzicka - Zohorna
Lewis

Swap Rooney/Zahorma as needed. Ruzicka and Lewis both take times as the 13th forward.

Add in Ritchie and I think that’s the 14 forwards. Eakin may bump Ruzicka.

They must not have been happy with a lot of people if they picked up Zohorna on waivers.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by blankall

Probably correct.



But so disappointing to see Ruzicka as the only prospect making the big jump...

This should not he disappointing. If the team is graduating a prospect out of training camp each season, that's good. If they are graduating more, that is incredible.

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[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Well written article Scorp ... really flowed well.

Dying to know what the line rushes are like tomorrow morning (if they have them). Does Zohorna get a look with the top four lines? Do they stick with the top nine from last night?

Would have to think the Dube experiment in the top six was considered a success.

I would like to echo this. I find well-written, smoothly flowing articles to be a bit of a lost art these days, but yours was like reading something from 30 year ago. Gotta say - it's pretty cool watching your career and passion blossom in real time.

Anyway, really looking forward to seeing Zohorna tonight, as I have never seen him play and know nothing about him. Could he be a missing piece that finishes the puzzle? And where does he play? I am assuming with Backs, or on the 4th line, but could be anywhere.

I have to say, I love Looch and what he brings to the room/bench, but I would really like to see a younger, faster 4th line. Something like Zohorna - Rooney - Ritchie, or maybe get Ruzicka in there

[Textcritic]

Speaking of tonight's game, what time do the players skate today?

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[shutout]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

I'd think that they brought is zohorna to play. Also having ruzicka there to smooth over any translation issues should really help. I'm counting on Lewis being a pros pro and ok being the 13th forward.

Lucic-ruzicka-zohorna is a massive and scary line, with some real offensive skill hiding there, as well.

Based on the age and mileage of both Lewis and Lucic I could see both of them only playing 60 games each. Subbing out for each other with Ruzicka and Zohorna playing more often if Rooney sticks on the third line.

Fourth line - 3 players x 82 games = 246 games
Lucic and Lewis each play 60 means means that Ruzicka and Zohorna get 63 games each. Solid way of spreading the minutes through the year and keeping the older guys a little more fresh for playoffs.

[Reggie Dunlop]

wrong thread