What are people's thoughts on converting Brodie to RW on the PP?
Edit: Or even full time...
I wouldn't really consider it because we need a shooting option there. I love Brodie as a passer but his shot leaves something to be desired and if you have Gaudreau on one wing and Brodie on the other, you don't leave yourself with too many options to actually get shots on the net.
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"You must study hard, not just hockey all the time"
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1. Didn't realize that Ward was still under contract with the Devils, and the Flames had to lure him away because the Devils would have been happy to keep him.
2. Nice to hear that Huska's name was also out there as being wanted by other clubs. Of course this amazes me because if you listen to the ranting around here sometimes you'd think he was a useless bum because he doesn't win AHL championships despite having a development first mantra and a young inexperienced team.
Good to know that at the very least these guys were sought after coaches and not just cast offs.
Still, show me the results on the ice please. Until I see that, I refuse to get overly optimistic.
From reading and listening to all that I could today, they are saying everything that I wanted to hear.
1) Fast transition - need to play fast.
2) Active D
3) Fixing the PP
4) Need to make a goalie move
I was getting ready for just one or two off this list, but it completely satisfies what I was looking for to a T.
My bold prediction - Brodie and Bennett respond very favorably under this new coaching regime.
If they end up instituting what they say they will, this Flames team will actually be a really fun group to watch again. I am also thinking that they are not going to be 'moving the needle' too much from Gulutzan. Gulutzan got this team to play a strong puck-possession game, but the above 4 points killed this team (IMO), plus his lack of in-game adjustments. Flames just need to continue with the bulk of that system, but make it much more dynamic, and with a stronger PP to back it up.
I felt like screaming over and over in Gulutzan's face last season that this team needs the defence to play aggressively since they can actually skate well as a group and have offensive dimensions to their game. I felt like screaming at him because I saw them play a style that was more beneficial to an old, aging team being kept together for one last kick at the can with their slow transitions. I hated how passive they were defensively - little change from Hartley's system, other than not blocking shots.
It sounds like the Flames are going to play a heck of a lot more interesting this season, and I bet they see a tonne more success. I see some people questioning the speed of this team, but I think people just got used to seeing a slow system being deployed. This team can skate with the best of them. They may not have a Grabner or something, but as a unit, this team can skate very well, and with the defence helping the transition, they can be absolutely lethal on the transition. It was Gulutzan's downfall for not seeing the strengths of this team.
Hartley was very good at getting this team motivated and playing better than the sum of their parts, shelf life be damned. Gulutzan was not - this team was always disjointed and seemed to always fall short of expectations. Hopefully this staff gets this team to play to expectations - heck, if they get them to exceed expectations, that could translate into a long cup run.
Feeling a lot more positive now than 1 month ago, that's for sure. Everything I was looking for in terms of changes was spoken to today. Make it happen.
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From reading and listening to all that I could today, they are saying everything that I wanted to hear.
1) Fast transition - need to play fast.
2) Active D
3) Fixing the PP
4) Need to make a goalie move
I was getting ready for just one or two off this list, but it completely satisfies what I was looking for to a T.
My bold prediction - Brodie and Bennett respond very favorably under this new coaching regime.
If they end up instituting what they say they will, this Flames team will actually be a really fun group to watch again.
If all those things happen (the four points + Brodie/Bennett having strong seasons) there's no reason this team isn't among the best in the West if not right at the top.
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"May those who accept their fate find happiness. May those who defy it find glory."
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Assuming the inputs to be average, when most of the inputs are AHL-level goaltending prospects, is not better than no analysis at all. It's worse.
With sufficient sample size, inputs regress to the mean. We don't need to look at inputs to know that Edmonton is no good. A goalie coach whose goalies put up good numbers is likely to be better than one whose goalies do the opposite, even if we don't know who their goalies are; it's just not as likely as a goalie coach who improves his goalies being better than one who makes them worse.
This Geoff Ward hire may be better than the Peters hire. Seems like a rock solid fail safe option in the event that Peters gets fired two seasons from now.
__________________ "Everybody's so desperate to look smart that nobody is having fun anymore" -Jackie Redmond
I thought it was funny when Rob Kerr asked Peters what the difference was between an Associate Coach (Ward) and an Assistant (Huska), and he just said that the Associate gets paid more.
Also, based on the Treliving interview, the fact that Ward was hired as an Associate is what opened the door for them to be able to snag him away from the Devils even though he was still under contract for another season there.
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Turn up the good, turn down the suck!
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It’s incredibly rare but not impossible. Wendel Clark was drafted as a D man. Markov was a C.
Umm, unless that draft was the midget draft, that can’t be correct. Clark was a winger from the get go - including junior. Don’t know about Markov.
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From HFBoard oiler fan, in analyzing MacT's management:
O.K. there has been a lot of talk on whether or not MacTavish has actually done a good job for us, most fans on this board are very basic in their analysis and I feel would change their opinion entirely if the team was successful.
My #1 favourite comment from Treliving was when he talked about how Marchand raved about how important Ward was for his development. I’m hoping Ward helps Bennett. Bennett needs a sports psychologist more than anything, but I’m hoping Ward does more for him than Cameron appeared to do.
