Simply the best regular season game I have watched in maybe a couple of years. Yeah, we beat Anaheim in Anaheim, which was absolutely huge, but this was a healthy Anaheim team.
Flames took it to them and completely destroyed them. They didn't have much of an answer for the Flames. Can anyone still say with a straight face that the Flames are a slow team? Flames are a fast team (and I have criticized the system for slowing things down too much). Gulutzan actually had a very good plan of attack for this game, and it worked flawlessly. Good job by him for setting such a good game plan, and good job by the players for executing it.
I saw the Ducks trying to push back, but not really. It wasn't until the refs gave them the confidence to do so that the Flames got a bit flustered. Flames don't quite have that swagger that Anaheim has yet where they can respond. They started crumbling with the pressure from Anaheim AND the refs (seriously, I am not one to complain about reffing, but that was an atrociously reffed game), but they managed to hold on.
Then they got their swagger back.
If anyone feels that Ferland isn't a top-line RW'er now, I don't know if I can trust anything else you write. There are a handful of players right now that are better than Ferland at that position. I can count them on one hand. He is doing great. Not only does he score, but he is defensively sound, has these wonderful hands to make subtle high-skill plays, and can also carry the puck over the blue line and get the attack set-up. He has boatloads of hockey sense. Plus, when given the opportunity, he will crush a guy along the boards, and he generally wins a heck of a lot more puck battles than he loses. He IS a first line player.
Good on Gulutzan for freaking out on those refs. He never does that. Good to see that when the refs were that bad, that he will do it. Also nice to see the Willis tweet about those officials.
Bennett is a monster. So good at everything, and getting better. He will be Calgary's most complete player who is capable of leading this team on the scoreboard or emotionally. Yeah, Doug Gilmour comparisons are apt, but he is going to be much like Iginla was for this team.
Jankowski is quickly gaining confidence and patience out there. That is going to be a deadly line for years to come.
I thought Gulutzan did a better job tonight at managing the bench. I got a bit of a chuckle when the entire 3rd line was in the penalty box, however.
You have to hate the Ducks. They always get the breaks it seems with the officiating (and video reviews - remember Getzlaf's goal where he slid the puck in the net with his hand, and it was called a goal?).
Last night reminded me of this beauty:
Great game all around. Nothing to criticize. Lots to really enjoy. Total playoff atmosphere. Loved seeing the Flames not only win, but stand-up against the Ducks physically, and get through the horrible officiating. It would have been easy - even excusable - to roll over and lose the game there. They didn't. They persevered, and got that beautiful goal with only 16 seconds left.
Hopefully this win propels them for the rest of the season. I really do think that this team has enough talent and size to be one of the elite teams in the league, but they have to mature as a team. A game like last night goes a long way in getting there.
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To me, that's still young as all of these players have room to improve parts of their game and gain more experience, so we'll agree to disagree. But when you end up your summarizing of the team with "I just know the wheels are going to come off at some point soon" it just shows me you're going to look at everything with the glass half empty.
They're playing well right now. Probably the best they have all year. And yet the game thread was a train-wreck last night and we still had a handful of very vocal posters last night pointing to us "almost blowing it" in this thread.
I just don't get it. If a fan can see them playing well, watch a good exciting game last night that showed a ton of grit and character and only come away with "well it's not going to last"... it's just puzzling to me.
Regarding the coach(ing), I never mentioned him once in the posts you've quoted, yet you've used it as a springboard to equate everything back to that twice now. It's another negative narrative that's seeing the drum be worn out from all the repetitive beating.
Perhaps, but Flames had stretches of really good play both last and this year. And just when you (I) get excited, they have an awful stretch of games. Rinse and repeat. After a while, you get a sense of what is going to happen. That's what I meant. I hope it's not the case this time.
As for the second bold, I know you didn't mention coaching and perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned it in the context of this discussion, but I was just elaborating my opinion of the coach. It's not like i dislike GG for no apparent. reason.
No kidding. When he is playing Calgary, Getzlaf is the best player in the league, and it isn't close.
His confidence level, and his ability to control the game against us is nothing short of phenomenal.
Backlund can't handle him. And until the Flames find someone who can, or he retires, our struggles with the Ducks will continue.
Yeah Flames have never had an answer for him or Perry to a lesser degree who is now clearly on the decline and not as much of a factor as he used to be. Once Getzlaf declines I feel the Flames will finally be able to at least square up with this team on a regular basis as for too long the ice has been tilted in their favor.
I thought at the end of the fight, both players kind of pushed each other away and it looked Manson was going to clock Bennett in the face suddenly. Kudos to Manson for showing restraint. Great fight though.
I will say as I am a critic of the coaching staff, the PP did FINALLY make an entry adjustment for the final PP of the game.
Not sure if anyone else noticed, but the Ducks were lining up 4 at their blueline waiting for the drop pass player to try to enter. On the final PP, the Flames just dumped it to the opposite corner, and had 2 Flames to retrieve it as no Ducks were there... caught them completely by surprise, and got a very easy zone entry.
Hopefully we see more little adjustments like that through the season.
Yeah Flames have never had an answer for him or Perry to a lesser degree who is now clearly on the decline and not as much of a factor as he used to be. Once Getzlaf declines I feel the Flames will finally be able to at least square up with this team on a regular basis as for too long the ice has been tilted in their favor.
I see no reason why this does not occur sooner if not imminently. The Flames are 2-1 on the season with one more home game, and have at worst evenly matched the Ducks in those games. On Saturday, the Flames were dominant.
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I see no reason why this does not occur sooner if not imminently. The Flames are 2-1 on the season with one more home game, and have at worst evenly matched the Ducks in those games. On Saturday, the Flames were dominant.
Well sure but until it happens it hasn't happened. They had a season under Hartley when they at least won the home games to split but they were swept by them last spring and despite dominating them Saturday they needed a last second goal to pull out a regulation win. They finally won in Anaheim this season which is the start but I will need to see more than this sample size to believe they are over that hump.