[GDT] Coyotes at Flames on TSN! - 7 pm MDT

[Dienasty]

1) everyone chill on baertschi.... Do you realize the concept of small sample size? If on his dominant shift he scored or someone else finished we would all be singing his praises. The flashes of brilliance is still there, he only played 13 min because he is assured of a spot and they were trying to give bubble guys ice time. Remember how high everyone was on granlund at the prospects tourney? Where is he now? Exactly because that tournament means ####.

Berra, not sure how you blame him for goals 1 and 2. 3 was stajans fault in my opinion he could have realized both forwards were in the corner and just let Berra make an easy save.

[Henry Fool]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Baertschi will not going to improve playing in the AHL anymore. He needs to play in the NHL. Right now I think he is lacking confidence. Afraid to make mistake instead of just playing. Part of it was the media and fans in Calgary's expectation on him. A lot are thinking he will be the next face of Calgary Flames. The guy hasn't played a full season in Calgary and usually young guys even a skilled one had a hard time adapting to NHL right away. Steve Stamkos was not that great on his first season but he turned out to be one of the best in the NHL. So, if Baertschi gain his confidence back, he will be a good player. Regular season hasn't started yet.

Not sure why you quote me.

EDIT So, to clarify, I'm preaching patience with him, in several posts just tonight, but at the same time and for the same reason he shouldn't get a free ride when he isn't playing as hard as other young forwards.

[Savvy27]

Stajan - relatively sloppy game from him, several blatant giveaways and got killed in the dot.

Jones - barely noticed him other than his adventures around the net... but at least he is there.

Glencross - one of his quiet games, have seen it before and will certainly see it again.

Stempniak - pretty ineffective out there tonight.

Backlund - moves the puck forward, gains the zone, and generates some offence. He was working but not accomplishing too much.

Knight - pretty solid game until the weak D-zone play in OT. Used his size better than I had seen him do in the previous games. Looks more comfortable and I would say he is right in the mix.

Baertschi - had a Hudler-esque game tonight where you don't notice him doing much of anything until he strips the puck off of somebody or he makes a pass that generates a chance. He wasn't dominant or even above average, but he is also not playing with the type of players that suit his game. I maintain my high hopes for a good season out of him.

Monahan - if I am making cuts then he would be on the team. Good on draws, makes smart plays and the puck is either around him or around the opposing teams net when he gets on the ice. Very good player.

Street - won some board battles and showed some good speed. I would demote him though because I don't think he brings anything that the team doesn't have in another player.

Bouma - makes things happen. Wins board battles and gets his nose dirty in the slot and the other hard areas. He must have a spot locked up by now.

Jackman - sort of like Street in that he isn't awful but he's not more effective than anyone else and he's taking up a spot that should be going to a younger guy. Good on him for the fight though, the team picked up their play after that.

O'Brien - pretty shaky back there. He made a good pinch on one of the goals and some good breakout passes, but in the D-zone he is having an adventure on most shifts.

Butler - another one of those veterans who wasn't obviously bad, but isn't doing much to show why they deserve the spot over anyone else. I prefer Smith.

Giordano - probably Calgary's best D on the night. He was skating well and playing physical while also making a few plays in the offensive zone.

Brodie - was skating well, but I thought he struggled on the defensive cycle (credit to Phoenix, that is their strength). Brutal giveaway that could have cost the game.

Wideman - no gaffes and no great offensive plays, very quiet night for him.

Russell - can't really remember much of him tonight.

Berra - Huge save on that breakaway and had a few other good moments. However, while the goals weren't awful, he had a chance on all of them. Phoenix also basically stopped trying to score after they put in goal 2, so he wasn't being tested for a large portion of the game.

Phoenix - I hate them. They are so boring. They went to a 1-4 forecheck in the first goddamn period.

[jeffman]

I think Baerschi is,like many highly skilled players in the league, very streaky, not that it's a bad thing. Good thing we have multiple offensive blue chip prospects that will be able tochip in like Monahan, Janko, Pourier and Gadreau.

[djsFlames]

Oh yeah. Next season will be very very exciting, despite still being very much in the rebuild, and for one specific reason..

Gaudreau.

We'll finally get to watch the most skilled player in the organization work his magic at the top level. Don't get me wrong, Sven, Monahan and eventually Poirier and Klimchuk will be fun, but this kid excites me on a different level.

[stemit14]

I have every confidence in baertschi... I think he'll have a great year. Watching the game tonight, it was obvious that the coaches were playing the guys that are on the bubble in more situations than guys that have spots locked. Knight and street and Monahan got more time on the powerplays than glencross, baertschi, stajan, and stempniak. O'brian and butler were playing the penalty kill more than giordano.

They've been playing baertschi with guys like knight and bouma instead of guys like backlund and stempniak. While I don't agree with it, i think its to see if those guys have enough skill to keep up with other skilled players. I imagine the thinking is that if they put knight, bouma, and street all on the same line and the line struggled, it's harder to tell who is struggling on the line with all 3 of them being rookies. Instead, they mix them in with skilled guys like baertschi and backlund to see if they can keep up.

I would rather the preseason be used to develop line chemistry but I know it's a rebuild year so players need to be evaluated. People shouldn't worry about baertschi... He creates offense even on nights like tonight... He just needs to play with guys who can finish off those chances. That's why I hope he plays with backlund and either cammalleri or hudler.

[Goodlad]

My (possibly drunken) take on tonights game:

Baertschi: I don't know why he's getting so much flack from the fanbase right now. He looked very good tonight. Setup several good scoring chances, and had several good plays defensively. I'm not sure what everyone is expecting from him at this point, but he's looked very solid to me.

Monahan: Definitely looks like an NHL'er. Solid in the dot, very good defensively, and always seems to be where the puck ends up. I've been a big proponent of preserving ELC years, but the kid imo has clearly played his way onto the team. At this point I wouldn't view it as "trying to sell the fanbase on the future" if he made the cut. He deserves to be here.

Knight: Probably his best prep-season game so far. Very solid defensively, good in the dot, and scoring the goal doesn't hurt either. This is the first game where I really felt he didn't look out of place.

Galiardi: He doesn't look out of place as a center, but he was horrible in face-offs (from what I saw, haven't looked at actual stats yet). I like his compete level, but I'm really not confident with this experiment anymore.

D. Jones: Meh. I liked him trying to throw Smith off his game, but besides those incidents he was completely unnoticeable.

Brodie: It's weird to think about him as an offensive-defenseman at this point. He has taken leaps and bounds defensively. Looks very solid out there in his own end (besides the weird fumbled play that led to a breakaway.) His puck handling and skating are obviously at a very high level, but it still doesn't seem to translate to much offense. Hopefully that improves this season.

Berra: He seems to be pretty good at making the first save and rebound control. I think he is still adjusting to how fast that second/third shot can come at the NHL level though. There were a few times where he made a good save, then slowly made his way back to position only to realize another shot was coming. I think he would benefit from being the starter for Abbotsford for a bit before jumping back up to the Flames.

Street: I hate to say it, but I really don't think he's an NHL player. I like his compete level, but there were way too many instances of him being muscled off the puck. He was horrible along the boards all night long, and seemed to always be a step behind his line mates. There are just too many players that should beat him out of a roster spot at this point.

Misc: Our powerplay was horrible. I know we're missing Cammy and Hudler (who should hopefully contribute a lot on the PP), but it was beyond ineffective.

Butler/O'Brien is a scary, scary pairing. I'm by no means a Butler basher, but there were a lot of instances where I saw a bad decision/play and waited to see who it was and saw 44 on the back of the jersey. One positive I noted was Butler's physicality picking up where it left off at the end of the season. I think playing with O'Brien should at least make him a bit harder to play against.

Glencross/Stajan/Stempniak: It's going to be a long season with this as our top line. They played well, but seemed to mostly be in a shut-down role tonight. Some good flashes, but Phoenix isn't really a great test to see how effective they are in either a shut-down or offensive role. I really think they're all going to struggle this season being exposed to top defensive pairings, but maybe that's just me.

Anyways, good game, good effort, going to be a long season.

[dino7c]

I am actually pretty pleased with how the team has played the pre-season...they haven't looked like a team that will get run out of the building

[FlameZilla]

The beauty about having Monahan on the team is that he's so good on faceoffs (64% tonight) that he'll be incredibly valuable as a 3rd line centre. He should be able to adjust to the NHL easily enough & gradually work his way up the depth chart. So glad he fell to #6 in the draft...

[Karl]

Originally Posted by Goodlad

My (possibly drunken) take on tonights game:

Baertschi: I don't know why he's getting so much flack from the fanbase right now. He looked very good tonight. Setup several good scoring chances, and had several good plays defensively. I'm not sure what everyone is expecting from him at this point, but he's looked very solid to me.

Monahan: Definitely looks like an NHL'er. Solid in the dot, very good defensively, and always seems to be where the puck ends up. I've been a big proponent of preserving ELC years, but the kid imo has clearly played his way onto the team. At this point I wouldn't view it as "trying to sell the fanbase on the future" if he made the cut. He deserves to be here.

Knight: Probably his best prep-season game so far. Very solid defensively, good in the dot, and scoring the goal doesn't hurt either. This is the first game where I really felt he didn't look out of place.

Galiardi: He doesn't look out of place as a center, but he was horrible in face-offs (from what I saw, haven't looked at actual stats yet). I like his compete level, but I'm really not confident with this experiment anymore.

D. Jones: Meh. I liked him trying to throw Smith off his game, but besides those incidents he was completely unnoticeable.

Brodie: It's weird to think about him as an offensive-defenseman at this point. He has taken leaps and bounds defensively. Looks very solid out there in his own end (besides the weird fumbled play that led to a breakaway.) His puck handling and skating are obviously at a very high level, but it still doesn't seem to translate to much offense. Hopefully that improves this season.

Berra: He seems to be pretty good at making the first save and rebound control. I think he is still adjusting to how fast that second/third shot can come at the NHL level though. There were a few times where he made a good save, then slowly made his way back to position only to realize another shot was coming. I think he would benefit from being the starter for Abbotsford for a bit before jumping back up to the Flames.

Street: I hate to say it, but I really don't think he's an NHL player. I like his compete level, but there were way too many instances of him being muscled off the puck. He was horrible along the boards all night long, and seemed to always be a step behind his line mates. There are just too many players that should beat him out of a roster spot at this point.

Misc: Our powerplay was horrible. I know we're missing Cammy and Hudler (who should hopefully contribute a lot on the PP), but it was beyond ineffective.

Butler/O'Brien is a scary, scary pairing. I'm by no means a Butler basher, but there were a lot of instances where I saw a bad decision/play and waited to see who it was and saw 44 on the back of the jersey. One positive I noted was Butler's physicality picking up where it left off at the end of the season. I think playing with O'Brien should at least make him a bit harder to play against.

Glencross/Stajan/Stempniak: It's going to be a long season with this as our top line. They played well, but seemed to mostly be in a shut-down role tonight. Some good flashes, but Phoenix isn't really a great test to see how effective they are in either a shut-down or offensive role. I really think they're all going to struggle this season being exposed to top defensive pairings, but maybe that's just me.

Anyways, good game, good effort, going to be a long season.

I concur with most of this but I don't think that Glencross, Stajan or Stempniak played well at all tonight.

Glencross & Stajan were flat out awesome against the Rags and Stempy was pretty good in that game too, but none of them were very good in this game overall. They did have a few good moments, but were all generally somewhat lacklustre against the Yotes.

[zukes]

I really don't know why so many want to rush Monahan to the NHL. It's not like he is going to tear it up in the NHL this year. He may not even be in the running for rookie of the year. Sure he has fit in and looked good on face-offs but is that worth burning a year of his rookie deal when in all liklihood the Flames won't even be sniffing around the playoff race?

Instead he can go to Ottawa, dominate, then go to the highest bidder of the OHL contenders, you can bet that the Memorial Cup hosts will be in on him. There were rumours last year that the Knights were trying to get him. Either way, he'd get a long OHL season with a contender, and if the Knights do get him, he's guaranteed to:

a) play with other likely NHL'ers (Domi, Horvat, Maatta, Zadorov etc)

b) play a 90 game season

c) play for the Memorial Cup

[Henry Fool]

I'm not as in love with Monahan's performance as some, but I figure the team could actually use him in the middle. Provided that he doesn't run into any trouble when games get tougher.

At the same time, the fact that he's good enough to play isn't necessarily reason enough to keep him around. Guys that are good enough are being sent back to junior all over the league at the moment. If the team needs what he brings, keep him with the Flames.

[FBI]

It also doesn't send a good message to our youth if he plays really well to make it, the coaches and gm really talk him up and then they send him down.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by FBI

It also doesn't send a good message to our youth if he plays really well to make it, the coaches and gm really talk him up and then they send him down.

Lets wait and see how he performs when the games count in the standings. I recall a few years ago Mark Scheifele tore up the league in preseason and then was invisible in 7 regular season games before getting sent back down. I like how the Jets haven't rushed him as his game has progressed playing in junior. I trust that Feaster, Burke, Weisbrod, Hartley, etc will make the right call here and if they send him down it's for the best in their minds and if they keep him up I assume they will ensure that he plays and doesn't waste a season playing <10 minutes a night or in the pressbox.

[zukes]

Originally Posted by FBI

It also doesn't send a good message to our youth if he plays really well to make it, the coaches and gm really talk him up and then they send him down.

To me, when a junior aged kid makes the club, he should be ready to play in his projected role. Right now, people seem to be saying that Monahan would be the 3rd centre, traditionally that is a checking role. Monahan, while projected to be decent to good defensively, is an offensive player, a top 6 forward. If he is not ready to be a top 6, let him go dominate the OHL, play the WJC, play in the playoffs/potentially the Memorial Cup and have him ready for next year.

There is no rush.

[zukes]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Lets wait and see how he performs when the games count in the standings. I recall a few years ago Mark Scheifele tore up the league in preseason and then was invisible in 7 regular season games before getting sent back down. I like how the Jets haven't rushed him as his game has progressed playing in junior. I trust that Feaster, Burke, Weisbrod, Hartley, etc will make the right call here and if they send him down it's for the best in their minds and if they keep him up I assume they will ensure that he plays and doesn't waste a season playing <10 minutes a night or in the pressbox.

Scheiffle was an absolute beast last year for Barrie too. In the OHL final, playing very hurt, he was by far the best player on the ice. If he had been able to go in either Game 6 or Game 7, it would have been Barrie and not London at the Memorial Cup last year. He was that good.

That could be Monahan this year. It certainly didn't hurt Scheiffle's development.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by zukes

To me, when a junior aged kid makes the club, he should be ready to play in his projected role. Right now, people seem to be saying that Monahan would be the 3rd centre, traditionally that is a checking role. Monahan, while projected to be decent to good defensively, is an offensive player, a top 6 forward. If he is not ready to be a top 6, let him go dominate the OHL, play the WJC, play in the playoffs/potentially the Memorial Cup and have him ready for next year.

There is no rush.

Other factor the Flames look at is the OHL club he potentially could be returned to, problem is the club was not very good.

WJC would be great.

[red sky]

Pretty sloppy game over all. I truely dislike watching the Coyotes play.

Bouma really picked it up in the third. Definitely solidified his spot with the team.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by HOWITZER

Biggest takeaway from the game is that Berra has some work to do on his blocker/stick side. 2 goals there he had to have, and got beat in the same place on both.

I can see blaming him on the OT goal... but the 2nd goal was a wide open guy ripping a shot from the slot in a perfect location. Not realistic to expect a goalie to make that save.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Savvy27

Berra - Huge save on that breakaway and had a few other good moments. However, while the goals weren't awful, he had a chance on all of them. Phoenix also basically stopped trying to score after they put in goal 2, so he wasn't being tested for a large portion of the game.

Berra was decent last night, but that second goal was beyond awful. He went for a skate out of the crease for some reason, which caused the entire team to collapse around an otherwise empty net. Left all of Phoenix's shooters wide open.

His puck handling needs a lot of work as well.