Defensive pairings, how should we feel.

[Stay Golden]

Remember how horrible the pairing of Gio with Wideman went last year and then common sense put Gio and Brodie together again. That was tried the year prior too with Wideman being exposed. Now Gulutzan is trying same??? Doesn't seem like a great idea puting slow footed Wideman on top line minutes.
Also I heard this absurd rumor that Grossman is starting over Jokipakka that has to be a joke right!

[Leeman4Gilmour]

It could be just because they're on the road. It would suck having McLellan being able to get McDavid on the ice with Wideman/Grossman or Kevin/Wideman or Kevin/Grossman.

Edit; or add Engelland in that mix.

[MoreDrank]

@WesGilbertson
#Flames defence pairings:
Giordano-Wideman
Brodie-Engelland
Grossmann-Hamilton
Jokipakka-Kulak

This is going to go well. It's like how pro chefs always mix in a bunch of stale and rotten ingredients that shouldn't be in the kitchen anymore into the fresh and better stuff.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

I don't think that Hamilton, as talented as he is, is easy to play with

It does seem that way. I wonder if these pairings are a way to shield Hamilton and keep him away from tough opposition. Give him some time to learn the system and work on his d-zone play, which has a lot of room for improvement.

[AcGold]

I think I figured it out; in previous interviews, from before Gulutzan was coach, he said he will force a player back onto the ice when he feels they are drastically underperforming. If I remember correctly the example he used was Benn.

Wideman had a great season not too long ago. Had a slow season last year and then his confidence tanked with the referee situation. Gulutzan is giving Wideman the trials by fire treatment. He isn't giving Wideman first line because he's doing so well. He's getting first line minutes because Gulutzan thinks he's closer to a 56 point dman than the disaster he was last season.

[Parallex]

After game 1, the answer to how should we feel pretty clearly should be "not good... not good at all".

[JurassicTunga12]

[Robo]

I feel pissed off about them

[robbie111]

How long does Gulutzan stick with these pairings.

Intuition tells me till they lose 10 in a row.

All I needed to know about Gulutzan's hockey IQ was confirmed with the choice of Grossman in the opening day lineup (when Kevin and Kulak were sitting out).

[calgaryblood]

The worst part was we were down by two with about 5 minutes left and Grossman was still seeing the ice.

Wouldn't it make more sense to shorten your bench and put Gio and Brodie or Hamilton out there together?

[united]

Well that went exactly as everyone expected it would with those pairings.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by united

Well that went exactly as everyone expected it would with those pairings.

Pretty much outplayed the Oilers badly despite terribly one sided officiating and awful goaltending.

Flames certainly weren't perfect, but it's the first game of the season with a new coach/system and lots of new players.

I'd hardly blame the D pairs for the loss.

Maybe that's just me though.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Pretty much outplayed the Oilers badly despite terribly one sided officiating and awful goaltending.

Flames certainly weren't perfect, but it's the first game of the season with a new coach/system and lots of new players.

I'd hardly blame the D pairs for the loss.

Maybe that's just me though.

Were you watching the same game as me? We didn't badly outplay the Oilers at all. It wasn't a beat down but they outplayed us especially on the forecheck. Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett, Tkachuk all need to be way better.

Gaudreau looked the best of the bunch but that's not saying much. Bennett looked good on the pp late as well but didn't have a strong game but was also carrying Tkachuk on his back. Backlund Frolik and Stajan pretty much the only forwards to actually play a complete game.

Also what does Ferland add to this team? We don't play the Canucks 82 games a year.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I'd hardly blame the D pairs for the loss.

Maybe that's just me though.

What the ####.

[robbie111]

Including all our defensemen in the Nhl and Ahl and Echl where do you think Grossman slots at this present time?

My thoughts are he'd have a hard time making Stockton's roster.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by CMPunk

Never understood the reason to panic over practice lines and defensive pairings. The coach is just trying out some new things and if they don't work, things will get switched around.

People make it sound like these things are set in stone for the whole season.

Can we afford to try things out?

Can we afford to fall behind in the standings?

Those are the things that give me great worry. As we saw last season a slow start put us behind the eight ball season when it came to fighting for a playoff spot. You had pairing in the past that worked quite well such as Brodie and Gio. If you have something that is working them why mess with it?

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Were you watching the same game as me? We didn't badly outplay the Oilers at all. It wasn't a beat down but they outplayed us especially on the forecheck. Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett, Tkachuk all need to be way better.

Gaudreau looked the best of the bunch but that's not saying much. Bennett looked good on the pp late as well but didn't have a strong game but was also carrying Tkachuk on his back. Backlund Frolik and Stajan pretty much the only forwards to actually play a complete game.

Also what does Ferland add to this team? We don't play the Canucks 82 games a year.

Originally Posted by polak

What the ####.

I don't like the new D pairings, I'm just saying in my eyes there were bigger reasons for the loss tonight.

..and yes I think the Flames were the better team in this game after the first period by quite a bit.

Reffing was just terrible, and so was Elliot.

those are reasons #1 and #2 for the loss as far as I'm concerned.

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by united

Well that went exactly as everyone expected it would with those pairings.

Everyone but our Head Coach.

Sweet dreams.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Pretty much outplayed the Oilers badly despite terribly one sided officiating and awful goaltending.

Flames certainly weren't perfect, but it's the first game of the season with a new coach/system and lots of new players.

I'd hardly blame the D pairs for the loss.

Maybe that's just me though.

We had a good second period of domination and that's about it. The PK was great but the offence sputtered on 2 cylinders.

The d pairing were horrible as neither one seemed to know what the other was doing. Wideman had trouble keeping up with Gio. Grossman was too slow and was clearly responsible for the first 2 goals. They looked out of sync all night.

We didn't out play the Oilers but at times we did expose the Oilers defence for what it is and that is garbage. The 2 quick PK goals and the other times where we had their defence scrambling in their own end. They still don't have a PP or puck rushing D man.

Russell was probably their best D man and that says a lot about the Oilers and the rest of their defence corps.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Remember how horrible the pairing of Gio with Wideman went last year and then common sense put Gio and Brodie together again. That was tried the year prior too with Wideman being exposed. Now Gulutzan is trying same??? Doesn't seem like a great idea puting slow footed Wideman on top line minutes.

The problem is really just Wideman. There's no where you can play him.

You put Brodie with Gio, then you have to put Wideman with Hamilton or Engelland, which kills both guys.

You put Wideman with Brodie, and you kill Brodie's puck rushing and offense.

The best place for Wideman is the pressbox, but that's a $5.5 million cap hit.

Maybe the Flames should put him in the pressbox until he's willing to waive his NMC and go to Stockton and "audition" there for other teams for trade this year or another contract next year.