October 13th Practice

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by JerryUnderscore

Suggesting that Ferland or Bouma were scared of the Oilers thugs is just rubbish.

Terrible idea.

Yeah. Why be scared of Lucic? He's never been that great of a hockey fighter, just uses his size to his advantage. Last night Engelland popped him in the face twice off the start and Lucic ran out of breath and just held Engelland's sleeves until it was over. Not much of a deterrent. Which made it extra annoying when the intermission panel was just "Omg, Lucic fought for McDavid. Will he always have to fight for McDavid? McDavid McDavid McDavid, Rogers, McDavid"

[puckedoff]

I hope they practiced not doing drop passes

[St. Pats]

I think they should rotate that fourth line all year long. These are the type of players that should be playing with top energy every single time they hit the ice. Can't sustain it? You mean they can't sustain the few minutes of ice they see per night? Then sub them out the minute they don't provide what's needed. See who wants it the most.

[christoph186]

Originally Posted by Dan403

If Ferkland isn't HITTING, Ferkland should be SITTING.

If the glove fits?

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Seems pretty stoked for a guy who can't hold an NHL job

That's kind of a catty way to put it seeing as almost zero NHL coaches can hold a job. The term "hired to be fired" didn't come from nothing.

[868904]

Originally Posted by MBates

I'm all for criticizing performance but this is just making things up. Do you have examples where either Ferland or Bouma have ever, out of fear, refused to answer the call against, well, anyone?

A former truculent player now amateur scout suggested to me this summer that Ferland has the hardest punch in the NHL...he just doesn't realize it. A pretty difficult to assess claim I will admit, but he's basing that on actual experience...you appear to be relying on observing a poor effort in a game filled with poor play.

I think I've seen Bouma dive to block slapshots with his face...if anything he is not scared enough out there sometimes.

Not sure what you are supposedly basing this on.

Hey look, Ferland became my favourite prospect about 48 hours after the Flames drafted him. That was after I started googling all his fights. I know all about his ability to knock people out, even guys much bigger than him.

He was my favourite prospect and he is still my favourite player because of that potential, but it is because I followed him religously during his junior career and saw him terrorize the WHL, which is why I don't understand why he doesn't assert himself in the NHL.

A big rivalry game like Game 1 of the battle of Alberta and you have Lucic and Kassian asserting themselves physically, and we see nothing from Ferland. He and Bouma were both shown up by a 19 year old Tkachuck in terms of sticking up for the logo.

I just don't understand what it is with Ferland. He has so much potential both skill wise and also from the physical standpoint. He should be one of the most feared guys in the NHL, yet, you just don't see him going out there and asserting himself.

For a guy with his fighting ability, he has a really pathetic fight card in the NHL with names like Dorset, Sbisa, Lipon, JT Miller, Corey Tropp, Joe Labate?. None of these guys pose a threat to him.

I still don't understand why he did not force a fight with Bieksa last year after that sucker punched he took from him. I really can't understand it. I thought for sure he was going to get retribution for that cheap shot, but he barely even looked at Bieksa last year. Now maybe, the two of them hashed things out in the summer and are now buddies. I don't know, but again, I just want to see more out of him. And when I see teams rough the Flames up, and he does nothing, that bothers me, because I know he's capable of being so much more.

You are right, I have nothing to base what I said on, but I'm just really confused as to why he doesn't fight more, why he doesn't assert himself. It's almost like he needs to be prodded all the time. Maybe he's not scared of fighting these guys, maybe he's actually scared of hurting them after all the knockouts he had in junior. I don't know, I just wish he would realize his potential. I had hoped he would turn into the next Gary Roberts for this franchise, but right now, he's looking more like Rene Bourque. He really has to take that next step, cause I don't know how long management will wait for him and I'd hate to see him realize his potential with another team.

To answer your question, no I haven't seen or heard Ferland or Bouma refuse a fight, but I also haven't seen them go out and force a fight when it is warranted. Ferland should have tuned Bieksa out last year after the playoff sucker punch. Bouma also owes Kassian a beating from a sucker punch he took from him years ago. I have no evidence that either Ferland or Bouma turned down a fight from these two, but I know neither of them have really forced the issue with them, and it should be them who forces it as they were the ones who were sucker punched.

[Zarley]

I know that Grossman is destined to be the new whipping boy here, but Wideman, Giordano, and even Brodie made equally horrendous plays on Wednesday night. Disregarding the awful pass that led to Edmonton's first goal, I liked the physicality that he brought for the remainder of the game.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by 868904

Hey look, Ferland became my favourite prospect about 48 hours after the Flames drafted him. That was after I started googling all his fights. I know all about his ability to knock people out, even guys much bigger than him.



He was my favourite prospect and he is still my favourite player because of that potential, but it is because I followed him religously during his junior career and saw him terrorize the WHL, which is why I don't understand why he doesn't assert himself in the NHL.



A big rivalry game like Game 1 of the battle of Alberta and you have Lucic and Kassian asserting themselves physically, and we see nothing from Ferland. He and Bouma were both shown up by a 19 year old Tkachuck in terms of sticking up for the logo.



I just don't understand what it is with Ferland. He has so much potential both skill wise and also from the physical standpoint. He should be one of the most feared guys in the NHL, yet, you just don't see him going out there and asserting himself.



For a guy with his fighting ability, he has a really pathetic fight card in the NHL with names like Dorset, Sbisa, Lipon, JT Miller, Corey Tropp, Joe Labate?. None of these guys pose a threat to him.



I still don't understand why he did not force a fight with Bieksa last year after that sucker punched he took from him. I really can't understand it. I thought for sure he was going to get retribution for that cheap shot, but he barely even looked at Bieksa last year. Now maybe, the two of them hashed things out in the summer and are now buddies. I don't know, but again, I just want to see more out of him. And when I see teams rough the Flames up, and he does nothing, that bothers me, because I know he's capable of being so much more.



You are right, I have nothing to base what I said on, but I'm just really confused as to why he doesn't fight more, why he doesn't assert himself. It's almost like he needs to be prodded all the time. Maybe he's not scared of fighting these guys, maybe he's actually scared of hurting them after all the knockouts he had in junior. I don't know, I just wish he would realize his potential. I had hoped he would turn into the next Gary Roberts for this franchise, but right now, he's looking more like Rene Bourque. He really has to take that next step, cause I don't know how long management will wait for him and I'd hate to see him realize his potential with another team.



To answer your question, no I haven't seen or heard Ferland or Bouma refuse a fight, but I also haven't seen them go out and force a fight when it is warranted. Ferland should have tuned Bieksa out last year after the playoff sucker punch. Bouma also owes Kassian a beating from a sucker punch he took from him years ago. I have no evidence that either Ferland or Bouma turned down a fight from these two, but I know neither of them have really forced the issue with them, and it should be them who forces it as they were the ones who were sucker punched.

Maybe the coach wants him to play hockey instead of fight.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by heep223

Maybe the coach wants him to play hockey instead of fight.

I'd much rather him cream someone into the boards and then KO the first idiot that takes offence to it.

[Wolfman]

He doesn't have to fight just hit would be nice.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by heep223

Maybe the coach wants him to play hockey instead of fight.

Incidentally, when Ferland fought during preseason after TKachuk got rocked, Gulutzan was not overly positive about the fight.

[Robo]

I honestly don't have any confidence in our coach right now I know only one game but in what world would the d pairings he dressed in the first game be a good idea.

[FBI]

What do you mean Gully wasn't positive about the fight? I remember comments like him being impressed with Ferland coming to the aid of his teammates.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Incidentally, when Ferland fought during preseason after TKachuk got rocked, Gulutzan was not overly positive about the fight.

I too wonder where you got that. From what I heard, Gulutzan mentioned that to the players on the bench, and made a point of mentioning it to the media. Where are you getting your info from?

I would also think that would go a bit against the grain to Burke and Treliving, who both seemed to feel that the 'tough guys' on the team were not being utilized enough under Hartley. I would be surprised if Treliving hired a coach that wasn't overly positive about players on a team sticking up for one another.

[MikeMc]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

He doesn't have to fight just hit would be nice.

I totally get that people want pure mayhem from him all the time but no one plays that way (and if they did they would miss 3/4 of the games and have a 2 year long career).

Ferland was 25th in the entire league last year in hits thrown. Tops in Cgy by about 80 hits with big scary Joe Colbure in 2nd. Of note Brouwer was 30th last year.