1st and 3rd periods weren't very good. All of the lines except for the Baertschi-Monahan-Hudler line got hemmed in their own zone quite a few times. That said, Sven had his best game as a Flame this season. He was fore checking, the first one back checking, and making plays in the ozone. He should have had another 2 goals tonight.
Colbourne with the Forsbeg-equse shootout attempt and Sean Moneyhands to win it. Awesome!
What was with the 'Trade-bait' line tonight? Cammalleri - Stajan - Stempniak were downright terrible, and a combined -9. Add in Butler & Wideman who were each -3 & I think it's pretty clear why we blew another lead. If they keep that kind of play up none of them will be worth Drouin by the trade deadline.
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the way the game went, it was disappointing to see that they couldn't finish it in regulation ... they had so many good chances and a 3-1 lead, you just have to see those games out. Going to OT and SO was really unnecessary.
That being said, still lots of positives to take from this one. I thought this was Baertschis best game in a while ... I was really happy when he got the goal, that was surely a monkey coming off his back. Should have scored at least one more, but those will come. You can really see his confidence going up. Same can be said about Colborne, who has slowly become one of my favourite players. He has all the tools to be a force out there - the size, the skill, the hands. If he can put it all (or most of it) together on a consistent basis, this trade will only continue to look better and better. Monahan again with the SO winner ... can't really understand why Hartley waited until round 6 again after his nice winner against Winnipeg, but whatever ... really nice goal there. Berra had a stinker on the Kittens 2nd goal, but he is living up to his reputation in shootouts (he really excelled there in Switzerland). Backlund was solid, he's smart out there and makes the small plays. Very happy for Blair Jones too, he took the opportunity and ran with it. Good on him! Russell continues to amaze me, such a steal by Feaster. Best defenseman IMO once again ... I hope he gets signed soon.
On the flip side, a really disappointing game by the vets and it shows in the boxscore. Normally I'm not a huge fan of the +/- stat, but yesterday it was spot on, as Wideman, Cammalleri, Stempniak and Stajan were all horrible. The positive here is that our "best" line took a night off and the Flames still found a way to win the hockey game ... not long ago, the Flames would have lost in that scenario. The kids really stepped up and got the win for us and that is such a HUGE positive right now.
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Things I was reminded of:
1. Hartley is a horrible coach.
2. Butler is a serviceable 3rd pairing defenceman. As soon as he has to do a single thing beyond that, he completely goes to crap and gets discombobulated.
3. The young guys on this team are better than Hartley thinks they are.
4. Berra is usually good for one or two softies every game.
Watching these games sounds like quite the chore for you. Maybe you should take a break
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I have to say, I REALLY love Berra's stance at the beginning of every attempt in the shoutout. Just how big and solid he makes himself... almost like.... a bear?
I have to say, I REALLY love Berra's stance at the beginning of every attempt in the shoutout. Just how big and solid he makes himself... almost like.... a bear?
Sven said in the Swiss league Berra' nickname was 'The King Of Shootouts"
Wait... did you say...Bear?
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I'm curious, do people actually think that Hartley isn't aware how good Monahan and Sven are? Or has it simply not occurred to them that force feeding raw rookies 20+ minutes a night and gifting them first unit PP time 20 games into a rebuild MIGHT
a) place undue pressure on them to put up numbers they aren't capable of at this stage of their career ESPECIALLY considering how many fans have already anointed them saviors.
b) alienate the veterans and form a rift of discontent when a couple punk kids who've done nothing in this league are taking all the primo ice time. Thus creating an atmosphere where the vets only play for themselves and their contracts in the hope of getting traded to a contender at the deadline and away from this horrible situation. Because that'll help the young guys develop.
c) be something Monahan and Sven aren't physically ready for; Monahan is 19, Sven is barely 21. I assume they aren't entirely ready to handle everything that comes with first-line minutes in mid-November. There's probably a bit more wear and tear at this level than there is in the OHL or the Dub.
d) generally foster a culture and attitude similar to the one up the highway.
Now it is possible Hartley has considered all this and it's also possible that once we've hit the 60 game mark and some of the vets are offloaded, Hartley gives Sven and Monahan more responsibility. But slow-playing your two star rookies 20 games into the rebuild that everyone in the hockey world knew should've started three years ago does not make Hartley an idiot.
The world is full of entitled kids who think they're a gift to their environment. It seems to me that Hartley is attempting to ensure the new core of this time doesn't share that attitude. Don't let up, monsieur.
__________________ ”All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.”
Rowan Roy W-M - February 15, 2024
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I'm curious, do people actually think that Hartley isn't aware how good Monahan and Sven are? Or has it simply not occurred to them that force feeding raw rookies 20+ minutes a night and gifting them first unit PP time 20 games into a rebuild MIGHT
a) place undue pressure on them to put up numbers they aren't capable of at this stage of their career ESPECIALLY considering how many fans have already anointed them saviors.
b) alienate the veterans and form a rift of discontent when a couple punk kids who've done nothing in this league are taking all the primo ice time. Thus creating an atmosphere where the vets only play for themselves and their contracts in the hope of getting traded to a contender at the deadline and away from this horrible situation. Because that'll help the young guys develop.
c) be something Monahan and Sven aren't physically ready for; Monahan is 19, Sven is barely 21. I assume they aren't entirely ready to handle everything that comes with first-line minutes in mid-November. There's probably a bit more wear and tear at this level than there is in the OHL or the Dub.
d) generally foster a culture and attitude similar to the one up the highway.
Now it is possible Hartley has considered all this and it's also possible that once we've hit the 60 game mark and some of the vets are offloaded, Hartley gives Sven and Monahan more responsibility. But slow-playing your two star rookies 20 games into the rebuild that everyone in the hockey world knew should've started three years ago does not make Hartley an idiot.
The world is full of entitled kids who think they're a gift to their environment. It seems to me that Hartley is attempting to ensure the new core of this time doesn't share that attitude. Don't let up, monsieur.
I would have thanked this more if I could
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Just caught the Blair Jones interview on TSN, does Al MacInnis still have a stall in Flames dressing room?
I think the guys are playing a prank on him. Jones was a force on the PP for the Heat, blasting slap shots in from the point ala MacInnis.
__________________
Calgary Flames, PLEASE GO TO THE NET! AND SHOOT THE PUCK! GENERATING OFFENSE IS NOT DIFFICULT! SKATE HARD, SHOOT HARD, CRASH THE NET HARD!
A bit of a choppy game but the Flames get 2 points none the less. I liked how they got their chances throughout and even capitalised.
Finally, a goal by Sven Baertchi, probably his best game as a Flame. If he can keep on playing this consistently, he'll be a good player in this league.
Joe Colborne with a big goal and an assist as well as the only Flame above 50% in the face offs. The guy looked like a young Eric Lindros out there last night. Good game Joe.
Blair Jones with a goal as well, he sure looks and plays different than any of the Flames current centers. He's a playmaker for sure and creates a lot of chances out there.
Pretty good game again by Reto Berra, I wouldn't fault him on the first 2 goals that much. The starting job appears for him to lose at this point although Karri Ramo could see a start next weekend in the back to back games in California.
Nice winner again in the shootout by Sean Monahan. 2 games in a row, he keeps his cool. Good game by Sean again.
Big win to head into a 4 day break.
Have to mention Brian McGratton as well for having a pretty good scrap.
Last edited by JobHopper; 11-23-2013 at 03:16 PM.
Reason: Fight
I'm curious, do people actually think that Hartley isn't aware how good Monahan and Sven are? Or has it simply not occurred to them that force feeding raw rookies 20+ minutes a night and gifting them first unit PP time 20 games into a rebuild MIGHT
a) place undue pressure on them to put up numbers they aren't capable of at this stage of their career ESPECIALLY considering how many fans have already anointed them saviors.
b) alienate the veterans and form a rift of discontent when a couple punk kids who've done nothing in this league are taking all the primo ice time. Thus creating an atmosphere where the vets only play for themselves and their contracts in the hope of getting traded to a contender at the deadline and away from this horrible situation. Because that'll help the young guys develop.
c) be something Monahan and Sven aren't physically ready for; Monahan is 19, Sven is barely 21. I assume they aren't entirely ready to handle everything that comes with first-line minutes in mid-November. There's probably a bit more wear and tear at this level than there is in the OHL or the Dub.
d) generally foster a culture and attitude similar to the one up the highway.
Now it is possible Hartley has considered all this and it's also possible that once we've hit the 60 game mark and some of the vets are offloaded, Hartley gives Sven and Monahan more responsibility. But slow-playing your two star rookies 20 games into the rebuild that everyone in the hockey world knew should've started three years ago does not make Hartley an idiot.
The world is full of entitled kids who think they're a gift to their environment. It seems to me that Hartley is attempting to ensure the new core of this time doesn't share that attitude. Don't let up, monsieur.
Great post.. agree with everything. Would also like to add that a lot of these junior players get into bad habits and they need to be worked out. I noticed Sven is more decisive. He's not making that extra move, he's realizing that you have less time so once you beat the guy, or get that space... move. Starting to see it in Monahan's game as well.
With Berra, I like him. Stated it after his first game. You see the big ice in him, he likes to kick the puck into the corners and on the big ice there is more space, in the NHL everything is more compressed so it ends up on a stick, if not his teammates, on opposition forwards. He slides a lot, but again, I think it is a product of playing on the big ice. The puck moves father side to side that you need to push off harder to get across, and Euro leagues are a lot like NHL video games, it's all one timers so you push and make a save. Things that can easily be worked out.
I hope Clint kind of takes a more conservative approach, has him playing a little more in his net ala Mike Smith in Phoenix. Might shorten his movement a little bit. I like the aggressiveness at times, but he needs to learn how to read the situation a bit better... I do like him, and I do believe he can be a good goalie in the NHL.
