I wonder if the difference in shot hand between Brodie and Hamilton is buggering things a bit for Gio. Though Hamilton should be the more natural right side guy, at least along the boards, being a right shot.
Gio is more of a puzzle to me than Hamilton, who's only 22 and on a new team. Gio I thought would come in very motivated and sharp, ready to build off of last season and his big contract. Instead, he has handled the puck like a brick.
Gio I thought would come in very motivated and sharp, ready to build off of last season and his big contract. Instead, he has handled the puck like a brick.
Gio might not be as healthy as we want him to be.
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On that one great save by Hiller, Kulak was victimized badly. Kulak on the first pairing is a huge mistake.
I disagree.
First of all, he fanned on the puck with a full speed Connor McDavid coming towards him. That could have happened to anybody, though if he were doing it again he would probably protect the puck better.
Second, after McDavid pickpockets him, Kulak reacts and immediately checks Yakupov and takes away the pass which is playing that sequence as perfectly as you can expect him to play. If Engelland doesn't lay down desperately like a curling stone, that sequence doesn't look as scary as it was. But I'd wager your typical bottom pair defenseman, your Justin Schultz, gives up on the play as soon as the turnover happens, and that's a goal for Yakupov. And after Hiller makes the save he recovers the puck immediately limiting it to one scoring chance.
Tough-luck sequences like that can happen to anybody, but if you look at Kulak's poise and recovery, he played it well. Does he want the turnover back? Yes but there are a lot of plays a LOT of our veteran defensemen/goaltenders/forwards want back.
Not saying Kulak should be on the first pair, but he hasn't looked shaky at all.
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Last edited by GranteedEV; 10-19-2015 at 03:20 PM.
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Chalk up effort and goaltending for me; mostly effort since I don't think the goaltending is actually any worse than it was last season. It seems to me that the Flames are obsessed with scoring off the rush on a stretch breakout pass and when it does not work are not getting back in position defensively a lot of the time. They need more focus, more hustle, and more getting to the puck.
1. Not giving enough ####s right now. When they got a second chance two days later vs the Canucks, it was more personal for them so you saw them put out an honest effort, they did well there. Hasn't been the same motivation since, it appears.
2. Too many awful, predictable stretch pass attempts. The people I attended the game with knew absolutely zero about hockey, yet noticed this constantly with the Flames. This is why TJ Brodie helps us. He opts to skate the puck up more than half the time, which works because that's the last thing the opposing team is expecting us to do when moving out of our end.
3. First line showing no killer instinct since game 3, and been defensively lacklustre. Not much else really needs to be said in that regard. They should be lighting up a team like Edmonton. They've dropped the ball, and in turn the entire offensive group has struggled.
4. No goaltender is holding the fort despite team struggles. Both vets have lapses over 60 minutes and it ####s us. Whether first shot against, last 30 seconds of a period, they lose focus for a few minutes and it puts us in a hole. Say what you want about the Oilers defense etc, but their goalies have shown consistency even in their losses. Keeping their team in it, which we could sorely use.
cough*ortioplease*cough ......oh well.
Last edited by ScorchyScorch; 10-19-2015 at 04:34 PM.
First of all, he fanned on the puck with a full speed Connor McDavid coming towards him.
IMO that's pretty much "he got victimized." McDavid skated up to him and took the puck away. He was flatfooted and couldn't get it back.
Maybe it happens to anyone, but it happened to him. IMO he's been OK on the bottom pairing, but he certainly hasn't been mistake free. He's had decent moments and some pretty bad ones IMO.
I do admit one time in the GT I said he was bad on a play but it turned out to be Granlund (60 not 61) when I saw the replay.
ETA: I do agree that Engelland was as much to blame there. He panicked.
Also we landed the big fish in the offseason. Frolik came here cause he thought he was joining a team on the verge of doing big things. They came off a second round exit and got to rub it in everyone's face.
That gets in your head and their perspective probably is quite different from what it was last training camp. I think it's easier for these guys to get motivated with an underdog label hanging over their heads.
Now they need to be reawakened to the reason why they got where they did in the first place. Adjusting to actually having expectations on them, and that a playoff berth won't be handed to them just a cause they did it once.
Its easy to see the Flames biggest problem is the poor effort.
I'm not sure if the core thinks they don't have to work as hard because of the surprising success they had last season.
What concerns me if it is the core showing that attitude then it kind of is a result of them not wanting to work as hard, and its not just vetern players it is also the under 24 group.
Gio appears to be just as guilty anf he is the captain.
This is truly bizarre even new additions Hamilton and Frolik are having some horrendous shifts.
I am most stunned how many bad shifts Monahan is having.
I mean these young guys should be hungry to play hard and we are not seeing it so far.
So, this is a dressing room issue? One can only make such an assertion with any confidence by way of direct knowledge about what is happening in the dressing room. The only "BS" espoused here is the notion that you have even the slightest idea about what takes place behind closed doors.
What? What else could garner these results? Im not saying their are individuals bringing the morale of the team down, I'm saying the team as a whole is lacking that hunger and drive that was instilled in them last year which sought to dismiss the presumption that they couldn't compete in this conference. This is not a matter of one players absence affecting a whole team. Last time I checked Brodie doesn't even have a letter on his jersey, and though very valuable, isn't turned to as 'THE guy' to lead them out of these types of predicaments.
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No, it's not. Never mind the fact that Brodie is very realistically the Flames best player, as Bingo has suggested. The fact that he is not in the lineup in October is absolutely a HUGE problem that contributes to a good number of other issues. Yes, he is just one player, but his absence has effectively reduced the effectiveness of the entire Flames defense core: The top pairing presently consists of one player getting up to speed after a serious injury, and another player playing for a new team in a new conference for the first time in his career.
No, just no. We have a team of very good players. Brodie is just one of them. Last year when Gio went down people were constantly stressing how badly Brodie needed him back when playing alongside Derry. This is not to say Brodie became a scrub without Gio, but we weren't getting the same TJ we were used to.
I think right now one of our leaders (Gio, Huds, Wideman) needs to remind the team what made them great last year. 1 big play, 1 big hit, a fight you name it. Something that says to the other guys "Hey i give a ####, and you should too. This is Flames hockey and this is how we are going to play here". I dont buy the crap that there is an adjustment period before we can start playing our game again. We know our identity.
All we can do is guess at what the problem is. It could be anything; and we'll never really know without speculation. But there certainly is a problem. A 1-4 start is problematic.
I really can't quite put my finger on it though. I have a really hard time believing a Hartley coached team is lacking effort. I don't really see anyone lollygagging on the ice on a backcheck. As far as I'm concerned, the try is there.
So what could it be? I wouldn't even call it "chemistry" since I think the top line does have chemistry carry over from last year. The other lines have enough chemistry I suppose. Call it focus. I think the individual team members are losing focus on the ice and during their preparations. Psyching themselves out. Trying to do too much.
I think Gio is probably pushing himself really hard to prove to everyone (including himself) that he actually is Norris caliber. And by trying too hard, he's making mistakes he otherwise wouldn't. Although competiton in goal is good, your goalie having a certain degree of comfort is good too. I think the 3 goalie situation is not allowing the goalies to focus enough. That's on Brad.
I think the whole group is focusing on the expectations this year instead of focusing on hockey. There's a difference.
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The Blues have gone 5-1 with Shattenkirk out (and Stastny). The Lightning are 4-2 with Hedman out. Good teams can overcome even injuries to top players in the short term. The Flames shouldn't completely fall apart without Brodie in the lineup.
Yep but Pietroangelo is their best D-man (by a lot) The Flame were able to overcome the loss of Gio as Brodie is the best Flame D-man
Are people kidding with the attitude or locker issues? no, just no. We are missing our best D and our young guys are just getting going. We will go 4-1 over next 5 games and all will be good.
Everyteam goes thru slumps. Hell we did last december and still made playoffs. And that one was way worse
Everyteam goes thru slumps. Hell we did last december and still made playoffs. And that one was way worse
We were actually playing very well in that slump as I recall, or at least well enough that we didn't deserve an 8 game losing streak. Right now we look so, so much worse. This team is reminding me a lot of our our team in 2013 after the lockout, only with more stretch passes.
Slow, small, behind the play, no cohesion, no support, terrible goaltending...
Not saying they won't figure it out but they look nothing like the team from last year at this point.
Hamilton hasnt been as advertised. Alot of people wont like me saying that but the truth hurts. He has got to step it up even for being a young guy. Expected more from him
All we can do is guess at what the problem is. It could be anything; and we'll never really know without speculation. But there certainly is a problem. A 1-4 start is problematic.
I really can't quite put my finger on it though. I have a really hard time believing a Hartley coached team is lacking effort. I don't really see anyone lollygagging on the ice on a backcheck. As far as I'm concerned, the try is there.
So what could it be? I wouldn't even call it "chemistry" since I think the top line does have chemistry carry over from last year. The other lines have enough chemistry I suppose. Call it focus. I think the individual team members are losing focus on the ice and during their preparations. Psyching themselves out. Trying to do too much.
I think Gio is probably pushing himself really hard to prove to everyone (including himself) that he actually is Norris caliber. And by trying too hard, he's making mistakes he otherwise wouldn't. Although competiton in goal is good, your goalie having a certain degree of comfort is good too. I think the 3 goalie situation is not allowing the goalies to focus enough. That's on Brad.
I think the whole group is focusing on the expectations this year instead of focusing on hockey. There's a difference.
I like this. Sort of rings true to me. Last year they were working hard but they were having fun.
This year they're making bad plays, maybe not from a lack of try, but from trying to do too much. Trying a pass that's not there, making one too many moves, trying to snipe the absolute corner. They need to get back to smart hockey, take what's there, work with what u got. Instead of having a pass intercepted, puck stripped off your stick, or a blown shot wide of the net.
Group seems wound up tight. Expectations maybe got them second guessing.
Calgary's style is to back off defenders that are aggressive by connecting on stretch passes and then when / if teams adjust, have the defensemen carry the puck through the neutral zone.
They haven't been connecting and capitalizing on the stretch passes yet, which is leading to turnovers and getting outshot a lot.
Brodie is a big reason for this, and Giordano still working through the kinks is another. Once these guys are up to speed and Hamilton adjusts, the Flames will be fine. It's a solid strategy if you have the appropriate defencemen, which the Flames do.
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I like this. Sort of rings true to me. Last year they were working hard but they were having fun.
This year they're making bad plays, maybe not from a lack of try, but from trying to do too much. Trying a pass that's not there, making one too many moves, trying to snipe the absolute corner. They need to get back to smart hockey, take what's there, work with what u got. Instead of having a pass intercepted, puck stripped off your stick, or a blown shot wide of the net.
Group seems wound up tight. Expectations maybe got them second guessing.
Doesn't that sound like a microcosm of the 2006 team?
I'm not gonna take anything away from Hartley's Jack Adams last year, but the only thing harder then what he did with a team with no expectations last year and taking them to the 2nd round, is taking a team that has expectations and try to meet them. Last year was great (a dream, really)... this year is gonna be the real deal to see if Hartley is a coach that can do it, or if he's another flash in the pan like Patrick Roy, Bill Barber, Ted Nolan, et al.
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this year is gonna be the real deal to see if Hartley is a coach that can do it, or if he's another flash in the pan like Patrick Roy, Bill Barber, Ted Nolan, et al.
I seem to recall Hartley doing pretty well at one point with a team that faced high expectations. Colorado, 2001, to be precise. It's a bit late in his career at this point to accuse him of being a flash in the pan.
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