I don't mind Glass drawing in but I'm not impressed with Kulak getting scratched. Bart played 7 straight games before switching out and Kulak only got 3.
I think part of the problem with some of the D giveaways are the forwards are too spread out and not closer to the D in their zone making the D having to make too many high risk passes
I agree. I feel like our forwards are way too far up ice waiting for our D to magically skate the puck out of the zone. When our D can't skate the puck out we get eh magical hard up the boards/tip in to avoid icing, which does nothing.
I think the main issue is that we aren't pressing the opposing teams in the neutral zone, so they either skate the puck into our end and we maybe get a turnover from a board battle (hard to skate the puck out) or a soft dump into the corner where their forechecker is right on top of our dman when he gets to the puck (also very hard to skate it out).
We either need to bring all our forwards back for more support so we can break out with a pass from the winger on the half wall to the centre or start clogging up the neutral zone more effectively so our dmen get the puck with more time to wind up and skate.
We can't expect Smith to make all the saves and be completely responsible for starting us off on the rush.
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We win but only because of Smith Dallas doesn't have a great defensive system and their goaltending has been average I think we win 5-2 but get outplayed and give up alot of high end chances. Oh and we get at least 6 penalties this game
Game is on SN360 again tonight, just like the St. Louis game on Wednesday so I don't get it with the Shaw package I have. It's an older package that gives me all the sportsnet channels except 360. Called Shaw the other day who offered me a new package with all the sportsnet channels, but I can only get a decent price if I commit to a 2 year contract. No bloody way. Why the hell is the game on 360 anyway? Shaw and sportsnet are both complete jokes. Time to dump cable.
5-5 is a decent enough start, at least compared to recent seasons, but this homestand with 7 games is a real make or break.
4-2-1 or better and the team is on it's way.
3-3-0 or worse and they have a bit of a hole to dig out of.
Agreed. I'm okay with the 5-5 start with 6 games on the road and 6 against playoff teams from last year. This homestand is huge though and will show us if the Flames are going to cement a spot near the top of the division or be a playoff bubble team.
With Lehtonen in net and the Stars playing back to back I am hoping for a big 6-2 win however a part of me thinks the Flames will make Lehtonen look like an All Star and barely squeek out a 3-2 OT win.
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Bartkowski does not, has not, and never will help the Flames win a hockey game
I don't understand what Brad and GG are doing allowing him to play
That being said Go Flames, they're not going to get a better game to open up and play the way they can
Name one 6th dman in the league who helps their team win games.
While I would like to see the games played closer to 50%, Bartkowski and Kulak are pretty much interchangeable and one playing over the other has little effect on the game. Hamilton struggling and no scoring from the 3rd line are far bigger problems than the 6th dman.
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He is more physical, and has better mobility than Kulak. Kulak IMO brings more offensively, better vision, better break out.
Disagree.
Kulak spends much less time running around in his own zone which allows him to be in much better position to make subtle plays.
Bartkowski ends up losing his man and hitting whoever is closest to him which creates an illusion of a more physical game, but really, it's a panic move rather than skill.
Kulak has been settling things down on that line. Stone has looked better with Kulak as well.
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