[GDT] Flames @ Maple Leafs, 5:00 PM MDT. Sportsnet, Sportsnet One, Fan 960

[MisterJoji]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Varlamov and Talbot are both UFAs.

But not even remotely available until the summer. Edmonton’s not going to run with Koskinen and Varlamov has early Vezina numbers. Bob might be available given his poor start, a young backup who’s the heir apparent and contract issues.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Bingo

What I find interesting is that a lot of fan's target is Bobrovsky who in many analyses is the only goalie in the NHL having a worse start.

The other thing with Bobrovsky is after initially having some success in Philly, he bombed there and he's also never had any playoff success.

That tells me that he might have an issue in dealing with pressure and if you can't deal with pressure, being a Calgary Flames number 1 goalie probably isn't right for you.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by MisterJoji

His 2 Vezina’s buy a lot of goodwill.

For sure. It's still a small sample size, and I'd rather have Bobrovsky in a heart beat.

But you can't deny it's somewhat ironic that the two of them have been a hot mess.

I honestly thought that's where Treliving was going on Elliott day ... Calgary snares Bobrovsky and maybe a bad contract like Hartnell in a move that includes the team's top 6 picks.

[David Struch]

Originally Posted by Buff

I thought I heard a depressing stat on the radio during lunch. The Leafs are 22-2-3 against the Flames in TO in their current building....

Sounds like the game is already over before it even begins, the Flames look to have their asses handed to them tonight.

[dammage79]

Just want a W. Thought we were getting internet today but you know living in the sticks sucks and we couldn't get good reception. So another week until another company comes in to try. Ugh. I need to watch hockey.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

23-1 Leafs

Is Ditka coaching the Leafs???

[hwy19man]

Centre Ice channels for:
Monday, October 29
Calgary at Toronto, 1700h/5:00 pm Mountain
Flames feed in red

Game is on Sportsnet and SN1 in Canada and the NHL Network in the USA, therefore it is not on Centre Ice.


Sirius Radio-- Siri 924
XM Radio-- XM Internet 924
SXM Radio-- SXM Internet 924

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by MisterJoji

But not even remotely available until the summer. Edmonton’s not going to run with Koskinen and Varlamov has early Vezina numbers. Bob might be available given his poor start, a young backup who’s the heir apparent and contract issues.

Do you really think so? I don't see how Columbus trades him in season with designs on the playoffs. It has long been my opinion that there will be no goalie upgrades available until the summer.

[hwy19man]

Pregame links
https://scores.nbcsports.com/nhl/pre...&home=21&vis=3
http://sportsstats.cbc.ca/hockey/nhl...summary_1.html
http://sportsstats.cbc.ca/hockey/nhl...preview_1.html

Do not think your eyes and ears are fooling you as the game is being billed as Wednesday Night Hockey on Sportsnet. The reason is that the NHL scheduled one game on Wednesday because of a potential game seven of the World Series.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by David Struch

Sounds like the game is already over before it even begins, the Flames look to have their asses handed to them tonight.

Yeah, well, I already trash-talked with my friend so I'm sure that seals the deal for a Leafs win.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think the Flames have more adaptation to deal with than most teams, yes. Similarly so, the St. Louis Blues and the Carolina Hurricanes have also undertaken a higher-than-average turnover, and both these teams also appear to have been making adjustments


So, I did not see the Montreal and Pittsburgh games, but I did watch the game against NYR. Based on my viewing of this and reports of the other two the defensive zone breakdowns (the biggest problem with the team during this stretch) strike me as the product of struggling to adjust. And yes, I agree that a significant change in performance is required from several players, but I was encouraged by what I saw on Saturday. This does not look like an insurmountable hole to me by any measure.

We agree on your final point. I don't think the hole is insurmountable, with the caveat that below average goaltending will almost certainly doom this team.

But we disagree on the notion that lack of familiarity is the single biggest reason for some of this atrocious play. Consistency in effort and commitment to playing a complete game, every night, are skills in their own right IMO. We have yet to see this group of players be able to bring it for 60 minutes.

Frankly I thought the lack of familiarity at the start of the season would have been more than overcome by youthful enthusiasm, the positive impact of change and the desire to wipe away the memories of last year. The fact that it hasn't, or that it wore off so quickly, is concerning to me.

[ThisIsAnOutrage]

Man, reality really has a way of beating down optimism. Fortunately, fandom promotes delusion! 6-3 Flames.

[David Struch]

Originally Posted by Buff

Yeah, well, I already trash-talked with my friend so I'm sure that seals the deal for a Leafs win.

Yeah, the Laughs will not even be able to score on Calgary's staunch defense, 1-0 Flames.

[AC]

I have my Ferland video ready to go, but I'm waiting for a Flames win to post it because my videos for ex-Flames are often met with derision to begin with... if I post one when the Flames are losing the comment sections will get ugly quick.

[DeluxeMoustache]

So Friedman just said the Flames want to give some lines a couple of weeks to get some chemistry

Meanwhile, they are starting a set of lines I think we have never seen before.

[dissentowner]

I was not a fan of the Peters hire and I am still very skeptical. Not really happy with his use of Czarnik thus far as well as giving TJ Brodie big minutes when he has not been good and his faith in Mike Smith when Rittich has looked much better. Still early and I will reserve judgement right now until we are 25-30 games in but I have a bad feeling about this.

[The Professor]

Have we tried a Gio/Hamonic first pairing? Load up with our two best shutdown fellas together. I know it's more logical to have one tough and one mobile on each pairing, but I don't know. Might be worth a shot.

[TheRealPepman]

Jim Hughson will call the game tonight according to SN 590's Prime Time Sports.

[camm13]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I was not a fan of the Peters hire and I am still very skeptical. Not really happy with his use of Czarnik thus far as well as giving TJ Brodie big minutes when he has not been good and his faith in Mike Smith when Rittich has looked much better. Still early and I will reserve judgement right now until we are 25-30 games in but I have a bad feeling about this.

He didn't have much of a choice with Brodie. Hamonic was out, and unless you're calling for Stone to be playing 25 plus minutes? Hanafin saw increased minutes, but he literally only had Gio/Brodie.


Czarnik's been given opportunity, and has yet to do anything with it. No problems there for me either.

[The Boy Wonder]

I really think Peters needs to reward the guys who by and large have brought it every game.

the list is short but he needs to lean on these guys especially against a very good leafs team

Lindholm
Johnny Hockey
Thachuk
Bennett
Backlund
and naturally need to get Mony going too

I think you need those as your top 6, figure out where each fits and run with it. They have been your best forwards and you need to deploy them as such.

Same with defense, the pacific is still close and we aren't out of it yet, but we need to figure out what we have on the back end. Reward the guys who are playing well, get what we can out of the rookies now before they hit the wall, which will definitely happen.

Bottom line: Smith needs to be better, or else we are nowhere near the playoffs