A friendly reminder to Flames fans everywhere: the team is in first in the West

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I don’t know that Neal coming back will be like a deadline acquisition. He has missed what 5 games this year? Stone maybe can be viewed that way.

A Neal who can score is all of that.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I don’t know that Neal coming back will be like a deadline acquisition. He has missed what 5 games this year? Stone maybe can be viewed that way.

You could argue that Neal has only 'played' 20 games this year..

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Duffalufagus

Maybe I’m a homer but Janko and Bennett are better

Sure but then you still have to answer who the Flames equivalents are.
Who does Calgary offer instead?

[Zarley]

I’m happy we didn’t do much - would’ve liked to add a large, truculent depth forward but that’s about it. Large deadline moves rarely work out.

I’m still traumatized by the Jokinen acquisition.

[Scroopy Noopers]

How bout that ice thickness?

[The Boy Wonder]

Totally fine with not doing anything at the TDL.

Honestly we all know how important goaltending is in the playoffs, and lets just say my confidence in us beating even minnesota in the first round is shaky at best.

Unless all this starting smith is a ploy to get Rittich some rest before playoffs, we will be rolling into the postseason with easily one of the worst tandems in net. And I would be extremely nervous against any of Dubnyk, Bishop or Crawford, let alone Rinne, Fleury, Hellybuck, Jones etc.

Mike smith is still on this team and seems to be their preferred #1 option so to me that feels like the flames believe they are playing with house money at this point as the expectation was to be a bubble team from most fans before this season started and to solve goaltending long term this offseason.

Glad we're doing nothing as smith is more likely to Elliot us than to regain his "form" from 2012. when he had his one good playoff run to the third round. And if Rittich can start and get hot we could make some noise and that would be awesome or if smith can do it that works too, just highly unlikely

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Scorpion, are you surprised that the Devils didn't move Palmieri?

Not particularly. I think they view him as a valuable part of their team.

[Freddy]

Put me in the camp of satisfied with what we have already going into these playoffs. I’m happy the future was not compromised for short term help. All of our young core & depth will play more minutes and gain invaluable experience as their window for contention has only just now opened. Looking at the rest of our conference I like our chances in the coming years to go deep consistently and have our homegrown ‘elite’ gamebreakers flow through the roster as their careers put them in different roles.
I’m excited to see how this years Flames respond in the playoffs, I think the recent games against Islanders, Ducks, and Senators have been intentionally low scoring/low chances against in preparation.

[Northendzone]

Here is how I see it. There will be 8 teams from the west that make the playoffs. As of today, three of of those top teams made moves leading up to the deadline. Straight up, there seems to be a higher chance that a team that did not make any changes will win the west.

As of today all of the teams that made changes are currently chasing the flames.

The flames could have made a change, but why risk team chemistry, just because other teams did.

[bettercallbettman]

If Neal removes his head from his @$$ when he returns he’ll be the best “deadline pickup”

If Neal can elevate his game its going to add that weapon they’ve been seeking all year

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Maybe I'm too much of a Valimaki fan boy but I'm really glad Treliving didn't part with him. The Flames have 4 very good young d-men and I think Valimaki will be the best of the bunch. He'll eventually be a top 2 d-man who will play PP, PK, and may not put up as many points as Gio but will be the closest thing to Gio this team has for the future.

I'd love to see the Flames pick up Stone today, but his contract would have screwed up the Flames cap like crazy. So the trade would be Stone, a big contract, cap problems in the near future for Valimaki + other assets. I get some would want to see a stud winger who would pay immediate dividends on the roster today, but I have no problem keeping a cornerstone young d-man who will be a Flame for probably the next 10-15 years.

This isn't an old team. This isn't the last year of a team 'going for it'. There are still a few years ahead for this contending team. I have no problem, like Treliving, sticking with this group and seeing what they have. If things don't work out you tinker in the off-season. The future is bright and exciting, including this season.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Not particularly. I think they view him as a valuable part of their team.

In other words, healthy Hall, healthy Schneider/Blackwood and they are a playoff team?

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

In other words, healthy Hall, healthy Schneider/Blackwood and they are a playoff team?

Not entirely sure about that. I think they need a bit more help on defense. Greene falling off a cliff really torpedoed their blueline.

[DoubleK]

Greene hasnt been good, but I think Jon Moore was more important than they thought he was.

They don't have anyone to soak those minutes.

[Red]

All of Nashville, Winnipeg and Vegas were proclaimed contenders before the start of the season. All have been very inconsistent and were slumping recently. They had to do something to stop the bleeding.
Neither team fixed their issues. Although Nashville may have done just enough to take the division from Winnipeg.
Jets are still suspect on D and G.
Vegas is just average all around. In a stronger conference they'd be hard pressed to make the playoffs. Stone is a big add, but is it enough to make a very average team in to a contender?
Nashville is decent, but has poor PP. They may have improved there. They need goal scoring so their moves at least make sense.
SJ has inconsistent goaltending. Bigger question mark than the Flames.
St.Louis is hot, but are they for real or are they just on a streak?

The Flames add a "reset" Neal, Stone and Valimaki. That's good depth. The Flames are as good as any team in the West. Wish they'd add size because they are easily out matches by a few teams, but they are skilled and deep enough to prevail.
Hoping for the top line to wake up though.

[bettercallbettman]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I don’t know that Neal coming back will be like a deadline acquisition. He has missed what 5 games this year? Stone maybe can be viewed that way.

You wot mate. It’s pretty obvious the guy was “playing” but he was trash. I think what people are getting at is if he plays like he’s has the last 5 years it’ll finally be the weapon they seeked. They’ve got this far without him easily.

[djsFlames]

If I'm Neal I'm shooting pucks before breakfast, before lunch, before dinner, before bed, and in my sleep as soon as I'm able. We want our 5.75MM sniper.

[TheScorpion]

Neal shooting 4.1% this season screams "unsustainable" to me.

[Strange Brew]

Neal has had ample opportunity to show he can play like he did before this year. I’m not counting on it and his injury is not going to help things.

[KipperFaNaTic]

Over the moon with Treliving doing nothing. The team chemistry and system is good enough to win.