The Drive for 30th

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by PlayfulGenius

It's depressing to look at the standings...after these 3 wins, it looks more likely the pick will be worse than 7th, as opposed to getting better...the Oilers are the only team within striking distance of the Flames now... Maybe the Preds if they win tonight, but even then it's not likely.

The Flyers, Sabres and Devils are easily within reach now for the Flames.

Looking at all the players that would be so sweet to see on the Flames in that top group and falling further and further away is very depressing.

[EldrickOnIce]

Flames odds from sportsclubstats Tuesday morning: (for what that is worth)

11th pick - 1%
10th pick - 8%
9th pick - 14%
8th pick - 20%
7th pick - 25%
6th pick - 17%
5th pick - 10%
4th pick - 5%
3rd pick - 1%

[polak]

It's going to be hard to rebuild if we're picking at the end of the top 10...

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by polak

It's going to be hard to rebuild if we're picking at the end of the top 10...

Picking 8th or lower currently at 43%
Win tonight that will maybe be 75%
Lose tonight and maybe 20%

Will look a lot brighter after a Preds win tonight

[PlayfulGenius]

Ya, 8th is as far as the team can drop to get one of the more highly touted players.

I'll feel a lot better if the Flames were 6th or better, as there's a chance of a higher player, like Barkov, falling to that spot.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

Baertschi, Horak and Reinhart need to be on the opening night roster next season.

Well... Baerschi does. Horak kind of gives me a Dustin Boyd borderline NHL'er vibe, and I think Reinhart would probably benefit from more AHL experience. Gotta do the rebuild right and in my mind part of that is not rushing guys to the NHL while they could still benefit from tenure in a developmental league.

[Robbob]

A little late now, as last night would have been the perfect time to have a team outing in Nashville. I guess it would be a little suspicious if the team went out this afternoon and filled up on BBQ and beer.

[djsFlames]

They'd better be playing Irving tonight in net.

There's no denying as much as the motivated play of the kids has helped, our quality of goaltending has sky rocketed from where it was a couple weeks ago. Mac and Kipper getting hot at the same time is hurting our drafting position as much as anything.

Need to sabotage this game for the team in any way possible. Irving's got a better chance of playing shaky than Joey. Play Butler on the top d pairing, put more vets in. Just can't afford to jump the teams above us.

If we lose tonight then it looks very possible we could lose both of the final games too. (Blues, Hawks). Sorry team, it's been great to see all the heart, but these last games couldn't mean any less for Ws.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Robbob

A little late now, as last night would have been the perfect time to have a team outing in Nashville. I guess it would be a little suspicious if the team went out this afternoon and filled up on BBQ and beer.

BBQ all night and then surprise we're doing bag skates all day today before the game?

[bigbadboss101]

What do you tell the players as a coach? Shoot wide?

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Well... Baerschi does. Horak kind of gives me a Dustin Boyd borderline NHL'er vibe, and I think Reinhart would probably benefit from more AHL experience. Gotta do the rebuild right and in my mind part of that is not rushing guys to the NHL while they could still benefit from tenure in a developmental league.

Interesting take on Horak. Boyd was not very strong on the puck. Horak is stronger on the puck than many of our forwards. Boyd struggled to get off the 4th line in his time with the Flames. Horak has looked fine in the top 9 and is still very young.

Horak looks like a Moss type guy with a bit better upside IMO.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Interesting take on Horak. Boyd was not very strong on the puck. Horak is stronger on the puck than many of our forwards. Boyd struggled to get off the 4th line in his time with the Flames. Horak has looked fine in the top 9 and is still very young.

Horak looks like a Moss type guy with a bit better upside IMO.

Agreed on Moss in that they both have good hands in tight for garbage goals.

I like Horak's ability to anticipate the play and get the puck moving north. That's important for a center IMO. The problem is he's probably not quite skilled enough to be a good 2nd line center and probably not quite gritty/physical/big enough to be a good 3rd line center. However smaller, smart guys have excelled at 3rd line center in the past (e.g. Pahlsson). Depending on who we draft and where and when we see Jankowski slotting in it might be worth converting Horak to a winger.

[albertGQ]

Kipper is starting tonight

[dissentowner]

Given the schedule tonight if we win this could be a very bad night for us fans.

[polak]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Kipper is starting tonight

Oh so NOW they figure out how to play coach.

FSDGFseighawo'tjaw3 ttpwer gh3hadghaekg

Sit everyone.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by DazzlinDino

Anyone else have the feeling Edmonton will tank their remaining games? There really should be a limit on eligibility for draft lottery based on number of times a team tanks. They are pretty bad but come on whats with another free fall from these guys? They have now lost the last 7 of 8 and counting.

I've already said it somewhere, but the Oilers tanking at the 40 game mark is kinda par for the course. We hear about how they are improving (though admittedly not lately), but here we are. What would happen if there was another 34 games to play?

[Rhettzky]

Lot of crazy junk went down tonight. Basically we can't pick worse than 10th overall and it's unlikely that we slip beyond 7th based on our remaining games.

Pick: Team PTS (Remaining Games)
10th: Phoenix 46 (SJ, COL, ANA)
9th: Buffalo 46 (NYI)
8th: Philadelphia 45 (NYI, OTT)
7th: Calgary 42 (STL, CHI)
6th: Carolina 41 (NYR, PIT)
5th: Edmonton 41 (CHI, MIN, VAN)
4th: Nashville 41 (DET, CBJ)
3rd: Tampa Bay 38 (TOR, BOS, FLA)
2nd: Colorado 37 (PHO, MIN)
1st: Florida 34 (TOR, TB)

[Southside]

Well some helpful results on the ticker tonight.

New Jersey, Buffalo, Carolina and Philadelphia were all winners. Florida too, but, that will have no bearing on where we finish. Colorado continues to suck with another loss. We may still finish bottom 5. NJ, Buffalo and Philly wins good.

[The Yen Man]

If only Calgary would have lost either to the Ducks Detroit, or Minny. They only needed one regulation loss amongst those three, and they'd be sitting pretty at 4th right now. Oh well, them's the breaks I guess.

[bucksmasher]

Tampa could win two games, Nashville is a long shot to win anymore, Carolina......maybe, oilers.....not!