[PGT] Caps 6 - Flames 2 - ORTIO PLEASE

[foshizzle11]

Hamilton will be good. He is 22, I know everyone has heard that tonight but honestly, he is 22. He shouldn't just be given 1st pairing minutes and there is no way he would have been given that time if Brodie was healthy. I think he would be getting 3rd pairing minutes until he could earn it.

Obviously the coaching staff believe that the Wideman/Russell pairing still works, hence didn't break them up. A big reason why Kulak is with Engelland. Hamilton should be better than both of those guys. I am sure if either Engelland or Kulak was given the same minutes tonight as Hamilton, we would see the same rate or error or worse.

He will be fine, just need Brodie back so he can take a step back. With less responsibility and can gain some confidence not playing against the top lines any more.

[heep223]

Whatever BT was thinking with this goalie experiment, whether it was accidental or planned, it has been an utter failure.

I know he's said that it's not ideal, well do something about it FFS instead of letting the team implode on itself. I know the whole team has been bad but man....the softie by Ramo completely deflated them. And then the softie by Hiller again just horrible, when they had some momentum to come back. You know you're bad when Jason Chimera is sniping on you, with no traffic, from the outside of the face off dot, at a key time in the game.

Seriously it's ridiculous, just waive one of them already. Let the other vet take the helm until the team settles down and then play Ortio for a stretch.

####ing #### #### ####

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

Sounded like you were... or you insinuated that you would do that. I am sure you wouldn't outright yell and cheer out loud for the flames to lose but inside you would be.

I can't do that, I can't cheer for a team that would partake in something like that. The flames organization cares too much to let this continue, something will happen.

Read what I wrote again.

No, I would not be "cheering" on the inside. Especially with the new lotto rules, not that I ever did before either. I will admit I did become a big Islanders fan late in 13/14 for some reason, only to stop caring about them when their season ended...

I also cheer for Oiler wins, starting in March, every year since 2007. I suppose that makes me a bad fan?

I agree, I would never cheer for a team that would tank either. However, I do think the notion of tanking is overblown. IMO there has been less than 5 instances in history where conclusive tanking has taken place. Sometimes teams are just bad (2014/15 Oilers fall into this category).

[Weitz]

I thought Bennett was supposed to be a pest/agitator? Was at the game tonight and he looked weak on his skates.

I did think Ferland played well.

[Armchair Quarterback]

I'm drunk

[Gaskal]

I truly truly wish for a magical 360 controller that can let me control Wideman on his shifts, so I could actually play some defence for a change.

[Stay Golden]

I noticed at the game a smattering of booing raining down from the fans.
If the low level of effort continues from this team the jeers are going to get worse and more notable.
Btw that's not on a bad fan base that is on the players.
Fans appreciate efffort in a loss but not this nonsense we are watching.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Well the Flames are proving all of those advanced stats guys right, sure seems like last year was an aberration at this point and they've fallen back to where the numbers said they should be. Too soon to start looking at Matthews?

It's not "regression" in the sense advanced stats guys suggested. That would be the Flames playing essentially the way they were last but results slipping to more losses as a result of things like poor possession. This is something different, it's a team in total disarray. Bad defensive play, poor chemistry, terrible break out execution, poor goaltending and above all no confidence.

[polak]

At this point Im worried about Gaudreau requesting a trade.

(Green Text... ish)

[ResAlien]

Monahan too!

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by kehatch

If there is one thing we can say about CP posters... they are patient.

Even tho this is a funny post we are doing worst than the grease. That is never acceptable. Mcjesus or not we are doing worst than the joke of the nhl for almost a decade .. And to a lesser extent the even the Islanders.

[polak]

I need alcohol... and beer.

[crapshoot]

It's pretty funny that there seems to be a really sharp, great highlight reel save from a flames goalie every game now. Still they both generally play like complete garbage. Ironic stuff.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by heep223

Whatever BT was thinking with this goalie experiment, whether it was accidental or planned, it has been an utter failure.

I know he's said that it's not ideal, well do something about it FFS instead of letting the team implode on itself. I know the whole team has been bad but man....the softie by Ramo completely deflated them. And then the softie by Hiller again just horrible, when they had some momentum to come back. You know you're bad when Jason Chimera is sniping on you, with no traffic, from the outside of the face off dot, at a key time in the game.

Seriously it's ridiculous, just waive one of them already. Let the other vet take the helm until the team settles down and then play Ortio for a stretch.

####ing #### #### ####

I firmly believe this. All the problems are stemming from the crease problem and it's squarely on Brad.

The goalies are uncomfortable - it's painfully obvious. The tenders need to have some degree of comfort in order to focus. In the back of their minds they are thinking about who's gonna stay and who's gonna go. That hinders their ability to focus on playing goal, hence the shaky play.

When your tenders are shaky, you can't play confident in front of them. Then you find yourself (as a skater) over thinking things and not focusing on the proper (and simple) fundamentals of hockey and the steps it takes to win.

This leads to overall team disunity, and a 1-5 start to the season.

Brad seriously needs to waive one of the vets and just run with VetX + Ortio before next game. This experiment has been a disaster. I firmly believe once the goalie has some degree of comfort (i.e.: relative job security) thier play will improve and team play will improve as well. Unfortunately, the damage may have been done. Two out of a possible twelve points is not good.

Time will tell if the season can be put back on playoff track.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by crapshoot

It's pretty funny that there seems to be a really sharp, great highlight reel save from a flames goalie every game now. Still they both generally play like complete garbage. Ironic stuff.

Highlight reel saves usually come from desperation plays because the goalie is out of position or overcommitted on a shot, so I actually don't find it surprising that both Hiller and Ramo come up with them sometimes. You're bound to get lucky once in awhile when you're out of position so much. Berra is another example of that.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I thought Ramo was really good tonight - made some fantastic saves over and over again to keep this team competitive. You can't just keep giving them chance after chance and leaving the best scorer in the league wide open for a shot repeatedly, and even allowing him second chances. Ramo has let in some soft goals in the past games, but I thought he was really good tonight.

Hiller was fine in relief as well I thought, for the most part, but it didn't much matter at that point.

Hamilton just keeps getting worse. I thought his last game was one of those that you just shake-off and forget - everyone has a terrible game now and then. Was very glad to see Wideman-Giordano as a pairing and Hamilton bumped down to play with Russel. There is a lot of skill there, and even more potential, but he is just not playing well at all.

Top line looked good. Gaudreau looks dominating through stretches. That is a huge positive. Monohan looks like his game is picking up as well. That definitely bodes well.

This team is not playing as a team. When they showed Ovechkin skating in the Flames' end during a warm-up and doing that fake shot on Ramo, not a single Flame looked like they cared. There should have been a couple of guys bumping him and having a few words. I wouldn't expect a fight or something, but just a response saying: "This is not ok".

There has been very few responses through games thus far. The team really is in disarray, and they only look good through spurts.

I thought Ferland and Stjan also had very solid games. Stajan is really impressing me these last few games.

Maybe the Flames throw Ortio out there just to shake things up, but he is not going to be some savior for this team. The team is playing badly from the defence up, and the goaltending has been mediocre, but not horrible. Was surprised when Doug MacLean stated exactly what I thought was happening in the last couple of games, especially in watching Hamilton.

This team needs Brodie back more than anything, and hopefully the defence starts getting a bit more solid. Giordano-Brodie, Wideman-Russell, Hamilton-Engelland. Hopefully playing alongside Engelland will allow Hamilton to play a bit more physical. There is no way that Oshie should win that battle in front of the net like that. I actually think getting paired with Engelland and being a bit sheltered might be exactly what Hamilton needs to get his game back on track. He is not a crappy defencemen, but he sure is playing that way now. I do think it will be fixed, but if you keep throwing Hamilton out there against top lines and heavy minutes, his confidence is just going to keep shrinking.

Oh, and Jooris had a good game as well I thought. Colborne looked decent for a returning guy - looks like it will take a couple of games for him to get back into proper game shape - especially with his timing - but he played better than I thought he would.

Flames are just allowing the other team to get way too many prime scoring chances. I would honestly feel sorry for Ortio if he had to come in and play behind a team like that.

[calgarywinning]

Hamilton was very bad this evening. He made some major giveaways, one leading to a goal. Also, Gio was out of place a couple times and didn't come up with the defensive clears or shutdowns, which is uncommon for how well he plays.

Gaudreau made some spectacular plays, was flying. I think he had 7-10 offensive opportunities and setups. He took some hits like a champ as well.

As far as Bennett, he was very interesting tonight. I think we have to remember where he is at developmentally. He will be very good and out edged some Caps tonight, but was edged out by some.

Ovi was spectacular, along with Backstrom and Orpik was locking everybody down that moved. The Caps looked on a mission and did not let up.

I think we will start to climb out of this hole Friday against Detroit.

[Illuminaughty]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

So I'm pretty sure this stretch proves that Brodie is our best player...

...I'm only half-kidding.

I don't even think it's up for debate at this point. The guy is a wizard at breaking plays out and skating the puck up. Hamilton needs to adjust, the tools are there, he just needs some time and sheltering.

[Barnet Flame]

I don't know what difference - if any Ortio would have made tonight. If we are thinking he is the guy to put a rocket up our asses and get the team going, we have problems.

Actually do have problems. We need to play our way out of them rather than hoping Ortio is the magic bullet.

Do we really want to add to our problems now by doing to Ortio what the Oilers have been doing for years to their goalies?

[curves2000]

I am shocked nobody has started the standard rumor of players sleeping with each others wives that seems to go hand in hand in sports. It seems everybody's different team has players doing this during the slump.

I remember all that crap being talked about 5 or 6 years ago when we weren't making playoffs.