Jones and Horak to Abbotsford; EDIT: And recall Aliu

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by moon

Other teams will still come into our building and do that.

A guy that doesn't fight outside of a few times picking his spots, is inconsistent and lazy, is easy to play against and will play at best 8-10 minutes isn't changing how anyone views playing this team.

If anything adding Aliu will make teams happier to play against the Flames.

hey i'm not saying Alui is like Ryan Clowe who is great agitator that annoys the hell out of teams but still can put the puck in the net. Just look at last night the Flames need a player like Nolan or Lewis.

I don't even care if as you Alui picks his spots vs who he will fight.
I don't care if he even fights.
The Flames need a big body that will smack the oppostion into the boards.
They play like a bunch of wimps.

Guys like Jones, Jackman, Comeau, are here not because they fantastic offensive players. Begin is the only one really being a role player.

Glencross when he is not chipping in offensivly at least would play physical.
I barely see Glencross even hit anymore.

Personally i would trade Glencross at the deadline or even now. The Flames are not getting any traction to go up in the standings.
Pick up draft picks.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Hell, play him as a forward.

He may not be able to. He has osteopubis which he has struggled with over the past two seasons. So we re-sign him for two seasons and give him a ntc to boot. I like Sarich but $2M for a banged up dman isn't the best use of a roster spot. Shane O'Brien for all his faults was available and could have provided a regular physical presence on the blueline.

More and more i think about it, Feaster has really tied his own hands for the next two seasons and has no one to blame but himself.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Miniac

So the possible lineup,

Hudler-Cervenka-Iginla
Glencross-Stajan-Cammalleri
Baertschi-Tanguay-Stempniak
Aliu-Begin-Jackman

Comeau

Will look better when Backlund is back!

The fourth line is still horrible. Gut it.

[moon]

Originally Posted by T@T

Aliu's game doesn't work that well in the AHL but the NHL is a different story, Matt Cooke would have had no career in the AHL because pests dont work there. NHL stars don't like being smoked,facewashed and trashed talked at every turn.

Cooke,Lapierre,Tootoo..etc have had nice career's being pricks.

This team needs an arsehole,even if it's for 4 minutes a game

So Abbotsford doesn't need a guy that hits, agitates and bothers the other team?

In the AHL that doesn't work?

Amazing the BS people will come up with to try and defend a guy that is a healthy scratch at the AHL level, barely maintained his spot in the AHL after being dumped for nothing by other organizations and repeatedly shows that he is barely AHL material.

Cooke, Tootoo, Lapierre have made careers out of that because they can play at a 3rd line level as well. If they struggled at the AHL level no way do their teams bring them up.

I think NHL players will be just fine with scoring PP goals after getting "smoked and facewashed" and scoring goals after walking around Aliu out there on the ice.

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

He may not be able to. He has osteopubis which he has struggled with over the past two seasons. So we re-sign him for two seasons and give him a ntc to boot. I like Sarich but $2M for a banged up dman isn't the best use of a roster spot. Shane O'Brien for all his faults was available and could have provided a regular physical presence on the blueline.

More and more i think about it, Feaster has really tied his own hands for the next two seasons and has no one to blame but himself.

I was hoping they would have gone after O'Brien for that exact reason.

[Heavy Jack]

I think you almost have to play Baertschi with the Czechs and move Cervenka towards a bigger role as center where he feels more natural. He hasn't been bad so far, let's see what he can do in the position we brought him in for.

Cammalleri - Tanguay - Iginla -- These guys are obviously gonna be forced to figure it out, times running out but I think they will be a unit for the majority ofthe season

Baertschi - Cervenka - Hudler -- Like I say to start the post I think you have to try and get Baertschi going right away, try and light a fire in his game and playing with a creative guy like Hudler and slotting a sniper in Cervenka in the spot he was brought in for could lead to an explosive line. I really hope to see this combo.

Glencross - Stajan - Stempniak -- This is our shut down line going forward. Stajan is playing great, smart, defensive hockey and what ever line he's on seems to cycle the puck insanely well. This line has two of the most consistent forwards for the Flames this year and if Glencross can be the grit for this line I think you could see a similar line to the Glencross - Jokinen - Moss line when they we're on top of their game.

Aliu - Begin - Comeau -- I know Jackman is our one true fighter and I love him but Comeau skates around like he's in a bouncy castle and the 3 or 4 wrecking ball hits he's been getting of late actually help the Flames dwindling grit/toughness need. Begin has been more than what I was expecting this year, he hits, he's fast and he gives 8 solid minutes of hockey, he's all about go when he's on the ice (though that wrestle move was suspect he still beat Tootoo's face in and caught Zetterberge in that Detroit game) I don't know about Aliu, it's a wait and see at this point.

Wideman - Brodie -- Keep these two together all year and they should be nice and confident come next year. I think this is our future top 2 duo.

Bouwmeester - Gio -- If Gio could play like he played when Bouwmeester sucked I think these two could figure it out defensively as well. As it sits we aren't keeping the puck out of the net and we are going to have to lean on these guys the most to start remedying that.

Butler/Smith/Sarich/Babchuk -- Come on guys, put your names in the hat.

Hey, goalies call it as I flip it:

Goalie - Tails
Goalie - Heads

Heads, your in Joey.

[browna]

Don't see what Aliu will do that Jackman can't? Though Jackman almost seems as if he's getting Sandy McCarthy syndrome since signing that contract.

Though I am sure they'll throw Aliu on 3rd and maybe second line to create some spark tomorrow because he's up on the team for a few days , and now that Hartley has gotten rid of the big bad Blair Jones.

As mentioned, to be a proper agitator, you need to play more then 4th line minutes day in and day out, and that's accomplished by being a 3rd line talent hockey player. He's not there.

It's as if Feaster ran out of ideas when he didn't get Prust for that role as a UFA. Just as if he ran out of options and ideas at C after Richards chose NY.

As far as defenders, Sarich and to a lesser extent Wideman, is all we have for physicality. Though Smith and Butler given their size should be more physical, they're not. A healthy Sarich that plays every night injury free would be fine for having that element every 3rd shift on the backend...problem he can't play everyday because of that hip condition that likely got worse over the longer layoff.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by T@T

Aliu's game doesn't work that well in the AHL but the NHL is a different story, Matt Cooke would have had no career in the AHL because pests dont work there. NHL stars don't like being smoked,facewashed and trashed talked at every turn.

Cooke,Lapierre,Tootoo..etc have had nice career's being pricks.

This team needs an arsehole,even if it's for 4 minutes a game

I don't know how much you've seen Aliu play but I'm gonna hazard a guess and say not much. Prepare to be disappointed. The guy floats, is slow, looks disinterested and is not the "spark plug" you're hoping he is.

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by moon

I expect that the player will add something to the team and not be a sub-par AHL player.

From another thread...

Originally Posted by moon

I would hope that Taylor is just up here to open the gate and if Kipper is out long term and they need someone to start that Irving is back up and Taylor sent back down.

Irving and Aliu both looked good in their few appearances with the Flames last season and weren't good enough to stay on the ice in Abbotsford this season, yet you think it's a bad idea to send Irving down and a bad idea to bring Aliu up? I'm impressed by the mental hoops you manage to jump through in order to be angry.

[calumniate]

Aliu was on fire last season for a 4th liner and I'm happy to see him back up, even though his numbers in the AHL look dismal. He and Iggy get along pretty well from what I've seen off the ice. Could be the spark that's needed!

[moon]

Originally Posted by gargamel

From another thread...



Irving and Aliu both looked good in their few appearances with the Flames last season and weren't good enough to stay on the ice in Abbotsford this season, yet you think it's a bad idea to send Irving down and a bad idea to bring Aliu up? I'm impressed by the mental hoops you manage to jump through in order to be angry.

I think it is better to keep Irving up over Taylor yes. Don't really care if he stays up or not if they get a better player than him to come in.

I also don't think that Aliu actually looked that good at all in his games last year. Irvings situation is much different than Aliu's but keep trying to reach to try and make some sort of point.

[Badgers Nose]

I don't care how many call ups they try there is no magic bullet down there.

[FBI]

Better than not changing anything and keeping the same crap we've been seeing the last 2 games.

[kyuss275]

9 pages and most of cp is bickering about Aliu playing 4 th line? Who cares. He is not going to be a reason the flames win or lose. Maybe he sticks up for a goaltender but that's about it.

The main concern should be horak was sent back down and now the flames only have Stajan as a natural center. Once again cp does not realize that the biggest issue of this team is the defensive play down the middle. Considering Cervenka looks horrible in his own zone on wing, not hard to imagine he will look worse than tanguay in the D zone down the middle.

Could this team have the worst collection of centers in the last decade? Could be, if not it must be close.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

9 pages and most of cp is bickering about Aliu playing 4 th line? Who cares. He is not going to be a reason the flames win or lose. Maybe he sticks up for a goaltender but that's about it.

The main concern should be horak was sent back down and now the flames only have Stajan as a natural center. Once again cp does not realize that the biggest issue of this team is the defensive play down the middle. Considering Cervenka looks horrible in his own zone on wing, not hard to imagine he will look worse than tanguay in the D zone down the middle.

Could this team have the worst collection of centers in the last decade? Could be, if not it must be close.

I'm with you.

Te first page is mostly discussing how dumb it is to send down horak. It has since evolved to what can we expect from Aliu.

Fact is, flames sent down two centres and recalled a fourth line winger.

Unless backlund is coming back, they've stretched the gaping centre hole wide open.

[Machiavelli]

“The first person I gave a call to was Jay Feaster just to thank him for all the things he’s done,” Aliu said. “He’s been incredible. And then I spoke to my mom and dad and my brother and also to my girlfriend.

“It’s surreal. It’s so exciting. I thought the first time I was called up would be the most exciting time, but this is definitely pretty special, too.”

To make room for Aliu, and the possible return of left winger Sven Baertschi from a hip flexor, the Flames dispatched Roman Horak and the beleaguered Blair Jones to the minors. The transaction leaves the Flames with just one natural centre on the roster in Matt Stajan.

Curious times.

Slapped on waivers last week, Jones is clearly in Hartley’s doghouse and will have to work his way to the organization’s good graces in the minors. In 11 games this season, Jones has just one assist.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...#ixzz2LbB6uieP

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

9 pages and most of cp is bickering about Aliu playing 4 th line? Who cares. He is not going to be a reason the flames win or lose. Maybe he sticks up for a goaltender but that's about it.

The main concern should be horak was sent back down and now the flames only have Stajan as a natural center. Once again cp does not realize that the biggest issue of this team is the defensive play down the middle. Considering Cervenka looks horrible in his own zone on wing, not hard to imagine he will look worse than tanguay in the D zone down the middle.

Could this team have the worst collection of centers in the last decade? Could be, if not it must be close.

I care because there are more deserving players in Abbotsford than him.

[nik-]

I just don't understand why Jones is in the doghouse. On a team full of passengers, can you really send a guy who busts his ass (even as a 4th liner) down for an alleged argument? Seems ridiculous.

[saillias]

It's not necessarily about deserve. It's what we need. But on that note what is going on with Bouma? Hurt?

[sun]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

they've stretched the gaping centre hole wide open.

jhunt?