[PGT] Habs 4 Flames 2

[keeper34]

Flames lost in 6, what else is new?

[keeper34]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

People were preaching Flames depth, they lose a few in a row and suddenly Dillon Dube is the difference.

Agreed. Excuses after excuses. Flames can only win with perfect goaltending.

[UKflames]

Did I read somewhere about a players only meeting today, after last nights game?

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by UKflames

Did I read somewhere about a players only meeting today, after last nights game?

Yes Francis wrote and article about it and there is discussion on the Flames site about it as well.

The team is lacking emotion and obviously need to hold each other accountable to stop the slide. It seems to happen every season and usually we see an uptick in their performance after these.

[UKflames]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Yes Francis wrote and article about it and there is discussion on the Flames site about it as well.

The team is lacking emotion and obviously need to hold each other accountable to stop the slide. It seems to happen every season and usually we see an uptick in their performance after these.

Surely having a players only meeting 6 games in can't be a good thing? This is purely speculation on my part but do we have a bit of a split in the ranks or something?

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by UKflames

Surely having a players only meeting 6 games in can't be a good thing? This is purely speculation on my part but do we have a bit of a split in the ranks or something?

Tkachuk is probably turning the music up and trying to draw some emotion, while Backlund and Giordano want silence as they look at themselves in their country club sport coats getting angry at all the racket and hockey talk.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Tkachuk is probably turning the music up and trying to draw some emotion, while Backlund and Giordano want silence as they look at themselves in their country club sport coats getting angry at all the racket and hockey talk.

Remember Gio's music choices for the dressing room a few years ago? Grooossssssss.

[blender]

Originally Posted by Burning Beard

Remember Gio's music choices for the dressing room a few years ago? Grooossssssss.

What was it?

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by UKflames

Surely having a players only meeting 6 games in can't be a good thing? This is purely speculation on my part but do we have a bit of a split in the ranks or something?

Meh, they probably just wanted to hang out together but didn’t want to get caught like Ovi and the Capitals did.

Seriously though, Ward was interviewed and he said it was a good thing in his view.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by UKflames

Surely having a players only meeting 6 games in can't be a good thing? This is purely speculation on my part but do we have a bit of a split in the ranks or something?

When is it a good time?

Early in the season is better than later - lots of time to right the ship.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by UKflames

Surely having a players only meeting 6 games in can't be a good thing? This is purely speculation on my part but do we have a bit of a split in the ranks or something?

I would rather they address it now than wait for a 10 game winless streak.

[Rollin22x]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

If that is not true, why the ^&^%$ would he start a backup goalie against a hot team on the first game of a road trip?

That choice, alone, makes no sense whatsover. Sure, BSD needs to get a game or two in here and there. But after two "close" (sort of) losses and going against a hot team, I go back to my #1 goalie every time. If you're going to win, that's how it's going to happen. This team had little confidence playing in front of Rittich at times last season, and apparently that has not changed much.

Maybe Markstrom is dealing with a minor injury? He had a few good scrambles in his last game.

[UKflames]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

When is it a good time?

Early in the season is better than later - lots of time to right the ship.

Totally agree better to get things sorted but this bunch of players have been together for quite a while now, except the off season additions, so why is something suddely off, is someone not pulling their weight, sulking about something??

I guess I would just like to know what would cause the need for something so early but it really is none of my business

[djsFlames]

Average GAF to a man needs to be raised a few notches permanently.

I think the ceiling on this roster is high. Even higher than the team they're playing a set against now. Difference is Montreal has had everybody commit to their cause early while the Flames have had pedestrian efforts littered through the line up on any given night, and too many first periods taken off on the whole.

Warm ups are for warm ups, not the first 20 minutes.

Take your first period of this season and replicate that effort. Clearly they are capable of coming out of the gate with purpose and energy.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

People were preaching Flames depth, they lose a few in a row and suddenly Dillon Dube is the difference.

Maybe if our GM didn't sign guys like Nordstrom and Rinaldo, our coach would be playing guys like Phillips or Zavgorodniy who are much more NHL-caliber.

Then you can roll out something like

Tkachuk - Backlund - Lindholm
Gaudreau - Monahan - Simon
Mangiapane - Bennett - Phillips
Lucic - Ryan - Zavgorodniy

And you've still got the option of playing Leivo, slotted best in case you lose a Simon or Lucic as he isn't the quickest guy.

We have the depth.
We elect not to use it because of the infatuation with slotting guys like Nordstrom in, or moving Bennett to wing for no reason whatsoever.
I see a lot of people posting about Derek Ryan having a tough year.

Well no ####, we've given him a dog's breakfast for wingers. Give him a kid like Zavgorodniy who will drive the play. Suddenly Lucic doesn't look so bad either, since the line won't get buried in the D zone all the time with a speedy RWer pushing the pace.

We complain about the Tkachuk - Lindholm - X line not working without Dube.

Then put Backlund back up there with Tkachuk where he's had something like four years of success. Lindholm's had success on that wing too.

The lines are a mess because our taxi squad includes Nordstrom and Rinaldo instead of the best players we have for depth.

We miss Dube because with Dube out, Nordstrom is in. The trickle-up of that is that we are 0-3-1 with Nordstrom in the lineup. Reminds me of us being something 0-4 with Rinaldo in the lineup in last year's playoffs.

It's just shooting yourself in the foot.