[PGT] Flames win 3-2!!!!!!!!!!!

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

This isn't directly at you but I've seen this argument from many GG's supporters. To me, it's completely ridiculous. Whether there is parity or not in the league is completely irrelevant. Why is Vegas better than Calgary? I would take our roster over theirs every day and twice on Sunday. New Jersey? Dallas? Boston?

It's great we're fighting for the playoffs. But looking at our division, it's completely disappointing we're not fighting for the division title. Kings and Sharks are nothing special IMO, yet we're 7 points behind LA and 1 point behind SJ who have 2 games in hand (so it could be 5 points).

I agree that it's completely unrealistic to expect that everything will be clicking at once for an entire season or even for a prolonged period of time. But the Flames cannot get it for just little bit.
If the offense is great, the defense sucks. If we're playing well defensively, our scoring dries up. If both are decent, our PP lets us down. If our PP is hot (as it was for a while), the PK sucks.

It is incredibly frustrating. It's why I find it difficult to get excited even though the Flames are playing well (minus the PP), I just know the wheels are going to come off at some point soon.

People aren't defending the coaches for the season, they are pointing out that they won and some of that is on the coaches, just like the losses.

Plus, Anaheim is a good veteran team. Good top 3 defence, good goaltending, and Getzlaf obviously is still a stud. They are deep enough down the middle and have very good wingers. Calgary's lineup includes a bottom four that's pretty terrible, a third line that didn't click until December, for various reasons, and a great top two lines.

[JJFlash]

There is no doubt that GG is a slow learner and may not read the game as wellas some coaches, but he managed the final 2 mins brilliantly. Monny's line on with 2+ mins. Janko's line and Backlund's line take quick shifts pinning the ducks who appeared happy to get a point. Ducksice the puck and GG goes back to the top line and D pairing. He could have rode the game out and taken his chance in OTbut went for the win in regulation.

Johnny sends a soft pass toMonny who is straddling the line, Monny sends a pass in the middle to a streaking Ferland that is behind him. Ferland deftly sends a behind the back pass to a pinching Dougie who waits out Gibson and slides it through the legs.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by zamler

The Ducks have absolutely mastered d-bag hockey. Get down in a game run the goalie go full goon. In last nights game I really wish we had a Ryan Reeves to go out there and make the Ducks pee themselves.

Can't argue with the results as they have won the division 5 straight years now. It's not only the d-baggery that bothers me but how Getzlaf beats down officials with his non-stop complaining to the point where it starts influencing their calls.

[tvp2003]

I missed the exact stat but I think Smith is now something like 6-1-1 against the Ducks over the past few years with a ridiculous GAA and save percentage. As much as the Ducks have been in our heads he's probably in their heads just as much (you know Perry was stooping to an all-time low by bumping him at the end of the second period...).

Looking forward to the rematch on March 21 -- will be interesting to see where the standings are by then...

[Gaudreau is a Ninja]

Originally Posted by zamler

So awesome!!!!!

[Owen15]

Originally Posted by zamler

The Ducks have absolutely mastered d-bag hockey. Get down in a game run the goalie go full goon. In last nights game I really wish we had a Ryan Reeves to go out there and make the Ducks pee themselves.

This.

Harsh reality is the ducks are very good at turning the tide against calgary. Bieksa said so in after hours like “we’ve been in these games before and knew we just needed to not take penalties in third”. I take this to mean they knew the s storm at the end of the third was going to result in Calgary losing focus on what they’d been doing successfully. I hate the ducks more than any other team. Ever.

[Yrebmi]

Quoted from the Ducks message board at first intermission. Gaskal missed it in ATL report.

That was pretty much identical to the first period against the Oilers except the flames scored because they aren't as much of a terrible embarrassment to humanity.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

This isn't directly at you but I've seen this argument from many GG's supporters. To me, it's completely ridiculous. Whether there is parity or not in the league is completely irrelevant. Why is Vegas better than Calgary? I would take our roster over theirs every day and twice on Sunday. New Jersey? Dallas? Boston?

It's great we're fighting for the playoffs. But looking at our division, it's completely disappointing we're not fighting for the division title. Kings and Sharks are nothing special IMO, yet we're 7 points behind LA and 1 point behind SJ who have 2 games in hand (so it could be 5 points).

I agree that it's completely unrealistic to expect that everything will be clicking at once for an entire season or even for a prolonged period of time. But the Flames cannot get it for just little bit.
If the offense is great, the defense sucks. If we're playing well defensively, our scoring dries up. If both are decent, our PP lets us down. If our PP is hot (as it was for a while), the PK sucks.

It is incredibly frustrating. It's why I find it difficult to get excited even though the Flames are playing well (minus the PP), I just know the wheels are going to come off at some point soon.

And that's what makes it so frustrating to read your take and those of you who constantly beat this drum.

This is a game, and it's supposed to be a fun pass-time. Not saying you take it to as extreme an extent as a handful here do.. but many seem like they take no enjoyment from hockey and their hobby is to come here and complain about how disappointed they are.

I agree they should probably be farther ahead than they are this year, but this is a very young team and most of the young core are still maturing / learning.

If anyone finds themselves struggling to be excited during the good times, they should really reevaluate this pass-time in my opinion.

[nemanja2306]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

And that's what makes it so frustrating to read your take and those of you who constantly beat this drum.

This is a game, and it's supposed to be a fun pass-time. Not saying you take it to as extreme an extent as a handful here do.. but many seem like they take no enjoyment from hockey and their hobby is to come here and complain about how disappointed they are.

I agree they should probably be farther ahead than they are this year, but this is a very young team and most of the young core are still maturing / learning.

If anyone finds themselves struggling to be excited during the good times, they should really reevaluate this pass-time in my opinion.

I agree with the part about seeing hockey as a fun hobby. If all you are is frustrated, it's probably time to step back a bit. That said, as fans who invest their time and money into the Flames, we need to expect more out of the Flames.

However, I have to (at least partially) disagree about the Flames core being young. You have Bennett and Tkachuk, but Monahan is 23 already, Gaudreau is turning 24, Backlund is 28, Gio is 33 (am I right?), Hamilton is 24...on top of that, all these guys have been in the league for years now.
While they're certainly not an old core (far from it), IMO we're not at that point anymore where we can lay the blame on age and experience. This core is one that should be starting to enter a contender status and to not see much progress from last year is pretty frustrating for me. I just feel we need an experienced coach who can take this core to the next level. So far, I haven't seen that from GG.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It's no coincidence that the Flames struggles with the Ducks coincide with Getzlaf entering the league. Has any other player owned the Flames over the past 15 years like him? I don't know if it's due to some of the stuff that went down when he was with the Hitmen but he's always at his best against the Flames. I don't wish for any injuries or anything like that but his career decline can't come fast enough for me.

No kidding. When he is playing Calgary, Getzlaf is the best player in the league, and it isn't close.

His confidence level, and his ability to control the game against us is nothing short of phenomenal.

Backlund can't handle him. And until the Flames find someone who can, or he retires, our struggles with the Ducks will continue.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

I agree with the part about seeing hockey as a fun hobby. If all you are is frustrated, it's probably time to step back a bit. That said, as fans who invest their time and money into the Flames, we need to expect more out of the Flames.

However, I have to (at least partially) disagree about the Flames core being young. You have Bennett and Tkachuk, but Monahan is 23 already, Gaudreau is turning 24, Backlund is 28, Gio is 33 (am I right?), Hamilton is 24...on top of that, all these guys have been in the league for years now.
While they're certainly not an old core (far from it), IMO we're not at that point anymore where we can lay the blame on age and experience. This core is one that should be starting to enter a contender status and to not see much progress from last year is pretty frustrating for me. I just feel we need an experienced coach who can take this core to the next level. So far, I haven't seen that from GG.

To me, that's still young as all of these players have room to improve parts of their game and gain more experience, so we'll agree to disagree. But when you end up your summarizing of the team with "I just know the wheels are going to come off at some point soon" it just shows me you're going to look at everything with the glass half empty.


They're playing well right now. Probably the best they have all year. And yet the game thread was a train-wreck last night and we still had a handful of very vocal posters last night pointing to us "almost blowing it" in this thread.

I just don't get it. If a fan can see them playing well, watch a good exciting game last night that showed a ton of grit and character and only come away with "well it's not going to last"... it's just puzzling to me.

Regarding the coach(ing), I never mentioned him once in the posts you've quoted, yet you've used it as a springboard to equate everything back to that twice now. It's another negative narrative that's seeing the drum be worn out from all the repetitive beating.

[FBI]

Just caught up on the GT and PGT.
A few comments: I effing loved the first 2 periods. That's what flames hockey could and should be. Tkachuk is a gem, I think he is just going to keep getting better and better. Janko too!

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by FBI

Just caught up on the GT and PGT.
A few comments: I effing loved the first 2 periods. That's what flames hockey could and should be. Tkachuk is a gem, I think he is just going to keep getting better and better. Janko too!

Loved the way Bennett's sheer tenacity negated the size and strength he was giving up and he scored the early knockdown as a result. That was fierce.

[Enoch Root]

One thing I was meaning to mention...

I thought the Flames' D was better than the Ducks' D last night - by a lot in the 1st 2 periods. And that is something we rarely get to say after a Ducks game.

I thought Hamonic had a really good game and he continues to elevate his game towards what we acquired.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

One thing I was meaning to mention...

I thought the Flames' D was better than the Ducks' D last night - by a lot in the 1st 2 periods. And that is something we rarely get to say after a Ducks game.

I thought Hamonic had a really good game and he continues to elevate his game towards what we acquired.

I thought the Ducks D struggled with our forecheck which isn't something we've done well (to the extent we did last night) vs. them in recent years.

The way the Flames younger forwards crashed and banged last night was relentless, and you could see the Duck's D being forced to make quick (often bad) decisions.

Hopefully we can keep that up.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

I thought the Ducks D struggled with our forecheck which isn't something we've done well (to the extent we did last night) vs. them in recent years.

The way the Flames younger forwards crashed and banged last night was relentless, and you could see the Duck's D being forced to make quick (often bad) decisions.

Hopefully we can keep that up.

Yup, exactly. All the forwards were forchecking hard. And it caused the Ducks' D fits. Mangiapane, Hathaway and Lazar add a lot of speed and aggression to the forecheck. Bennett was a beast. Stajan was also good.

Please give us much more of this.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

No kidding. When he is playing Calgary, Getzlaf is the best player in the league, and it isn't close.

His confidence level, and his ability to control the game against us is nothing short of phenomenal.

Backlund can't handle him. And until the Flames find someone who can, or he retires, our struggles with the Ducks will continue.

Last I checked the Flames are winning the season series, so if you want to view that as a struggling against them then I guess?

[Gaskal]

I think just after the Christmas break I said the Flames would need at least 7/10 points out of their next 5 games just to stay in the hunt, and that I didn't see Gulutzan making it past all of Chicago, LA and Anaheim like that.

But after last night, that's 7 pts on the dot and we're definitely in the thick of the race, 1 point out of a playoff spot. Glen does deserve some credit for getting the W's against extremely tough opponents in pressure-laced games.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by FBI

Just caught up on the GT and PGT.
A few comments: I effing loved the first 2 periods. That's what flames hockey could and should be. Tkachuk is a gem, I think he is just going to keep getting better and better. Janko too!

Wish we could snag his brother "Brady Tkachuk" !!

[Karl]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

I think you totally misunderstood the post. It was on the Flames *players* to recover and come back, and gather their poop in a group after letting in two relatively quick goals. I didn't see anything that indicated the coaches had much, if anything, to do with the comeback. If you did, please identify it.

And, for the record, I'm more "win or lose and it's on the team, including coaches" except when the team either (a) makes a brilliant series of plays to win (the two shifts prior to the goal) or (b) makes a totally boneheaded play to lose the game (as the PP play above would indicate, if they'd lost).

The coaches aren't on the ice, but GG *can* attempt to interrupt negative flow with a timeout. It may, or may not, work.

The PP and the PK had slightly different personnel and configuration last night.

For example, Brodie was taken off the 1st PP and Gio was put on.

And they used 3 PK forward groups instead of just 2.

The 3 PK forward groups used were Backlund-Brouwer, Janko-Hathaway & Bennett-Stajan.

This makes way more sense because they finally broke up the doubly slow Stajan-Brouwer tandem and put 1 fast forward with both Brouwer and Stajan on the PK rather than insist on continuing to have both of them together yet again.