Some of you have short memories...yes, Wideman can and has been much worse than bartkowski.
I'm not disputing the fact that Wideman hasn't been good. And yes, I agree he's been much worse during the regular season, but at this point I would be incline to say he can't be worse after last night's performance by bartkowski. Bart was pretty much victimized the same way in those plays as Wideman has been in the past. Why not bring a fresh body and see where it goes? I think if something isn't working for 3 games, it's time to make some changes (and really, this isn't THAT drastic of a change).
I present to you the reason we are losing the series:
Anaheim goals in game 1:
Goal #1: Engelland can't tie up his man, we get scored on in the first 90 seconds.
Goal #2: Engelland and Bartkowski go for a fun line change.
Goal #3: Bouma in the box for a stupid penalty + Elliott gets beat under the arm.
Anaheim goals in game 2:
Goal #1: Bartkowski, Engelland, Elliott. For some reason we start the game with our worst defense pairing, and get scored on in the first 90 seconds.
Goal #2: Elliott gets beat on a wraparound. Can't happen.
Goal #3: Bouma, Elliott. Elliott gets beat by a muffin, Bouma deflects it because he is in poor position.
Anaheim goals in game 3:
Goal #1: Bouma and Elliott. 4th line gets caught up ice. Bouma stops skating at the Anaheim blue line and coasts back. Stajan loses gets beat to the net by Perry. Elliott kicks a massive rebound from the half boards into the slot.
Goal #2: Elliott lets in a muffin with less than a minute from the half boards.
Goal #3: Engelland and Bartkowski are on the ice inexplicably with less than ten minutes to go.
Goal #4: Engelland and Bartkowski are on the ice inexplicably with less than five minutes to go.
Goal #5: Elliott chips a rebound of a harmless half boards shot into the slot and banks it off our own player.
So there you have it folks. Pretty common theme throughout. Engelland and Bartkowski are getting absolutely victimized this series. Our fourth line is getting dominated. Our goalie can't stop a puck.
Two out of three of those things can be controlled by Gulutzan.
But he insists on playing our third pairing and fourth line an inexcusably high amount. Couple that with the terrible goal tending by Elliott, and we are full marks for where we are at 0-3.
As bad as the 3rd pairing and 4th lines have been, that's on the coach to not play them more then 10 minutes a game. Other playoff teams shorten the bench and give their top forwards 20+ mins and their top D 25+mins of icetime. GG is obsessed with rolling all the lines all game long. That might work well in various stretches of the regular season when you can afford to do that. But now is not that time. Weak players should be seeing <8 mins and the top guns being ridden hard.
Stajan and Bouma played 8 minutes.
Gaudreau 21 minutes. Monahan, Backlund, Frolik and Tkachuk between 18 and 20 minutes.
Around the league? Backstrom and Oshie 18 minutes. Ovechkin 15 minutes. Marner high for Leafs with 18. There are guys with a lot, like Kane, but forward looks just fine.
Bartkowski and Engelland each played about 15 minutes, and all at 5 v 5. This does seem like more than you want.
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As bad as the 3rd pairing and 4th lines have been, that's on the coach to not play them more then 10 minutes a game. Other playoff teams shorten the bench and give their top forwards 20+ mins and their top D 25+mins of icetime. GG is obsessed with rolling all the lines all game long. That might work well in various stretches of the regular season when you can afford to do that. But now is not that time. Weak players should be seeing <8 mins and the top guns being ridden hard.
I feel like I must be watching a different game from everyone else. The bottom lines have been decent, even good, the top lines have only produced on the power play, honourable mention to backlund and his shorty.
Gaudreau leads the team in giveaways through 3 games and is a -2.
Through 3 games gaudreau has played basically twice as many minutes as the fourth line, he's played basically a full period more than brouwer.
Just how much time should he be playing at this point?
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1990, 1991, 1994 & 1995 all featured heartcrushing, soul-destroying OT games too. In fact, the game winner last night was eerily similar to Ray Whitney's 2OT game-7 goal on the hapless Trevor Kidd.
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Let your best players decide the games, not your worst.
2. Gulutzan is not playing his best players enough.
That's weird. Didn't seem to hurt the Ducks last night when Carlyle rolled his lines as usual.
Balanced teams don't just stick McDavid or Kane out there for 30 minutes, especially teams without a McDavid. Rolling lines can (and often is) JUST as successful a strategy as shortening the bench, so let's not pretend every team needs to be like Chicago or Edmonton to have success when they're not close to being the only example.
- Bouma and Stajan clocked in at 8-9 minutes, so did Shaw and Wagner.
- Holzer and Montour were the two lowest Anaheim D at 13 and 20, Bart and Engelland played 14 and 15
- Monahan and Getzlaf each played 20
- Gio, Brodie, Hamilton all played 22-24, so did Bieksa, Lindholm, and Theo
The "isn't playing his best players enough" is just another in a long line of false narratives constructed by people who don't like Gulutzan. He's employing a strategy successfully used by many different coaches in the NHL, one which the Pacific Div Champions and team currently holding a 3-0 series lead (including a late comeback win) uses.
Anaheim has their top 2 D out and their bottom pairing are still playing more than Bart and Eng.
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I feel like I must be watching a different game from everyone else. The bottom lines have been decent, even good, the top lines have only produced on the power play, honourable mention to backlund and his shorty.
Gaudreau leads the team in giveaways through 3 games and is a -2.
Through 3 games gaudreau has played basically twice as many minutes as the fourth line, he's played basically a full period more than brouwer.
Just how much time should he be playing at this point?
The Gaudreau/Monahan/Ferland line has been one of the best in the league in the playoffs so far by Corsi.
1990, 1991, 1994 & 1995 all featured heartcrushing, soul-destroying OT games too. In fact, the game winner last night was eerily similar to Ray Whitney's 2OT game-7 goal on the hapless Trevor Kidd.
Pretty much the entire playoff experience as a Flames fan has been soul crushing. I'm lucky enough to remember the 89 cup win but how sad is it that for many of us our best memory is the year the Flames went to the finals and lost?
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A few weeks after crashing head-first into the boards (denting his helmet and being unable to move for a little while) following a hit from behind by Bob Errey, the Calgary Flames player explains:
"I was like Christ, lying on my back, with my arms outstretched, crucified"
-- Frank Musil - Early January 1994
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I feel like I must be watching a different game from everyone else. The bottom lines have been decent, even good, the top lines have only produced on the power play, honourable mention to backlund and his shorty.
Gaudreau leads the team in giveaways through 3 games and is a -2.
Through 3 games gaudreau has played basically twice as many minutes as the fourth line, he's played basically a full period more than brouwer.
Just how much time should he be playing at this point?
Yeah, I would tend to agree. These playoff games have been an unfortunate exclamation point on what has been a pretty disappointing season for Gaudreau. I wouldn't be surprised if he just wants to be done with it, spend the summer refocussing and get a fresh start next year.
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Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
Quote:
Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
1990, 1991, 1994 & 1995 all featured heartcrushing, soul-destroying OT games too. In fact, the game winner last night was eerily similar to Ray Whitney's 2OT game-7 goal on the hapless Trevor Kidd.
That era marked me as a fan. The place in my heart where I should feel hope or disappointment is just a lump of scar tissue.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
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That's weird. Didn't seem to hurt the Ducks last night when Carlyle rolled his lines as usual.
Balanced teams don't just stick McDavid or Kane out there for 30 minutes, especially teams without a McDavid. Rolling lines can (and often is) JUST as successful a strategy as shortening the bench, so let's not pretend every team needs to be like Chicago or Edmonton to have success when they're not close to being the only example.
- Bouma and Stajan clocked in at 8-9 minutes, so did Shaw and Wagner.
- Holzer and Montour were the two lowest Anaheim D at 13 and 20, Bart and Engelland played 14 and 15
- Monahan and Getzlaf each played 20
- Gio, Brodie, Hamilton all played 22-24, so did Bieksa, Lindholm, and Theo
The "isn't playing his best players enough" is just another in a long line of false narratives constructed by people who don't like Gulutzan. He's employing a strategy successfully used by many different coaches in the NHL, one which the Pacific Div Champions and team currently holding a 3-0 series lead (including a late comeback win) uses.
Anaheim has their top 2 D out and their bottom pairing are still playing more than Bart and Eng.
Right.
But Montour & Holzer =/= Engelland & Bartkowski.
And further, it doesn't matter at all how the Ducks deploy their roster. It matters how the Flames deploy theirs, because those are the horses you have in the race.
The evidence is pretty damning that the bottom half of our roster, and their over use, is a key contributing factor to why we are down three games to zero.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be playing our bottom pairing and our fourth line. They need to be played. But they need to be played in such a way that they don't get repeatedly victimized.
Literally go back and look at each goal the ducks have scored this series.
I am not constructing a false narrative.
I've constructed why we are losing, and backed it up with video evidence.
Elliott can't make a save. Reason #1.
Our third pairing and fourth line is reason #2.
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Pylon on the Edmonton Oilers:
"I am actually more excited for the Oilers game tomorrow than the Flames game. I am praying for multiple jersey tosses. The Oilers are my new favourite team for all the wrong reasons. I hate them so much I love them."
