Flames just don't have that player on their roster. They have a collection of talent that can beat any team if they are all on their games playing as a team but that's difficult to achieve in the NHL on a nightly basis in this league where there's a lot of parity.
We actually do have a forward game-breaker on our roster who can do that in Gaudreau. It's just that his game just takes a nosedive when it matters most, so I guess technically you're right in that during the playoffs we have nobody who can do that.
As well on the back-end we lack that kind of skillset. Unless Gio pulls a Benjamin Button, we definitely don't have that on D. However Brodie used to pull that off regularly during his best years here.
They were good the first half of last season. They've been average ever since. I think the team is closer to what we've seen the last half of last year, last playoffs, this year, this playoffs. I think they can do better but they are not a Stanley Cup team unless some guys really break out.
I'm not 100% sure what I meant with that post you quoted, but in general I still agree with past me. This roster is not bad and what it needs the most is the right coach.
Overall I have a very boring opinion about the team right now. I don't hate Treliving or Ward, but I'd don't love them either. I think the roster is pretty decent but obviously attempts should be made to improve it...
I liked what I saw in the playoffs. We lost to a really damned good team, and we could have won that series with a bit more luck, and the team showed up to play in every game. Sure it would be nice to have a real steamroller of a team, but we don't and I don't think there's much that can be done about it right now other than trying to find the right coach who makes all the difference.
Unpopular beliefs about the Flames. This is a good team that had a down year because of systems and instability in the coaching ranks. Sean Monahan is a number one center, not on the same level of McHobo or Mc####face, but still a number one center.
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I don't know if this is the right thread for this, but I was going through my own youtube uploads and I came across a Gaudreau shift from a few years back that I loved. I guess I'll just state the opinion as this: if a coach pushed the right buttons, there's no reason Gaudreau couldn't be a positive impact 200 foot player and a guy you'd want in the playoffs:
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"May those who accept their fate find happiness. May those who defy it find glory."
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I don't know if this is the right thread for this, but I was going through my own youtube uploads and I came across a Gaudreau shift from a few years back that I loved. I guess I'll just state the opinion as this: if a coach pushed the right buttons, there's no reason Gaudreau couldn't be a positive impact 200 foot player and a guy you'd want in the playoffs:
Ha! Johnny hasn't played like that for years. Behind his own net, hitting a guy.. lol. That stuff's hard.
Johnny used to get as much satisfaction from backchecking and stealing a puck than from scoring a goal. That went away at the same time as the purple gatorade.
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"We don't even know who our best player is yet. It could be any one of us at this point." - Peter LaFleur, player/coach, Average Joe's Gymnasium
Johnny used to get as much satisfaction from backchecking and stealing a puck than from scoring a goal. That went away at the same time as the purple gatorade.
All I know is the player might be undersized but that shift alone shows that when challenged, he can do everything you'd ask from a forward in the defensive zone with his elite IQ, edgework, and will to win. I don't believe he's inherently disinterested, just not being utilized in a role that's right for him to engage. Maybe even something crazy like a shift to centre would be the answer, as that whole shift he's basically playing centre while Backlund was on the wing. Or more realistically, shifts on PK2 to get him engaged at that end. He was such a strong PKer in college.
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"May those who accept their fate find happiness. May those who defy it find glory."
All I know is the player might be undersized but that shift alone shows that when challenged, he can do everything you'd ask from a forward in the defensive zone with his elite IQ, edgework, and will to win. I don't believe he's inherently disinterested, just not being utilized in a role that's right for him to engage. Maybe even something crazy like a shift to centre would be the answer, as that whole shift he's basically playing centre while Backlund was on the wing. Or more realistically, shifts on PK2 to get him engaged at that end. He was such a strong PKer in college.
Shifting him to center is a crazy idea and might not be the best way to deal with him, but having him PK or do anything that will get him to engage the way he was in that clip would be better than trading him, IMO.
But that is all moot if he doesn't plan on staying in Calgary long term when his deal expires.
My unpopular opinion:
The current core are good enough to almost win it - just need additional help and the Flames need to find a way to add to them, not subtract (but they won't get anywhere without a good coach).
My other unpopular opinion:
Brodie leaving is going to make a HUGE hole on this team. He is this team's best defencemen - both in his defensive game and in his transition game. He seems like the ONLY competent defencemen at defending against McDavid and especially MacKinnon. Flames are really, really going to miss him.
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1) Winning championships is WAY overrated, which stems from number 2
2) The largest factor in winning championships is luck
The margin between the best and worst teams in the playoffs is very thin and as such luck drives a lot of the outcomes. Therefore, winning doesn't really mean much - its just who got lucky along the way. Just enjoy the ride and stop focusing on the outcome.
EDIT: I guess this is not just Flames based, but sports based in general
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Much like a sports ticker, you may feel obligated to read this
1) Winning championships is WAY overrated, which stems from number 2
2) The largest factor in winning championships is luck
The margin between the best and worst teams in the playoffs is very thin and as such luck drives a lot of the outcomes. Therefore, winning doesn't really mean much - its just who got lucky along the way. Just enjoy the ride and stop focusing on the outcome.
EDIT: I guess this is not just Flames based, but sports based in general
Your teams have clearly never won anything if you feel winning is way overrated.
1) Winning championships is WAY overrated, which stems from number 2
2) The largest factor in winning championships is luck
The margin between the best and worst teams in the playoffs is very thin and as such luck drives a lot of the outcomes. Therefore, winning doesn't really mean much - its just who got lucky along the way. Just enjoy the ride and stop focusing on the outcome.
EDIT: I guess this is not just Flames based, but sports based in general
How can the ultimate objective of any sports' franchise in the history of the world possibly be overrated? That's like the ultimate main goal. The #1 thing your franchise strives to do.
Unless you are looking at it strictly from a financial perspective (which in this case would make sense) , what could possibly be a higher priority than winning it all?
Unpopular but unfortunately more of a fact than an opinion, this team could trade away the entire "core" for prospects and picks and make it past the first round as many times as the current core has in the past 4 years.
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Fan of the Flames, where being OK has become OK.
1) Winning championships is WAY overrated, which stems from number 2
2) The largest factor in winning championships is luck
The margin between the best and worst teams in the playoffs is very thin and as such luck drives a lot of the outcomes. Therefore, winning doesn't really mean much - its just who got lucky along the way. Just enjoy the ride and stop focusing on the outcome.
EDIT: I guess this is not just Flames based, but sports based in general
I get this.
Really, you should now expect your team to win the cup once every 32 years. Anything more is gravy, anything less is a failure. But still, 32 years... I’m going to enjoy a lot of my team playing hockey and not winning in my life.
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Sean Monahan is a number one center, not on the same level of McHobo or Mc####face, but still a number one center.
Sean Monahan is the number one center, but he's NOT
the number one center of a true contender. Although you don't necessarily need a center of McDidn't calibre to win the cup, what you need is #1C with very good wheels, strong 2way game, playmaking ability, tenacity and compete level. The following list says it all:
Really, you should now expect your team to win the cup once every 32 years. Anything more is gravy, anything less is a failure. But still, 32 years... I’m going to enjoy a lot of my team playing hockey and not winning in my life.
While true, I think the more relevant standard is that you should expect your team to make the second round every 4 years, conference finals every 8 years and cup finals every 16 years.
All that is also winning. I would even argue it's the more significant winning, that expected regular stream of smaller successes.
I don't need to recount how far behind we are from those averages.
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Sean Monahan is the number one center, but he's NOT
the number one center of a true contender. Although you don't necessarily need a center of McDidn't calibre to win the cup, what you need is #1C with very good wheels, strong 2way game, playmaking ability, tenacity and compete level. The following list says it all:
Toews
Kopitar
O'Reilly
Backstrom
Crosby
Bergeron
Remember how during the entire Iginla era all we clamoured for was a number one centre?
Does Sean Monahan as Iggy's centre move the needle from Langkow or Conroy?
I do not believe so. In fact I'd argue there are areas he brings even less to the table than those two.
No one was silly enough to claim Conroy or Langkow to be number one centres, and they had some productive seasons in that role. Conroy even took us on our deepest playoff run.
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"May those who accept their fate find happiness. May those who defy it find glory."
Last edited by GranteedEV; 09-11-2020 at 09:36 AM.
Remember how during the entire Iginla era all we clamoured for was a number one centre?
Does Sean Monahan as Iggy's centre move the needle from Langkow or Conroy?
I do not believe so. In fact I'd argue there are areas he brings even less to the table than those two.
No one was silly enough to claim Conroy or Langkow to be number one centres, and they had some productive seasons in that role. Conroy even took us on our deepest playoff run.
I disagree. In his heyday, Iginla did all the heavy lifting gaining possession and gaining the zone. If he was paired with a centre with a touch for scoring and for cleaning up the garbage in front of the net, I think it would have taken Iginla's scoring to the next level. And Iggy elevated his game even more in the playoffs, unlike Gaudreau, who is already playing at 100% of his maximum potential in the regular season. With #12 putting Monahan on his back and dragging him into the playoffs, the playoff scoring drop-off would have been considerably less than it has been for the Flames' current iteration, if there had been any drop-off at all.
Make no mistake, it would still be Iggy who would be driving that line, but with a partner who could actually put the puck in the net on a regular basis, the Flames' legend would have been the top scorer in the league more than once.
