08-05-2018, 05:07 PM
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#21
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: North Vancouver
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This team will make the playoffs, but just getting in and losing in the 1st round won't cut it. They need to win at least a round or two to prove that they've taken a real step forward.
On paper they're much improved from last year. I think if everything falls into place and they gel like I think they can, this team can definitely battle it out for the division crown.
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08-05-2018, 05:09 PM
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#22
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Maple Bay, B.C.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Duffalufagus
Elliott Friedman has put on at least 75lbs. Good gravy!
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Likely the main culprit in the weight gain.
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08-05-2018, 05:30 PM
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#23
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Franchise Player
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I think that coaching will be the most important aspect of the Flames. Does Peters' system mirror too closely what Gulutzan tried to accomplish? Will the Flames REALLY be a much more up-tempo team that will be more creative 5v5 and on the PP, and will the defence really be given the green light to be much more aggressive? Time will tell. I am hopeful. Apprehensive? For sure, but also hopeful that the new incoming system will actually utilize the strengths of this franchise. Would I be much more relaxed and confident had Darryl Sutter been the one hired to steer this team? Yes, without question I would be more confident. With that being said, we don't really know what Peters will do here. He has only been a coach in Carolina at the NHL level. He should realistically be an upgrade over Gulutzan, and maybe he will even be better than Sutter. We just have to see this play out.
As for the roster, I still say that last year's team was a playoff caliber roster. It got hit with injuries to too many important players, but the real issue I feel was the coaching staff. Terrible on the PP even though they had the talent to be effective there. Should have been better defensively, should have generated more goals from the defence and the bottom 9. To have practically the entire bottom 9 forwards crater in production leads me to believe it had more to do with systems/coaching than the talent level of the organization.
Now it is improved. To me, that's just gravy. If Peters is half the coach that Treliving thinks he is, this team will be in the playoffs.
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08-05-2018, 06:22 PM
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#24
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Crash and Bang Winger
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If Mike Smith & Brodie stay healthy and play well, we will be the surprise team and be second in our division/ not even a bubble team.
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08-05-2018, 10:36 PM
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#26
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First Line Centre
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdonkey
I can definitely see how one might be unconvinced of the Flames' playoff chances. On paper this is a bubble team if everything goes right, but this fanbase should know better than most how quickly a team can unravel with poor goaltending and/or coaching. And on both of those fronts there are question marks.
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Talk about selling the Flames short
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08-05-2018, 10:54 PM
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#27
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Franchise Player
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NHL 31 in 31: Calgary Flames 2018-19 season preview
Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL
Talk about selling the Flames short
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It’s nothing against the Flames. Winnipeg, St Louis, Nashville, and San Jose are probably safe bets to be better teams than Calgary. Vancouver and Phoenix are the only ones I’d say you can count out. The rest of the teams in the west are more or less on the same plane and that’s a lot of competition for a small number of spots.
What I believe is that with good goaltending and solid coaching the Flames are set, but as I’ve said before I’m not convinced either of those positions have been adequately addressed. And those are the two positions on a team where a single person can tank an entire season. We’ve seen it happen here numerous times. Just my opinion, and I would love to be wrong.
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08-06-2018, 07:31 AM
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#29
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#1 Goaltender
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I’m cautiously optimistic about the changes the Flames have made. It’s impossible to predict in advance the chemistry the new players will find with teammates.
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08-06-2018, 08:44 AM
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#30
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Franchise Player
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This team is a lot better than last year's team.
Last year team was a bubble team at the trade deadline with Smith playing fantastic and absolutely the lowest lost player games to injuries in the league.
The top 6 is a lot more competitive than it used to be ... now it is on par with the top-6 of the Pacific division that made the playoffs last season. Is the Flames #6 forward Backlund going to be better than the other teams #6 Thornton, Tatar and Jeff Carter? There is a chance that he will but it won't be a surprise if he isn't.
On defense the #1 pair has 34 year old Gio and Brodie who was reaching Brouwer status for his play last season. Could be great or good.
I like the trade with Carolina but Hanifin, Lindholm and Ryan (and Peters) but none were in the top-5 players on a team that was 1 pt worse than the Flames last season.
Mike Smith was 29 year old the last time he carried a team into the playoffs. He is 36.
1) Injuries
2) Goalie
3) Backlund/Brodie Rebound
4) Gio not declining
5) Carolina influx
6) New Coach
There is a lot of room for optimism and if all the breaks go the Flames way to the same degree everything worked out for Vegas last year then the Flames might win the division.
One of the 6 risks breaks bad they should make the playoffs with a margin of error at the end of the season
They win 4 out of 6 on the risk factors and they are a bubble team.
Last edited by ricardodw; 08-06-2018 at 09:14 AM.
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08-06-2018, 09:26 AM
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#31
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Acerbic Cyberbully
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: back in Chilliwack
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
I like the trade with Carolina but Hanifin, Lindholm and Ryan (and Peters) but none were in the top-5 players on a team that was 1 pt worse than the Flames last season...
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How convenient of you to set your cut-off at “top-5.” No doubt you noticed that #6-8 in scoring for Carolina were Lindholm, Ryan and Hanifin—who also happened to be the Hurricanes top-scoring defenseman, and he played in the All Star Game.
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08-06-2018, 09:30 AM
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#32
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First Line Centre
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Rocky Mt House
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When ricardodw says there is room for Flames optimism that alone is saying a lot.
The Flames are difficult to predict. There has been too much overhaul. Sure looks promising though.
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08-06-2018, 10:02 AM
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#33
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kelowna
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Jeez, seems like a lot of Debbie downers here. Maybe I’m optimistic but I fully expect the Flames to make the playoffs and win a round at least.
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08-06-2018, 10:10 AM
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#34
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Owner
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Calgary
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
This team is a lot better than last year's team.
Last year team was a bubble team at the trade deadline with Smith playing fantastic and absolutely the lowest lost player games to injuries in the league.
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Actually last year at the trade deadline Mike Smith had already gone 15 days without a start because he got hurt.
So sure they had some injury luck, but losing their starting goalie on February 11th certainly isn't a team that was riding a wave of nothing but good luck.
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08-06-2018, 10:12 AM
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#35
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Owner
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Calgary
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The Flames on paper last season were a division loser, but not a wild card team. They didn't get it done.
On paper this year I think they're slightly better, not division winner necessarily but by roster they should be battling for home ice in the first round.
I concur on Smith concerns as they don't have a developed backup plan, but I'm good with the experiments on the blueline given how much they've bolstered their forward group.
In a salary cap world you can't fix everything, his transfer of balance to the forward group was pretty astute in adding Hanifin while getting a forward and not just gutting the blueline out right.
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08-06-2018, 10:22 AM
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#36
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Commie Referee
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Small town, B.C.
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Jeff Carter is LA’s #6 forward? Did I read that correctly?
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08-06-2018, 11:00 AM
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#37
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Franchise Player
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
Actually last year at the trade deadline Mike Smith had already gone 15 days without a start because he got hurt.
So sure they had some injury luck, but losing their starting goalie on February 11th certainly isn't a team that was riding a wave of nothing but good luck.
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The Flames were not more than a few pts above the make the playoff line last year when Smith was far exceeding expectations.
On Feb 11 56 games in the standings were:
Vegas 76
Nashville 75
Winnipeg 73
St Louis 71
Dallas 70
San Jose 68
Minnesota 66
Calgary 66
Los Angeles 65
Anaheim 65
Colorado 64
Chicago 56
Edmonton 50
Vancouver 50
Arizona 36
The Flames were in 8th spot and 3 pts ahead of being in 11th.
The Flames at that point had lost 2.36M cap to injury
Anaheim 12.5
Vancouver 7.83
LA 5.8
Edmonton 5.03
Colorado 4.75
San Jose 4.15
The very best with Smith, Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Gio, Hamilton,Ferland, Jankowski exceeding expectations the Flames were a bubble team.
That is basically the guys that you would want to carry the team doing well.
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08-06-2018, 11:04 AM
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#38
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Franchise Player
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
The Flames on paper last season were a division loser, but not a wild card team. They didn't get it done.
On paper this year I think they're slightly better, not division winner necessarily but by roster they should be battling for home ice in the first round.
I concur on Smith concerns as they don't have a developed backup plan, but I'm good with the experiments on the blueline given how much they've bolstered their forward group.
In a salary cap world you can't fix everything, his transfer of balance to the forward group was pretty astute in adding Hanifin while getting a forward and not just gutting the blueline out right.
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I agree that the defense might be better than last year. But it is 1 of 6 risks.
If Brodie is a -16 d-man for real then what?
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08-06-2018, 11:08 AM
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#39
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Franchise Player
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
The very best with Smith, Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Gio, Hamilton,Ferland, Jankowski exceeding expectations the Flames were a bubble team.
That is basically the guys that you would want to carry the team doing well.
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I don't know if this is all true
Monahan had a great first half but in the second half clearly was plagued by injuries. Ferland's final numbers look great but also wasn't much in the second half. Gio played to expectations. Hamilton played to expectations.
Backlund, who for some reason you don't include, played below expectations, as did Frolik
Brodie also played below expectations.
And then you throw in basically the worst 4th line in the league and you get a real mixed back of performances
It isn't a team where "everything went right" and they were still just barely in a playoff spot.
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08-06-2018, 11:18 AM
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#40
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Owner
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Calgary
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
The Flames were not more than a few pts above the make the playoff line last year when Smith was far exceeding expectations.
On Feb 11 56 games in the standings were:
Vegas 76
Nashville 75
Winnipeg 73
St Louis 71
Dallas 70
San Jose 68
Minnesota 66
Calgary 66
Los Angeles 65
Anaheim 65
Colorado 64
Chicago 56
Edmonton 50
Vancouver 50
Arizona 36
The Flames were in 8th spot and 3 pts ahead of being in 11th.
The Flames at that point had lost 2.36M cap to injury
Anaheim 12.5
Vancouver 7.83
LA 5.8
Edmonton 5.03
Colorado 4.75
San Jose 4.15
The very best with Smith, Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Gio, Hamilton,Ferland, Jankowski exceeding expectations the Flames were a bubble team.
That is basically the guys that you would want to carry the team doing well.
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How does this response have anything to do with what I said?
You said they were a bubble team at the deadline riding a hot goaltender. I pointed out said hot goaltender was already sidelined for 2+ weeks.
I wasn't debating they were bubble. I wasn't debating they had some good seasons from their great players.
However I would take a bit of issue with the notion that Giordano, Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk and Hamilton were exceeding expectations. They were kind of what they were supposed to be in my mind.
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