[PGT] Flames lose 3-2 in Montreal

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Neal needs better linemates.

Would a centre shuffle work for you? (somewhat from the terrible defense thread)

Backlund
Lindholm
Bennett - Monahan - Neal
Jankowski

[Rollin22x]

It's only one game and the Flames can definitely learn from this one.
Montreal forced them to make quick plays all night and almost everyone panicked and made bad passes or decisions. Too stagnate on the PP which gave Montreal lots of time to force the play again. How do you counteract that aggressive forecheck? Hit them anytime you can so they have second thoughts about coming in that hard and fast?
Some of the hits the refs missed were ridiculous but I think the slew foots that MT received were much worse.
After this game I realized that these players have some incredible self control. I was really hoping Hathaway or Bennett would punch the face off of Domi or _______.

[Heavy Jack]

At one point I noticed Bennett up with Tkachuk and Backlund and the line had some noticeable pop to it, I don’t think it would be a bad idea promoting Bennett into the top 6 and finding some PP time for him as well.

I’d role something like

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - Backlund - Bennett
Frolik - Ryan/Jankowski - Neal
Dube - Ryan/Jankowski - Czarnik/Hathaway

PP1

Tkachuk - Monahan - Neal
Gaudreau - Giordano

PP2

Bennett - Backlund - Lindholm
Hanifin - Brodie

[btimbit]

^I like it. I'd also like to try Neal with Tkachuk and Backlund too

[FBI]

Right now it seems very obvious to try Bennett on PP2.

[simonarea]

Originally Posted by 3rd liner

How did MTL outmuscle us? Their biggest fake tough guys are 5 feet tall! Trailing by two goals you don't want to goon it up, but there are ways to get your shots in (ask the Ducks...). Harden the f up flames....

We dont have enough physical players....
Most guys are soft. Team plays soft. We need to add hard hitting d-man
Janko got crushed at the end board, ... I dont remember seeing any of our d men hitting like that since.....regehr Haha

[Kybb79]

Goons are not going to make a difference this team has no hard nosed players outside of Bennett, Neal and Hamonic. Everyone says well Detroit or Chicago had no goons but they had hard nosed players with skill who didn't take crap. Thats what we don't have here.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Would a centre shuffle work for you? (somewhat from the terrible defense thread)

Backlund
Lindholm
Bennett - Monahan - Neal
Jankowski

I don't think Monahan's skill set is suited to two sort of power type forwards at all.

[GioforPM]

Backlund tends to get players going - Bennett, Frolik, Tkachuk (though he's a self starter anyway). I think he'd mesh with Neal. Frolik can play his (usually) consistent game on a lower line.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

The underlying problem is still the overall team speed. Despite Treliving's efforts, this team still isn't fast enough which hampers their ability to play at a pace that Bill Peters wants them to play at. Watching 2 very fast teams like the Canadiens and the Rangers dominate us by just sheer skating ability and constant pressure was eye opening. We could do nothing to stop the constant hounding and back pressure.

It was akin to watching the Vegas Golden Knights have their way with us like last season. Once again this season, we look slow to get back into the play, slow on the backcheck which makes us slow to react and then slow to defend. It's probably a big reason as to why we have slow starts too.

The best thing about having a faster team to me is that if you're having a lazy game, you're still a fast team and won't be so easily outskated. If you're an opponent, having to play against a team that applies consistent back pressure, hounds you on the forecheck and makes shifts miserable for you. That sounds like the type of team I would want to build.

Not that I agree Vegas had their way with us ( we were the better team 3/4 games and they needed to concuss Brodie to be better in the last one) but at do you propose to improve team speed?

I would say Backlund, Bennett, Gaudreau, Czarnik, Dube are our five fastest forwards.

The next group of guys don't seem slow either: Lindholm, Frolik, Ryan. All guys who belong on a fast team.

Which leaves "the rest":

Jankowski - He doesn't have the most explosive skating, but he has a certain quality to his skating that has manifested in some excellent rushes. Is he the problem?

Tkachuk - He's not physically fast but he's also so intelligent and crafty that he is able to dominate at both ends. Perhaps he slows down the power play entry though. Is he the problem?

Monahan - His speed seems to be a bit problematic defensively, but he's the best shooter on roster. Like Tkachuk his lack of speed manifests on the PP entries. Is he the problem?

Neal - Was actually ON Vegas last year. Or is it that he's redundant with Tkachuk?

Hathaway - Ideally he isn't in the lineup, though he has been the last three games...

[dino7c]

^^^
Hathaway has been one of the better forwards the last few games

[Always Earned Never Given]

Originally Posted by simonarea

We dont have enough physical players....
Most guys are soft. Team plays soft. We need to add hard hitting d-man
Janko got crushed at the end board, ... I dont remember seeing any of our d men hitting like that since.....regehr Haha

I guess you missed the game against the Rangers on Flames fourth goal!

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Not that I agree Vegas had their way with us ( we were the better team 3/4 games and they needed to concuss Brodie to be better in the last one) but at do you propose to improve team speed?

I would say Backlund, Bennett, Gaudreau, Czarnik, Dube are our five fastest forwards.

The next group of guys don't seem slow either: Lindholm, Frolik, Ryan. All guys who belong on a fast team.

Which leaves "the rest":

Jankowski - He doesn't have the most explosive skating, but he has a certain quality to his skating that has manifested in some excellent rushes. Is he the problem?

Tkachuk - He's not physically fast but he's also so intelligent and crafty that he is able to dominate at both ends. Perhaps he slows down the power play entry though. Is he the problem?

Monahan - His speed seems to be a bit problematic defensively, but he's the best shooter on roster. Like Tkachuk his lack of speed manifests on the PP entries. Is he the problem?

Neal - Was actually ON Vegas last year. Or is it that he's redundant with Tkachuk?

Hathaway - Ideally he isn't in the lineup, though he has been the last three games...

The only way to improve team speed is to improve the personnel or in other words, get players who are fast. All we hear from Bill Peters is that the team needs to play fast, but it was the Canadiens who skated circles around us and made the team look as bad as I’ve ever seen them play. I give Bergevin a lot of credit, he went away from the norm and built a team with a lot of smaller players, in fact I believe they are the shortest in the NHL, but they can all skate, play with pace, force turnovers and backcheck quickly. He’s now been rewarded with a team that’s only lost 1 regulation game despite supposedly rebuilding.

I think Treliving built a quicker team last year, but we’re still lacking those true burners. I don’t think anyone on this Flames team fits that bill based on what I’ve seen. Dube is probably the closest and possibly Johnny, but it’s his acceleration that’s his asset rather than his actual top speed. If the team was built with at least one burner per line that could cause havoc and turnovers with their strong forecheck, that would be a great start.