[GDT] 2017 Young Stars Classic: Oilers vs Flames. 5pm MT. calgaryflames.com

[activeStick]

Flames playing again today?

[GoJetsGo]

Tomorrow:

Calgary vs. Vancouver Sept. 10 2:00pm

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Ok, so what was his excuse the year before that? I am sure defenders of Huska can come up with something. You are also arguing that young and inexperienced talent means those players suck? So how does any rookie ever break 20 points then? The Flames had a very young but very talented and skilled group last year and they most certainly should have been better than what their record was. The organization also thinks a lot of Sigalet as well but it does not mean I have to agree with it.

The idea that young-and-unrefined means you 'suck' is flawed. I'll use Kylington as an example even though I think he takes a lot of unfair heat. You could "win" more games by breaking his game down and effectively "destroying" the parts that look ugly to you. Bench him every time he fails to go glass and out. Instruct him to stop pinching. These are things you could do that would probably make him a better, safer AHLer as soon as tomorrow.

But that is not what you want.

You want him to learn by experience the difference between a good pinch and a bad one. The difference between when to carry the puck and when to settle for a safe clear. You want to put him in situations he may not be ready for, like #1 Penalty Kill, and let him become ready for that situation instead of weening him in.

You do trade off some winning for development. Encouraging creativity and high-end skill to translate into effective NHL play means accepting growing pains and living with them. It even meant telling Tyler Wotherspoon to take chances he never used to, or telling Mark Jankowski to make plays instead of dump and chase (he noted yesterday on the fan that this was the biggest difference from College to Pro). Who'da thunk.... telling a player to make the "safe" play LESS instead of MORE!

Remember this PT article by Larionov?

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/mi...hockey-russia/

Well you don't accomplish that without positive reinforcement of letting kids make mistakes - at the minor league level.

[Gaskal]

Adding onto that a little bit, Gulutzan says while he does have a system in place as a guideline, he stresses telling players to trust their instincts first as he feels that it lets them build creativity and work on their on-ice vision more than just blindly doing a "systems" play.

[1qqaaz]

I really disliked Huksa after his first year of coaching the heat.

It was tough seeing so many of our non-rookie prospects regress in terms of development (Reinhart, Baertschi, Ferland, Ortio, Knight, Shore, Cundari, Hanowski, etc). Poirier had a strong year, but he hasn't really developed since then.

Drury18 watched the heat very closely at that time. I remember him being unimpressed with how Huska was making excuses during and after the season.

However, since the 14-15 season, I think Huska has improved. The development of prospects has been more steady, and the team has also performed better. I think this will be a big season for Huska. Several players are on the cusp of making the NHL. We'll see how/if they've really developed over the past few years. The Flames will have injuries this year, and many forwards will probably get chances.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

Adding onto that a little bit, Gulutzan says while he does have a system in place as a guideline, he stresses telling players to trust their instincts first as he feels that it lets them build creativity and work on their on-ice vision more than just blindly doing a "systems" play.

Plus, any team that plays too strictly to a system will be an easy team to prepare for. Even if the game plan is perfect, if it's too predictable it becomes easy to match lines, and strategies to neutralize the system. You want some unpredictability to an extent so that you can catch guys unaware and make plays that break down the defensive structure, or neutralize a forecheck. Over a 7 game series, you tend to see teams that rely too much on a structured game plan lose over time to a team that is a little more adaptable and can make a play that "ad-libs" on the game plan. Of course, the teams that do that the best often have exceptional players who can do that with confidence and execution, so you need to have really good players too.

This is why a guy like Guy Boucher doesn't last long. He comes up with this perfect defensive system, but teams that can strategize well often overcome that. During this most recent playoffs, I kept waiting for the shoe to drop for the Sens. It takes players like Karlsson, Anderson, and a surprising performance from Ryan to make the difference for a team that plays like that.

[FBI]

Any post game summaries from coaches or players or anything?

[AC]

Here's Haynes' recap including quotes from players/Huska:
http://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/2017/...ers-4.html?m=1

[Plaedo]

Originally Posted by FBI

Any post game summaries from coaches or players or anything?

There is this from Darren Haynes, which is always good. Mainly just takeaways though.

http://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/?m=1

[GreenLantern2814]

The biggest (pun intended) things that stood out to me were the size of Jankowski and Valimaki. Those are two NHL players.

Jankowski's reach is outstanding - it would be worth signing Jagr simply to teach Janko how he shields the puck. The move he made off the half wall to cut to the middle and hit the post was an NHL play. Quality of competition is a valid source of cold water, but we've got a 6 ft 5 stud centre prospect who's ready for the next level.

Valimaki looks like the total package on D. Skating, size, positioning, first pass, offensive instincts, he looks like the sort of player who'll skate 20 minutes a night and barely break a sweat.

Didn't get to see anything else past the first, but saw what I needed to see from the big boys.