Most likely success story

[CaptainCrunch]

1. Brodano dominant again - I think it will be a solid pairing, Brodie goes to his proper side and gains confidence
2. Hanifin-Hamonic 1b pair quality play - I think this will be an elite second pairing
3. Valimaki calder consideration- My gut tells me he gets another year of development
4. Lindholm gels on dominant 1st line - 35 goals and 30 assists
5. Chucky closely trails Johnny in points, superstar status - I Think he solidifies his overall game and finishes 4th in scoring just behind Lindholm
6. Rittich emerges as heir apparent for starter role - Nah
7. Mangiapane gets 50 pts - Nah
8. Jankowski scores 25 - nah
9. Bennett gets 40 pts - I'm willing to book 22 goals
10. Lazar gets 35 pts - nah
11. Backlund wins the Selke - nah he's in the Western Conference
12. Johnny wins the hart - The reporters all shamed by Staples rant vote for McDavid.
13. Peters wins the Jack Adams - Nope, but I think the Flames approve hugely and make the playoffs.
14. Monahan scores 45, challenges Rocket Richard trophy - 45 sure, Rocket, nope
15. Foo 2nd line RW, scores 20 - I have him at 15
16. Dube makes team, top 9 regular. - 4th liner
17. Smith wins Vezina - nope

[agulati]

I see the following being the most likely

1. Brodano dominant again
4. Lindholm gels on dominant 1st line
8. Jankowski scores 25
9. Bennett gets 40 pts 50 pts
18. Other! - Iginla coming to the Flames on a PTO. Doubt we sign him for the year though.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

The following are possible IMO. The rest are unlikely IMO although I do think there's a chance Lazar has a bit of a breakout. I wouldn't bet on it though.

1. Brodano dominant again
2. Hanifin-Hamonic 1b pair quality play
4. Lindholm gels on dominant 1st line
5. Chucky closely trails Johnny in points, superstar status
8. Jankowski scores 25
9. Bennett gets 40 pts

[gamesaver]

1. The Canes trade turns out to be a wizardry from Tre, reinforces his position as GM.
2. 1st line dominating the pacific, stays healthy.
3. Bennet breaks out finally, forming a lethal second line with Tkachuk.
4. Smith stays healty, plays great at the Dome.
5. Peters uses the roster to its fullest potential, finds out the best lineups during the presesaon.
6. our PP works out...for a change.
7. Rittich goes back to his level of play before Smith injury, provides a solid backup goaltending.

EDIT:

8. Giordano scores in Game 7 OT against Tampa, wins Conn Smythe

[Macindoc]

Beginning with the most likely:

Brodano dominant again. I believe that it was Gio who made these pairings dominant, and he was the reason for Hamilton's great season last year (with respect to scoring).

Bennett to score 40 points. By all reports, he will be given quality opportunities to prove himself. And at his age, he should be having huge growth in effectiveness year to year.

Monahan scores 45 goals. He may have scored that many last season if he hadn't been injured, and I believe that Lindholm will be an upgrade on RW who can trade off with Monahan so both can take faceoffs on their strong side, which brings us to:

Lindholm gels on dominant 1st line. His reported "elite vision", "great hands" and outstanding lateral movement may make him an ideal complement to Johnny (and Johnny may be the first linemate he has ever had who could properly utilize those attributes). I see 30g 85p in Johnny's future, 45g 75p for Monahan and 30g 60p for Lindholm.

Janko scores 25 - as long as he has Tkachuk and Bennett on the wings, and Bennett regains some of his confidence and snaps out of his shockingly low shooting percentage.

Other - Hanifin and Lindholm sign matching 7-year 5.25M AAV deals, Derek Ryan signed on July 1 for $3M/year X 2 years. Brouwer will sit in the pressbox most nights.

None of the rest seem likely. I could agree with Hamonic/Hanafin being a quality 2nd pairing, but I wouldn't expect them to be to the level of a 1B pairing this season. Mangiapane will make the team on the 3rd line with Backlund and will score 40 points. Foo will be RW on the 4th line, Lazar at C, and each will finish the season with about 25 points. Not sure about 4th line LW, but hopefully Klimchuk will make a push for it.

[Strange Brew]

Sounds like we can expect lines in a blender this season and so I wonder if Gaudreau and Monahan get split up more often?

I am most interested in seeing how Hanifin fits in on the back end and if Lindholm can improve secondary scoring for the team.

Most anxious about the goaltending I suppose.

[brew]

I love the additions of Valimaaki and Dube on your list, I'm really excited to see where our WHL stars fit this year. Are Phillips and Dube the v2 of Monahan & Gaudreau? Gawdin seems to get diminished because he played with 2 other high scorers, well, why not put him with high scorers in pro then.

Wondering how long any of these 4 stay in Stockton


My biggest addition to Other would be team physical play. Too many times during the season the puck pressure, especially in the corners, would just be a stick close and then peel away, maybe a soft bump.. Then the playoffs reminded me how it should be: hard contact on anyone with the puck.. make them hurry, make them make mistakes. Oftentimes it seemed to me like the opposition knew they weren't really going to take a hit, and were able to calmly pass where they wanted.

[Huntingwhale]

I don't know if this will be a "likely" happening, but I think for the team to take the next step forward and become a playoff contender, they really need to fix their goal differential. IMO that should be the #1 objective going into the season.

Other then the '14-15 season, the Flames goal differential has been piss poor for the past decade. It's constantly in the negatives, and sometimes quite deep. When you look at the contending teams, and they are constantly 50+. While it might be wishful thinking, I would love to see the Flames go high up into the positives for GD. To me, that would be the biggest success story of the season, albeit not the likeliest.

[8sPOT]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

I don't know if this will be a "likely" happening, but I think for the team to take the next step forward and become a playoff contender, they really need to fix their goal differential. IMO that should be the #1 objective going into the season.

Other then the '14-15 season, the Flames goal differential has been piss poor for the past decade. It's constantly in the negatives, and sometimes quite deep. When you look at the contending teams, and they are constantly 50+. While it might be wishful thinking, I would love to see the Flames go high up into the positives for GD. To me, that would be the biggest success story of the season, albeit not the likeliest.

I agree, and thats why if a few of those items on the list come to fruition we should certainly see a nice big positive goal differential.

Brodie being really good again.
Lindholm over 50 points.
Jankowski 25 goals.
Tkachuk approaching Johnny point production.

Those 4 things would be huge IMO, and they all CAN happen. Hopefully thats how it plays out.

[Bunk]

Bump.

A little over halfway - how have your predictions played out. I've bolded those that have seemed to have worked out or are on track so far.

Originally Posted by Bunk

We all agree that for a team to succeed you need a lot of things to go right. Staying healthy, some surprise breakout(s), strong team chemistry, etc.

Of all the possible individual/line success stories this year - what do you think is the most likely?

1. Brodano dominant again
2. Hanifin-Hamonic 1b pair quality play
3. Valimaki calder consideration
4. Lindholm gels on dominant 1st line
5. Chucky closely trails Johnny in points, superstar status
6. Rittich emerges as heir apparent for starter role
7. Mangiapane gets 50 pts
8. Jankowski scores 25
9. Bennett gets 40 pts
10. Lazar gets 35 pts
11. Backlund wins the Selke
12. Johnny wins the hart
13. Peters wins the Jack Adams
14. Monahan scores 45, challenges Rocket Richard trophy
15. Foo 2nd line RW, scores 20
16. Dube makes team, top 9 regular.
17. Smith wins Vezina
18. Other!

What would be the most important to team success?

[GioforPM]

I think "other" might include the success of the rookie D pair. If you told me that the third pairing for the bulk of the year was Anderson and Kylington I'd tell you the Flames are in a bit of trouble.

[Johnny Makarov]

12. Johnny wins the Hart with 125 points.
13. Peters wins the Jack Adams with 110 points.

[Enoch Root]

Just amazing that 8 f those things are coming true or could come true.

And add to that: Giordano has a Norris-level year.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by H2SO4(aq)

Bennett getting 40 is very attainable.

hahaha. Didn't realize this was a bump thread but this.... LOL!

[Enoch Root]

The other thing you could do is look at this upside down... if these things happen, do they derail the season?:

1) Smith doesn't recover from what we saw late last season
2) Neal doesn't score 20 (or even close)
3) Ryan doesn't put up the offense he did last year
4) Bennett still doesn't take the next step offensively, and remains a 25-30 point guy
5) Backlund and Frolik don't regain their scoring touch from 2 years ago
6) Jankowski has some sophomore struggles
7) None of Czarnik, Dube, Mangiapane or anyone else, step up to provide secondary scoring
8) we get a couple long-term injuries on D

If 1 or 2 of those things happen, no biggie. If 3 or 4 happen, we might be in trouble. But what if all 8 happen?? We will be royally screwed!