Frolik is excellent in pretty much every situation IMO, including overtime.
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Even as a detractor of the 3 on 3, I know it's all about possession.
Johnny and Mony can't play all 5 minutes and Frolik is an excellent possession man. He has offensive ability to chip in as well playing with Backlund.
Oddly enough, OT is the only time I find myself agreeing with GGs deployment and tactics. I guess that's not really going out on a limb, but there you have it anyway haha.
I agree with OP that Frolik probably isn't as effective as he could be in OT but I think it has more to do with coaching that with Frolik himself. Someone needs to teach him that dump and chase (or even worse, dump and change) is not a viable strategy in OT.
I know that not everyone can be Gaudreau in OT but there is room for improvement in Frolik's OT puck management, moreso than most players.
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Frolik just isn't as flashy as when Gaudreau and company are out there. And there was a play last night where he gave up possession a little too quickly with a feeble scoring chance. But as has been pointed out, he doesn't hurt you in OT, often helps his line keep possession and is a net positive, by a wide margin.
If Flames were as good in regulation as they were 3 on 3, they would be one of the very top teams in the league.
I will say that pair almost single handedly killed two minutes of that OT period last night skating around and accomplishing nothing. Frolik offensively hasn't looked the same to me this season (I realize he did score one OT goal this season). I don't mind Backlund in OT but I would probably pair him up with a more dynamic forward at least until Frolik gets going offensively.
Janko looked lost out there, and looked completely out of gas last night after going up and back twice. Then he couldn’t get off and then barely made it back, and then he had to go forward again when Brodie stole it.
NHL.com says he was on for 31s but watching that last stretch of overtime it looked longer considering how winded he was.
No issue with Frolik. Smart and dependable with the puck and that’s what OT is all about,keeping it and waiting the other team to make a mistake, wrong turn, or over zealous and over committing by a few feet, and smart players like Frolik look for that and make the most of it.
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What a weird thread. I thought this might have been some crazy thread bump from a past losing rebuild season.
Flames have been one of the best OT teams since the day Frolik arrived. The formula is quite simple; put out Backlund, Frolik and Gio. Gain possession, kill time, tire out the other team. Then out comes Johnny, Monahan and Brodie. Flames win.
Works like a charm. Why change that? Frolik is near the bottom of the list for things that are 'wrong' with the Flames. He plays on one of the best lines in the league for a reason. It's not just Backlund and Tkachuk.
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A very odd thread especially considering he scored a sweet OT winner less than a month ago.
The Flames are 4-1-4 in OT this year so I don't think they need to change a thing. Backlund/Frolik, Monahan/Gaudreu, and the occasional shift from Tkachuk seems to be working great.
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A quick look through all boxscores for 3 on 3 OT winners, here are some thoughts:
Gaudreau is far and away the points leader.
Monahan and Frolik aren’t more than a point apart. Frolik has 2 goals and 3 assists, Monahan has 5 goals, but I don’t know if he has any assists, maybe 1.
Gaudreau has a couple of goals in the first season assisted by 2 Defenseman. Monahan has at least one of those too.
Of the Defenseman goals (I think 6 in total), most of them were assisted by Gaudreau.