Will the Flames put it together?

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I suspect this is the case for many posters here. That game against the Oilers was terrible, and it is exacerbating all the flaws in the Flames season to date. But in the end, it was just one game. For whatever reason the Oilers are in the Flames' head, and it makes them look abominable. If all anyone watched were Games #1 and #26 this season she or he would wonder how the Flames were even capable of winning a single game. But the fact of the matter is that the Flames don't play like they play against the Oilers when facing any other team. I thought that in spite of the result it was probably good for them to mount that near comeback two Saturdays ago, if for no other reason than to help the players get out of their own head when facing the Oilers.

Otherwise, it has been a decent season. The Division is out of reach at this point, but the Flames are still very much in the mix for one of the remaining two divisional playoff positions. With how well the Flames tend to play the Kings and the Sharks, I have every expectation that they will finish better than a wildcard team.

Sometimes these hurdles can turn into good building blocks, losing against the Ducks became a good indicator of how well we matched up and what area's might stand out as a weakness. It strengthened our resolve to be better. Losing to the oilers may turn out to be a good thing because it is just one more hurdle to overcome in becoming a better hockey team.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

I am okay with the Knights making the playoffs. Our goal should be the #3 seed to play against them. The playoffs are a whole different story.

We might have a better shot against the Sharks. We struggle against fast teams and they may have the entire league going for them along with an electric arena experiencing playoffs for the first time. The Sharks don’t seem to be going anywhere either with their incredible defensive play up to date.

The thing that scares me the most is that we could end up outside looking in with incredibly strong teams hot on our tails. It’s too tight right now and we can’t afford even one slip up.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Does anyone else feel a little uneasy that the Knights are still playing at an elite level while the Ducks are almost healthy and teams like Chicago and Minnesota are hot on our tails? I’d feel better about the current scenario if we actually had our 1st and 2nd this season.

No. Not the least bit uneasy.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

We might have a better shot against the Sharks. We struggle against fast teams and they may have the entire league going for them along with an electric arena experiencing playoffs for the first time. The Sharks don’t seem to be going anywhere either with their incredible defensive play up to date.

I tend to agree with you about SJ as opposed to VGK, but which fast teams do the Flames consistently struggle to beat?

The thing that scares me the most is that we could end up outside looking in with incredibly strong teams hot on our tails. It’s too tight right now and we can’t afford even one slip up.

Buckle up. The same is true of virtually every one of the teams currently bunched together on the playoff bubble.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I tend to agree with you about SJ as opposed to VGK, but which fast teams do the Flames consistently struggle to beat?

[/I]
Buckle up. The same is true of virtually every one of the teams currently bunched together on the playoff bubble.

Difference is those teams have their 1st and 2nd round picks whereas we do not. That’s guaranteed to scare any GM right there. As for the faster teams, Columbus and Toronto and even the Oilers have made us look slow this season. This team outside of maybe Gaudreau has no burners with that game breaking speed to change the game around. Our 4th line looks like molasses at times trying to get to loose pucks or move up and down the ice. There’s quite a few others on the team who are seemingly below average in the skating department as well.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Difference is those teams have their 1st and 2nd round picks whereas we do not. That’s guaranteed to scare any GM right there. As for the faster teams, Columbus and Toronto and even the Oilers have made us look slow this season. This team outside of maybe Gaudreau has no burners with that game breaking speed to change the game around. Our 4th line looks like molasses at times trying to get to loose pucks or move up and down the ice. There’s quite a few others on the team who are seemingly below average in the skating department as well.

Haha... you think the Oilers are a fast team.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Difference is those teams have their 1st and 2nd round picks whereas we do not. That’s guaranteed to scare any GM right there.

This doesn't make a lick of sense. Having or not having a first round pick in the upcoming draft has virtually no bearing on the Flames' performance this season. I guess you could argue that it is a concern after the next three or four years when the 2018 draftees will start to make their mark, but the only way this is a present concern is if you believe that their first round pick is in danger of landing in the top-five. It is not.

As for the faster teams, Columbus and Toronto and even the Oilers have made us look slow this season.

It is laughable to think that the Oilers are a fast team. McDavid is fast; the rest of the team much, MUCH less so.

I will agree that the Leafs skated circles around the Flames in Calgary, but the script was completely flipped in Toronto. CBJ was clearly the better team in their only game so far this season, but the Flames have a 1-1-1 record against them in their last three. These examples don't appear especially compelling.

This team outside of maybe Gaudreau has no burners with that game breaking speed to change the game around. Our 4th line looks like molasses at times trying to get to loose pucks or move up and down the ice. There’s quite a few others on the team who are seemingly below average in the skating department as well.

I never suggested that the Flames were a fast team, but neither do I think they are especially slow. In any event, they appear more often than not to be "fast enough" to win on a regular basis.

[GioforPM]

Need more burners. Need more grit. Need better D. Should trade D for stud RW. Should be better starters. Should be better at comebacks like Hartley's team.

[dash_pinched]

I'm definitely starting to see encouraging signs, the team has shored up some defensive gaps and secondary scoring has started to emerge. Still concerned about slow starts to games and player deployment, though. I was worried that the team had tuned out GG, but based on the last few games, that doesn't seem to be the case. Three big games coming up this week starting in Minnesota tonight, if the Flames can muster four points out of a possible six, it's hard to be displeased.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by the2bears

Haha... you think the Oilers are a fast team.

Oilers to a lesser extent. They’re not among the fastest teams in the league but they obviously have some fast players. But over the last 6 or 7 games that we’ve been soundly beaten by them, we’ve given up an insane amount of breakaways and odd man rushes to that team and they’ve made us look bad and slow as of late.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

This doesn't make a lick of sense. Having or not having a first round pick in the upcoming draft has virtually no bearing on the Flames' performance this season. I guess you could argue that it is a concern after the next three or four years when the 2018 draftees will start to make their mark, but the only way this is a present concern is if you believe that their first round pick is in danger of landing in the top-five. It is not.


It is laughable to think that the Oilers are a fast team. McDavid is fast; the rest of the team much, MUCH less so.

I will agree that the Leafs skated circles around the Flames in Calgary, but the script was completely flipped in Toronto. CBJ was clearly the better team in their only game so far this season, but the Flames have a 1-1-1 record against them in their last three. These examples don't appear especially compelling.

[/I]
I never suggested that the Flames were a fast team, but neither do I think they are especially slow. In any event, they appear more often than not to be "fast enough" to win on a regular basis.

Completely disagree with you. Not having your 1st and 2nd round picks has an effect on this current team because first of all we traded them to acquire players to help us this season and onwards. But it also raises the expectations for this team and that affects this team mentally from the top of the organization and all the way down. Also, if this team were to end up missing the playoffs and our pick ended up being a lottery pick, I guarantee a meltdown here and that goes for the team’s upper management as well.

For your second point, I already addressed it in my previous post. A supposedly “slow” team like the Oilers have made us look slow, so by that logic we must be a different level of slow then. For the record, I think we’re actually closer to average, but to not have any especially speedy players on the bottom 6 or any particularly heavy players, it doesn’t give this team much of an identity for bottom 6 and especially the 4th line. We also have a coach that likes to roll all 4 lines and when they have a very average or below average skillset, you get very average or ineffective performances a lot of nights.