[News Roundup] Sunday, November 12th, 2017

[Cheese]

Flames' Smith OK after scare during Thursday's win over Wings

There was a slight scare during Thursday’s game when Mike Smith appeared to be struggling with his glove hand.
That being said, the 35-year-old Calgary Flames goalie was able to finish the game and was fully participating in Friday’s practice which were all good signs.
Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan confirmed that Smith was just fine — an even better sign considering this city has just started getting used to having a regular, everyday starting netminder for their National Hockey League team.
“A long time ago, I went in net and those glove saves look so easy,” Gulutzan said. “Every shot that came felt like I got hit with a 95-an-hour fastball in my hand. I’m like, ‘How do you guys do this?’ They’re like, ‘Well … you don’t catch it with your hand.’ How can you even do that — it’s coming so fast? Sometimes they catch these things and it hurts more than you’d think.


Gaudreau riding wave of hot start for Flames

At this time last season, things were pretty bleak around these parts.
Sixteen games into the 2016-17 National Hockey League season had the Calgary Flames pegged with one of the worst records in the 30-team loop at 5-10-1.
To make matters worse, Johnny Gaudreau was basically invisible.
So given the way the 24-year-old left winger has caught fire in ’17-18 and produced offensively in a way that has him on pace for 113 points this season, it’s hard to imagine that this is the same player.
It shouldn’t be — this is exactly why the Flames signed him for six years and US$40.5 million. But like many NHL stars, the weight of last year’s contract negotiations manifested themselves in Gaudreau’s slow start to the campaign.
The Fox Hole: Adam Fox is Picking Up Right Where He Left Off

Adam Fox had a break out season as a freshman at Harvard last season. In 35 games the young defenceman had 40 points (6G 34A), only 6 PIM and found himself a +19. This was on a team that had veteran leaders, but the freshman played himself into a starring role. This year Harvard and Fox will look to build on that success and hopefully avoid the dreaded sophomore slump. Will he? If his first 4 games of the season are any indication, he’s well on his way to another stellar year. Harvard is currently 2-2 overall and as of this writing, ranked 5th in the NCAA.
Five Flaming Fun Facts: Some Intriguing Numbers Through the First Dozen Games

1. Bang, Crash, Boom, Goal

What a performance by Micheal Ferland on Sunday, who was everywhere and impacted the game in a gigantic way. In the process, he also caught the attention of Glen Gulutzan.

"Outstanding," said the Flames coach. "He was physical when he could be physical and sometimes it's hard to be physical when you have the puck all night and you're making plays and you're in on the forecheck and playing with the puck. He did a little bit of everything for us."

When Ferland plays like that -- lots of north-south, plenty of shoot-hit -- it's hard to envision him not being on the No. 1 line. When he's dialed in like that, watch out.
Brett Kulak Strengthening Flames Bottom Pairing

There have been a lot of players getting hype over the last few weeks in Calgary. Mike Smith and Johnny Gaudreau are a few, but one player has flown under the radar and he deserves some praise. That player is Brett Kulak.
He’s been quietly having a great start to the season but last night’s win over Detroit was real proof of how much he’s improved from last year to now. In the last couple games, he’s cemented himself as the Flames sixth defenseman when Travis Hamonic returns from injury. He registered two points against the Wings but its the plays he’s been making that have been the most impressive.

[jayswin]

Really happy to see Fox picking up where he left off. I refuse to get too excited due to his size but he's making it really hard not to.

[Gaskal]

Haynes still seems to be following the Flames, just haven't seen any articles from him for quite some time. I suspect the rigors of being a hockey dad to his daughters has something to do with it.

[Kovaz]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Really happy to see Fox picking up where he left off. I refuse to get too excited due to his size but he's making it really hard not to.

Definitely worth tempering expectations, but with guys like Ryan Ellis and Torey Krug (both smaller than Fox, according to hockeyDB) his size isn't as much of a draw back as it would have been. I think you can definitely afford to have one small guy in your top-4.

Our D-core in a few years is going to be the softest, but best skating and puck-moving in the league if Fox, Kylington and Andersson make it alongside Brodie and Hamilton.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Kovaz

Definitely worth tempering expectations, but with guys like Ryan Ellis and Torey Krug (both smaller than Fox, according to hockeyDB) his size isn't as much of a draw back as it would have been. I think you can definitely afford to have one small guy in your top-4.

Our D-core in a few years is going to be the softest, but best skating and puck-moving in the league if Fox, Kylington and Andersson make it alongside Brodie and Hamilton.

Yeah, that actually worries me a little. Like you said teams can have a small guy in their top four, but we should make sure we don't become a small defensive group overall, even if they do excel at puck moving.

That's a recipe for easy pickings by big offensive teams.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Yeah, that actually worries me a little. Like you said teams can have a small guy in their top four, but we should make sure we don't become a small defensive group overall, even if they do excel at puck moving.

That's a recipe for easy pickings by big offensive teams.

Too much of a certain type of talent should be a very easy problem to solve though.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Too much of a certain type of talent should be a very easy problem to solve though.

For sure, and I've seen nothing from Brad Trelving to suggest he won't make the right moves along the way and understands the value and need for a big defense.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Kovaz

...Our D-core in a few years is going to be the softest, but best skating and puck-moving in the league if Fox, Kylington and Andersson make it alongside Brodie and Hamilton.

Valimaki?

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by jayswin

For sure, and I've seen nothing from Brad Trelving to suggest he won't make the right moves along the way and understands the value and need for a big defense.

I think Treliving may elect to keep Hamonic around longer term unless his performance drops off a cliff. He's only 27, after all. Think he's very interested in staying in Western Canada too.

[foshizzle11]

Valimaki isn't that small, he is over 200 lbs already as a 19 year old? Dougie won't be going anywhere in the next 5 years. I am not worried about that. If we can move the puck and play great positionally, I don't think we will have any issues.

[Kovaz]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Valimaki?

Fair, I forgot about him. Still, I'd categorize Valimaki similarly to Giordano: big enough to battle for pucks, and willing to step up on occasion, but I wouldn't say it's a primary attribute. That said, I could see Hamonic/Stone or both sticking around past their current contracts, which would provide a bit of that element.

For the record, I'm not necessarily calling that a weakness. Chicago's cup-winning teams were some of the least physical teams I've ever seen, but you don't need to play physical when you have the puck the whole game. Just something to be aware of: you need to play an up-tempo puck-moving style to have success with that type of personnel.