[News] Lambert: Why Calgary Flames window could slam shut

[pepper24]

Lambert is right though on one issue......goaltending. If the Flames don't resolve that in due time our contention window will close without playoff success. The big IF is can either Gillies or Parsons step in as legit #1 goalie in the next few seasons. They both have the potential but with goalies that doesn't always translate. That'll determine if the Flames can contend or not.

[Vinny01]

Due to the fair warning from Miss Teeks I knew I was about to read a bunch or propaganda hate from someone that irrationally hates the Flames. Isn't Lambert from the North Easy US?

That article is a summary of the worst case scenario.

He cites lack of depth but I recall that being something much of the media discussed as a strength for the Flames. The fact he seems to be writing Bennett off as a bust is proof he is a hater. That would be like Flames fans calling Nurse, Puljujarvi, etc busts because they are not elite players yet.

The Smith/Lack concern certainly is valid as I share similar feelings. I do think Smith has potential to be our best goalie since Kipper but he could also be no better than what we have had since Kipper left. I did find it comical that he thought our goalies only cost us 3pts in the standings last year. Well our goalie certainly cost the team a playoff win or three as well.

Someone could write an article about how the Flames have the best D in the league and several young high end forwards that would result in the team being better than Nashville and therefore a cup favorite.

One thing the haters seem to gloss over is the fact the Flames went 40-23-3 after a disastrous 5-10-1 start. After they figured it out the team played at a 103pt pace for over 2/3 the season after adjusting to a new coach/system

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Originally Posted by pepper24

Lambert is right though on one issue......goaltending. If the Flames don't resolve that in due time our contention window will close without playoff success. The big IF is can either Gillies or Parsons step in as legit #1 goalie in the next few seasons. They both have the potential but with goalies that doesn't always translate. That'll determine if the Flames can contend or not.

A blind syphilitic donkey with traumatic brain injuries knows the Flames goaltending is an issue. That is the ultimate in low hanging fruit. Much like most of Lambert's work.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

but that it doesn't address the areas where the Flames were weakest, because they already had a strong blue line. That's, again, true.
...

He didn't say that. He said that adding Hamonic is a good thing because he may well excel in a middle pairing role, but that it doesn't address the areas where the Flames were weakest, because they already had a strong blue line. That's, again, true.

Our blue line was an identifiable weakness, though. Brodie-Stone were a sub-50% possession pairing, even if they had their moments you'd be remiss to go into a full season hoping for 82 games of that kind of PDO. Bartkowski-Engelland... where do I begin? It may have been the worst defense pair in the NHL last year. I think when I was checking the various defense pairs on corsica before it went down, there may have been one or two that were worse. So to say we already had a strong blue line is misleading. We had three strong defensemen, a solid bottom pair defenseman playing too high up in the lineup, and the worst bottom pair in the NHL. We were remarkably average, and now I don't believe we are, even if we are overpaying we are arguably a top five defense and probably top two. Which, given the success of teams like Nashville (Ekholm-Subban / Josi-Ellis), Pittsburgh the year prior (Dumoulin-Letang / Maatta-Daley / Cole-Schultz), Chicago the year before (Keith-Seabrook, Oduya-Hjalmarsson), LA the year before (Mitchell-Doughty, Muzzin-Voynov, Martinez-Green-Regehr), Chicago again, etc... is pretty much an annual baseline for being a contender, arguably moreso than forward scoring as many of those teams with the exception of Pittsburgh were extremely average in their forward scoring.

6 points is a lot of points in a tight playoff race. It puts them up in 3rd in the Pacific, playing the Oilers rather than the Ducks. It's the difference between a sweep and a winnable series, particularly given the matchup.

Ducks were a winnable series, though. I mean one might even argue that if the goals followed the scoring chances, we would be up 3-0 after three games, although that's an extreme take. It was a sweep, by chance, but playoff position is pretty irrelevant. Nashville was behind us in the standings and defeated the Ducks (after defeating the Blues and Blackhawks). There is way too much chance at play to say that six point were the difference between a sweep and a winnable series. Cam Talbot could easily have swept us (in fact, did in the regular season).

I mean, I'm stuck defending Ryan Lambert here.

Nope. You elected to defend him when there's nothing there to defend except exaggerated and skewed versions of reality, which is his MO.

As for ignoring Jankowski, Foo and Lazar, this is just magic beans talk. None of those guys have done anything at the NHL level yet. Again, if they do (which no one is saying is impossible) it solves the forward depth problem immediately. Until they do, it's a problem.

Jankowski is not a magic bean. Even if you want to debate his ceiling, his domination of the AHL as a 22 year old is highly indicative of more than just magic beans. He's clearly ready to not only play in the NHL but make some level of impact. I can say this not out of homer-ism but because

1) There were forwards who played and made an impact in the NHL last year who had less impact over replacement level in the AHL than Jankowski, while having worse tool-sets. And Jankowski's minor league strong season was independant of being an AHL vet, a skewed minutes push or a special teams driven skew, the things that historically can cause AHLers to be magic beans.

2) There were already forwards who played on the Calgary Flames last year who probably were below replacement level. Jankowski isn't going to improve upon Lance Bouma or last year's version of Troy Brouwer because he's magic beans? That's not even grounded realism, that's like... "I'm going to walk in -30 degree weather because cars can break down"

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Yrebmi

To be fair Frolik is 29

Lol

But is he core? Probably falls into the supporting cast (and a gem, at that if we're going to bring up depth).

Backlund is the one that drives that line.

If Sadbert was realistic about how the Flames fared in their most recent season and really knew the team and its strengths, he'd know that the Flames were brought down last year by

-Slow starts by Monahan and Gaudreau + wrist injury issues
-Elliott crapping the bed from october to november, then again in april
-Brodie struggling playing on his wrong side with poor partners until Stone
-Players nursing injuries going into the Anaheim series
-3M's offence fizzled out late in the season
-Unreliable 5-7 d-men
-Sam Bennett has a sophomore slump

Point 1 was attributed to Monahan having back issues early, and Gaudreau joining the team late with the contract stalemate. Both should be healed up with no off ice distractions heading into this season. And one can only hope that the NHL will make good on its promise to crack down on targeting of the wrist.

Point 2 could be addressed by a goaltending change in both positions. There is no guarantee, but Smith has the advantage of being a proven starter over Elliott, who never demonstrated on ability prior to carry the workload for more than 45-50 games.

Point 3 could very well be addressed with the addition of Hamonic. Hopefully allowing Brodie to play on his strong side again. He's played at a much higher level so we know he's capable of rebounding.

Point 4 is addressed by the players getting to heal from injuries and surgery etc (Monahan)

Point 5 we do not know the exact reasons for this, but the guy on left wing will only get better and Backlund and Frolik excel at turning defensive zone starts into offensive zone time and are a couple of the better 2 way players in the game. I'm not too concerned.

Point 6, well you now have one of the strongest top 5s in the league on paper. My concern about depth defencemen has all but diminished with Hamonic and Stone being here as opposed to Wideman, Engelland and Grossman last season.

I bring up point 7 because Lambert seems to think that Sam has plateaued or something at 20 years old and actually questions his potential of again surpassing 30 or 40 points after a great Anaheim series that followed what was in truth a sophomore slump, nothing more or less. People seem to forget that this is a thing. There is nowhere to go but up with this kid, and yes, as a third line center he can certainly be one of the better ones in the league this year that WILL again pass 30 points...

Just such a dumb article that only has any legitimacy in calling out the goaltending. But also fails to recognize the potentially elite talent in goal that is currently in the pipeline. Trollish indeed.

[Don Benji]

Lambert is absolute garbage. Links to his junk should never be posted anywhere. Useless troll.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Don Benji

Lambert is absolute garbage. Links to his junk should never be posted anywhere. Useless troll.

[bax]

Matt Stajan is not our third line center.

The goalies are fine. Not the best in the league but every goalie available this summer comes with question marks.

Our core players are not in their late twenties.

Improved defense will help the goalies drastically.

Bennett hitting 30 points isn't some drastic challenge as he suggests.

No more sitting around trying to learn the system for 2 months.

Part of his argument is we're in trouble because Alex Chaisson isn't coming back?

I'm not worried.

[Yrebmi]

RE. Frolik being 29 yo

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Lol

But is he core? Probably falls into the supporting cast (and a gem, at that if we're going to bring up depth).

I wouldn't say so, but Lambert listed the 3M line as part of the core.

[Classic_Sniper]

The Flames were 3rd in the entire NHL in wins after that horrible first month where nothing went right. I see upgrades on the backend, in net and with the 3M line and potentially Ferland on the first line all season long I don't see goal scoring being a major problem.

I can see the team finally reaching the upper echelon of the elite teams. Guys like Lazar, Smith, Hamonic and etc are so excited to be apart of this team that it can only raise team morale which I predict will result in a fantastic early start.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I don't mind a negative or contrarian article, that at least helps highlight what the trouble spots could be.

Even ardent Flames fans have to acknowledge there is no track record of success and all our hopes are based on potential. And I think you'll have a hard time finding an unbiased observer who ardently believes the Flames have solved their goalie woes.

There is no trophy awarded for expectations or predictions. But Treliving and company certainly have given fans reason to be excited about the upcoming year. That is enough for me at the moment.

Yup I feel the same. While the writer comes off as a tool given his tone, he's not wrong in some respects. We've all seen the huge potential the last couple Flames teams have had going into the season, only to dig a massive hole and have to climb out of it. Hope is always high in the summer.

While I expect the Flames to be a playoff team, I certainly wouldn't guarantee it. Given the parity in the league, now all it takes is a couple bad stretches, some poor slumps and things can quickly swing the other way. The challenge this year will be for more consistency throughout the season.

Having said that, the writer's tone makes him seem like a knob and he's been wrong a ton in the past. If anything I'm grateful to him for giving us another hockey thread during the offseason.

[Oil Stain]

If I were a Calgary fan I'd be upset with the goal tending solution as well.

I think the writer wasn't wrong in identifying that the Flames are in a window to potentially put themselves over the top and they defaulted to a what is in my opinion a goal tending solution with very limited upside.

Giordano likely has 1-3 years left as an impact player if we go by the general history of NHL players of all types. Father time gets them all.

If the Flames are wanting to push to win while he is still a top 10-20 D-man, they need to do it now. There is no guarantee that either Brodie or Hamilton develop into that guy.

I think they would have been better served paying the price and getting a good young goalie with upside. It would have cost a lot for sure, but would have been worth it IMO.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Again, goaltending is a legitimate issue this year, and even at that, it isn't necessarily a glaring weakness. There are young guys on the farm which may very well extend the window, not close it. How can a professional writer miss that?

[Weitz]

I think the article probably sums up most peoples views of the team that are not fans of the team. Although a little more down in the dumps.


It really is sort of a "finished" product in that once more and more guys come off their contracts and want raises you won't exactly get better.

A lot of that comes from maybe not having that bonafide star that fans from across the league tune in for which is unfair IMO. Gaudreau is an electrifying player.

[Enoch Root]

The article basically states that if everything ends up not working, if basically everyone underachieves and none of the prospects take the next step, that the Flames won't be contenders. Brilliant.

Even if that happens though (lol), he's still dead wrong, because their window won't shut.

The core is all very young except for Giordano. So they need to replace one defenseman in the next 3-5 years (and they have one of the best collection of D prospects in the NHL).

Frolik is 29 - oh noes! He is easily replacable when his contract runs out. And the Flames' future is hardly resting on his shoulders.

Whether the goaltending works or fails, the future is being built around Parsons and Gillies. If they don't develop, the Flames will look for other solutions. But Lambert is putting way too much weight on Smith and Lack's shoulders, the team will be contenders long past their contributions.

He is suggesting the window is 1 or 2 years. He's dead wrong. The window is 5 years, maybe more.

It's a desperate and sad article. Slanting their ages, ridiculous opinions of Bennett and Ferland among others... it's just pathetic really.

But we expect nothing else from him. And I look forward to him being wildly wrong yet again.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I think the article probably sums up most peoples views of the team that are not fans of the team. Although a little more down in the dumps.


It really is sort of a "finished" product in that once more and more guys come off their contracts and want raises you won't exactly get better.

A lot of that comes from maybe not having that bonafide star that fans from across the league tune in for which is unfair IMO. Gaudreau is an electrifying player.

The media have been singing the Flames' praises all summer, but sure, if you say so.

[JFK]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

If I were a Calgary fan I'd be upset with the goal tending solution as well.

I think the writer wasn't wrong in identifying that the Flames are in a window to potentially put themselves over the top and they defaulted to a what is in my opinion a goal tending solution with very limited upside.

Giordano likely has 1-3 years left as an impact player if we go by the general history of NHL players of all types. Father time gets them all.

If the Flames are wanting to push to win while he is still a top 10-20 D-man, they need to do it now. There is no guarantee that either Brodie or Hamilton develop into that guy.

I think they would have been better served paying the price and getting a good young goalie with upside. It would have cost a lot for sure, but would have been worth it IMO.

Originally Posted by Weitz

I think the article probably sums up most peoples views of the team that are not fans of the team. Although a little more down in the dumps.

It really is sort of a "finished" product in that once more and more guys come off their contracts and want raises you won't exactly get better.

A lot of that comes from maybe not having that bonafide star that fans from across the league tune in for which is unfair IMO. Gaudreau is an electrifying player.

God damn you two are predictable.

Oil Stain - Pretty obvious the Flames are in win now mode. If they don't win in this window they have plenty of trade chips that will still be high value after that window if they choose to go full rebuild again. Calgary had abysmal goaltending for most of the season and still made the most season. Average-above average and this team sits pretty. It's also not like great seasons from the forwards or defense covered for things, it would be fair to say the majority of players last year had down seasons. This is a potential team to be reckoned with.

And Hamilton can be better, longer, then Giordano. The guy is a gem.

Weitz - Everyone knows goaltending is a question mark in Calgary. Anyone pretending Lambert has shone this light of information is kidding themselves. Many feel however, that behind a much better group of blueliners he can be better too. That's a pretty fair assessment by anyones standards.

As for stars.. yeah I don't buy it or don't care. Hamitlon, Gaudreau are potential star players and "Johnny Hockey" is as well known as anyone in the entire NHL. He seems to have fans, especially young ones, no matter what building the Flames roll in to.

[Jiri Hrdina]

A few thoughts.
- I think there is a difference between the window to contend and the window to win. Right now, I expect the team to be maturing to a point where they can make the playoffs, compete for a division, and win some rounds. If they had everything fall their way they could in theory win a cup in the next 1-2 years but I see that as doubtful. But it happens (e.g. Canes win)
- Their window to win it all opens when indeed they get elite level goaltending. And I think that happens likely from Gillies or Parsons, or if their is clarity that neither can deliver that, they will spend the required price to get it. Right now the acquisition price is too severe for where the team is
- In the meantime, given the high price to get elite goaltending, BT took a valid approach which is to ensure the D playing in front of average goaltending has a chance to be elite. I find this to be a fair and creative approach.

We are all aware that the team has some holes. But most teams in the NHL do. Cups come when either everything goes a team's way, players step up beyond expectations, or their is a very short time frame where all pieces are in place.

But when I look across the capped NHL, I see 90% of the teams having 1 or 2 material weaknesses.

[Tinordi]

Lambert is lurking this thread with a massive grin on his face and hard-on in his cargo shorts.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Lambert is lurking this thread with a massive grin on his face and hard-on in his cargo shorts.

NSFW!

He probably had the hardon when he was writing the article with one hand