Crow Eating Thread

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by activeStick

For reference:

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=184402

I rarely pat my own back in here but I’m happy with my take in that thread. Also the exchange with Stang at the end of that thread is hilarious. Here we are at the start of December and the E=NG thread is hilariously quiet. Let’s see if the Oilers can bounce back from this stumble they’re starting to find themselves in. It’s only two games so far but Minnesota, Boston, Carolina and Toronto are all super tough matchups for them.

[Something_Special]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Kylington is someone who I had given up on 2 seasons ago now. I thought he would never get it in the league.

MORE CROW PLEASE!

He is a prime example of not giving up on a guy too early. The guy was on waivers and he looks like a top pairing stud. Helping my hockey pool

[AustinL_NHL]

Originally Posted by activeStick

For reference:

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=184402

Nice seeing my love for Sutter as the first comment.

Was as big a believer as there is in Sutter right from the get-go, so I'm happy he's not only proving doubters wrong, but shoving the crow right down their throats.

Same thing goes for Mangiapane, who I've been crapped on this board many times for loving him too much and especially for calling him the Flames' best 5v5 forward even before the season started. Happy to see him finally getting the recognition he deserves.

Biggest thing I'll definitely eat crow on is Erik Gudbranson, who I thought was by far the worst transaction the Flames made in the off-season and called it "the only Flames offseason move I don't like". Instead, Coleman aside, I think he's been the best offseason move the Flames have made. I was expecting a lot more from Pitlick.

Also expected to see more growth from Dube, although I've never been nearly as high on him as some on this board (especially the ones who continually had him and Mangiapane on the same level in the summer).

[Ryan Coke]

Not only has Kylington surprised me, but I am surprised how much leash he is getting from Sutter. He makes some mistakes, and some higher risk plays, but Sutter is accepting of them in order to get the upside of those risks. Part of that is that Kylington is picking his spots fairly well…taking some risks when the team is behind, not as much early or when they’re ahead.

I am disappointed with Dube, he seems to have lost his confidence. Hopefully they can help him get it back. He was so good in the bubble series against Dallas at times.

[dammage79]

Im Eating crow on a few things.

First is Gudbranson. I abhorred the signing but he's been amazing.

Second, the team itself. I walked into the season feeling they didn't do nearly enough to the roster and solve some key contract issues. Namely solving the Tkachuk and Gaudreau rubics cube. Alas, everything so far is going way beyond my expectations. And it's fun hockey to watch too boot.

My next crow eating will come way down the road at the end of the season and that's in regards to consistency. Can Sutter keep these guys clipping for a full 82 and Olympics. I hope so.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by activeStick

For reference:

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=184402

Stang's comments are aging well

[FanIn80]

One thing Kylington has not done this year is surprise me. I've been calling for him to get playing time for quite a while now. Every game I've seen him in, I've seen flashes of what he is today, and it's frustrated me beyond measure that coaches have pulled him out of the lineup after 1-2 games because of the kinds of mistakes that really only go away with more experience.

Even Sutter wanted to keep him out of the lineup. Fortunately the perfect storm came along where we needed either him or Valimaki to step up - and Valimaki not only didn't step up, he actually stepped backwards - forcing Sutter to have to play him long enough to work some of the kinks out.

[activeStick]

My post from the prediction thread I referenced earlier:

Originally Posted by activeStick

The Flames under Sutter for a full year will be much more consistent than they've been over the years. I see the forward group being better as both Monahan and Tkachuk had poor years by their standards.

Correct about Tkachuk. Completely wrong about Monahan, so far.

Originally Posted by activeStick

Hopefully, Markstrom can stay healthy since if he can, I think the Flames are good in net.

Correct, but I wasn't even thinking about Vladar being a difference maker.

Originally Posted by activeStick

The defense will be interesting to watch. I'm not as down on Andersson as many here are and I'm a bit surprised at how down folks seem to be on a 24 year old after one bad season. I see a bounce back for him as bad years for young players happen.

Correct about Andersson having a bounce back.

Originally Posted by activeStick

Giordano is a huge hole though, so if I were to bet, I'm guessing we'll see plenty of rotation on the backend all year long on the bottom pair and 2nd pair, LH slot.

Wrong here and didn't expect Mr. Kylington to setup up and take that 2nd pair slot!

Originally Posted by activeStick

Overall, the Flames will be a tougher team to play against, they'll bring a more consistent game more often and I see them in a playoff spot in the end.

Correct on the tough to play against, we'll see about that playoff spot.

Originally Posted by activeStick

I also think the Flames end up getting Eichel.

Wrong...

[Knightslayer]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

I rarely pat my own back in here but I’m happy with my take in that thread. Also the exchange with Stang at the end of that thread is hilarious. Here we are at the start of December and the E=NG thread is hilariously quiet. Let’s see if the Oilers can bounce back from this stumble they’re starting to find themselves in. It’s only two games so far but Minnesota, Boston, Carolina and Toronto are all super tough matchups for them.

Haha wow stang has some hilarious takes in that thread. Called our defence a circus...bad defenceman.

Here we are sitting ahead of the Oilers with the best defence in the NHL.

[Inglewood Jack]

I didn't prognosticate enough to serve up my own plate, but definitely thought I'd see more Darryl Crow in here.

[kyuss275]

I’m eating crow on Sutter hiring, Kylington and Sam Bennett

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

One thing Kylington has not done this year is surprise me. I've been calling for him to get playing time for quite a while now. Every game I've seen him in, I've seen flashes of what he is today, and it's frustrated me beyond measure that coaches have pulled him out of the lineup after 1-2 games because of the kinds of mistakes that really only go away with more experience.

Even Sutter wanted to keep him out of the lineup. Fortunately the perfect storm came along where we needed either him or Valimaki to step up - and Valimaki not only didn't step up, he actually stepped backwards - forcing Sutter to have to play him long enough to work some of the kinks out.

You’re looking for the “braggy braggerson” thread

[Infinit47]

I thought years of bad coaching had ruined the team and this year was going to be terrible/the start of a rebuild.

I was dead wrong.

[Mathgod]

I was calling for Treliving to go since the end of the Colorado series. He's actually done a fine job these past 3-4 years and the results are showing.

His only blind spot since becoming GM of this team has been hiring coaches, but that has been rectified.

[Bingo]

My post from the predictions topic ...

Yeah I think we saw in the Sutter section of last season that the team is going to be a top ten club in terms of shot and chance metric splits

(Flames were 2nd in CF% and 3rd in xGF% from when he took over).

That should work reasonably well with a solid goaltender in net. The Flames should be a tough team to play against.

Adding Coleman is a plus for sure, losing Giordano probably a bigger negative.

The big thing is the internal change. Do Gaudreau and Tkachuk bounce back? Does Valimaki find his path again? Andersson reverse a negative trend? Do we get old Monahan back or the guy from the last two years?

I have a feeling we could be pleasantly surprised.

I was reasonably close in expecting them to be a tough team to play against, and top ten in most play driving metrics, and Markstrom doing well.

I was wrong on Giordano being a big loss to date.

Was right on being pleasantly surprised!

Biggest thing to me is the goal scoring...

1. I was quite concerned they wouldn't get offence from transition - they are
2. That they wouldn't convert on the chances they generated - they have been
3. They'd generate so so chances but not enough high danger - somewhat true to date

[BigRed]

I've been beating the drum on Kylington for years, so I'm serving the crow now, baby! For at least two years I thought he looked at least competent and deserved a chance; there was a stretch there two seasons ago where he played a bunch of games with Andersson and did just fine. Last year was a mess, obviously, but I really thought he should be playing. Missing pretty much the whole year like he did, we're extremely lucky he didn't regress.


Otherwise, I expected the team to be on the negative side of mediocre. I thought they'd fall apart without Gio. Turned out the opposite happened (I still want him back).


EDIT: Also thought Bennett would regress to his normal horse-blindered self this year and we'd be glad to have not kept and signed him to his QO. But the year is young and he's faltering, so not quite time to apologize yet.

[Redliner]

Gudbranson for sure. I HATED that signing and have never been happier to be proven wrong, as he’s been great.

I knew they would be better with Sutter but I was worried that there were problems with this core that even he couldn’t fix. I never should have doubted that he could right the ship.

In Sutter We Trust.

[Hi-Psi]

I didn't expect much from the team this year and had pretty much accepted that our core needed to be broken up.


What a pleasant surprise this season has been!



Also, shout out to Kylington and Gudbrandson for the great start thus far and while I expected Mangi to take another step, I didn't expect this much of a step! Love it so far

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by neo45

There’s no one saying I told you so about Gudbranson because [b]everyone hated it [\b] at the time but he’s been solid

I don’t think you can roll the voice of the vocal negativity and Lumb in up into as everyone. Let’s be honest, anyone that has an opinion outside of the vocal negative speakers will have to withstand defending that opinion over and over yell talked to death

If you haven’t noticed that wave of hatred that flows from one hot topic to another, as one player is moved the venom for that player is repackaged to the next target. It’s easier and much more rewarding as a fan to not engage or be consumed by it.

For the record, I was neither an fan or disliked the signing. Hate is a extreme word IMO

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by neo45

There’s no one saying I told you so about Gudbranson because everyone hated it at the time but he’s been solid

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showth...on#post7981380

For full disclosure, I had no expectations or general insight really. It just seemed like a low-risk kind of signing that addressed a gap in the team.