If You Could Name One Thing That's Different From Last Year?

[CsInMyBlood]

Originally Posted by Stanley

passing.

They can barely make/take an nhl caliber pass lately.

Last season it was fast/effective tape-to-tape passes, this season it's in the skates/behind a guy/hopping over sticks, etc...

Seriously. It has to stem from confidence levels. Thinking way too much, gripping the stick instead of a natural flow. Everything seems so forced for everybody. That extra second of trying to kick the puck up to your stick to get a handle on it or reaching back for it is simply murdering the teams transition.

I understand that the forwards are getting shifted around and everyone is playing with different line mates but jeez. A couple of clean passes would make such a difference right now. I feel like most guys are playing in a frenzied panic mode when they have the puck. Almost feels like they as a collective group need to slow the game down a bit and focus using a little more control.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Urgency.

[Elkyiv]

The team looks too tense out there. They need to take a soak.

[CaptainCrunch77]

Colorado provided the book in the playoffs on how to beat the Flames. Other teams have watched the video and adjusted accordingly. Until the coaching staff figures out a way to adapt this team is screwed.

[Jason14h]

They look like the team from 17-18


I think they are all worrying so much about D and positioning they have lost all offensive instinct and fun.


This team can never be a system team. Let them create, blow the zone, etc.


Sure it 'might' not be a successful strategy in the playoffs, but you have to maximize the skillset of your roster.


Everytime I hear Peter's preach about defense I cringe. This team has average at best goaltending and small forwards and D


Run and gun and accept you will blow some leads and have breakdowns.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch77

Colorado provided the book in the playoffs on how to beat the Flames. Other teams have watched the video and adjusted accordingly. Until the coaching staff figures out a way to adapt this team is screwed.

While I think other teams have certainly adjusted to the Flames (the Flames have no answer to teams that enter the zone with speed - the defence gives them way too much space and players like MacKinnon and McDavid eat them alive), the doesn't explain why the offence has dried up.

The xGF of the top line is dismal. Yes, everyone's shooting percentage is down, but that alone doesn't explain the top line's decline.

I can't even say that it's a coaching adjustment because it's not like Peters is telling them pass the puck to their feet or take low quality chances.

I'd say it's confidence. It's almost as if they beating the Avs laid on them in the spring has killed their belief that this team can ever win anything. And I'm not too sure I'd disagree with that sentiment.

[EVERLAST]

Between the ears issues.
Why are they playing like pussies. Taking weak penalties and only showing up for 10 minutes if that per night.

Can Matthew Tkachuk do the Vulcan mind meld and get these guys to buy in on his own? This kid has it all but no supporting cast.
I'll be pissed if he alone has to be the one to motivate his teammates as he used to draw everyone in an have them fully engaged.
Is his schtick getting old too? Because it's all the coaches f ing fault right? Right?

What a bunch of horses hirt. .....maybe we need Darryl back as some sort of mental motivator.?

I dunno....I think Neal rubbed off in a bad way in that locker room ...like leaving a burning bag o poo on the doorstep and ringing the doorbell and running away.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Stanley

passing.

They can barely make/take an nhl caliber pass lately.

Last season it was fast/effective tape-to-tape passes, this season it's in the skates/behind a guy/hopping over sticks, etc...

I don't know if this is the issue or just the symptom but this has been GLARING all season, save for a couple of games where passing was crisp and confident. I seem to recall winning those games.

The amount of times I've heard "couldn't collect the pass, pass was into his feet, just couldn't reach that pass, pass was just behind him" along with numerous turnovers is unreal.

Team just seems wildly out of sync.

[CaptainCrunch77]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

While I think other teams have certainly adjusted to the Flames (the Flames have no answer to teams that enter the zone with speed - the defence gives them way too much space and players like MacKinnon and McDavid eat them alive), the doesn't explain why the offence has dried up.

The xGF of the top line is dismal. Yes, everyone's shooting percentage is down, but that alone doesn't explain the top line's decline.

I can't even say that it's a coaching adjustment because it's not like Peters is telling them pass the puck to their feet or take low quality chances.

I'd say it's confidence. It's almost as if they beating the Avs laid on them in the spring has killed their belief that this team can ever win anything. And I'm not too sure I'd disagree with that sentiment.

I think it does to some extent. Teams have figured out that to beat the Flames they have to play physical with Gaudreau. Take away his time and space, get him frustrated, you can see the results.

If Gaudreau is eliminated Monahan generally is as well. Lindholm was able to take advantage of teams keying on his line mates for a while but you can't expect one player to handle that much of the load for long.

Beyond that, some of this is a confidence issue. The team seems to have lost confidence in their ability to adapt to what they're seeing. They may have also lost some confidence in their coaching staff to guide them through this. If they can start to get a few bounces and regain some of that lost confidence that will help but it still won't solve the issue of other teams having figured out how to beat them.

If they can somehow come up with a solid second line that can take some of the pressure off of Gaudreau that will make a big difference. Something like

Gaudreau - Monahan - Mangiapane
Tkachuk - Lindholm - Dube

They've obviously been trying this for some time now but nothing has really clicked so far. It may be that too much of the season will be lost before they finally do get this solved. Time will tell.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Were there any Taylor Swift banners put up in the Dome?

[Poe969]

Trying to live up to expectations of being better than they are. Last year they were playing better than they were and this year they're trying to be as good as they were instead of as good as they really are. I think there is too much pressure on them and they're folding like a tent.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Confidence is the biggest thing.

Besides that Gaudreau is playing scared and careless. When he tries too much he gives away the puck far too easily. It doesn’t look like he has the determination to fight through nhl checking. He gets annoyed by hooking, holding, slashing and non-calls and then it frustrates him and his game goes even more downhill.

I’ve lost faith that this will ever change. I think Gaudreau will have confident periods in the future again. But due to how the playoffs become tighter checking and because Gaudreau can’t fight through the checking and gets super frustrated I’m becoming convinced that he’s probably not the guy to build around.

[Royle9]

Last season was an anomaly, I fail to see how we cant realize this.
We had 6 players having career years for 2/3 of the season, then that fell to 5.

Lindholm, Tkachuk, Johnny, Monahan and Gio all had their best seasons ever.
You cant for a second think this would continue to happen again this year, especially considering that shortly after the allstar break the Flames fell back down to reality and we all know how the playoffs went.

For whatever reason we stuck with our core, made negative moves (failed a few trades) and are now stuck playing terrible hockey with seemingly no end in sight.

We need a blockbuster to get this team back on track.

[Mattman]

Lot's of untimely injuries to start the year.

It's not an excuse, but I believe it plays a strong factor in a team trying to find its feet.

Valimaki
Czarnik
Brodie
Hamonic
Bennett

[Brick]

Last year's playoffs showed this team just how far away from contending that they really are. They know that they are not built for the playoffs.

There needs to be changes, not tinkering.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by New Era

Urgency.

LannyMacDo... New Era's avatar

[Vinny01]

I remember last year when they started turning things around there was an interview with Hanifin and he talked about how the team had a lengthy meeting after the 9-1 loss to the Pens and he talked about how they committed to each other and were playing for each other. This year they don’t seem to be as cohesive and are wildly inconsistent.

Ward nailed it when he said everyone needs to hate to lose and with that they need to hold each other accountable.


In addition similar to the drop off we all called after the 2017 Oilers had a season of a ton of career highs many said the same thing about the Flames this year. Monahan went from a perennial 60ish point player to better than ppg last year. Lindholm nearly doubled his previous highs, Tkachuk took another massive leap, Gio shattered his previous highs at 35 and Johnny also had his biggest year. Jankowski, Hamonic, Hanifin, Hathaway all had career years as well.

[calgaryfox]

Enjoyment.
None of the players look to be having fun. Even when Johnny has scored this year, he just looks like he's had to eat a plateful of veggies. Last year they were jumping all over each other when the top line scored. Enthusiasm was infectious. This year it's a poison that's spread throughout the team. Time for them to man up and stop feeling sorry for themselves.

Paid millions of dollars per year for playing a game for a living and they look totally miserable? I would find it hard to look anywhere near that level of miserable on a fraction of their salaries.

[playmaker]

Garnet Hathaway

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by Elkyiv

The team looks too tense out there. They need to take a soak.

Very solid reference. I laughed pretty good at that one.