GDT: Flames at Oilers, October 4 2017, 8:00 MT, Sportsnet

[Lunatik]

Well, the team had been on the ice for a long time there, so that's the effect of fatigue. Brouwer got the puck behind our net with time with everyone tired as ****, and ended up, similarly to the empty-netter, wiring it off someone's skates for a turnover. Unlike the empty-netter, that's a situation where the priority needs to be relieving pressure.

I'm not saying Brouwer didn't make a mistake, but leaving McDavid completely untouched and having zero idea where he is on the ice is unacceptable. Also if you want to use fatigue as an excuse, it's as applicable to Brouwer as it is Brodie. Fatigue isn't just physical.

 

[TkachuksMouthguard]

Pretty much knew this was going to happen and was surprised that it wasnt worse (Thanks Smith!)
The moment I saw that we are opening up against Oilers in Edmonton, I knew it. That team is riding high on the McD confidence and starting at home against division rival whom they whipped last year, they were going to ride high. Thank god this year we dont have a B2B against them.

All for playing Edmonton but can we not start the season against them...

 

[Kranix]

It's just one game. Not much anybody can do to stop McDavid. Brodie can't leave any NHL player alone like that though.

 

[Skobel24]

I really want to see the 2nd and 3rd pairings changed.

Brodie - Stone
Kulak - Hamonic

 

[Flameshomer]

Don't know how anyone watching that game could defend Brouwer. We brought him in to be truculent and tenacious- not only is he useless at both but his presence is literally detrimental on the ice. He passed it straight to an oiler player in the offensive zone an uncountable amount of times last night, and didn't win one single race to a puck. If anyone wants to try and prove otherwise just try and find a video of it, you'll be disappointed.

Really hoping TJ wakes up soon

 

[Kranix]

At least Smith was good. If he had a night like Mason, the climate would be so much worse this morning.

 

[Anglesmith]

I'm not saying Brouwer didn't make a mistake, but leaving McDavid completely untouched and having zero idea where he is on the ice is unacceptable. Also if you want to use fatigue as an excuse, it's as applicable to Brouwer as it is Brodie. Fatigue isn't just physical.

Yes, but the reason I pin it mostly on Brouwer is because I feel, completely subjectively I know, that Brouwer's opportunity to save the day was much, much easier to accomplish than Brodie's. I think expecting a tired player to make a safe play with the puck when he has time is a reasonable expectation- if it wasn't, we'd never relieve pressure. Expecting a tired player to be able to keep up with McDavid is less realistic, IMO.

 

[BLabz]

Don't know how anyone watching that game could defend Brouwer. We brought him in to be truculent and tenacious- not only is he useless at both but his presence is literally detrimental on the ice. He passed it straight to an oiler player in the offensive zone an uncountable amount of times last night, and didn't win one single race to a puck. If anyone wants to try and prove otherwise just try and find a video of it, you'll be disappointed.

Really hoping TJ wakes up soon

I really don't know why he is on the 3rd line at all! I feel bad for Bennett

 

[Lunatik]

Yes, but the reason I pin it mostly on Brouwer is because I feel, completely subjectively I know, that Brouwer's opportunity to save the day was much, much easier to accomplish than Brodie's. I think expecting a tired player to make a safe play with the puck when he has time is a reasonable expectation- if it wasn't, we'd never relieve pressure. Expecting a tired player to be able to keep up with McDavid is less realistic, IMO.

Brodie didn't need to keep up to him, he just had to turn around, he had no idea where McDavid was. If he was in position, McDavid may still have scored, but the way he played that he had 0 chance at stopping it and handed McDavid a goal just as easy as the empty netter.

 

[tmurfin]

At least Smith was good. If he had a night like Mason, the climate would be so much worse this morning.

Agree. That's the main bright spot coming out of last night. We know when we're on we can score, goaltending has been a question mark for far too long though. I'm cautiously optimistic on Smith atm.

 

[Dertell]

yeah this is really woosh.

that said, I am curious about Hamonic and maybe Smith (still big ? marks). But Stone, Bart, Glass are predictably very bad. The latter two needs to go asap. Brouwer did some good thing on the PK (unusual for him) so at least he has that over Glass, but Glass isn't 4.5M/yr...

 

[DCDM]

yeah this is really woosh.

that said, I am curious about Hamonic and maybe Smith (still big ? marks). But Stone, Bart, Glass are predictably very bad. The latter two needs to go asap. Brouwer did some good thing on the PK (unusual for him) so at least he has that over Glass, but Glass isn't 4.5M/yr...

I liked Hamonic last night. He didn't stand out, but that's often a good thing with DFDs. He made a few good defensive plays from what I recall. I noticed him paired up with a few guys, and he didn't look out of place next to any of them.

Smith, self explanatory. The only reason this wasn't a higher scoring game.

Stone and Bartkowski as a tandem were pretty bad. Bart noticeably bad, Stone a bit less noticeable but not really strong in any regard.

I actually didn't mind Glass last night. Obviously he had that fight but I also didn't hate the energy he brought. The fourth line as a whole was pretty terrible but I thought Glass was decent.

Brouwer made a few good defensive plays, I remember one in particular where he back checked like hell to break up a scoring chance. But overall a weak outing from him as well. If he played more like Glass did (can't believe I'm saying this) we would have more respect for him IMO.

 

[djpatm]

The offence wasn't broken. And based on this game, the defence is looking good. All about limiting the time it takes to get up to speed (as in, where they were in the second half) with their play with the puck. This is supposed to be what pre-season is for.

I agree with your second point. Although I thought we had a few good starts under Hartley.

Brodie's been fine. Kind of weak to pick on a guy for not being as fast as the fastest guy in the league in a pure footrace.

The offense isn't broken? The fact that they had one scoring chance all game leads me to believe that is a lie.

The offense is without a doubt broken. All the other team needs to do is shut down Gaudreau and nothing happens. That has proven to be extremely easy to do and we've seen it for large stretches at a time now. That can't happen when he's far and away the best offensive driver on the team.

I'm not going to freak out yet but this team picked up exactly where it left off last season, which is very troublesome if they don't snap out of it right away.

Only silver lining was that the new additions played great last night.

 

[CraigsList]

We fixed two issues only to break the one we were good at last year --> offense.

Brouwer and Hathaway should be scratched next game with Lazar and Jagr in.

I thought Hamonic, Glass and Smith were the best players on the ice, and they're the NEW guys. I know it's only one game, but I expected a lot more from a lot of our older players. One team came ready to play, the other didn't. Above all, we were outcoached that game.

 

[viper0220]

I don't think that you can blame/worry about any one player here because they all struggled besides a few players and the goalie, they will get better.

As a Flames fan I do blame/worry about the Flames coaching and management, they are making moves that are hurting the team.

Moves that I don't like(please share your opinion if you like):

The Flames have a wealth of centres but they keep playing Sam Bennett at centre when he is better suited at the wing position.

The centre's should be:

Monahan
Backlund
Jankowski
Stajan

That is very good centre depth, the top 2 are capable of putting up 50+ points each, Jankowski with guidance from Jagr should be good for 35-40 points and Stajan be good for 20-25 points. Jankowski Should have not been sent down, he had earned his spot over some of the useless plugs.

By putting Sam Bennett with Johnny and Monahan, a first line of
Johnny-Monahan-Bennett should be a big threat and will need a lot of attention from the opposition, opening up the room for other line, keep the 3 million line together and
Jankowski With Ferland and Jagr can be a very good line that is hard to contain and Jankowski can learn a lot from Jagr, put Brouwer on the 4th line with Stajan. Why is it hard for this coaching staff and management to get this, yes you want Sam Bennett centre but it is not working and you are making the highest pick in history of the franchise a bust, give him other chances.

Why is Troy Brouwer on the ice with with the goalie pulled? Question for the coaching staff?

For the D, Brodie really needs to get his head out of the sand and leave personal problems at home and play like he can, is it the side he is playing that is the problem, than again, this on the coaching staff, other D will figure it out.

As for goaltending, pray that it is this good and even better.

 

[Rangediddy]

The argument against Brouwer vs other players who played like crap last night, is that this is how Brouwer usually plays! He's usually crap! He's usually lazy, he's usually soft on the puck, he's usually laying half-assed hits in an attempt to 'do something'. We KNOW Brodie, Mony, Gaudreau etc can bring more. Performances like last night are more out of character for our big names, whereas its just another typical mailed in game from Brouwer. He deserves every single ounce of criticism that comes his way and no fan should be chastised for voicing their criticism.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

First ten games are pretty meaningless. Look at Anaheim every year. As long as we win 4/10 we will be fine in the long run.

Defence takes longer to figure out the offence.

My biggest concern was Gaudreau. He was non existent.

Mike Smith is a beast.

 

[InfinityIggy]

We fixed two issues only to break the one we were good at last year --> offense.

Brouwer and Hathaway should be scratched next game with Lazar and Jagr in.

I thought Hamonic, Glass and Smith were the best players on the ice, and they're the NEW guys. I know it's only one game, but I expected a lot more from a lot of our older players. One team came ready to play, the other didn't. Above all, we were outcoached that game.

Hathaway was one of our best forwards last night. I'm not sure how anyone can think he should be scratched already.

 

[Mobiandi]

The 3M didn't skip a beat tonight when it came to the defensive side of things, and Smith and Gio were stalwarts back there too, so that looks promising.

But the offense... I thought we were supposed to be a puck possession team. Didn't see any of that last night outside maybe two sequences. Giveaway after giveaway, interception after interception, icing after icing. What's funny, is that this is exactly how we played in pre-season too. Funny how the switch wasn't immediately flipped when it counted.

I still can't get over the PP1 unit. The Oilers have Draisaitl on the wing, Klefbom who can step into a shot, Maroon who can crash the net well, and of course McDavid. Meanwhile we load our PP unit with pass-first guys and no Gio or Hamilton, while Monahan can easily be made a non-factor due to his static positioning in the slot. Recipe for success

 

[Lunatik]

Actually McDavid was playing wing and Draisaitl center. As shown by McDavid's grand total of 0 faceoffs

 

[Dack]

Don't get the want for Bennett on wing much much better center IMO.

The top line isn't a top line they're an Ideal second line. Gaudreau is easily a top line player and I think he's an 80 point threat this year but I don't feel the same way about Monahan. Garland is fine there if he were playing with a legitimate 1C I think they would be a really good line.

We need someone to step up and drive play on Gaudreaus line (other than him because otherwise Defences are just going to continue keying on him). The 3M line didn't have a good game which says a lot about how this game went because they were some of our better players.

The most concerning thing was the coaching IMO. Why exactly were we backing off and letting them gain the line easily? My guess is they did it so Mcdavid couldn't get past them and get breakaways. Well he got
3-4 anyways and on top of that when he had nothing going plus we let the entire Oilers forwards gain the zone easily and set up a cycle.

On the other hand they forced our puck carriers to make a play at the blue line basically every time we came down and it really worked in stiffiling our amateur zone entries (one guy skating while two guys stand still probably isn't going to be effective at this level because it's quite easy to stop at a beer league level.

We got a glimpse at our special teams and not only are there break ins still bad but I'm not really sure what theyre tring to accomplish whe in the zone. They generate no good shots. They just pass amongst the three high guys and when they do break down the defence the final pass which should be one timed in is always a little off.

Smith was good though if our offence played like they did last year that was a winnable game.

 

[Volica]

I know it's only one game of the season, but the standouts to me last night were:
Smith; Obvious reasons
Bennett; That motor is amazing, was looking dangerous all night
Tkachuk; Looked strong, missed a couple golden chances
Hamonic; Came as advertised

I really wouldn't be opposed to moving Gaudreau with Bennett to create some more favourable match-ups.
A line-up with:
Gaudreau - Bennett - Jagr
Ferland - Monahan - Versteeg
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Glass - Stajan - Lazar

Would be something I'd be interested in.

 

[Fig]

I'm blaming Gully a lot on this one. Ever since preseason I've been remarking how confused the players look. Often I see up to 3 of them bunched together stepping on each other's toes (ie: Last night ENG giveaway). That's a major system flaw. Did anyone else see how badly Gully blended the lines? Nearly all the dmen played with 3 other dmen. Gio played with everyone not named Bartkowski and Brodie. Same with Brodie. It was a flipping carousel.

Didn't Hathaway play on the 1st line? Gaudreau as far as 4th? There was little continuity.

Gully is a tinkerer. I think he will find a breakthrough that really does well like the 3M line. But IMO he over tinkers during games. I'm not saying fire Gully, but I'm really annoyed to frequently see our team bunch up into clusters of 3 players frequently!

 

[Anglesmith]

The offense isn't broken? The fact that they had one scoring chance all game leads me to believe that is a lie.

The offense is without a doubt broken. All the other team needs to do is shut down Gaudreau and nothing happens. That has proven to be extremely easy to do and we've seen it for large stretches at a time now. That can't happen when he's far and away the best offensive driver on the team.

I'm not going to freak out yet but this team picked up exactly where it left off last season, which is very troublesome if they don't snap out of it right away.

Only silver lining was that the new additions played great last night.

Nope. One game doesn't trump all of last season. Last night was pathetic offensively, but it's not the norm for this team based on team record.

 

[Lame Lambert]

How did Hamonic play?