Post-Game Talk: Flames Come to Edmonton To Burn Their Village, But Nobody Brought Matches, Lose 7-4

[Ratty]

How did Dougie play? Notice he was a -2 but don't know if that's a result of his performance or coincidence.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

How did Dougie play? Notice he was a -2 but don't know if that's a result of his performance or coincidence.

I missed the third period, but I thought he did pretty well overall.

 

[King In The North]

How did Dougie play? Notice he was a -2 but don't know if that's a result of his performance or coincidence.

I'd say he carried Grossman. Played like a prototypical Flames D, starts the rush, joins the offense, magically skates back into position.

 

[Volica]

How did Dougie play? Notice he was a -2 but don't know if that's a result of his performance or coincidence.

He was solid.
He was also paired with Grossmann for the first period almost exclusively; the puck hadn't even dropped and he was -2

Played a solid game, he looks strong. Gave McDavid a dirty bump to the net.

I almost feel like Hamilton should be on a pair with Brodie.

Brodie - Hamilton (Top pairing shutdown duo that can also take control offensively)
Giordano - Wideman (solid second pairing that can also deliver points)
Kulak - Engelland (Kulak being mini Brodie, Engelland should be good with a guy who can skate, Jyrki would also work here).

 

[InfinityIggy]

How did Dougie play? Notice he was a -2 but don't know if that's a result of his performance or coincidence.

Other than 1 reckless crosscheck on McDavid into the net, I thought he was one of our better players last night.

 

[DCDM]

There was a point last night where they paired Hamilton with Brodie and the Flames actually had a consistent amount of zone time. They looked excellent together.

 

[Volica]

There was a point last night where they paired Hamilton with Brodie and the Flames actually had a consistent amount of zone time. They looked excellent together.

That pairing to me compliments each other really well.
Both are great skaters, both have offensive instincts but won't put either one in a bad spot... Hamilton is a big dude who looks like he has no issues getting physical this year.

 

[DCDM]

Brodie - Hamilton (Top pairing shutdown duo that can also take control offensively)
Giordano - Wideman (solid second pairing that can also deliver points)
Kulak - Engelland (Kulak being mini Brodie, Engelland should be good with a guy who can skate, Jyrki would also work here).

Love these pairings. Wouldn't mind seeing Hamilton prepare to take over Gio's position alongside Brodie moving forward. Gio is solid enough that he can probably cover for any gaffes Wideman may have, and again, both are pretty good at providing offense. Bottom pairing is bottom pairing. I actually thought Engelland did alright last night but like you say, would work better alongside a more adventurous defender while he stays back.

 

[Dertell]

Grossmann decided to make his extremely soft pass a big second after Russell made the block. If a defensemen can't make a ECHL-level pass he'll get crap on. Tkachuk didn't do a fantastic job his stick but blaming him for the goal is pure hindsight 20/20.

 

[Rangediddy]

Brodie and Engelland to me were the only two that really showed some ability. I'm not sure if it's that he's playing with Brodie, but Engelland looks like a different player

Honestly, if they wanted to shut down McDavid last night, Brodano should have been together, Brodie can keep up with Connor. Wideman was violated by foot speed a few times last night.

They had last change though, they would have only put McDavid's line out when Brodano weren't on (for the most part). He'd just be violating Wideman with Dougie at the blueline watching instead of Gio.

Friday will be different when Gully can put Brodano out for most of (if not all) of McDavid's shifts. Last night he wanted at least one of them out there against him but it backfired because he just picked on Wideman.

I also thought Versteeg looked pretty good on the top line. Yeah he was slow and didn't contribute anything but neither did Johnny & Money. He was able to make some nice plays and feed the puck to the other two so I'm hoping once the three of them can shake the off season rust off, they can create some chemistry together.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Bollig? Terrible. Wideman? Ok as a third pairing D, but no more. Grossman? Terrible, doesn't belong in the league..

Who else have I unnecessarily picked on? Those guys suck

 

[Lunatik]

Problem is we can't spot the other team a pair of goals before our defensemen "settle down." I suppose he deserves the benefit of the doubt being on a new team, new system, etc so we'll see how he plays (if he plays) on Friday.

For sure, we can't be spotting teams 2 goal leads; you get no argument here on that. But there is more to blame than Grossmann.

Goal 1: Giveaway by Grossmann, I thought Elliott should have had this too but it was deflected
Goal 2: Tkachuk didn't cover for Grossmann when he pinched
Goal 3: Bad change by the defensemen (Brodie/Grossmann coming off, Giodano/Engelland coming on)
Goal 4: Partially Elliott, partially a lucky bounce
Goal 5: If bad refereeing was an Olympic sport, this would have gotten double gold.
Goal 6: Engelland giveaway, went through Elliott
Goal 7: Empty netter

It was an all around ****** game. IMO the only real bright spot was our special teams (PK 5/6 w/ 2 SH goals, PP 1/3)

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I will say this about Wideman, he stopped McDavid twice last night on 2 breakaways. One was called a penalty shot which was a complete and utter joke, and on the 2nd play he took a great angle of pursuit and made a really good play poke checking the puck off of Jesus.

And Grossman had a terrible start to the game. But after that I thought he also looked fine (no I was not drinking last night).

 

[Lunatik]

How did Dougie play? Notice he was a -2 but don't know if that's a result of his performance or coincidence.

his minuses were from a bad giveaway by his partner and a play where he was the only defenseman on a 2 on 1. He did take 2 bad penalties though

 

[Dertell]

How did Dougie play? Notice he was a -2 but don't know if that's a result of his performance or coincidence.

Coincidence. He was paired with Grossmann for a good chunk of the game. Aside from one stupid and unnecessary penalty he was one of the few bright spots being solid and all that.

 

[Volica]

I really don't understand making an elite pairing, good pairing and bad pairing into 3 'meh' pairings like last night.

The third pairing just has to be able to play 15-16 minutes and not by a liability. I think with Gully's structure it really doesn't expose the slow footed, weaker defenders as much as Hartley's system did. Engelland can be a defensive rock if he has a partner that can skate. Jyrki and Kulak can both skate good to well.

Brodie - Hamilton (25+ minutes a night, Dougie a lot on the PP)
Giordano - Wideman (20 minutes a night, all purpose 2nd pairing)
Kulak/Jyrki - Engelland (15 minutes a night, easier matchups, hard nosed play, solid depth minutes)

Hamilton had bottom pairing PP specialist minutes last night. I really don't think they should hold him back, because he's got some crazy upside.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

He was solid.
He was also paired with Grossmann for the first period almost exclusively; the puck hadn't even dropped and he was -2

Played a solid game, he looks strong. Gave McDavid a dirty bump to the net.

I almost feel like Hamilton should be on a pair with Brodie.

Brodie - Hamilton (Top pairing shutdown duo that can also take control offensively)
Giordano - Wideman (solid second pairing that can also deliver points)
Kulak - Engelland (Kulak being mini Brodie, Engelland should be good with a guy who can skate, Jyrki would also work here).

I've been saying for sometime that Brodie should be paired with Dougie and Gio with Wideman. It addresses having guys on their proper sides and I also think it adds balance throughout the pairings.

Kulak with Engelland also sounds good to me!

 

[InfinityIggy]

I really don't understand making an elite pairing, good pairing and bad pairing into 3 'meh' pairings like last night.

The third pairing just has to be able to play 15-16 minutes and not by a liability. I think with Gully's structure it really doesn't expose the slow footed, weaker defenders as much as Hartley's system did. Engelland can be a defensive rock if he has a partner that can skate. Jyrki and Kulak can both skate good to well.

Brodie - Hamilton (25+ minutes a night, Dougie a lot on the PP)
Giordano - Wideman (20 minutes a night, all purpose 2nd pairing)
Kulak/Jyrki - Engelland (15 minutes a night, easier matchups, hard nosed play, solid depth minutes)

Hamilton had bottom pairing PP specialist minutes last night. I really don't think they should hold him back, because he's got some crazy upside.

I like the idea of a Brodie - Hamilton top pairing. Gio - Wideman makes me cringe a bit though. Engelland + Kulak/Kevin/Spoon would probably be a decent bottom pairing as well.

 

[Volica]

I will say this about Wideman, he stopped McDavid twice last night on 2 breakaways. One was called a penalty shot which was a complete and utter joke, and on the 2nd play he took a great angle of pursuit and made a really good play poke checking the puck off of Jesus.

And Grossman had a terrible start to the game. But after that I thought he also looked fine (no I was not drinking last night).

Wideman had a solid game last night. He looks better than last year, still slow, but better than last year. Really think we could make a solid 2nd pairing with him on it.

 

[Lunatik]

I've been saying for sometime that Brodie should be paired with Dougie and Gio with Wideman. It addresses having guys on their proper sides and I also think it adds balance throughout the pairings.

Kulak with Engelland also sounds good to me!

Jokipakka before Kulak, it's like everyone has suddenly forgotten he exists. A week ago everyone was claiming him to be the #4 and now no one is even putting him in the lineup, it is absolutely bizarre

 

[Kranix]

First game of the year. Elliott let in those awful goals, but also made some good saves. Gaudreau and Monahan were very rusty, but Gaudreau still brought some magic. Brodie was amazing all night, I think his TOI was 60:00. After looking tentative to start, both Tkatchuk and Bennett got better as the game went on, Bennett especially. Brouwer was a solid. Frolik and Backlund were solid.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

You know what? The more I think about it the more I think Grossmann is getting a bum wrap here.

That 2nd goal everyone is blaming him for was not his fault. He was on an odd-man rush and his shot was blocked, the fault lies with the forward that should have been covering for him (in this cast Tkachuk). He really settled down after that play as well and became more steady.

People see an opportunity to jump all over a guy they didn't want signed and they are taking it whether consciously or not.

He was okay after the first period, but he had to recognize the situation and coverage, and make the smart play there. He didn't.

I chalk that up to being new, over-excited and trying to make up for his first mistake.

 

[Kahvi]

Jokipakka before Kulak, it's like everyone has suddenly forgotten he exists. A week ago everyone was claiming him to be the #4 and now no one is even putting him in the lineup, it is absolutely bizarre

Jokipakka did the "Grossmann special" in every WCoH game I saw. Seemingly normal situation but he made a bad play that lead to goal. Small sample size of course, Jokipakka would be a good #4 if he was able to drop those mistakes and play a full game without those mistakes.

 

[Volica]

Jokipakka did the "Grossmann special" in every WCoH game I saw. Seemingly normal situation but he made a bad play that lead to goal. Small sample size of course, Jokipakka would be a good #4 if he was able to drop those mistakes and play a full game without those mistakes.

It's why I was putting Kulak/Jyrki on most of the pairs I was doing. Playing solid but being prone to some bone head plays is a bottom pairing guy; limit ice time to limit chances of making a booboo.

 

[Calgareee]

Yah Wideman was pretty solid all in all last night. Also had that stick lift on Eberle that saved another goal. Don't mind Gio Widedog as the second pairing at all. Dougie needs more ice time though.