GDT: Flames in St. Louis. 25 Oct. 2017 at 6pm MT on SN360

[Johnny Hoxville]

It's entirely possible that Gillies is a better goalie than Lack. I don't watch Gillies enough to know. But the backup goalie is not always the second-best goalie in your organization if you have a solid #1, which we now do.

I just know we need a capable #2 goalie who can play some games and actually win them. Smith has played all the games up until this point, that tells me how the Flames feel about Lack. Lack was brutal in the preseason, he was just okay tonight but he had room to be a lot better. I’m not at all confident in him and neither were the Canes. I’d feel a lot better with Gillies being up here in that role.

 

[BigRangy]

All these people pining for Gillies when Rittich is better

smh

 

[Anglesmith]

I just know we need a capable #2 goalie who can play some games and actually win them. Smith has played all the games up until this point, that tells me how the Flames feel about Lack. Lack was brutal in the preseason, he was just okay tonight but he had room to be a lot better. I’m not at all confident in him and neither were the Canes. I’d feel a lot better with Gillies being up here in that role.

And you're saying that Lack can't win games because he didn't steal this one? If he could've won us this game, he wouldn't be out backup.

 

[viper0220]

Zero talent? What LA team were you watching? Kopitar, Brown, Doughty, Quick, Richards, Pearson, Toffoli etc. Yea, definitely a group that lacks talent under Sutter.

We don't need Sutter again. We need better special teams and discipline currently.

I don't like changing coaches just after a couple of years, I think GG deserves this full year. But let's the Flames miss the playoffs or bomb out of the playoffs like last year, what do you do than?

 

[Janks]

I don't like changing coaches just after a couple of years, I think GG deserves this full year. But let's the Flames miss the playoffs or bomb out of the playoffs like last year, what do you do than?

You assess why we missed the playoffs or "bombed" out of them. I dont think GG has done a terrible job unlike some posters. He's good with the guys, builds their trust, and knows how to push. But he's also still learning. Unless there's a major upgrade available, I'd advocate keeping him.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

And you're saying that Lack can't win games because he didn't steal this one? If he could've won us this game, he wouldn't be out backup.

I think there’s over 2 years of history to judge that Lack is an average to below average back up.

 

[viper0220]

You assess why we missed the playoffs or "bombed" out of them. I dont think GG has done a terrible job unlike some posters. He's good with the guys, builds their trust, and knows how to push. But he's also still learning. Unless there's a major upgrade available, I'd advocate keeping him.

Agree with you, the one thing that makes me mad or the thing I don't get is, some of his in game decisions, like today, in the final 5 minutes, you don't put your 4th line out, you put your best players out, this is common sense.

 

[DFF]

Seriously how do Stajan and Brouwer get more ice time than Jankowski and Bennett?

The only good thing about tonight's game is that it's one step closer to GG getting canned. Without Mike Smith this team is probably 2-7.

You mean the Bennett with zero point for the year and tons of penalties is deserving more ice time?

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Again Lack wasn’t bad, but we have a better option in Gillies. I’ve seen nothing from Lack to suggest he’s capable of stealing a game. He could have saved about 3 more goals than he did tonight and I thought he was extremely average. If Smith was playing, it’s very possible we would have had 2 points tonight.

Uhhh Gillies is not an NHL goaltender right now. With his below-AHL-average rebound control the Blues would have lit us up tonight.

I think there’s over 2 years of history to judge that Lack is an average to below average back up.

Lack was the biggest reason Van made the playoffs with 100 points in 2014-15. Interesting you cut off history right after that.

Lack is a competent 1B or backup goaltender. Like others, he will have hot games and he will have lesser ones. Jon Gillies has not shown anything to suggest he is even definitively our third best option, never mind second.

You mean the Bennett with zero point for the year and tons of penalties is deserving more ice time?

Not everything is about this pseudo-meritocracy of more points = more oportunity. The team is looking to win a Stanley Cup and to do that we need Sam Bennett to get rolling. He's not a tertiary piece whose performance when confident that you can just replace with spare parts. He is the team's most all around talented piece and continuing to punish him for slumping has not been working. The penalties are not independant of that. This team won't get anywhere without Bennett building back to where it should be. And it might start on the penalty kill with Jankowski instead of Stajan and Brouwer who have been a tire fire on the PK together.

 

[Dack]

Zero talent? What LA team were you watching? Kopitar, Brown, Doughty, Quick, Richards, Pearson, Toffoli etc. Yea, definitely a group that lacks talent under Sutter.

We don't need Sutter again. We need better special teams and discipline currently.

I'm talking about post 2nd cup you know when they have 4 NHL D men, Brown's been a 30 point player outside of his hot start this year. Richards was a 4th liner.

Their team have zero depth, they have an elite 1C (who plays with scrubs) and 1D, a great second line, Muzzin and Martinez and then the rest of the roster is hardly NHL calibre because of their wasted cap space.

 

[Anglesmith]

I think there’s over 2 years of history to judge that Lack is an average to below average back up.

I was going to say, I didn't think this was an opinion you formed over the sixty minutes tonight. Might be a bit of confirmation bias here, because Lack was just fine tonight. I truthfully expected far worse.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

You mean the Bennett with zero point for the year and tons of penalties is deserving more ice time?

Yes, he's been playing excellent of late.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

@OKG, over the last 2 seasons Lack has started over 50 games. He has a sub .500 wins record, has a GAA of 2.72 and a SA% of barely over .900. Carolina also has had a pretty decent defensive group in his time there. I know we basically got Lack for free, but I don’t really have much confidence in the guy and I haven’t seen anything in his viewings so far to change my mind.

The Heat have a very green group down there so I’m going to judge Gillies based off my viewings on him. I’d feel more comfortable with him (or Rittich) up here. Thankfully yes we have Smith, but if we play Lack 12 times this year, I think it’s fair to expect going .500 in those games. Right now, I don’t feel optimistic about doing that.

 

[Jihadi Flames Fan]

10 games is a big enough sample size.

I'm concerned about the lack of production from our bottom-six, we just can't be a 1 or 2 line team. Our specialty teams need to be better. And for the love of God we need to play more disciplined. Gulutzan's a nice guy, but I'm not sure if he's the right coach for this team.

As of right now we're just a .500 (average) hockey team.

 

[Mr Snrub]

Remember when we traded a prince's ransom for a #5 defenseman this off-season? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

 

[Mobiandi]

I think it's fair to say that Smith has spoiled us with some pretty stellar goaltending. All we were asking for this summer was average goaltending, and that was a pretty average display by Lack. He did misjudge his positioning on the third goal but otherwise I think it's harsh to be unhappy with his performance.

 

[CamPopplestone]

I think it's fair to say that Smith has spoiled us with some pretty stellar goaltending. All we were asking for this summer was average goaltending, and that was a pretty average display by Lack. He did misjudge his positioning on the third goal but otherwise I think it's harsh to be unhappy with his performance.

I think it's fair to say that Smith has spoiled us with some pretty stellar goaltending. All we were asking for this summer was average goaltending, and that was a pretty average display by Lack. He did misjudge his positioning on the third goal but otherwise I think it's harsh to be unhappy with his performance.

Especially considering besides that tiny bit after Smith got yanked, Lack has been sitting cold for almost a month. Smith has been giving us a chance to win every night, I get playing him so much, but Smith is on a 70 games pace, you can't expect mch from a backup playing so little.

 

[DFF]

Not everything is about this pseudo-meritocracy of more points = more oportunity. The team is looking to win a Stanley Cup and to do that we need Sam Bennett to get rolling. He's not a tertiary piece whose performance when confident that you can just replace with spare parts. He is the team's most all around talented piece and continuing to punish him for slumping has not been working. The penalties are not independant of that. This team won't get anywhere without Bennett building back to where it should be. And it might start on the penalty kill with Jankowski instead of Stajan and Brouwer who have been a tire fire on the PK together.

I agreed that the team will not get anywhere without Bennett playing up to his draft level. Just because they need another talent.

But no, he is not our most all round talent piece, not even close. If he is, we should just quit watching hockey because there is no hope. It's time to stop giving him credit for playing like crap.

 

[Anglesmith]

@OKG, over the last 2 seasons Lack has started over 50 games. He has a sub .500 wins record, has a GAA of 2.72 and a SA% of barely over .900. Carolina also has had a pretty decent defensive group in his time there. I know we basically got Lack for free, but I don’t really have much confidence in the guy and I haven’t seen anything in his viewings so far to change my mind.

The Heat have a very green group down there so I’m going to judge Gillies based off my viewings on him. I’d feel more comfortable with him (or Rittich) up here. Thankfully yes we have Smith, but if we play Lack 12 times this year, I think it’s fair to expect going .500 in those games. Right now, I don’t feel optimistic about doing that.

I wouldn't have felt confident about it before this game, but now I feel pretty confident. If he can have us right there in a game on back-to-back against one of the hottest teams in the NHL, making clutch saves like the one on Steen on the 2-on-1, and not letting in any softies, then when he gets easier assignments, he's going to give us a great chance to win. What you ask from your goalie is basically to win games where you outchance your opposition. And if we're a playoff team, then we should be doing that for most of Lack's starts (and Smith's starts).

 

[Janks]

Agree with you, the one thing that makes me mad or the thing I don't get is, some of his in game decisions, like today, in the final 5 minutes, you don't put your 4th line out, you put your best players out, this is common sense.

Agreed here in the decisions. I think tonight might have been that the top 2 lines were gassed, but otherwise agree. Johnny should not be double shifted with the 4th line, nor should the 4th line be on the ice if we're trailing late in the 3rd. We saw the same last time we lost with the 4F and 3D pairing out in the last 5 minutes of the game.

 

[DFF]

Yes, he's been playing excellent of late.

That's an illusion

 

[King In The North]

Pls get rid of our 4th line thanks

 

[Dack]

Through ten games the bottom six has combined for one goal and two assists at even strength but every single point came when the player was up the lineup for a shift or two (playing with Monahan or Gaudreau) lmao and outside of Bennett in Nashville they really haven't had many chances. Last night was the first night where the Flames have scored a goal and Gaudreau didn't have a point.

Tkachuk has 8 points in 10 games and the only one that wasn't at 5v5 was his first goal against LA. Love how well he's been playing both passes last night were just right place, right time, right play.

 

[viper0220]

10 games is a big enough sample size.

I'm concerned about the lack of production from our bottom-six, we just can't be a 1 or 2 line team. Our specialty teams need to be better. And for the love of God we need to play more disciplined. Gulutzan's a nice guy, but I'm not sure if he's the right coach for this team.

As of right now we're just a .500 (average) hockey team.

The concern about the bottom 6 is real, we cannot be a 2 line team or will dig a hole for ourselves. The .500 record is good compared to where they were last year at this time.

 

[tmurfin]

Lack wasn't the problem last night. We shouldn't need our goalie to bail us out every single game. We need to stop taking dumb penalties and get some help from the bottom 6, period.