Our Bottom 6 needs change, thoughts

[Tkachuk Norris]

Why are people afraid of putting highly skilled players on the fourth line? Our 4th line never scores. It’s never a bad thing to try young guys out on the 4tg line and if they succeed you push them up the lineup.

We are one of the few teams that doesn’t give prospect that have earned a look, a look.

 

[Skobel24]

Mangiapane is like 4 feet tall, they aren't gonna put him on the 4th line.

A 4th line doesn't have to be some gritty skull crushing line.

 

[Skobel24]

Why are people afraid of putting highly skilled players on the fourth line? Our 4th line never scores. It’s never a bad thing to try young guys out on the 4tg line and if they succeed you push them up the lineup.

We are one of the few teams that doesn’t give prospect that have earned a look, a look.

I was against Jankowski just being on the 4th line at first, but I'd recall him and put him there now after seeing what the other options are.

Also, does anyone else find that hf is really laggy/has delayed responses when typing comments?

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Why are people afraid of putting highly skilled players on the fourth line?

It's reasonable to not want a certain "type" of player on the 4th line - guys who don't bring much along the walls on the breakout or have no penalty killing utility, like Versteeg (though based on Columbus' success last year with Sam Gagner, PP utility on the 4th line could compensate for that). That description doesn't describe Mangiapane though. Nor is he, at ~5'10 / 190lbs ish, even appreciably undersized.

Further to that though, when you look back through the last four seasons, along with Ferland and Stajan the best 4th liner we have employed is 5'7" Paul Byron.

 

[Lunatik]

Why are people afraid of putting highly skilled players on the fourth line? Our 4th line never scores. It’s never a bad thing to try young guys out on the 4tg line and if they succeed you push them up the lineup.

We are one of the few teams that doesn’t give prospect that have earned a look, a look.

the team is also softer than baby crap, so for us a checking 4th line is important

 

[JGaudreau]

Also, does anyone else find that hf is really laggy/has delayed responses when typing comments?

Not just you, I think they messed up some Javascript or AJAX.

 

[Body Checker]

The new trend is 4 lines deep but maybe Flames need to go top heavy on skill and speed/tenacity on bottom.

Take the top 4 youth core - Gaudreau, Monohan, Bennett, Tkachuk............so 4 of 6 of top two lines. After that add Jagr and Versteeg as best place for them.

So bottom 6 - Backlund/Frolik a given. Ferland and Lazar have tenacity and speed. 4 of 6. Call up Jankowski and Hathaway. Bottom 6 complete.

Waive Glass/Freddie for Stockton. Stajan and Brouwer are a $7.6 million dollar healthy scratch duo.

Won't happen as Glen won't take Tkachuk off Backs/Fro line. And he won't risk wrath of owners and Treliving by having $7.6 mil on sidelines

Gaudreau-Monohan-Jagr
Tkachuk-Bennett-Versteeg
Frolik-Backlund-Lazar
Ferland-Jankowski-Hathaway

 

[JGaudreau]

Help us Jankowski, you're our only hope. Not really but damn our offense is anemic, always a fraction of a second behind the play and too slow to generate good angle scoring chances.

 

[Fig]

Not just you, I think they messed up some Javascript or AJAX.

It's scripts running in the background. There's this weird advertising overlay behind the forum part. I found installing noscript to deal with the lag, helps immensely, but some of the forum features break.

On mobile, firefox focus works great to block those ads IMO.

 

[JPeeper]

I was against Jankowski just being on the 4th line at first, but I'd recall him and put him there now after seeing what the other options are.

Also, does anyone else find that hf is really laggy/has delayed responses when typing comments?

Agree on the first part. Also yeah, I have complained multiple times about the slowness of the forum. I'm on mobile now and it works perfectly but on desktop it is 1995 dial up speed slowness.

I figured it is the 14582 ads that are lagging the site and Anglesmith seems to have confirmed it. When they went over to this new format it completely destroyed the site.

 

[Fig]

Agree on the first part. Also yeah, I have complained multiple times about the slowness of the forum. I'm on mobile now and it works perfectly but on desktop it is 1995 dial up speed slowness.

I figured it is the 14582 ads that are lagging the site and Anglesmith seems to have confirmed it. When they went over to this new format it completely destroyed the site.

Ok, I've noticed that so far it seems like installing no script suite lite extension and activating it on "objects" for this site helps a lot. It seems like a good balance so far in reducing the lag without breaking basic things like quoting/posting and seeing embedded items like videos/tweets. Worth a try if the lag becomes excruciating.

 

[JPeeper]

Ok, I've noticed that so far it seems like installing no script suite lite extension and activating it on "objects" for this site helps a lot. It seems like a good balance so far in reducing the lag without breaking basic things like quoting/posting and seeing embedded items like videos/tweets. Worth a try if the lag becomes excruciating.

Will try this when I get home. It is excruciating. Sometimes I just end up getting too upset while I'm writing a post and I just rage quit the tab out of frustration and go to another site. Lol

 

[Burrowsaurus]

How has lazar been?

 

[Baxterman]

How has lazar been?

He has been a good energy guy. The offense isn't there much but his speed has helped create some chances and he hasn't hurt the team defensively.

I think he has been everything you want in a bottom 6 forward and probably closer to a 3rd line guy than a 4th line plug.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

How has lazar been?

Very very baaaaddd

 

[DFF]

So who's fault is it? GG for not knowing how to utilize young players

or the Flames scouting and development system keeps turning out garbage?


I think it's a combination of both. The opportunity is not really there for young players in GG's "system"

But I have been saying Button (both of them) are idiots for years and I still maintain that stand

 

[Calculon]

Still premature but it's looking like Flames should have kept their second rounder

Hathaway could replicate Lazar's contributions easily.

And as nice as it was to get Jokipakka off the team, they just replaced him with Bartkowski so even that small part of the trade meant nothing.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

While I think much of the Bennett stuff over the last little bit is hilarious hyperbole, this is exactly why Jankowski should have been on the opening roster, even if yes, it was on the fourth line. It's a lot easier to move Jankowski up the line up when players ahead are struggling then it is to recall him from the minors given all it entails.

It just goes back to the Flames being overly attached to their mediocre veterans. Stajan should not be an everyday player. Same for Glass. Same for Versteeg given how hot/cold he is. And like Glencross, Jones, Wideman, etc.. before them, these players will also struggle to get NHL deals the moment they become free agents. Which frankly, just shows the shoddy state of affairs in Calgary.

Waive Hamilton and send him down. Call up Jankowski. Scratch Glass or Stajan. Run with

Tkachuk-Monahan-Jagr
Gaudreau-Bennett-Ferland
Versteeg-Backlund-Frolik
Stajan-Jankowski-Brouwer/Lazar
Lazar/Glass

If Bennett can't find the scoresheet soon, switch him and Bennett around. Next year, replace guys like Versteeg, Stajan and Jagr with skilled, speedy forecheckers like Dube, Lomberg, Hathaway and maybe look at guys like Grabner and Perron in free agency. Flames need to stop acting like dinosaurs and accept that the modern NHL is based around speedy and/or hungry young players looking to carve out a career for themselves .

Oh and of course, #freeKulak. There's something very wrong with either the drafting, developmental process or management, or maybe all three if there's no one in the system that can beat out Bartkowski for that sixth position. Just some serious ineptitude at every level.

Glencross? He was an excellent 3rd liner for almost his entire contract; he was bad his last season with the Flames, but otherwise he fully earned his keep.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Still premature but it's looking like Flames should have kept their second rounder

Hathaway could replicate Lazar's contributions easily.

And as nice as it was to get Jokipakka off the team, they just replaced him with Bartkowski so even that small part of the trade meant nothing.

I'd rather have Jokipakka lol. He played like a poor man's Mattias Ekholm in 2015-2016.

 

[Vordus]

Finally Stajan gets scratched!! Seeing that made me happier than Janko's 1st goal, Bennett's 1st point, or Jagr's 1st goal as a Flame.

About f'in time...

 

[Anglesmith]

Finally Stajan gets scratched!! Seeing that made me happier than Janko's 1st goal, Bennett's 1st point, or Jagr's 1st goal as a Flame.

About f'in time...

He'd been scratched previously this season, too.

 

[Calculon]

It's encouraging the coach staff finally realized Stajan's not an everyday player and his position shouldn't be etched in stone. Lazar and F.Hamilton are much better spark plugs and fit the team's identity (whatever that is) much better.

 

[Vordus]

He'd been scratched previously this season, too.

****, he's so invisible out there I didn't even notice.

It's encouraging the coach staff finally realized Stajan's not an everyday player and his position shouldn't be etched in stone. Lazar and F.Hamilton are much better spark plugs and fit the team's identity (whatever that is) much better.

Agree about Lazar. At least he throws hits and has potential as a young guy. Hoping to see a goal from him one of these days.

 

[JPeeper]

Even though I'm happy Stajan is scratched, replacing him with equally useless Lazar isn't great.

I'm not even mad the 4th line can't score, I gave up on all of them months ago, all I want is a 4th line that isn't a defensive liability out there. Also, a 4th line that doesn't use those players on the damn powerplay. If a 4th line is supposed to provide energy then the line needs a complete overhaul because they provide none of that, they just take all the energy out that the top 2 lines gain.

At this point I bring up Hathaway and scratched Versteeg as well. Brouwer will never get scratched for extended periods of time, so live with him for this year anyway.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I think the new lines with Jagr playing alongside Bennett and Jankowski works pretty well. It's the first time in a while I can say I don't hate the top 9 line combos, but it could still be much better IMO.

I think it could be interesting to swap Tkachuk and Bennett to balance out the scoring a bit more.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Jankowski - Jagr
Bennett - Backlund - Frolik

That gives you some different looks - a heavy possession line ala Anaheim's top line for years and a speedy checking line.

Or, my personal favorite:

Gaudreau - Bennett - Ferland
Tkachuk - Monahan - Jagr
Jankowski - Backlund - Frolik

I know everyone hates Bennett at C, but he's always been excellent when paired with Gaudreau. That gives you two scoring lines that again can come at you in different ways. You could swap Bennett and Jankowski if you really wanted him at center.

I think at the end of the day giving Monahan his own line would make the most sense, especially if that line is able to play that slower, more methodical game.