My thoughts on last night now that I have sobered up enough to some what type. Firstly **** you Galiardi that was a moronic penalty and cost us the win.
The good:
Karri Ramo - While not the greatest game ever played by a Flames goaltender he did make 35 saves and was very solid. I was very happy with his play considering this is his first game in the NHL since 2009.
TJ Brodie - Don't really know what else to say other than wow what a steal for a 4th round pick. Played almost 27 minutes on the top defensive pairing and imo looked much better than Gio did. He is the real deal and should be on the backend in Calgary for a long time.
Wideman - Looked amazing I would say he is our #1 defenseman right now simply put he can do it all. Idk what other fans were saying when we signed him he looks great both offensively and defensively and can deliver a serious hit when he wants to.
Jones - Only 1 game in and I am already starting to eat some crow about the trade for him. He was much faster than I remember and didn't shy away from driving the net and getting physical and has a great shot he could be a very useful player if he keeps it up.
Bouma- Love this kid great work ethic and never gives up on a play hope he is here a ling time.
The meh:
Monahan - He was better defensively than I thought he would be but he was tentative offensively and looked a little lost for most of the game. I am sure he while adjust to the speed of the NHL quickly but that wasn't the best first game.
Baertschi - A moments of greatness but wasn't consistent. He got knocked off the puck a lot and will need to gain some muscle. As the game went on he got better, hopefully he and Monahan can get some pp time and show us what they have.
Backlund - Had a good game but was terrible at faceoffs and got a little to cute in the 2nd and 3rd period (Most of the team did we need to stick to the game plan). He looks faster than last year and a little stronger hopefully he can fix the faceoffs.
Russell - Really hard to rate him as offensively he was amazing he always made the right pass and wasn't afraid to make the smart play instead of the fancy play, but defensively he was a wreck. He is very soft in his own end and seems to panic under pressure I think if he calms down he could be a top 4 defenseman.
The bad:
The 2nd period - Got too cute and didn't stick to the game plan. We gave them life and they beat us we simply have to learn how to close out a game.
SOB - Is maybe the dumbest player in the NHL and while he is effective at clearing the crease it seemed like anytime he was on the ice the puck was stuck in our end and he couldn't figure out where to be. God I hope Breen is back soon.
Galiardi - Not only did he take a dumb penalty that cost us the game but he wasn't very good tonight, he couldn't handle the puck and more often than not was falling over himself.
