GDT: A Song of Snow and Fire: Avalanche (7-3-2) @ Flames (7-5-1). 7PM MT, Sportsnet

[SKRusty]

Starting Line-up against Chicago tonight. Hate creating the thread.

 

[joescores]

The core to me in ranks of importance to the team is:

1. Gio - by far Calgary's biggest star and one of the most underrated players by fans and analysts alike.
2. Sean Monahan - He is a quite leader that leads by example and puts his all into this club. Very under rated defensively and offensive creativeness.
3. Matthew Tkachuk - Brings his fire for the game into every minute he plays. Heart of a champion willing to do anything to win. Calgary's most complete winger.
4. Elias Lindholm - Eventually I see Elias and Mony competing for who has the #1 line. Elias is just starting to bloom with the confidence he has received from succeeding with Johnny and Mony.
5. Johnny Gaudreau - Calgary's best play-maker. He does things nobody else in the NHL can do. The only reason Johnny is not higher on my list is his defensive and physical games are far below the others above him.
6. Mike Smith - Despite all the crap lately when Smitty was stealing games last year we all saw his value to the team. I can't wait to see what he brings when the games truly matter.

Players that should play their way there are Valimaki, Dube, Hanafin, and Andersson. Bennett, Jankowski and Czarnik to this point are not there and there is doubt if they will ever be there. Backs is an insanely good 3rd center and probably the best defensive player but he is ultimately replaceable. The only thing Backs lacks is that offensive ability to change a game with a single sift that the above 6 all have.

6. You misspelled Rittich mate.

 

[joescores]

The game starts at 3:00 am. Let's do this Flames.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I hope they swap Frolik and Neal.

 

[Mobiandi]

I guess Czarnik gets in when we lose next

 

[crackdown44]

I guess Czarnik gets in when we lose next

Dube won’t develop on the 4th either bump him up in the lineup or send him down to Stockton and bring up Klimmer to run something like

Hathaway/Klimchuk-Ryan-Czarnik on the 4th

 

[The Gnome]

I'm starting to think we need a goalie. If Smith is hurt (like I said was a concern FFS), then we need at least another 1B to support Rittich. He's not ready for the workload.

 

[crackdown44]

I'm starting to think we need a goalie. If Smith is hurt (like I said was a concern FFS), then we need at least another 1B to support Rittich. He's not ready for the workload.

Even though Gillies wasn’t great last year I think he’s at the point where we need to see what we have with him as well

 

[JPeeper]

Is there no GDT for tonight yet? I'd make one, but last time it got merged because I couldn't see the original (hint I can't see it because of a feature on HF wink wink).

 

[The Gnome]

Even though Gillies wasn’t great last year I think he’s at the point where we need to see what we have with him as well

No, I've seen enough not to risk our solid start. Gillies could be fine one day, but his fundamentals are poor when compared to Rittich. We need another goalie if Smith is going to be an issue.

 

[Mobiandi]

No, I've seen enough not to risk our solid start. Gillies could be fine one day, but his fundamentals are poor when compared to Rittich. We need another goalie if Smith is going to be an issue.

Like Mason or Lehtonen?

 

[JPeeper]

The core to me in ranks of importance to the team is:

1. Gio - by far Calgary's biggest star and one of the most underrated players by fans and analysts alike.
2. Sean Monahan - He is a quite leader that leads by example and puts his all into this club. Very under rated defensively and offensive creativeness.
3. Matthew Tkachuk - Brings his fire for the game into every minute he plays. Heart of a champion willing to do anything to win. Calgary's most complete winger.
4. Elias Lindholm - Eventually I see Elias and Mony competing for who has the #1 line. Elias is just starting to bloom with the confidence he has received from succeeding with Johnny and Mony.
5. Johnny Gaudreau - Calgary's best play-maker. He does things nobody else in the NHL can do. The only reason Johnny is not higher on my list is his defensive and physical games are far below the others above him.
6. Mike Smith - Despite all the crap lately when Smitty was stealing games last year we all saw his value to the team. I can't wait to see what he brings when the games truly matter.

Players that should play their way there are Valimaki, Dube, Hanafin, and Andersson. Bennett, Jankowski and Czarnik to this point are not there and there is doubt if they will ever be there. Backs is an insanely good 3rd center and probably the best defensive player but he is ultimately replaceable. The only thing Backs lacks is that offensive ability to change a game with a single sift that the above 6 all have.

I disagree with your order (and I don't have Smith on it because this season he is a train wreck), but I agree with the core 5. It's hard to say Backs is replaceable though as he (and his line) has shut down the MacKinnon line, the Bergeron line (to an extent) and other top lines. That's impressive.

In the future I hope Lindholm and Monahan get split up and both center their own lines, one gets Gaudreau one gets Tkachuk. It's no Pittsburgh with Sid and Geno, but offensively it's better than what we have now with Backlund and Frolik in the top 6.

 

[The Gnome]

Like Mason or Lehtonen?

No idea, just stating. I imagine Tre is looking at every possibility, including trading a regular if need be.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

No, I've seen enough not to risk our solid start. Gillies could be fine one day, but his fundamentals are poor when compared to Rittich. We need another goalie if Smith is going to be an issue.

It’s not really an issue until we start to lose games IMO

Hopefully Smith rounds into form, I am guessing he will as long as he’s truly healthy.

 

[super6646]

It’s not really an issue until we start to lose games IMO

Hopefully Smith rounds into form, I am guessing he will as long as he’s truly healthy.

Hope so. But he's had 20+ starts were he has looked awful, so idk.

 

[The Gnome]

It’s not really an issue until we start to lose games IMO

Hopefully Smith rounds into form, I am guessing he will as long as he’s truly healthy.

Yeah, the key is health. Which is a concern, I wouldn't be surprised if he's playing through something he may never be able to overcome. His style of play is hard on a goalie and he's going grey. At least speculating on another net-minder is worth Tre's time.