Are the Flames a serious Cup threat?

[Jimbo57]

You're just showing how much you actually know about the team. So, I'm pretty done chatting with you.
Your point was the bottom 6 was garbage. When in reality, it's part of Calgary's strong suit. You were wrong, and now you're drawing at strings with overly emotional answers. Hell, I look at your Canucks, and essentially you're using roleplayers Calgary uses on the 4th line as second liners.

I don't think Calgary's a Tampa Bay level team, but I do think they're one of the top 5 teams so far this year, which does make them a contender come playoff time. Anyone who leads their division/conference is a contender. Hell, Caps were a contender for a decade before they won a damn thing.

Wow, bonus points for looking at my post history. Brilliant. Calgary's weakness is their bottom 6. You are trying to pump their tires here as some kind of upper echelon group of players. Hathaway? lol. Neal who has 4 goals (a role player like Roussel has 2wice the points at half the cost)? Czarnik 6pts, Bennet might get 10 goals, ..And congrats for trying to make yourself feel better by comparing Calgary's roster to the Canucks who are still rebuiding (and beat your super team recently in their own barn not bad for a bunch of plugs eh)- whatever it takes to make you feel better for basically making it past the first round only 2 times in 30 years.

 

[Volica]

Wow, bonus points for looking at my post history. Brilliant. Calgary's weakness is their bottom 6. You are trying to pump their tires here as some kind of upper echelon group of players. Hathaway? lol. Neal who has 4 goals (a role player like Roussel has 2wice the points at half the cost)? Czarnik 6pts, Bennet might get 10 goals, ..And congrats for trying to make yourself feel better by comparing Calgary's roster to the Canucks who are still rebuiding (and beat your super team recently in their own barn not bad for a bunch of plugs eh)- whatever it takes to make you feel better for basically making it past the first round only 2 times in 30 years.

It's fine, we'll take our cup from the past 30 years and go home. You can take burning your city down for taking the L and do the same.

 

[Jimbo57]

It's fine, we'll take our cup from the past 30 years and go home. You can take burning your city down for taking the L and do the same.

how original, bring up the riots - havent heard that one before. if a cup from the cold war era makes you feel better about being the absolute definition of sub par for 28/30 years then go nuts bub.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I’m not. That poster is just getting ridiculous on his takes.

Cheers. We’ll see you 2-7-19

Yet you provide literally nothing to support your take there.

 

[Volica]

how original, bring up the riots - havent heard that one before. if a cup from the cold war era makes you feel better about being the absolute definition of sub par for 28/30 years then go nuts bub.

I was certainly the one bringing up 30 years of history.
I mean if winning nothing from any era makes you feel better, go nuts.

 

[blankall]

Bottom 6 is sub par and their top line is too soft. A good team, but still not good enough to compete with the best 4 or 5 teams in a 7 game series.

I disagree.

The bottom six includes: Bennett, Jankowski, Neal, and Ryan. They are all solid options and the Flames can pick up another bottom 6 forward if they need to. The Flames also have 4 PPG forwards, which puts them in the position of relying less on their bottom six. The Flames can also add a bottom 6 player too. Those are easy to come by at the deadline.

If you look at a team like Tampa, who are probably the deepest group, they have: Palat, Paquette, Calahan, Erne, Joseph, Sergachev, etc...You can argue that those guys are better, but are they really the difference between a cup favorite and a team that has no hope in the playoffs?

 

[Alwalys]

very unimpressive team. i'd put vegas ahead of them.

 

[Jimbo57]

I was certainly the one bringing up 30 years of history.
I mean if winning nothing from any era makes you feel better, go nuts.

this is approaching leaf fan pathetic here....bring up cups from different centuries, try to erase the sad sad-sackedness of the last 30 years. LOL. Enjoy this year, you actually have a good team. Not sure if Little Johnny and soft as Butter Monahan will be able to take a Winnipeg/Nashville style beating (i mean look how the ducks abused those poor guys) but good luck....

 

[blankall]

You said they need “better” goaltending.

Yes. Rittich is playing well, but even now he's not really capable of playing 10+ games in a row yet. Smith is still totally shaky, and every time he starts you can see how nervous the team is in front of him. Multiple losses this year have been due to sub-standard goaltending. The Flames have managed to mitigate this with all these very high scoring games, but the playoffs is another matter. You can't expect to score 5 goals a game in the playoffs. You have to be able to win those 2-1 and 3-2 grinding games that go into 2+ overtime periods.

The Flames cannot afford to give up 1 in 4 games in the playoffs due to a shaky backup and an inexperienced starter. The Flames need better goaltending. It has to be more consistent for them to win the cup.

 

[Volica]

this is approaching leaf fan pathetic here....bring up cups from different centuries, try to erase the sad sad-sackedness of the last 30 years. LOL. Enjoy this year, you actually have a good team. Not sure if Little Johnny and soft as Butter Monahan will be able to take a Winnipeg/Nashville style beating (i mean look how the ducks abused those poor guys) but good luck....

I mean, considering you're the one who was banging the history drum since we started this debate it's funny how you're now turning to be like "LOL bringing up the past!"

I hope you're not as sad and bitter in life as you are in your posts amigo. Good luck.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I disagree.

The bottom six includes: Bennett, Jankowski, Neal, and Ryan. They are all solid options and the Flames can pick up another bottom 6 forward if they need to. The Flames also have 4 PPG forwards, which puts them in the position of relying less on their bottom six. The Flames can also add a bottom 6 player too. Those are easy to come by at the deadline.

If you look at a team like Tampa, who are probably the deepest group, they have: Palat, Paquette, Calahan, Erne, Joseph, Sergachev, etc...You can argue that those guys are better, but are they really the difference between a cup favorite and a team that has no hope in the playoffs?

Well Tampa has like 12 players at a half a point per game clip compared to Calgary's 6? I don't know about the premise of the Flames having no hope in the playoffs but that difference is quite large. Even if I think they won't get past round two doesn't mean I think they have no hope. I think they can make the Finals under the right circumstances. I just don't think of them as a serious Cup threat.

 

[blankall]

You're just showing how much you actually know about the team. So, I'm pretty done chatting with you.
Your point was the bottom 6 was garbage. When in reality, it's part of Calgary's strong suit. You were wrong, and now you're drawing at strings with overly emotional answers. Hell, I look at your Canucks, and essentially you're using roleplayers Calgary uses on the 4th line as second liners.

I don't think Calgary's a Tampa Bay level team, but I do think they're one of the top 5 teams so far this year, which does make them a contender come playoff time. Anyone who leads their division/conference is a contender. Hell, Caps were a contender for a decade before they won a damn thing.

I wouldn't waste too much time on this. One of the mantras in Vancouver is always the great young depth they have in their system. When the Vancouver prospect pool looked totally bleak two years ago, this was what the media was pumping. In reality, the bottom six depth in Vancouver was largely overpriced vets and 24 years olds who belonged in Europe, Ex: Granlund, Sutter, Erickson, etc...

Now that Vancouver has a few actual prospects like Petterson and Boeser, this is becoming less of a thing.

 

[Hunter368]

I mentioned my cup contender status was essentially any top team that makes the playoffs... that being said, the NHL is the hardest league to peg 'contenders'. How many people saw Vegas/Caps as the finals from last year? Caps were past their 'contender' status and everyone thought Vegas was going to meet a hard reality come playoff time

This league is a tricky one to peg.

Totally agree

The actual % chance of winning differences between the top team and say the 10th team isn’t as much as some would think. Hardest championship to win in pro sports likely.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Maybe a Flames fan can chime in with their record vs the top 10 teams in the league?

What is their record against those teams? If it's over .500, how could anyone say they're not a contender?

 

[blankall]

Well Tampa has like 12 players at a half a point per game clip compared to Calgary's 6? I don't know about the premise of the Flames having no hope in the playoffs but that difference is quite large. Even if I think they won't get past round two doesn't mean I think they have no hope. I think they can make the Finals under the right circumstances. I just don't think of them as a serious Cup threat.

Now you're just picking and choosing stats. What qualifies as "like 12 players at a half a point per game clip"? The only thing that's really separating Calgary from Tampa there is that Tampa's young players haven't played a full season. Of those .5 PPG players, I see 3 that have played 26 games or less.

Calgary also has multiple players at just under .5 PPG. Hanifin scoring 19 points in 41 games vs. Stralman having 12 in 23 is not going to be the difference maker.

And once again you're taking by far the best team in the league. No one is stating that Tampa isn't the clear cup favorite. I do think Calgary is in there with the next tier of teams, that consists of about 5 teams that could win it all. If Calgary does falter, it will likely be due to goaltending, not depth issues.

 

[FlamerForLife]

8-4-2 against teams ranked from 1-10 in the league
7-6-2 against teams ranked from 11-20 in the league
10-2-0 against teams ranked from 21-31 in the league

We've been feasting on bottom teams (only 2 losses against St. Louis) and have matched up well against the top teams in the league, our struggles come against the mid-pack teams.
The Flames are a solid team so far but like many other fans, I'm cautiously optimistic before anointing them the "contender" label.

 

[CgyFlamesftw]

Wait. What.
View attachment 171511

Also, the 'weak' division in the Pacific will still have to go through the Western Conference champs last year, and a preseason cup favourite in the sharks.

Maybe a Flames fan can chime in with their record vs the top 10 teams in the league?

What is their record against those teams? If it's over .500, how could anyone say they're not a contender?

I believe they are well above .500. If anything they need to improve against the weaker teams in the pacific.

 

[Jimbo57]

I mean, considering you're the one who was banging the history drum since we started this debate it's funny how you're now turning to be like "LOL bringing up the past!"

I hope you're not as sad and bitter in life as you are in your posts amigo. Good luck.

Easy there bud, you were the one that launched into the insults first - just because I didn't agree. But i get it, you are trying to get some kind of validation here. A long suffering fan who finally has a good team (up till this point that is). I just dont see them as a serious threat, and thats Ok...no need to convince everyone.

 

[CraigsList]

Yet you provide literally nothing to support your take there.

I think the past few days of meaningless comments over a ****ing hit was enough to know what I’m gonna get from you.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Maybe a Flames fan can chime in with their record vs the top 10 teams in the league?

What is their record against those teams? If it's over .500, how could anyone say they're not a contender?

8-4-2 against teams ranked from 1-10 in the league
7-6-2 against teams ranked from 11-20 in the league
10-2-0 against teams ranked from 21-31 in the league

We've been feasting on bottom teams (only 2 losses against St. Louis) and have matched up well against the top teams in the league, our struggles come against the mid-pack teams.
The Flames are a solid team so far but like many other fans, I'm cautiously optimistic before anointing them the "contender" label.

There you have it. In my mind, yes they should be considered a contender. I suppose a better stat may be wins against the top 8 in the east and top 8 in the west, but whatever.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

Personally, I'm just gonna temper my expectations and enjoy the ride. If the Flames get to the 2nd round though, I'm all in!!

 

[fsanford]

They will make the playoffs believe that makes them a threat...

 

[Volica]

Easy there bud, you were the one that launched into the insults first - just because I didn't agree. But i get it, you are trying to get some kind of validation here. A long suffering fan who finally has a good team (up till this point that is). I just dont see them as a serious threat, and thats Ok...no need to convince everyone.

[mod]
I could care less if you don't agree with me, I'll just take my facts and statistics home with me and use them in a debate that's not banging my head against a wall.

It's not my job to convince you that they're a contender; but it's certainly fun to poke holes in arguments like people saying their bottom 6 is sub-par (that's the original argument you had here, in case you forgot thinking about 1994 or something). Enjoy your time pal. There's a Johnny hockey thread up if you need to make some more hot takes, or there's a Leafs vs Nucks one up, I'm sure you can get your hands dirty in there.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

We’re not contenders.

There is however a chance Rittich turns into a full time starter. He looks solid and the sample size increases every week. Great movement and positioning. And he’s weird in a good way. So there’s that.

Yeah Rittich is weird in the way that #1 goalies tend to be. To think that in pre-season, I wanted Gillies to be the back-up and Rittich in the AHL. Good thing I'm not a coach/GM.

 

[Duke749]

Jets/Flames conference finals would be f***ing legit and awesome. You’d see some awesome hockey that has everything. Even Rittich might get involved physically.