Are the Flames Overrated? (Warning: Post 75 & OP)

[Pizza!Pizza!]

Huge Flames fan but I think last year might have been a mirage. First line played out of their minds until the all star break and then it went downhill.

This year through 6 games the Flames have no points from their forwards outside of the top 5 (Gaudreau, Lindholm, Monahan, Tkachuk, Backlund). The rest of the forwards you may as well stick some AHL players on there and they'd be a better bet.

Defense is overrated as well, Brodie not good, Haminic overrated, Gio can't do it all and the other players young and inexperienced.

So, simply put is this Flames team even a playoff team the way it's currently built? And why did Treliving get an extension when his bottom 6 forwards is so bad and he traded for Lucic?

The Flames are the Winnipeg Jets of the Pacific Division.

 

[Stubu]

Was this a yes/no question? Yes it was.

Let's be positive folks. Just say yes.

I'll see myself to the door...

 

[Saltcreek]

there are diets available



wasn't there a persistent back injury that obliterated his game, or I'm thinking of the wrong guy?

I think his father died and it shook him pretty hard. After he dealt with his personal problems Lucic was a much happier man but a shell of his former self as a hockey player.

 

[Mickey Marner]

They're clearly not as good a they're record from last season. Unless you disregard them peaking at the wrong time, -à la Tampa Bay- in which case, they are.

 

[LennyV]

A little, but mainly since a lot of people expected half of the pacific to be really bad and Kings, Ducks and Oilers looks to put up more of a fight. I think Flames offseason was aimed at improving their playoff performance rather than the regular season. They look a bit unprepared but they are still in it with a lot of potential to improve

 

[Stubu]

I think his father died and it shook him pretty hard. After he dealt with his personal problems Lucic was a much happier man but a shell of his former self as a hockey player.

I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing the human detail. Now I feel kinda crappy of making fun of him. What goes on inside the helmet sure has a big impact on what goes on on the ice.

 

[tucker3434]

Huge Flames fan but I think last year might have been a mirage. First line played out of their minds until the all star break and then it went downhill.

This year through 6 games the Flames have no points from their forwards outside of the top 5 (Gaudreau, Lindholm, Monahan, Tkachuk, Backlund). The rest of the forwards you may as well stick some AHL players on there and they'd be a better bet.

Defense is overrated as well, Brodie not good, Haminic overrated, Gio can't do it all and the other players young and inexperienced.

So, simply put is this Flames team even a playoff team the way it's currently built? And why did Treliving get an extension when his bottom 6 forwards is so bad and he traded for Lucic?

Wow, that’s... not great. It’s hard as hell to win games without ANY support from the bottom six. On the positive side, that is the easier part to fix.

 

[Mobiandi]

The Flames are notorious for their slow starts. Last season we finished October with a 7-5-1 record, which was actually amazing by our standards, and also got slaughtered by the Pens 9-1. Analyzing the team now is pretty much pointless

 

[Lunatik]

Nah, they got tougher with Lucic. That toughness really makes the team play bigger than they are. You cant take away the importance of toughness. Toughness.

Yeah, but look at what he replaced. Hint: it's identical to the flaming bag of shit I'm sure you find on your doorstep weekly

 

[King1s]

The Lucic effect

Www.gonestreaking.ca

 

[sr edler]

They'll only go so far Jankowski can carry them.

 

[McClelland]

Against a lotteriy team in Kings they where outshot 3-20 at home in the first period, Tkachuk and Rittich saved a loserpoint. thats not a unlucky team with no bounces, they maybe fight for a spot because they are in a bad division, but jeez do they look bad so far. Dont forget they are a inconsistent team, 2015 2 round 2016 missed 2017 1st round 2018 missed 2019 1 round 2020------ , you see the pattern !

 

[Todd from Leduc]

I will admit there were a few seasons there while the Oil were retooling where the fLames were looking like the slightly better team but lord frig does it feel good to be back out on top. Not that a few off seasons mattered as our cup count is 5-1, looking like 6-1 soon.

 

[thaman8765678]

Relax Oiler fans, you don't have a good team this thread is about the Flames.

I don't think I'm overreacting as this has been a pattern since the last 25 to 30 games of last year and playoffs. This team is getting outplayed and outworked in most games.

 

[General Disarray]

They are a bubble team that overachieved last year. They should be a bubble team again this year.

 

[Puckluck13]

Against a lotteriy team in Kings they where outshot 3-20 at home in the first period, Tkachuk and Rittich saved a loserpoint. thats not a unlucky team with no bounces, they maybe fight for a spot because they are in a bad division, but jeez do they look bad so far. Dont forget they are a inconsistent team, 2015 2 round 2016 missed 2017 1st round 2018 missed 2019 1 round 2020------ , you see the pattern !

You'd be an expert on bad teams.

 

[RegDunlop]

Yeah, but look at what he replaced. Hint: it's identical to the flaming bag of **** I'm sure you find on your doorstep weekly

The bag of s*** with 7 goals?!!
Bwaaahaha

 

[Roof Daddy]

I think they played well above expectations last year, so if you’re holding them to that standard you’ll be disappointed. Going into the season I think nearly everyone would agree Vegas looks like the class of the division. SJ likely considered the 2nd best team. I’d say the Flames would remain the favourite to finish 3rd in the division (but hoping my Oil change that).

The Looch trade was always going to be bad, regardless of what Neal does in Edmonton. Looch is too slow and undisciplined in both his system play (going out of position chasing hits), and taking bad penalties. I don’t think it’s out of the question to suggest he could easily cost a team 5-7 games (turning a W to an L) in a given season. I’m sure people will think this is a gross exaggeration, but I watched the guy cost us games the last 3 years.

So if we were to apply the high end of that assessment to both teams (-7 W for Calgary with Looch, +7W to Oil without Looch) to last year’s records, the Oil and Flames finish tied with 93 points. That’s honestly pretty close to how I see the season playing out - Oil, Flames, Nucks and Ducks duking it out for 3rd in the division.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

We literally always suck at the start of every season

 

[BakedYams]

The Flames are slow starters and are usually good for at least one prolonged period of winning every season. Last year that period got interrupted by the ASG. They're still going to end 3rd in the Pacific or wild card at worst.

 

[Saltcreek]

Relax Oiler fans, you don't have a good team this thread is about the Flames.

I don't think I'm overreacting as this has been a pattern since the last 25 to 30 games of last year and playoffs. This team is getting outplayed and outworked in most games.

So how do you fix it? I really do not like what the Flames did this off season as I cannot see how they improved. Adding Lucic, Reider, and Talbot seem to be a step backwards more than anything.

As stated before the Flames tend to be slow starters but maybe you are right that there are some underlying problems that need to be addressed.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

The Flames are notorious for their slow starts. Last season we finished October with a 7-5-1 record, which was actually amazing by our standards, and also got slaughtered by the Pens 9-1. Analyzing the team now is pretty much pointless

Yep, as I posted in a different thread, Carolina and St. Louis were near the bottom of the league in Nov/Dec last year and both made it to the conf. finals and STL won the cup. On Dec 31st, Carolina had 37 points and only PHI (35 points) and OTT (34 points) had fewer points in the east. STL had 34 points and were last in the west. 6 games in is too small of a sample size to make any real judgements about a team.

As far as the OP asking if they are "over-rated", I guess it depends on how you rate them in the first place. I view them as a playoff team, but wouldn't call them a favorite for the cup so no, I don't think they are over-rated. IIRC, Vegas had/has their odds in the 10-12 range (ranking among teams) so I don't think they are over-rated by that standard either.

 

[TKB21]

They are a mid pack team that overachieved with a bunch of career years last year. Take the regression of the career years away this year. Add a bunch of scrubs that they picked up in the offseason and you will see the 2019-2020 flames.

 

[klozge]

They might possibly make the playoffs and if the hockey gods feel like being funny they might even win a round but I highly doubt this will happen. They're pretenders but can't fool anyone anymore. If you thought they're better than that then yes, you're overrating them.

 

[Baxterman]

What made up stuff?!

The main one is that the bottom 6 was good last year and now only bad because of adding a Lucic and Reider. The throw in that it was Flames arrogance that caused this was an added hilarious bonus pile of crap.

The paper tiger comments are also full of crap.

Finally the idea that there is inferiority complex from Calgary towards Edmonton when it is clearly the other way round always makes me laugh.