GDT: Battle in Music City: Calgary @ Nashville. 6PM MT, Sportsnet Flames

[Flames Fanatic]

"Stone has had a good game"

and just like that Hrudey has gone full homer.

Because he did. You just are blinded by hate.Outside of the one bad penalty, he was solid.

Love what Czarnik brings. Dube had a strong game. Top line was great. Hanifin continues to impress. Glad to see Smith with some of his confidence and swagger back.

Gaudreau with three more assists for 7 points in his first 3. I approve.

 

[Tofveve]

Very big win. Are we 2 and 1? Whooee. Hot dogie.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Oh and credit where credit is due. I really liked Bennett's game tonight. He and Dube are a good pair.

 

[DFF]

Mr sheltered Hanifin played the most out of our dman tonight, and he looked fantastic.

Still cant believe BT got 2 young studs from the Canes.

On a very reasonable long term deal on top of that

 

[JurassicTunga]

Mr sheltered Hanifin played the most out of our dman tonight, and he looked fantastic.

and Mr. Muffin Shot Lindholm with a sizzling snipe and overall excellent game.

 

[DFF]

Oh and credit where credit is due. I really liked Bennett's game tonight. He and Dube are a good pair.

Yup, it's time he moves on from Jank and Hathaway

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Remember when Smith got a 43 shot shutout on his 3rd game last year?




Was also exactly one year ago. Too many coincidences.

That game was a bit different, in the sense that the Flames went in with a lot of media hype about being unable to win there, and when they got a somewhat fortunate lead they were holding on for dear life.

Tonight, the Flames went into a building where they pretty much own the home team, dominated their way to a lead, and then score effects took over and they took care of business in their own zone while Smith just made the saves he was supposed to make.

 

[JPeeper]

Because he did. You just are blinded by hate.Outside of the one bad penalty, he was solid.

Love what Czarnik brings. Dube had a strong game. Top line was great. Hanifin continues to impress. Glad to see Smith with some of his confidence and swagger back.

Gaudreau with three more assists for 7 points in his first 3. I approve.

Not sure if serious. Right after a shift where Vali and Ras hold the blue line 2-3 times each, Stone proceeds to lose the puck at the blue line then ices the puck right after. He gets turn styled every rush against him, including his penalty against. He doesn't make an outlet pass and runs around his own zone the entire game. His third period was fine, he was brutal the first two. Just cause he wasn't on for a goal against didn't mean he was solid.

He's awful, but continue defending him when he makes the same mistakes next game and looks just as slow and useless. I call out his real shit plays, if you want I can call him out every time he makes a mistake, but the GDT will be 11 pages of just those posts. Flames played a great game, pretty much perfect, doesn't excuse Stone from being called out for being the worst player on the ice when two rookies and a 21 year old completely outplayed him.

 

[tmurfin]

It’s a real breath of fresh air having a coach willing to give kids opportunities to thrive. Valli and Dube on the PK, Hanifin getting big minutes, etc. Hard to believe anything you read on this forum sometimes.. I can into this season thinking Peters was going to shelter Hanifin and use him sparingly, and stuff Lindholm on the 3rd line etc. Glad I was wrong.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

Hey guys, we're in a playoff spot

 

[Rubi]

Smith is god like tonight

He's been okay.
.

OKG.. Wow, he's okay. Dude try and control that excitement over Smith's play. You're embarrassing yourself. LOL.

 

[Rubi]

Bennett played really well tonight. Keep it up Sam.

 

[Rubi]

Tonight, the Flames went into a building where they pretty much own the home team, dominated their way to a lead, and then score effects took over and they took care of business in their own zone while Smith just made the saves he was supposed to make.

Perfect example of damnation by faint praise. Would it kill you to admit that Smith played a great game?

 

[FlamerForLife]

Good game!
Andersson looked a bit rusty at the start but settled in nicely as the game went on, Valimaki had a solid game, he played the 3rd most minutes on the pk on defence only behind Gio & Brodie. Hanifin like I said in the other thread is a ****ing stud!
3rd line looked good, hopefully they stick together and can develop more chemistry. Also I feel a bit for Frolik, only got 7:46 of ice-time tonight, hopefully his ice-time goes up a bit more in the coming games.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Perfect example of damnation by faint praise. Would it kill you to admit that Smith played a great game?

It would kill me to be dishonest.

When Smith plays a great game, I do give him full credit for playing a great game. He gave us some great games last year. Tonight, he made the saves he needed to make. Which is fantastic. He didn't stand on his head and I shouldn't need to pretend he did just because you want validation. Either way, I'd much rather have a night like tonight where the team plays a complete team game and gets their goalie the shutout, than playing with fire and hoping their goalie can stop ten bell chances all night.

 

[Anglesmith]

Smith was outstanding tonight. Sometimes difficult saves don't come from difficult places. Keeping out every one of six stuff attempts on the PP is actually unusual for an NHL goalie. There were a few ten-bell saves, but the impressive part isn't number of spectacular saves, it's that not even one of the dozen chances where it wouldn't have been his fault got past.

Most nights that doesn't happen for any NHL goalie.

 

[Rubi]

It would kill me to be dishonest.

When Smith plays a great game, I do give him full credit for playing a great game. He gave us some great games last year. Tonight, he made the saves he needed to make. Which is fantastic. He didn't stand on his head and I shouldn't need to pretend he did just because you want validation. Either way, I'd much rather have a night like tonight where the team plays a complete team game and gets their goalie the shutout, than playing with fire and hoping their goalie can stop ten bell chances all night.

When it comes to Smith I think your dislike for him is cloudng your objectivity. This was not an ok save. It was a fantastic save when the flames only had a 2 goal lead.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

When it comes to Smith I think your dislike for him is cloudng your objectivity. This was not an ok save. It was a fantastic save when the flames only had a 2 goal lead.

He saw the puck all the way, didn't have to adjust his positioning and he made the glove save. That's a save you expect your #1 to make most of the time, and get beat on occasionally. It looks beautiful because he flashed the leather, but it's not of the amazing variety. It's not even what I would call a defensive breakdown - it's one-on-one all the way.

Now I don't think Rinne was necessarily great tonight, but he made a save that was much tougher than any Smith had to make:



I don't "dislike" Smith. I don't "dislike" any of the Flames' roster players, not even Prout. The last Flame I disliked was Matt Bartkowski. I don't think I've ever disliked a Flames goalie, even when Hiller suddenly started living on King Kai's Planet or McBackup was outright losing every start he got. If I'm even critical of Smith it's because his stats are inflated by games where he sees a lot of rubber, yet he lets in bad goals in games where the team is otherwise putting on a defensive clinic. But that's got nothing to do with tonight, where the Flames were merely solid defensively and allowed Smith to see enough rubber to get into a rhythm.

Guys do sometimes get shutouts. Hiller had a shutout the year he played himself out of the league. Ortio's last game was a dominant shutout. Backstrom's last game was an amazing shutout. Smith gave us a hell of a shutout in the Honda center last year, and again vs the Oilers.

Today was a shutout but it wasn't an amazing goalie performance. Those can be mutually exclusive. It also wasn't an elite dominating team win. The goalie played well enough to win, the team played well enough to win, the Predators made it easy enough to get a shutout.

 

[Mobiandi]

Smith was great in the second but had to make only routine saves in the first and third. The Preds looked like the 2017 Flames. Piling on shots but never actually looking like they would score

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Not sure if serious. Right after a shift where Vali and Ras hold the blue line 2-3 times each, Stone proceeds to lose the puck at the blue line then ices the puck right after. He gets turn styled every rush against him, including his penalty against. He doesn't make an outlet pass and runs around his own zone the entire game. His third period was fine, he was brutal the first two. Just cause he wasn't on for a goal against didn't mean he was solid.

He's awful, but continue defending him when he makes the same mistakes next game and looks just as slow and useless. I call out his real **** plays, if you want I can call him out every time he makes a mistake, but the GDT will be 11 pages of just those posts. Flames played a great game, pretty much perfect, doesn't excuse Stone from being called out for being the worst player on the ice when two rookies and a 21 year old completely outplayed him.

Dead serious. It's not coincidence you are the only one ranting about him.

 

[Anglesmith]

Stone was decent tonight for what he is. I don't think he stood out in a positive way to me. I noticed some issues with gap control, like late in the third where they flung the puck to Forsberg on the left wing at the blueline from the neutral zone, and Stone was so far away that he was able to walk in and have a shot from the circle on Smith.

 

[Rubi]

He saw the puck all the way, didn't have to adjust his positioning and he made the glove save. That's a save you expect your #1 to make most of the time, and get beat on occasionally. It looks beautiful because he flashed the leather, but it's not of the amazing variety. It's not even what I would call a defensive breakdown - it's one-on-one all the way.

Now I don't think Rinne was necessarily great tonight, but he made a save that was much tougher than any Smith had to make:



I don't "dislike" Smith. I don't "dislike" any of the Flames' roster players, not even Prout. The last Flame I disliked was Matt Bartkowski. I don't think I've ever disliked a Flames goalie, even when Hiller suddenly started living on King Kai's Planet or McBackup was outright losing every start he got. If I'm even critical of Smith it's because his stats are inflated by games where he sees a lot of rubber, yet he lets in bad goals in games where the team is otherwise putting on a defensive clinic. But that's got nothing to do with tonight, where the Flames were merely solid defensively and allowed Smith to see enough rubber to get into a rhythm.

Guys do sometimes get shutouts. Hiller had a shutout the year he played himself out of the league. Ortio's last game was a dominant shutout. Backstrom's last game was an amazing shutout. Smith gave us a hell of a shutout in the Honda center last year, and again vs the Oilers.

Today was a shutout but it wasn't an amazing goalie performance. Those can be mutually exclusive. It also wasn't an elite dominating team win. The goalie played well enough to win, the team played well enough to win, the Predators made it easy enough to get a shutout.

You're wrong about a few things but you're definitely (provable) wrong about it being a 1 on 1 save. It was a 2 on 1. I just watched the replay on my PVR recording of the game. The Preds had a 2 on 1 breakaway.

But anyways I'm not going to argue with you about Smith. You made up your mind about him a long time ago and nothing anybody says or Smith does will change your mind... just like your opinion on Sean Monahan.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I think we need to fire the goaltending coach, trade for Price, and get a new PP.

Did I do it right?

 

[Rubi]

I think we need to fire the goaltending coach, trade for Price, and get a new PP.

Did I do it right?

Almost.. you missed … Bennett should be centering the first line.... either that or we should trade him now and perhaps, if we're lucky we'll get a bag of pucks for him.

 

[Lunatik]

I was happy with the game tonight. The guys played really well, Smith was fantastic. The top line, was again, simply fantastic. I thought Dube had his best game thus far tonight, also felt Czarnik had his best as a Flame (I can't comment on his career as a whole).