GDT: Canucks @ Flames October 5, 2019 (8:00 pm MT)

[Anglesmith]

I missed the game. Good to get the win and all but did lines 2-4 generate anything at all? Didn't think so.

Actually, yeah. There was one play where Rieder set up Mangiapane for a one-timer in close. That's about all I can think of. There were a lot of almost chances. In the second half of the game, the Flames weren't able to roll four lines because of the penalties, so all of the noteworthy play from the bottom six came in the first half of the game, realistically.

From the extremely limited time to evaluate 5-on-5, I thought that fourth line looked pretty good.

 

[DCDM]

I missed the game. Good to get the win and all but did lines 2-4 generate anything at all? Didn't think so.

Second line, no. Whatever line Bennett was on had some decent looks. Lucic was okay. But no, most of the offensive chances came from the top line or the defense lol

 

[crackdown44]

Hanifin-Andersson
Kylington-Bennett-Brodie

The old 4-1 PP split but not the one you expect!

 

[c3po]

off topic but does anyone know the name of the commentator ... cbc one

 

[Mobiandi]

off topic but does anyone know the name of the commentator ... cbc one

Mark Lee I think

 

[ThatHighGuy]

Was at the game last night, biggest takeaways last night were:
Frolik is irrelevant, shouldn’t be on the 2nd line and i’m glad Peters demoted him
Backlund looks rusty
Same with Tkachuk
Rittich is a god
Lucic handles the puck like a grenade but had some decent plays
Defence was pretty good, no one really stood out on the back end
Bennett looks a lot more mature this year, not trying to do everything by himself, we need to get him on PP2

We’re not gonna win many games if we get as many penalties as we did last night so good thing we were playing the Nucks lol

 

[DFF]

Wonder when Dube will be back up, slot into the 2nd line winger position?

A long time...he took a step back...job was his to lose and he lost it to Reider

But a Flames have no depth in the farm so one or two injuries and he'll be up

 

[Iggys Dome]

A long time...he took a step back...job was his to lose and he lost it to Reider

But a Flames have no depth in the farm so one or two injuries and he'll be up

I wouldn't say he lost it to Reider, who was signed pretty much to exclusively play 4th line minutes. They wanted Dube to win a top 9 spot, which he didn't, and rather than burying him on the 4th line or press box they just decided to send him down so he could play 20+ mins a night.

 

[Khrox]

I wouldn’t hate it if they ran an overload instead of an umbrella either. Throw Hanifin out with Andersson and just throw everything at the net with bodies in front

On the second unit, overload might actually produce better. Leave the super skill plays to the first unit where we got Johnny and Lindholm with Mony and Tkachuk for the garbage.

 

[DFF]

I wouldn't say he lost it to Reider, who was signed pretty much to exclusively play 4th line minutes. They wanted Dube to win a top 9 spot, which he didn't, and rather than burying him on the 4th line or press box they just decided to send him down so he could play 20+ mins a night.

Yeah but i do Not think there is a clear difference between their 3rd and 4th lines

 

[Volica]

From the first two games of the season, we're still early but some takeaways.

Monahan is finally looking like that 1C you could bet the farm on. Engaged, physical, creative; looks like Mony finally put the passive play behind him and has looked strong so far. If he keeps this going for another 80 games, Calgary really puts themselves in a position to succeed.

The first line in general looks outright dangerous. Looks like they picked up from before they probably did a kilo of coke each during the break last year. Good to see them firing on all cylinders. Lindy looks like a man out there to prove year 1 wasn't a fluke.

I've really like Lucic. He's not going to score 30 goals or get 60 points, but he's going to contribute positively for this team this year. The fact he made big bad Zadorov look like a total puss tells you all you need to know about this guy.

That line of Bennett - Ryan - Lucic is really fun. Doc and Benny have the right skill to compliment Looch. I honestly think that trio should be the forwards on the second PP unit.

That second line still has a way to go. Tkachuk looks like a guy who's played hockey for two weeks while others are on week 5-6. Backlund's injury might be affecting him more than we though. Frolik looks like he's lost a step, or is just unmotivated. He's a heckuva player when he's on, so I hope we get him back sooner rather than later.

I thought Janko looked okay on the 4th line. With Rieder and Frolik, I think that gives Calgary a 4th line that you really don't have to worry about much. All four guys are pretty defensively sound. I don't think it's one that'll torch anyone on the scoreboard, but I do think it's one that will have a positive 5v5. Plus having you PK1 guys on the same line, playing a 4th line role really gives the bigger guns better minutes.

All in all; I thought Calgary has had a good start. I think they should be 2-0, but some officiating hasn't helped so far.

 

[InfinityIggy]

From the first two games of the season, we're still early but some takeaways.

Monahan is finally looking like that 1C you could bet the farm on. Engaged, physical, creative; looks like Mony finally put the passive play behind him and has looked strong so far. If he keeps this going for another 80 games, Calgary really puts themselves in a position to succeed.

The first line in general looks outright dangerous. Looks like they picked up from before they probably did a kilo of coke each during the break last year. Good to see them firing on all cylinders. Lindy looks like a man out there to prove year 1 wasn't a fluke.

I've really like Lucic. He's not going to score 30 goals or get 60 points, but he's going to contribute positively for this team this year. The fact he made big bad Zadorov look like a total puss tells you all you need to know about this guy.

That line of Bennett - Ryan - Lucic is really fun. Doc and Benny have the right skill to compliment Looch. I honestly think that trio should be the forwards on the second PP unit.

That second line still has a way to go. Tkachuk looks like a guy who's played hockey for two weeks while others are on week 5-6. Backlund's injury might be affecting him more than we though. Frolik looks like he's lost a step, or is just unmotivated. He's a heckuva player when he's on, so I hope we get him back sooner rather than later.

I thought Janko looked okay on the 4th line. With Rieder and Frolik, I think that gives Calgary a 4th line that you really don't have to worry about much. All four guys are pretty defensively sound. I don't think it's one that'll torch anyone on the scoreboard, but I do think it's one that will have a positive 5v5. Plus having you PK1 guys on the same line, playing a 4th line role really gives the bigger guns better minutes.

All in all; I thought Calgary has had a good start. I think they should be 2-0, but some officiating hasn't helped so far.

It's weird that our 2nd line seems to be our worst so far, given they were often the only line clicking last year, at times.

If they can get going we could look really dangerous.

 

[DCDM]

It's weird that our 2nd line seems to be our worst so far, given they were often the only line clicking last year, at times.

If they can get going we could look really dangerous.

I think it's circumstantial, for 2/3 of them anyways. Tkachuk is probably still getting back up to speed, and Backlund seems hampered by something. I expect both of them to be back to 100% shortly, if not as soon as tomorrow, as Tkachuk loves to get up to play the Kings.

Frolik just looks like he's halfway out the door, which is sad to see. But at least Peters has been quick to throw Frolik on the fourth line and give someone like Mangiapane a chance with Backs and Tkachuk.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I think it's circumstantial, for 2/3 of them anyways. Tkachuk is probably still getting back up to speed, and Backlund seems hampered by something. I expect both of them to be back to 100% shortly, if not as soon as tomorrow, as Tkachuk loves to get up to play the Kings.

Frolik just looks like he's halfway out the door, which is sad to see. But at least Peters has been quick to throw Frolik on the fourth line and give someone like Mangiapane a chance with Backs and Tkachuk.

I agree, just unusual to watch after they were so consistent for so long.

If Frolik doesn't want to play I would honestly bench him and wake him up. Throw Rieder and Czarnik in.

 

[Mobiandi]

Looks like they picked up from before they probably did a kilo of coke each during the break last year.

 

[Rubi]

Might take another week before Chucky starts to feel comfortable and it will probably be longer for both Looch and Rieder. I hope Mangiapane scores one soon to get off to a good start. Everything I've seen so far this season with Benny I like. Hopefully he clicks with Chucky and Backlund, but if it doesn't happen right away I hope Peters is patient with this trio.

 

[InfinityIggy]

One thing that stands out with Lucic this season is he doesn't struggle to gain either blue line. Older power forwards we've had before would get hemmed in our own end but Lucic in both games gets the puck out to a position the Flames can contest it.

He is actually a much faster skater than I was expecting. Don’t know if will translate to the score board, but I’m not disliking him on the 3rd line as much as I thought I would.

 

[Khrox]

He is actually a much faster skater than I was expecting. Don’t know if will translate to the score board, but I’m not disliking him on the 3rd line as much as I thought I would.

I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised with him. And that's more because of role. He was brought in to Edmonton to be one of "The Guys" and he couldn't handle that. In Calgary, he's here as a supporting role, and to play a hard, physical game. Because he isn't "The Guy" (we have Gio, Backs, Monahan, Tkachuk in that kind of role, with Brodie, Frolik, Hamonic as elder-statesmen as well) he can just focus on playing his game.

That and Edmonton thought they were getting a 25g+ 50p+ powerforward, and when he didn't perform, it hurt. We acquired him as a physical guy who can hopefully chip in 10g 20p, while not being a liability. So far, he is what we expected, so we're much happier with hi,

 

[Fig]

I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised with him. And that's more because of role. He was brought in to Edmonton to be one of "The Guys" and he couldn't handle that. In Calgary, he's here as a supporting role, and to play a hard, physical game. Because he isn't "The Guy" (we have Gio, Backs, Monahan, Tkachuk in that kind of role, with Brodie, Frolik, Hamonic as elder-statesmen as well) he can just focus on playing his game.

That and Edmonton thought they were getting a 25g+ 50p+ powerforward, and when he didn't perform, it hurt. We acquired him as a physical guy who can hopefully chip in 10g 20p, while not being a liability. So far, he is what we expected, so we're much happier with hi,

I feel like partially it's also a reverse Glencross/Ferland where when they focused on a skill game, the physicality that made them effective dried up. Lucic was asked to be a skilled player which made him kinda useless when the points didn't come, and it's extremely difficult to be both physical and score at the same time. When the points didn't come, then many pointed at his lack of physicality for his ineffectiveness which in turn would mess with his confidence and push his skill down further when more skill was asked of him.

IMO, we are doing very good if we ask Lucic to be a Hathaway upgrade. IMO, we are still doing very good if we ask Lucic to emulate the unbroken Bouma of yore. We are in a bad place if we ask Lucic to be Ferland. If Lucic somehow effectively explains to Bennett to not over think his game and focus on being effective disruption and jump on any chances the opponent affords you... I think we are in a fantastic place.