GDT: Flames (33-13-3) @ Capitals (27-17-6) - Feb 1 | 5PM MST | SNET-W

[Dack]

Andersson has been not great for a while too flat footed in his own zone. Great offensive game and he doesn't make too many mistakes but he's way too passive when defending.

Hanfin looks like he started playing hockey this year he misreads everything and whenever he sees open ice he sends the puck there regardless of the countless better plays he could make. I'd honestly consider selling high on him because I'm not a fan and haven't been all year (aside from some good stretches with Hamonic).

Kylington has been the best of the 3 over the time period he has been in the NHL IMO.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I agreed, Bennett would be a 100 pt scorer instead of 30 pt scorer if he plays center.

If Bennett played top line, top PP, as a center, 20+ minutes a night he would probably be a 70+ pt guy. He may not win an art ross or rocket richard but he also brings so much defensively at that position that it wouldn't matter.

Of course between Gaudreau and Lindholm 100+ points would be the baseline expectation with the way those two drive play.

 

[lightstorm]

We've been on the right side of it all year. Just look at the game against the Sharks. I don't think it's anything to worry about. The referees could have done a better job tonight.

Sharks are fairly soft too but Stars Jets and Wild were able and willing to bully the Flames regularly. With play off officiating and no guys like ferland or engelland, thats definitelly something to worry about

 

[Mobiandi]

Is this conversation even being had if Smith doesn't spot them two goals? Mistakes happen, especially from sub-23 year old Dmen

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Andersson has been not great for a while too flat footed in his own zone. Great offensive game and he doesn't make too many mistakes but he's way too passive when defending.

Hanfin looks like he started playing hockey this year he misreads everything and whenever he sees open ice he sends the puck there regardless of the countless better plays he could make. I'd honestly consider selling high on him because I'm not a fan and haven't been all year (aside from some good stretches with Hamonic).

Kylington has been the best of the 3 over the time period he has been in the NHL IMO.

These are 100% my observations too. If we ever try a Kylington-Hamonic second pair we may never look back.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Is this conversation even being had if Smith doesn't spot them two goals? Mistakes happen, especially from sub-23 year old Dmen

It should be had, because it's not about goals, it's about play on a whole, whether a save is or is not made.

 

[super6646]

Is this conversation even being had if Smith doesn't spot them two goals? Mistakes happen, especially from sub-23 year old Dmen

Agreed. He needs to stop playing that f***ing puck everywhere. I swear he gave up at least 3 or 4 additional high danger chances because of it, and almost spotted a goal on the final Pk.

 

[Mobiandi]

It should be had, because it's not about goals, it's about play on a whole, whether a save is or is not made.

Over-analyzing an event leads to wild conclusions. This team has gotten to 19 games over (fake) .500 with three very inexperienced Dmen (four, if you count Hanifin when it comes to being on a winning team) and it's not like the top pairing has been playing 30 minutes a night.

At this age, forwards are more cut and dry than Dmen. TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano weren't exactly making waves at 21-22 on worse Flames teams

Is there a chance that we'll be trading a Dman in the coming season or two? Yeah probably, but assessing who and who isn't dispensable with a 50 game body of work in the NHL is quite pointless

 

[SKRusty]

A few observations of tonight's game:

1. Ryan was not on the boards to chip the shot around. Despite what 90% of you say that was not on Smith or Hanifin. Ryan was supposed to move to the boards when Smith had the puck but moved way too late.
2. The non-calls killed Calgary. The reffing was horrendous and at times it appeared as if the fix was on.
3. Washington was allowed to clutch grab and interfere in the neutral zone. (This likely does indicated a trade deadline pick-up should be a player like Silfverberg, Ferland, Pat Maroon, or some other heavier forward.)
4. Hanifin was rattled by not having Travis on the ice. Didn't have a horrendous game but it definitely was not his best. Lesson learned.
5. Jankowski and Neal both should have had 1-2 goals.

You were all saying how you did not expect the most organized team game out there and you were right but this game is not on any single player. Johnny missed give me passes. Sean and Elias we out of place. Backlunds line looked like stars one shift then got their a**es handed to them on the next shift. If I was the NHL though I would start scrutinizing how you want the playoffs called by the referees and start warning the staff's to get games called in a consistent manner. The clutching and grabbing allowed tonight was right out of the early 2010's. If games are going to continue to be allowed to be played in that manner BT needs to bring in some bigger bodies.


Might be time to figure out what Berglund's status is and if he might be willing to fill the 4 C role here.

 

[Flamer12]

I think it was pretty clearly on-side.

Also, there is no coach's challenge in the last two minutes of the game. That play would have been automatically reviewed for off-side.

ok. Thanks..geez, i watch a ton of hockey and never knew there were no challenges in the last two minutes.. Learned me something new today,

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Over-analyzing an event leads to wild conclusions. This team has gotten to 19 games over (fake) .500 with three very inexperienced Dmen (four, if you count Hanifin when it comes to being on a winning team) and it's not like the top pairing has been playing 30 minutes a night.

At this age, forwards are more cut and dry than Dmen. TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano weren't exactly making waves at 21-22 on worse Flames teams

Is there a chance that we'll be trading a Dman in the coming season or two? Yeah probably, but assessing who and who isn't dispensable with a 50 game body of work in the NHL is quite pointless

You are not wrong, but we still need to be discussing and projecting where we see the likes of Andersson, Hanifin, Kylington, Valimaki two, five, ten years from now and part of that is about assessing their basic instincts. Like when Kylington attacks a guy in the high slot and completely erases what could have been a shot, I see that as a positive going forward that could seriously impact our cup odds positively. When Andersson backs off on the trap I see a trend that is probably not going to magically go away.

Let me put it like this - 20, 21year old Phaneuf was valued over 20, 21 year old Giordano in the minors because of pedigree, but the red flags were all there already. They were masked to an extent by the likes of Hamrlik and Regehr, but they should have been analyzed better. I mean in retrospect we were better off with guys who passed through here, like Jordan Leopold but we let prospectitus blindfold us.

Personally, I think

- Kylington is going to be an impact defenseman. Whether that's a top pairing guy or an elite 2nd pairing guy I can't say, but he is the most valuable of our pieces.

- Valimaki is going to be a heckuva player. His offensive zone reads are already as strong as anyone and his overall game will alalow him to be a workhorse. Comparisions to Gio are probably extreme but he could be similar to Hamonic at the least.

- Hanifin will score in the NHL, but his two way upside is a mystery. He's a good player now, but not 5 million dollars good and that may be a consideration with Tkachuk, Bennett, and Rittich up for new deals. He is clearly carried by Hamonic defensively and his offense, while good, doesn't tip the scale to my eyes especially with how good the other two guys are.

- Andersson sees plays develop before they happen and is pretty fun to watch with the puck, but I think he will never be anything to write home about without the puck. I can't see him replacing Brodie or Hamonic who are both studs without the puck. His trade value is probably sky high though.

Personally knowing all that I would like to see us with some plans to have something like

Kylington-Brodie
Valimaki-Liljegren
Giordano-Fox (lol)

in the future

 

[DFF]

If Bennett played top line, top PP, as a center, 20+ minutes a night he would probably be a 70+ pt guy. He may not win an art ross or rocket richard but he also brings so much defensively at that position that it wouldn't matter.

Of course between Gaudreau and Lindholm 100+ points would be the baseline expectation with the way those two drive play.

 

[Anglesmith]

ok. Thanks..geez, i watch a ton of hockey and never knew there were no challenges in the last two minutes.. Learned me something new today,

It's something that commentators often don't know either. They made a change because of nuisance challenges by sore loser coaches who had nothing to lose by challenging. They would use the review as a de facto timeout.

 

[viper0220]

The team should use this game as a wake up call like, they used the Pittsburgh game, games like this happen to every team.

There are some important things we can take from this game:

-We need to get more depth in the top 6 and the bottom 6.

-Use need toughness.

 

[Zirakzigil]

If Bennett played top line, top PP, as a center, 20+ minutes a night he would probably be a 70+ pt guy. He may not win an art ross or rocket richard but he also brings so much defensively at that position that it wouldn't matter.

Of course between Gaudreau and Lindholm 100+ points would be the baseline expectation with the way those two drive play.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

If Bennett played top line, top PP, as a center, 20+ minutes a night he would probably be a 70+ pt guy. He may not win an art ross or rocket richard but he also brings so much defensively at that position that it wouldn't matter.

Of course between Gaudreau and Lindholm 100+ points would be the baseline expectation with the way those two drive play.

Not there yet, but I'm also satisfied with the way his career trajectory is moving.

His hands still need to catch up to his brain, needs to use his linemates more (that's damage done by Gulutzan) and start growing that 'stache again.

 

[joescores]

Mike Smith should win the Vezina

Worst goalie in the whole league.

 

[The Gnome]

I’ll say it again...this team better add some beef or they are gonna get steam rolled in the playoffs. Pretty pathetic to see us get pushed around all night with no answer.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Worst goalie in the whole league.

Cory Schneider says hello.

 

[Volica]

Try actually watching Kylington dominate every shift he logs in the Dzone, with his reads, stick play, passing, skating, and puck skills instead of laughing off facts.

Or try watching his gap control, defensive positioning and all around defensive reads. All are far from ‘closer to Hamonic’ than the other youngsters. He’s probably the furthest from a good defensive D. If you said which guy could maybe create the best offensive outside the top pair, I could agree. But you’re so wrong.

Guy’s Calgary’s 7/8D for a reason. Just because you say something over and over again doesn’t make it right. Not sure how many fantasy worlds you need to be shown to be incorrect to stop making the ridiculous takes you do on this forum.

 

[super6646]

With the morning anew, I will say a few things:

1. Mike smith wasn't that awful, but he was still bad. He saved some good chances, but a lot of those chances were created as a result of his overplaying the puck and causing turnovers. Seriously, it cost the team lots of momentum, and the first goal against was his fault. Peters made a mistake on this one.

2. Backlund has to get his mind together. Way too many stupid penalties this year and last year. Don't know where he picked this up, but it's become annoying at this point. Same applies to a lot of this team.

3. Team looked ok overall. I'd say there is a good chance we win with Rittich in net.

4. Jankowski is not a third line center. Seriously, that line was hemed in so often, and his playmaking just isn't up to snuff. Would hope we upgrade there at the deadline and maybe move him to the wing on the 4th line.

5. Andersson struggled a bit, but it'll happen. Hanifin looks lost at times without hamonic, hope it was just jitters, because despite my angry rant against him, he's been solid outside his occasional brainfarts.

 

[super6646]

I’ll say it again...this team better add some beef or they are gonna get steam rolled in the playoffs. Pretty pathetic to see us get pushed around all night with no answer.

Why don't we become the Edmonton Oilers lol. At least they don't get pushed around as other teams skate circled around them. We have an identity at this point, and messing with it would be a pretty poor idea imo.

 

[Lunatik]

Why don't we become the Edmonton Oilers lol. At least they don't get pushed around as other teams skate circled around them. We have an identity at this point, and messing with it would be a pretty poor idea imo.

adding some toughness wouldn't mess with our identity

 

[super6646]

adding some toughness wouldn't mess with our identity

Remember when we played Peluso and prout? Yeah, that got us a whole lot of nothing. Maybe add a maroon type to the fourth line is fine, but I wouldn't want anything else tbh.

 

[Lunatik]

Remember when we played Peluso and prout? Yeah, that got us a whole lot of nothing. Maybe add a maroon type to the fourth line is fine, but I wouldn't want anything else tbh.

that's all anyone is suggesting is that type of move