How much of a disappointment will it be if Flames miss the Playoffs?

[Mobiandi]

Hanifin is what Dougie was when he arrived with the Flames.

People can debate it if they want, but I'm willing to bet that Hamilton takes a major step backwards without Giordano. While Dougie improved during his time here, it wasn't so much that Hanifin and Gio propping up Brodie can't replace

Slavin is a world-class defenseman that will cover for Dougie almost as much as Gio did

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Slavin is a world-class defenseman that will cover for Dougie almost as much as Gio did

Slavin plays with Pesce.

 

[Lunatik]

Slavin is a world-class defenseman that will cover for Dougie almost as much as Gio did

Yeah, okay

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Yeah, okay

I mean if Slavin plays with Hamilton, Hamilton will still be fantastic. Giordano is better than Slavin, but Slavin is still pretty underrated overall.

 

[Anglesmith]

I mean if Slavin plays with Hamilton, Hamilton will still be fantastic. Giordano is better than Slavin, but Slavin is still pretty underrated overall.

Based on last year's hype followed by last year's results, he's pretty overrated.

 

[Lunatik]

Based on last year's hype followed by last year's results, he's pretty overrated.

Exactly this. In addition, I think Giordano is criminally underrated and hes a tdue elite #1 that makes his partners look like stars. When it comes to Hamilton, honestly, I don't care how he or Ferland do in Carolina it has no impact on how the Flames do and how our new players fit.

Like I said previously, I think Giordano and Brodie back together will improve Brodie's game, because Gio is Gio and that's what he does. I also think Hanifin is comparable to Hamilton when we first acquired him from the Bruins.

So, while Hanifin likely won't individually outplay Hamilton, he doesn't need to be because Brodie is Hamilton's replacement. If Brodano is as good as they were 3-4 years ago and Hanifin can match Brodie's lackluster play of a year ago, we don't actually lose anything defensively. What I suspect happens is Brodano is not quite as good as Gio/Dougie, but I think Hamonic and Hanifin will be better than Brodie and Hamonic were. I also suspect Stone and Andersson play together and Andersson ends up being an upgrade over Kulak. Pushing Kulak down to #7, which isn't a bad thing because we are unlikely to have as few injuries on the blueline as we did last year

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Exactly this. In addition, I think Giordano is criminally underrated and hes a tdue elite #1 that makes his partners look like stars. When it comes to Hamilton, honestly, I don't care how he or Ferland do in Carolina it has no impact on how the Flames do and how our new players fit.

Like I said previously, I think Giordano and Brodie back together will improve Brodie's game, because Gio is Gio and that's what he does. I also think Hanifin is comparable to Hamilton when we first acquired him from the Bruins.

So, while Hanifin likely won't individually outplay Hamilton, he doesn't need to be because Brodie is Hamilton's replacement. If Brodano is as good as they were 3-4 years ago and Hanifin can match Brodie's lackluster play of a year ago, we don't actually lose anything defensively. What I suspect happens is Brodano is not quite as good as Gio/Dougie, but I think Hamonic and Hanifin will be better than Brodie and Hamonic were. I also suspect Stone and Andersson play together and Andersson ends up being an upgrade over Kulak. Pushing Kulak down to #7, which isn't a bad thing because we are unlikely to have as few injuries on the blueline as we did last year

I agree with everything you said here. I think Hanifin/Hamonic are going to be a good pairing.

Also bold prediction, Hanifin will be our best 2 dman in 2 seasons.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Exactly this. In addition, I think Giordano is criminally underrated and hes a tdue elite #1 that makes his partners look like stars. When it comes to Hamilton, honestly, I don't care how he or Ferland do in Carolina it has no impact on how the Flames do and how our new players fit.

Like I said previously, I think Giordano and Brodie back together will improve Brodie's game, because Gio is Gio and that's what he does. I also think Hanifin is comparable to Hamilton when we first acquired him from the Bruins.

So, while Hanifin likely won't individually outplay Hamilton, he doesn't need to be because Brodie is Hamilton's replacement. If Brodano is as good as they were 3-4 years ago and Hanifin can match Brodie's lackluster play of a year ago, we don't actually lose anything defensively. What I suspect happens is Brodano is not quite as good as Gio/Dougie, but I think Hamonic and Hanifin will be better than Brodie and Hamonic were. I also suspect Stone and Andersson play together and Andersson ends up being an upgrade over Kulak. Pushing Kulak down to #7, which isn't a bad thing because we are unlikely to have as few injuries on the blueline as we did last year

Giordano is criminally underrated even by Flames fans, however that doesn't change the fact that Slavin is still underappreciated on hfboards even with a few Canes fans overrating him.

 

[Anglesmith]

Giordano is criminally underrated even by Flames fans, however that doesn't change the fact that Slavin is still underappreciated on hfboards even with a few Canes fans overrating him.

It's not Canes fans I heard hyping him last season. NHL media were very high on him last offseason, and on the Canes as a team.

 

[Lunatik]

It's not Canes fans I heard hyping him last season. NHL media were very high on him last offseason, and on the Canes as a team.

Younger defensemen get more hype than the older ones.

 

[tyflames]

It's not Canes fans I heard hyping him last season. NHL media were very high on him last offseason, and on the Canes as a team.

I actually liked the team Carolina was building. Strong young D and some good young forwards. They lacked a goalie but I thought they were close to being really good for awhile. Then they got new management and they basically hit the reset button on the whole process for unknown reasons

 

[Boomstick]

I'll be pissed off and upset if we don't make the playoffs. I don't know how we wouldn't make the playoffs.
Team looks solid. A lot of other teams in our division didn't do much to improve, but we certainly did.

But that being said I've had my hopes up and believed the hype in years past, only to be pissed off at the end of the season, so I'm cautiously optimistic. I think the key is getting out of the gates with a great start. I don't think we've had a season that we started over .500 in the first 10 games since the mighty Roman Turek was almost unbeatable when he first got here.