GDT: North Haverbrook Sharks vs. Springfield Flames

[Calculon]

Baertschi started the season flying alongside Backlund but couldn't find the score sheet. Pretty soon, he's up and down the lineup, playing entirely irregular minutes with all sorts of different linemates. Then he gets injured. He comes back, but again, struggles to make a mark offensively and thus, sees his ice time reduced, his linemates rotate in and out and often, benched for periods at a time.

His confidence is obviously very low right now. And it doesn't help that he's not getting the minutes to play himself out of it, nor a regular set of linemates that he can lean on and get used to.

Best thing for him and the organization is to either put him the third line with third line minutes and the same linemates game-in-game-out for the rest of the regular season, or send him down the AHL and let him play 20+ minutes a night in all situations so he can get his confidence back up. Because otherwise, the organizations risks doing to him what the Isles did to Nino last season.

 

[Nordberg]

We played quite poorly for most of the game but Kipper really bailed us out a couple of times. Turned it up in the third. Great PK work on a couple of questionable calls but it's hard to blame refereeing when you do as poorly on the PP as we did. Very happy with our recent regulation wins. Loving the 24-10-12 line.

We REALLY need to trade Giordano at this rate. He will soon be worth nothing and I think a depth guy could do his job better at this point. I always thought he was overrated around the league as well as in Calgary but this year he really isn't doing much of anything except fumbling passes, turning pucks over and making disappointed faces.

edit: Some classic Kerrisms in this game. Was watching the Sharks feed but fortunately the nhl highlights video for the game had the SNW feed. "Ohhh that one hit the... THEY SCORE?! Cervenka BURIED it" and in the final minutes he was just losing it.

 

[LukeD]

Wait...Comeau scored last night?!? And I missed it?!?

 

[Turning Mangiapanese]

Great game. Good old Kipper. If he plays like this for the rest of the season we are definitely in the playoffs.

 

[Svenner]

Hell of a game tonight, Kipper was great and we are now 2 points out of 8th and 4 out of 4th.

as well as 5pts behind Vancouver.. With a game in hand

 

[Hand of Gaudreau]

as well as 5pts behind Vancouver.. With a game in hand

We don't even have to 'Make the playoffs' we just have to be 5 points better than Vancouver, and they've struggled a bit lately.

 

[Shawnofthedeadz]

We don't even have to 'Make the playoffs' we just have to be 5 points better than Vancouver, and they've struggled a bit lately.

Honestly if we can keep up this scoring and our relatively decent defence from over the past couple of weeks I can see us doing it. This might be the first season in a while where Kipper doesn't have to win every game for us.

 

[Shawnofthedeadz]

We played quite poorly for most of the game but Kipper really bailed us out a couple of times. Turned it up in the third. Great PK work on a couple of questionable calls but it's hard to blame refereeing when you do as poorly on the PP as we did. Very happy with our recent regulation wins. Loving the 24-10-12 line.

We REALLY need to trade Giordano at this rate. He will soon be worth nothing and I think a depth guy could do his job better at this point. I always thought he was overrated around the league as well as in Calgary but this year he really isn't doing much of anything except fumbling passes, turning pucks over and making disappointed faces.

edit: Some classic Kerrisms in this game. Was watching the Sharks feed but fortunately the nhl highlights video for the game had the SNW feed. "Ohhh that one hit the... THEY SCORE?! Cervenka BURIED it" and in the final minutes he was just losing it.

I Don't think we played bad, the Cervenka - Hudler - Iginla line was almost always in offensive zone. They Dominated the game. Tanguay - Cammy - Comeau line was about 50/50. They had some really good shifts, and some bad ones. That being said I thought Glencross - Stajan - Stepniak struggled tonight. Mainly Glencross, he has played poorly over the last week, maybe even too. I have not been happy with him.

BTW If anyone was Interested this season Iginla is 21gp - 18p, Last season he was 21gp - 10p, two seasons ago he was 21gp - 17p. So this is actually one of the better, slow starts for Iginla. I hope he keeps his recent scoring up!

 

[Nordberg]

I Don't think we played bad, the Cervenka - Hudler - Iginla line was almost always in offensive zone. They Dominated the game. Tanguay - Cammy - Comeau line was about 50/50. They had some really good shifts, and some bad ones. That being said I thought Glencross - Stajan - Stepniak struggled tonight. Mainly Glencross, he has played poorly over the last week, maybe even too. I have not been happy with him.

BTW If anyone was Interested this season Iginla is 21gp - 18p, Last season he was 21gp - 10p, two seasons ago he was 21gp - 17p. So this is actually one of the better, slow starts for Iginla. I hope he keeps his recent scoring up!

Just my impression but I thought the Sharks also played poorly. What struck me about our performance was how sluggish we looked in the first half which is why it was so important that Kipper and the PK held us in it until the Sporks came apart in the third.
It may be that my impression of Glencross and Gio dragged my view of the whole team's performance down. Either way we won convincingly and Kipper was fantastic in his return so there's not much to be upset about.

 

[The Gnome]

I don't think people should jump the gun on giordano yet. He is obviously having a tough time with hartley's cross ice passing system. He's a smart player and will likely adjust. The only way I would be open to trading him is for a top six, or high end potential, centre upgrade.

Btw, grea to have kipper back. He always seems to blow my mind 1-2 times a game. Seriously, I think Kerr wet himself.

 

[Nordberg]

I don't think people should jump the gun on giordano yet. He is obviously having a tough time with hartley's cross ice passing system. He's a smart player and will likely adjust. The only way I would be open to trading him is for a top six, or high end potential, centre upgrade.

Btw, grea to have kipper back. He always seems to blow my mind 1-2 times a game. Seriously, I think Kerr wet himself.

Well by no means would I advocate throwing him away for spare parts. We should definetely be open to proposals though. Either way it would be great if he played himself back to his former usefulness. He's a pretty good #3.

 

[Sean Monahan]

6Gs in 5 games for our captain! Love the fact that he's able to generate scoring chances with 17minutes of ice time.

The presence of McGrattan on the bench makes the other team honest and ours to play bigger. Good stuff

 

[InfinityIggy]

McGrattan makes such a positive difference for this club, super impressed with him. A role player who knows his role can do wonders for a team in terms of difficulty to play against. Hell, id be fine if they resigned him tomorrow.

 

[1989]

I have no problem with McGrattan as he does bring something this team lacks - grit, and the enthusiasm for using it.

However, my real hope here is that the play of McGrattan not only lets the Flames' skill guys like Tanguay, Cervenka, Hudler, Cammalleri, Baertschi, etc play their game, but also inspires the play of our previously grittier players AKA Jackman, Comeau, Giordano, and most importantly, Glencross.

If McGrattan can't do the latter, well that's a shame IMO. Calgary need a little more consistent toughness along the boards and the forecheck. Having an enforcer is one thing but introducing a stronger, more physical team culture should be the real reason in having him here. Having some grit on 3/4 lines can really change up a game, instead of 2 or 3 skill lines skating around getting hit before Hartley sends out McGrattan for 'atonement'.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I have no problem with McGrattan as he does bring something this team lacks - grit, and the enthusiasm for using it.

However, my real hope here is that the play of McGrattan not only lets the Flames' skill guys like Tanguay, Cervenka, Hudler, Cammalleri, Baertschi, etc play their game, but also inspires the play of our previously grittier players AKA Jackman, Comeau, Giordano, and most importantly, Glencross.

If McGrattan can't do the latter, well that's a shame IMO. Calgary need a little more consistent toughness along the boards and the forecheck. Having an enforcer is one thing but introducing a stronger, more physical team culture should be the real reason in having him here. Having some grit on 3/4 lines can really change up a game, instead of 2 or 3 skill lines skating around getting hit before Hartley sends out McGrattan for 'atonement'.

I agree with you in hoping that he can "spur" our other gritty players, but are you saying its his fault if he cant? In the end its up to those players to play with heart and tenacity.

If thats not what you mean't I apologize.

 

[TheHudlinator]

I don't think people should jump the gun on giordano yet. He is obviously having a tough time with hartley's cross ice passing system. He's a smart player and will likely adjust. The only way I would be open to trading him is for a top six, or high end potential, centre upgrade.

Btw, grea to have kipper back. He always seems to blow my mind 1-2 times a game. Seriously, I think Kerr wet himself.

I disagree, he was vastly overrated last year due to playing on the 2nd pairing with little to no time against top lines. He saw the most pp time with Iginla, Tanguay setting up the play. He saw a lot of offensive zone starts I mean a ton for defensemen that is suppose to be a #2.

He was never as good as most made him out to be and it is fairly evident now that Jbow is allowed to play offense that Gio has and will always been the much worse player.

It is time to cash in on his reputation, we should sell high and buy low on a guy like Mcbain to replace him.

 

[1989]

I agree with you in hoping that he can "spur" our other gritty players, but are you saying its his fault if he cant? In the end its up to those players to play with heart and tenacity.

If thats not what you mean't I apologize.

Only partly his fault. He should tell skill players to play their game, but he should also lead by example / verbally to other players on the team who should play with grit and have shied away from that style as of late. Not asking for too much.

More fault lies on the coaching team if they obviously realize physicality is a weak point in this team. While bringing in McGrattan definitely brings in some of that element, it's very important to have that kind of play spread over 75% of your lines. This team should emulate the play of the Kings / Boston if possible.

Don't rely on one player for any one aspect of your team game, that's all.

 

[Skobel24]

If we could get a strong, physical stay at home defenseman that we can use on the PK, I'd be open to trading Giordano. The only way I deal him though is if a defenseman is coming back. Gio may not be playing great, but if he goes, it means Smith or Butler takes his place... no thanks.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Only partly his fault. He should tell skill players to play their game, but he should also lead by example / verbally to other players on the team who should play with grit and have shied away from that style as of late. Not asking for too much.

More fault lies on the coaching team if they obviously realize physicality is a weak point in this team. While bringing in McGrattan definitely brings in some of that element, it's very important to have that kind of play spread over 75% of your lines. This team should emulate the play of the Kings / Boston if possible.

Don't rely on one player for any one aspect of your team game, that's all.

McGrattan to Baertschi:

‘You can do whatever you want out there. As soon as someone jumps you, I'm going to go out there and kill them.'

http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/iphone/news/latest/story.html?id=8048386

Sounds like he is doing that..

 

[1989]

McGrattan to Baertschi:



http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/iphone/news/latest/story.html?id=8048386

Sounds like he is doing that..

Yes. I know. You missed the point, which was the latter part of the sentence you bolded.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Yes. I know. You missed the point, which was the latter part of the sentence you bolded.

And you know he hasn't said something similar to the grit players how?

Seems like you missed the point..

 

[1989]

And you know he hasn't said something similar to the grit players how?

Seems like you missed the point..

Because the players haven't responded yet.
I'm willing to give it a few more games to have it take effect but there's no real evidence other than the skilled players playing with a little more swagger now that McGrattan's here to enforce.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

This is like bragging when you beat the Pejorative Slured kid on a test, wooh?

I have money riding on the overall finish of the Flames vs. Oilers. So count me as one who will be cheering if that kid gets beat.

 

[Janks]

I have money riding on the overall finish of the Flames vs. Oilers. So count me as one who will be cheering if that kid gets beat.

Same here. Any time you can prove you are the better kid in Alberta, it's a good day. I don't care if our neighbours up north are Pejorative Slured, I still wanna beat them.

 

[Gary83*]

I have money riding on the overall finish of the Flames vs. Oilers. So count me as one who will be cheering if that kid gets beat.

Oilers, as usual, are trending towards bottom of the league. I think the Flames are starting to put forth the efforts that Hartley is looking for, but the next three games will be pretty telling for exactly where we're at.

Either way, might aswell collect your money now!

Oilers suck.