GDT: Nov 21, 2016 @ 5PM: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

[RedHot]

This whole year has been 1 step forward, 2 steps back. They string together around 3 games then have a stinker like this

 

[Fig]

Probably:

SmellOfVictory with the perfect prediction of the evening!

 

[Calculon]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Brodie still looked like complete **** on the right side and away from Wideman, which I'm like 95% sure of.

No, no he didn't. He wasn't like the Brodie of yesteryear but he also wasn't looking utterly lost and like he had zero trust in his partner.

 

[MonyontheMoney]

No, no he didn't. He wasn't like the Brodie of yesteryear but he also wasn't looking utterly lost and like he had zero trust in his partner.

He looked lost, he has all year.

 

[MonyontheMoney]

Honestly, I'm hesitant to pin the first 3 goals on Elliott, but the 4th was absolutely terrible, and to make it worse it wasn't long after we scored to make it a one goal game, that was an absolute dagger, and one he should have absolutely had.

As hesitant as I am to point the finger at Elliott for 3/4, I can only remember a couple of occasions so far this year where he's come up with a save when we need it desperately.

Also, the team seems way more confident in front of Johnson right now, which should absolutely count for something.

 

[lightstorm]

Can anyone diagnose why monahan sucks so bad this year? That line got sheltered tonight and still got owned.

He's got Eberleitis.

 

[BigRangy]

Honestly, I'm hesitant to pin the first 3 goals on Elliott, but the 4th was absolutely terrible, and to make it worse it wasn't long after we scored to make it a one goal game, that was an absolute dagger, and one he should have absolutely had.

As hesitant as I am to point the finger at Elliott for 3/4, I can only remember a couple of occasions so far this year where he's come up with a save when we need it desperately.

Also, the team seems way more confident in front of Johnson right now, which should absolutely count for something.

Eh, the Flames D let a guy waltz in untouched from below the dots, that should end up in the back of the net almost every time regardless of what the goalie does. Elliott was very good tonight and made a bunch of great saves. He could have stolen this game had they not run into penalty trouble like they did.

I will agree that the team seems to play much better in front of Johnson though. I think a little bit of it might be because he controls his rebounds a little better and he is also better at playing the puck when he leaves his crease.

 

[Dack]

After the first 5 or 6 games Brouwer has been invisible.

 

[Boomstick]

Just got back from the game in Buffalo. I can honestly say I don't like Chiasson. He looked awful. Had a couple of chances on his stick and he did nothing with them like the partial breakaway. Tkachuk looked great. I really enjoyed the energy he brought every shift. Bennett loves mixing it up. Love to see him score more, but he doesn't shy away from any checking.
Monahan was invisible, probably because I wore my Monahan jersey. I'm so disappointed in Elliott. That last goal was junk. Just stop the puck once in awhile.

The refs didn't do us any favors. So many powerplays to Buffalo. I saw so many non calls against us. I had amazing seats. Row 2 off the ice at the blue line where the Flames shot twice.
I had a good time and a pound of wings at the anchor bar beforehand but I was just wishing for a win.
Please just ride CJ for awhile, I have no faith in Smelliott.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

Just got back from the game in Buffalo.

So out of curiosity, how far are you from Buffalo and is it pretty easy going over the border back and forth?

 

[GAMO1992]

so this was a game to be glad to miss out on right?

 

[SmellOfVictory]

SmellOfVictory with the perfect prediction of the evening!

I've never been more sad to be right.

so this was a game to be glad to miss out on right?

It actually wasn't that bad. Basically there was a major snafu in the 2nd period that led to two consecutive penalties (and then a 3rd inexplicably taken in the offensive zone) which was a horrendous 5 minute stretch of goals against and chaos, but overall the game wasn't terrible. Their goalie was better, and that's about it. Also, Chiasson sucks balls. The guy is a waste of space in the top 6. Plays die on his stick worse than I've seen in a long time; not particularly smart and minimal puck handling skills.

Chiasson reminds me a lot of Comeau.

Yeah, he's basically a slower, weaker Comeau with a worse shot, ie without the things that made Comeau a passable NHLer at times.

 

[JPeeper]

After the first 5 or 6 games Brouwer has been invisible.

Yup. People have been openly angry at Monahan being bad, but Brouwer has been useless these past 15 games.

Way too many forwards completely invisible most nights.

 

[Volica]

Being on the PK for half a period before the second was even over really didn't help this team.

It was disappointing, Elliott played so well to begin with; then once they scored we just couldn't mount anything. This Buffalo team was barely an NHL team with the injuries they have, so last night was a joke.

Right now there is wayyyyyy too much dead weight on the team. Bennett is carrying around two of them, Brodie another, Chiasson on the third line... I'm not expecting much from Wideman or Chiasson, they're depth guy's on a contender... but do we ever need Monahan and Brouwer to wake up.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

To be quite frank, this team is behind because of their drafting. Ferland basically needed to fill Brouwers role. Klimchuk should be filling Frolik's and Poirier and Shinkaruk need to play regular top 9 minutes. Kulak has been a treat on the blueline, but we've been waiting on Witherspoon who's basically a bust at this point.

The result is that we've had to sign Brouwer and Frolik, then use plugs in other spots. You are only as strong as your weakest link, then you factor in guys like Monahan, Bennett and Gaudreau are struggling, and that's why this team is so inconsistent. It what it is, we're in a rebuild and we need to ice a competitive team so players needed to be signed. I like both Brouwer and Frolik, but because we had to sign them and other guys are not there or ready, it's affected our depth at other positions.

 

[Kahvi]

Second period was really frustrating to watch. That Brouwer penalty that kinda started the penalties was exactly what Gaudreau had to endure in that Wild game. I was really close to throw my phone or coffee cup at wall / TV, luckily I could control myself.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

To be quite frank, this team is behind because of their drafting. Ferland basically needed to fill Brouwers role. Klimchuk should be filling Frolik's and Poirier and Shinkaruk need to play regular top 9 minutes. Kulak has been a treat on the blueline, but we've been waiting on Witherspoon who's basically a bust at this point.

The result is that we've had to sign Brouwer and Frolik, then use plugs in other spots. You are only as strong as your weakest link, then you factor in guys like Monahan, Bennett and Gaudreau are struggling, and that's why this team is so inconsistent. It what it is, we're in a rebuild and we need to ice a competitive team so players needed to be signed. I like both Brouwer and Frolik, but because we had to sign them and other guys are not there or ready, it's affected our depth at other positions.

Drafting has been a small part of it, I'd say; remember, the rebuild only officially started three years ago. Having Gaudreau come out of 2011 and accelerate it is just a gift more than anything. I also wouldn't blame Brouwer and Frolik for the Flames' issues at all (even though I still think Brouwer is overpaid by about 50%); the issue lies squarely with the 11+ million in cap space that's tied up in Wideman/Engelland/Smid. Smid never should've been traded for, and the Flames can handle one of the two of Wideman/Smid on their beefy contracts, but not both.

 

[Anglesmith]

Drafting has been a small part of it, I'd say; remember, the rebuild only officially started three years ago. Having Gaudreau come out of 2011 and accelerate it is just a gift more than anything. I also wouldn't blame Brouwer and Frolik for the Flames' issues at all (even though I still think Brouwer is overpaid by about 50%); the issue lies squarely with the 11+ million in cap space that's tied up in Wideman/Engelland/Smid. Smid never should've been traded for, and the Flames can handle one of the two of Wideman/Smid on their beefy contracts, but not both.

Well, right now they only really have to handle one of them while the other is on LTIR.

 

[DCDM]

Just watched the highlights. That second period meltdown was something else, my goodness. Three power play goals against in 90 seconds. That's next level bad.

I don't even know what can be done at this point honestly. Clearly whatever system is in place is failing in every aspect.

 

[Fig]

Drafting has been a small part of it, I'd say; remember, the rebuild only officially started three years ago. Having Gaudreau come out of 2011 and accelerate it is just a gift more than anything. I also wouldn't blame Brouwer and Frolik for the Flames' issues at all (even though I still think Brouwer is overpaid by about 50%); the issue lies squarely with the 11+ million in cap space that's tied up in Wideman/Engelland/Smid. Smid never should've been traded for, and the Flames can handle one of the two of Wideman/Smid on their beefy contracts, but not both.

Brodie was another gift. Quite a few fans were hoping he'd pan into a decent #4. Little did we know...

And the Smid one makes sense. Players that played in our d corps in 2012-2013 were:

Breen, Billins, Brodie (hoping for a #4 ver, not the OMG #2 ver), Butler(Whippin boy ver), Cundari, Gio, O'Brien, Russell (Non-shot blocking record ver, waiver fodder ver), Smid, Smith, Wideman, Wotherspoon.

I believe our best D were in this order:
Gio
Wideman
Smid
Brodie
Butler

But obviously weren't played this way. I remember everyone complained Butler played too much.

This after the departure of Bouwmeester. I don't have to explain how many of these were too young and raw as prospects and how some of them were just horribad.

 

[Boomstick]

So out of curiosity, how far are you from Buffalo and is it pretty easy going over the border back and forth?

Yeah, I'm about 35 minutes away. I go over at the Peace Bridge which borders Fort Erie and Buffalo. I left my house at 4:00 and there were a handful of cars going over customs. Took less than 5 minutes. All you need is a passport. You give it to the customs officer, they look you up on their system, they ask you where you're going and for how long and that's about it.

Coming back was a bit longer since a lot of Canadians go to the game. Took about 20 minutes or so with the traffic.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Well, right now they only really have to handle one of them while the other is on LTIR.

True, LTIR helps, but having that 3.5 million in cap space during the offseason would've been a lot better.

Brodie was another gift. Quite a few fans were hoping he'd pan into a decent #4. Little did we know...

And the Smid one makes sense. Players that played in our d corps in 2012-2013 were:

Breen, Billins, Brodie (hoping for a #4 ver, not the OMG #2 ver), Butler(Whippin boy ver), Cundari, Gio, O'Brien, Russell (Non-shot blocking record ver, waiver fodder ver), Smid, Smith, Wideman, Wotherspoon.

I believe our best D were in this order:
Gio
Wideman
Smid
Brodie
Butler

But obviously weren't played this way. I remember everyone complained Butler played too much.

This after the departure of Bouwmeester. I don't have to explain how many of these were too young and raw as prospects and how some of them were just horribad.

Yeah, Brodie and Backlund have been a great foundation for the rebuild to push off of; I just didn't really count them since they were already pretty established by 2012 (in my eyes, anyway).

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Yup. People have been openly angry at Monahan being bad, but Brouwer has been useless these past 15 games.

I predicted this in June, when people were throwing around a 3.5 x 3 deal for Brouwer which I thought was an overpayment. My credibility was attacked:

You're over-valuing secondary assists. Brouwer gets a ton of secondary playing with Ovechkins and Stastny/Fabbris, that's not an indicator of being a superior player. Brouwer's primary point production is worse than 2016 Bouma. 2015 Bouma's primary point production blows Brouwer out of the water.

It might seem like an out-there opinion, and it's tough to argue with "raw point totals" without looking like a pompous analytics-obsessed idiot, but it's a fact. Brouwer is more a product of his linemates than a guy who at his age you want to be looking to sign to a 3 year term as proposed earlier. I like him, and I like that he shoots right, but he is what he is - a glorified Lance Bouma. My so-called credibility isn't something I need to protect by lying to fit in.

The only way to salvage Brouwer is to break up Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik so Brouwer gets a Backlund bump.

 

[Mobiandi]

To be quite frank, this team is behind because of their drafting. Ferland basically needed to fill Brouwers role. Klimchuk should be filling Frolik's and Poirier and Shinkaruk need to play regular top 9 minutes. Kulak has been a treat on the blueline, but we've been waiting on Witherspoon who's basically a bust at this point.

The result is that we've had to sign Brouwer and Frolik, then use plugs in other spots. You are only as strong as your weakest link, then you factor in guys like Monahan, Bennett and Gaudreau are struggling, and that's why this team is so inconsistent. It what it is, we're in a rebuild and we need to ice a competitive team so players needed to be signed. I like both Brouwer and Frolik, but because we had to sign them and other guys are not there or ready, it's affected our depth at other positions.

This is a bit of an unrealistic expectation. The only team in the NHL that has that many homegrown players in their top 9 is Edmonton and it's only because they're thrown in the deep end due to the thinness of their roster. I wouldn't be surprised if all but one or two of Kylington, Andersson, Gillies, McDonald, Poirier, Klimchuk, Jankowski or Hickey end up falling by the wayside. That's just the way things work out in the NHL.

Although I will say that it's very disappointing that not even one of Poirier and Klimchuk are established in the NHL.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

This is a bit of an unrealistic expectation. The only team in the NHL that has that many homegrown players in their top 9 is Edmonton and it's only because they're thrown in the deep end due to the thinness of their roster. I wouldn't be surprised if all but one or two of Kylington, Andersson, Gillies, McDonald, Poirier, Klimchuk, Jankowski or Hickey end up falling by the wayside. That's just the way things work out in the NHL.

Although I will say that it's very disappointing that not even one of Poirier and Klimchuk are established in the NHL.

I have the same expectation you do, really. Although I think Kulak, Kylington and Andersson will all play. I think Janko will play, and I'm not sure about anyone else. My point still stands though, over the last 5 drafts we've had Reinhart and Baertschi bust. Agostino and Hanowski were let go and Arnold retired. If even 2 of those guys pan out, it changes a lot and I know I'm missing more. I think Poirier will bust hard but I'm hoping Klimchuk can become a Frolik like player.