Flames Fanatic
Mediocre
Have you seen Phoenix's forward core? Pathetic. More so than usual. And again I don't see Mike Smith playing like last year again.
Yeah, it's almost as bad as Calgary's centre depth...Have you seen Phoenix's forward core? Pathetic. More so than usual. And again I don't see Mike Smith playing like last year again.
Yeah, it's almost as bad as Calgary's centre depth...
What's wrong with this guy?
I agree with Flames Fanatic's western conference assessment. The 4th to 8th spots in the western conference is up for grabs by half the conference, similiar to last year's situation.
The Flames are just as "capable" as they were years prior, but considering it's a shortened season and has only intra-conference games, it will be a tight race.
The Flames can finally prove if their winning woes were a product of a boring system that very few players bought into, or if their lack of playoff berths are caused by a complacent aging core. This is a rebuild or win year, period.
Bouwmeester, Backlund, Stajan, Iginla and probably a few others will have a different looking season now that Brent Sutter isn't calling the plays. Perhaps Kipper will have a bad season, perhaps he'll be less relied upon.
Too many questions to completely rule out the possibilities....
Nevertheless, add in new guys Bart, Cervenka and Hudler and this is a really intriguing season. I am very excited to watch how it unfolds.
For what it's worth, here is the Western Conference records against other Western Conference Teams from 2011/12
[table="head;width=500]Rank|Team|W|L|OTL|PTS vs. W
1|Vancouver|40|16|8|88
2|Nashville|40|19|5| 85
3|Detroit |38|21|5|81
4|St. Louis |35 |20 |9 |79
5|Phoenix |34 |20 |10 |78
6|Los Angeles |33 |20 |11 |77
7|Chicago |33 |23 |8 |74
8|Calgary |31 |22 |11 |73
9|San Jose |31 |24 |9 |71
10|Dallas |34 |28 |2 |70
11|Minnesota |30 |27 |7 |67
12|Colorado |28 |31 |5 |61
13|Anaheim |26 |30 |8 |60
14|Edmonton |24 |33 |7 |55
15|Columbus |23 |37 |4 |50
[/table]
I'd take 8th place.
Shootouts last year....I completely forgot how many games we lost in overtime. I'm sure had we won even 50% of our shoot-out losses, we would've made the playoffs. Man we were terrible. Glencross slapped the puck at the goalie's logo, while Olli did the same old left-right deke and then went 5-hole.
Tangs was Ok and Iginla was snake-bitten despite a respectable attempt at switching up his routine from the constant wrist shot.
Hudler, Cervenka, and Baertchi could help our OT problems. Plus Hartely might help our guys regain their offensive confidence and creativity.
Shootouts last year....
That's one immediate impact we'll see out of Hudler I think. Guy's a great finisher that scores sneaky timely goals that just piss you off, glad he's on our side now
Stagan playing for Hartly is already better than playing for Butter. Trust me. He isn't that bad and was rarely given a chance.
I'm willing to bet he comes to camp and is given a much bigger role than fans expect.
I agree, I could see him scoring +40 in a full season under Hartley.
I dont see why thats crazy.
2006–07 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 10 29 39 44 — — — — —
2007–08 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 16 17 33 47 — — — — —
2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 15 40 55 54 — — — — —
2009–10 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 55 16 25 41 30 — — — — —
2009–10 Calgary Flames NHL 27 3 13 16 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Calgary Flames NHL 76 6 25 31 32 — — — — —
2011–12 Calgary Flames NHL 61 8 10 18 29 — — — — —
He has passed 40 points twice, 39 points once. He only really dried up under B. S
So why is it impossible for him to hit those numbers again?
I dont see why thats crazy.
2006–07 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 10 29 39 44 — — — — —
2007–08 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 16 17 33 47 — — — — —
2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 15 40 55 54 — — — — —
2009–10 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 55 16 25 41 30 — — — — —
2009–10 Calgary Flames NHL 27 3 13 16 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Calgary Flames NHL 76 6 25 31 32 — — — — —
2011–12 Calgary Flames NHL 61 8 10 18 29 — — — — —
He has passed 40 points twice, 39 points once. He only really dried up under B. Sutter.
So why is it impossible for him to hit those numbers again?
I dont see why thats crazy.
2006–07 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 10 29 39 44 — — — — —
2007–08 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 16 17 33 47 — — — — —
2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 15 40 55 54 — — — — —
2009–10 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 55 16 25 41 30 — — — — —
2009–10 Calgary Flames NHL 27 3 13 16 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Calgary Flames NHL 76 6 25 31 32 — — — — —
2011–12 Calgary Flames NHL 61 8 10 18 29 — — — — —
He has passed 40 points twice, 39 points once. He only really dried up under B. Sutter.
So why is it impossible for him to hit those numbers again?
You got a 1st line center with PP time getting 40-50 points and you've got a non-playoff team.
Stajan got some points becuase he was getting primo ice time. He needed 70 points to be effective with that ice time.