Player Discussion T.J. Brodie

[Body Checker]

Has to stay on left side for now as wideman only thrives with big minutes. Once wideman goes to 3rd pairing minutes his game suffers. Next year Brodie can go back to the right side

 

[Anglesmith]

Yet another foolish agenda.

Before this year Brodie played for 1 count it 1 NHL head coach.

He broke in under Sutter IIRC.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Yet another foolish agenda.

Before this year Brodie played for 1 count it 1 NHL head coach. Now as we all know it takes Dmen longer to develop and when they are younger it takes them longer to adjust to new systems. (Look no further than Dougie last season.)

Couple that with some personal life issues and it is not difficult to see why Brodie has lagged a little behind the others.

That said Brodie is one of the smoothest skating D-men in the league. He is an elite playmaker and great hockey IQ.

That said some are suggesting we trade a younger defenseman that many analysts view as a potential future Norris trophy candidate instead of 2 mediocre older defensemen. Factor in the fact his contract is one of the few bargains in the NHL and I have to ask are some of you sniffing glue?

The largest factors facing the Flames moving forward are:
1.) Can Wideman and Engelland be moved so some of the younger prospects can get some NHL time.
2.) Which of the bottom 6 forwards do you move to bring up prospects with higher potentials. (Bouma, Stajan, Freddie Hamilton, Backlund, Ferland)
3.) Can Calgary buy a development machine to make the prospects in the AHL develop faster. Might be worth having a look on E-Bay.

Rusty, I agree with you again. Great post!

 

[Volica]

Yet another foolish agenda.

This place is pretty much one agenda after another to be fair.

Brodie is an excellent young Dman; and Calgary's no in position we need to trade a defenseman. For a team that had struggles keeping the puck out of their net this year, moving one of the only real three NHL level competent Dman just seems dumb.

He hasn't been good, but he's played his natural side this year (although I think the preference is playing RD) and his steady pairing partner has been with the juggernauts of Engelland and Wideman; two guys who at this stage of their careers are probably best suited in a depth/bottom pair role. If Monahan can be given the benefit of the doubt and turn it around, so can TJ. Calgary really, really needs another top 4 man for the rest of this season; kind of tired of watching the fire-drill on ice when Dougie and Gio aren't on.

 

[Mobiandi]

Just wondering, as someone who doesn't pay much attention to D-pairings during the game, did we ever try Brodie-Russell? If we did, did it look passable?

 

[FlamerForLife]

Just wondering, as someone who doesn't pay much attention to D-pairings during the game, did we ever try Brodie-Russell? If we did, did it look passable?

I believe we did in 13-14 when Gio was injured.

 

[Lunatik]

I believe we did in 13-14 when Gio was injured.

if we did it was short lived. It was Brodie - Engellanda nd Russell - Wideman for the most part.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Just wondering, as someone who doesn't pay much attention to D-pairings during the game, did we ever try Brodie-Russell? If we did, did it look passable?

I believe Gio's only time playing right side was with Russell lol, and I think it was short lived as well. I saw a few games from 2013-2016 where Gio was occasionally paired with Russell but not as a full unit, just when Russell was on, Gio would hop on and play right side.

 

[FlamerForLife]

if we did it was short lived. It was Brodie - Engellanda nd Russell - Wideman for the most part.

The pairings you're mentioning are from 14-15 when gio went down for the playoff run, I was referring to the season before, when we didn't have Engellend.

 

[Lunatik]

The pairings you're mentioning are from 14-15 when gio went down for the playoff run, I was referring to the season before, when we didn't have Engellend.

oh, then in that case, i do not recall

 

[Dertell]

Let's remember Brodie played with Wideman back in the latter's first season with the flames, and they did very well. Oh, and Brodie was paired up this season with Giordano, and they were pretty bad as well.

 

[cg98]

What do you guys think of Brodie's performance this season so far?

 

[JGaudreau]

He's been our best dman. Hamonic allows him to engage more, really our only dman that is carrying the puck over centre and creating open ice. Hamilton seems to be holding Gio back right now (or vice versa, but Dougie seems a step slower this season).

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

He's been about half as good as he can be. Peak Brodie to me is 2015 playoffs Brodie who was regularily the best Flame on the ice. He hasn't hit that level yet.

 

[Flameshomer]

Brodie+Bennett for Tavares+pulock is what I'm thinking to be honest

 

[Flameshomer]

That or Hamilton and Bennett with us keeping brodie.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I think he’s been our best dman so far. He’s still got another gear, but the flashes he’s shown have been elite. He just needs to go out and be dominant for an entire game. He has once so far.

 

[Baxterman]

The offense has been great both in generating points and carrying the puck.

His defense has been less than stellar, especially his positioning as he has seemed a little wild in his own end going all over the place instead of covering his guys/areas. I think it helps that Hamonic is so steady and can cover for him in this area, perhaps its why Brodie has been more reckless than in the past.

 

[Calculon]

He's showing why he's still the most untouchable of all the defencemen on the roster. And he's not even playing up to his complete potential yet.

 

[JPeeper]

Him and Hamonic have been our best pair this year. Brodie has been skating more like he used to and Hamonic has been real solid as well.

I know this thread is about Brodie, but since he is his partner and has helped his game I just wanted to give Hamonic a shout out. Lol at the people who said he was barely a 4th dman in the off season or that he isn't that good. He has been very good. If argue he is out best defensive defenseman.

 

[Mobiandi]

He's been alright. Had two fantastic games against the Jets and Ducks, but personally, I think he's left something to be desired defensively. The gap between Gio and Brodie there is still quite sizeable.

 

[FerklundCGY]

He's obviously had a fantastic start offensively but that's definitely blinding people from how he's actually played. He's played good, but he without a doubt has another gear in him.

He's been pretty inconsistent and his defensive play (which is usually elite) has been non-existent for some stretches early this season. I am fully confident he'll get better as the season goes along but Giordano has remained our best D-man early on in the season. His defensive play continues to be phenomenal.

Some Flames fans are just looking at his offensive numbers and going "Wow! He's been unbelievable! Clearly our best D-man so far!" That's simply not the case.

 

[Bounces R Way]

For some reason just goes braindead for periods at a time. Lot of that going around on our blueline.
Really good to see him shooting, I've liked him on the PP1. Should be jumping into the rush whenever he has ice to skate.

 

[Janks]

He's obviously had a fantastic start offensively but that's definitely blinding people from how he's actually played. He's played good, but he without a doubt has another gear in him.

He's been pretty inconsistent and his defensive play (which is usually elite) has been non-existent for some stretches early this season. I am fully confident he'll get better as the season goes along but Giordano has remained our best D-man early on in the season. His defensive play continues to be phenomenal.

Some Flames fans are just looking at his offensive numbers and going "Wow! He's been unbelievable! Clearly our best D-man so far!" That's simply not the case.

Does this include his several massive giveaways in the slot to opposing players? Not taking away that Gio has been a solid D presence, but let's not act like he's been phenomenal. Brodie has had small lapses, but he's been better in all zones than Gio.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Does this include his several massive giveaways in the slot to opposing players? Not taking away that Gio has been a solid D presence, but let's not act like he's been phenomenal. Brodie has had small lapses, but he's been better in all zones than Gio.

Gonna have to disagree with you on that. Brodie's my favourite Flames dman, but he has not played as well as he historically did defensively. He's gotten lost a couple of times and been beaten a few as well. There was a period of a couple of years where he was almost impossible to get around and was always in good position, which hasn't been the case in the last season and a bit.

Gio had a couple of giveaways, but he's been in better defensive position and more effective at separating opposing players from pucks. Brodie has often looked better in the offensive zone, though.