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Surrealplaces

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Not related to Arena talk, but just the Flames on ice performance.

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I'm down.

open spleen, commence venting

I've been pretty down on on them over the past month. They've been playing some of the best team hockey over the past month, but they haven't been wining. I think they still have some flaws in the game. I'm pretty much just Joe-Fan. I've never played anything remotely close to organized hockey, so check your sodium levels when reading my remarks. The first one to me is lack of emotion. No one seems to want much more than to collect their paycheque out there. No one is really bleeding for us, except for maybe Hamonic who is possibly a saint from what I read, but he's also injury prone.

The second thing is their zone entries. We're suppose to be a positive possession team, but I never feel that it really translates into anything meaning full on ice. We seem to do a lot of chip and chase zone entries and then not follow it up by battling hard enough to regain the puck. And when we do keep it we always seem stuck in the low threat zones along the boards.

I'm kind of the opinion that the coaching group as a whole is largely to blame for both problems. At very least I'd love to see Gelinas back behind the bench rather than up in the rafters. I don't think there are too many coaches on the market right now, so I guess we just have to ride it out and hope they can squeak into a playoff spot. Those prospects are looking pretty dim right now. Maybe a move on the top line right wing would help, but I don't think we have the assets to go after anyone meaningful like Pacioretty or Kane without entirely mortgaging our future.
 
I'd like to see the Flames play better defensively, too many easy zone entries by other teams, and leaving it up to Smith to keep us in the game. It feels like it's improving, but still needs work. Tomorrow's match against the Kings should be a good test.
 
I think Hamonic has looked pretty good as of late, looks like he's starting to settle in nicely. Zone entries and special teams in general have been awful in my opinion, I don't know if it's time to start looking for another special teams coach. It's frustrating to see us play relatively well (save for a few games) without the points to back that up. The lack of production is killing us, if the third line wasn't hot right now I think we'd be in a much worse place.

Hope Dougie isn't too upset with Freddie being claimed. I still have faith that we can make the playoffs, but we needed to kick it into gear like, yesterday. Hope the game tonight is solid!
 
The top line waking up would sure help things. I guess we'll see where that goes. If Mony and Johnny get on their crazy pace from November, the could fight back into a wild card. A win tonight would be really swell, but realistically the Kings are near the top of the conference and we're not so I'm not overly optimistic. Frolik on IR doesn't help either. Still, the Flames have been able to get into LA's heads recently. So you never know.

I'm glad for Freddie that he got claimed. If anything Dougie should be happy for his bro, because the first team with waiver priority grabbed him so he should see his ice time go up. Someone on CP floated the idea of a Hamilton for OE-L trade. :p

Tonight's lineup:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Brouwer
Bennett - Jankowski - Hathaway
Lazar - Stajan - Mangiapane

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone

Smith

Man that right wing looks light right now. I'm guessing it'll be a stingy game both ways 1-1 for most of the game, Flame give up a back breaker at the end of the second and an empty netter towards the end. 3-1 LA. :S
 
Man that right wing looks light right now. I'm guessing it'll be a stingy game both ways 1-1 for most of the game, Flame give up a back breaker at the end of the second and an empty netter towards the end. 3-1 LA. :S

Sounds like a prototypical game against the Kings. lol. I would love to see the Flames come away with two points, but home at the dome hasn't been a strongpoint. The Kings play the perfect style of hockey to win games against teams that struggle at home.
 
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They really need that top line to come back to life. Getting Frolik back and the 3M line going again would also be great. When's he due to come back?

The top line waking up would sure help things. I guess we'll see where that goes. If Mony and Johnny get on their crazy pace from November, the could fight back into a wild card. A win tonight would be really swell, but realistically the Kings are near the top of the conference and we're not so I'm not overly optimistic. Frolik on IR doesn't help either. Still, the Flames have been able to get into LA's heads recently. So you never know.

I'm glad for Freddie that he got claimed. If anything Dougie should be happy for his bro, because the first team with waiver priority grabbed him so he should see his ice time go up. Someone on CP floated the idea of a Hamilton for OE-L trade. :p

Tonight's lineup:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Brouwer
Bennett - Jankowski - Hathaway
Lazar - Stajan - Mangiapane

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone

Smith

Man that right wing looks light right now. I'm guessing it'll be a stingy game both ways 1-1 for most of the game, Flame give up a back breaker at the end of the second and an empty netter towards the end. 3-1 LA. :S
 
I was ready to move on to something else

No kidding. Gotta say the the second was one of the best periods all season. Nice to see some points after some games not going our way.

Curious about what this update on Jagr will be about. Retirement? Dude's been out for like half the season already.
 
Top line back to life, and a good result. :) I have to say, when it was 2-0 after the first period, I was ready to move on to something else.

Gotta say, I would have. :p I've got the worst luck with the games I choose to watch and attend.

I missed the game to hang out with my best buddy who is only in town for a few more days and but I just saw the result. It doesn't look like the game could have been any more different than my prediction, but I predicted a loss and not a high scoring win. So, I'll eat that flavour of crow any day.

Looks like the top line had a good night and Brouwer wasn't totally useless getting some second line time. The Flames heavily outshot the Kings and stayed out of the box, that's usully good indicators of a win. :)

Re: Jagr, still a groin thing I think. He's looked in pain most of the season. I hope he can bounce back after a decent rest. I seems pretty obvious to all though that this is the last season though. At least I got to seem him play. I wouldn't count him out for the rest of the season just yet. He's stated that he always tries to peak later in the season. So provided he'll be back on the ice, he should have more to give. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
 
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Was awesome to see the Flames come back and win this one tonight, and even better was getting the two points, while denying the Ducks what looked like at least a sure point. Two games in a row the top line has looked awake.
 
I was listening to the Ducks game on the Fan 960 yesterday. It sounded like a pretty dominant effort for at least the first 40 minutes. I'm glad they managed the win in regulation. The radio guys were of the opinion that the Ducks really are our top rival right now. I'd say it's maybe LA over Anaheim even though it's Anaheim we've met in the playoffs because the ledger is a little more even, but games against both teams are undeniably testy.

The also mentioned that Jagr is likely done. It sounds like he's trying to head back to Europe. I guess we'll see what happens.
 
Vancouver and Edmonton both lost again today, looks like they are probably finished for the season as far as playoffs go. Chicago beat Edmonton, so unfortunately they get a couple of points. .....it would be hard to imagine them missing the playoffs anyhow. Seems like we need to get past and stay ahead of Anaheim to make the playoffs.
 

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