AlbertaBoy12

Ive seen Gully talk to players..I think you are being overly critical of him looking at the Ipad. Generally GG looks at the ipad after a goal or a close play, I would never say hes staring at it.

You must not see alot of other coaches in the league doing the same thing. You guys realize that majority of the other coaches in the league do the same thing on the ipad at their feet right?

Ive said it for months, I think the most likely position we trade from if BT views ferland as a short term fix for the top line(hes looked good to start the season), that backlund would probably be the one thats traded, as center is a position of strength. I think you can argue the merits of having someone take all those defensive zone draws blah blah blah, but the same thing can be accomplished with a good center winning his draws etc. I wouldnt be surprised to see janko become the heir to the 3m line throne so to speak come next season, hes got some good early returns. Obviously you dont want to put all your eggs in one basket with trading backlund and hoping janko can step up, but I would hope we dont just let backlund walk in FA.

Which players dont you think are making a complete effort or are trying? I also dont agree that this is a coaching thing, the coaching of this team is the best its been in years, and personally on a night by night basis ive been pretty happy with alot of players efforts, but at the same time when youre winning the puck possession battle, it might not look like the flames are trying "hard"? I guess. When I watch the flames play this season except for a couple games, I see them winning a ton of battles along the wall, clean break outs(thanks to mike smith sometimes), and really good sticks at times, they havent been consistent, but I dont think this team has been lacking in effort on the whole.

He was called up for playoffs because kingstons season was done.

Im curious who youd rather have as the 13th or 14th forward, one guy is going to be a popcorn eating space eater basically there for practice and maybe emergency. Id rather have hamilton sit in the press box and rarely play then a younger prospect.

Where did I say he deserves it? I said this was top pp time last year and obviously as deeds said they feel the need is there, so im not sure what you are critiquing

I agree completely.

LOL give me a break man, our players hitting brouwer with puck isent on brouwer. Mony is much more useful in the high slot, and tkachuk is on the 2nd unit.

I think the players are off to a rough start but as I said in the lines and pairings thread, I think our bottom 6 needs to be better right now, we are not creating enough offence. The bottom 6 has created almost nothing through this first bit, and while they wont be 20-30 goal scorers they need to be better. They have had brief bits of good, but way too much bad. I think you combine our lack of offence with way too many penalties and you get why this team is hovering around .500. Id like to see our bottom 6 fixed, improvements in the dot and less penalties, I think that would be huge. The only reason I say imrpovement in the dot, is our centers are getting tossed way too many times with new rules, and our wingers arent winning draws.

The problem with this team is the bottom 6 being fixed, we dont need to load up our top line anymore at this point. If I was looking to get the offence going more id be finding a way to move tkachuk to the 3rd line, and find something that works on that 4th line.There is really no reason to load up the top 6 anymore, while obviously you arent doing that, but some people have suggested moving tkachuk to the top line and bennett to backlunds wing, which is ridiculous. The 3rd line and 4th line have produced nothing this season, janko with a big 0 through 5 games, bennett big 0, versteeg has 4 points but 3 on the powerplay, lazar big 0, stajan 0. Jagr with versteeg and bennett had some really good chances when they were together, but they didnt get any goals which is what matters. This bottom 6 needs to be fixed if we want this offence wants to get going or else we are going to be a wild card team again. Im not necessarily sold that tkachuk is the solution on the 3rd line, but maybe tkachuk-bennett-jagr would be worth trying.

I mean versteeg has more powerplay points then mony, hamilton, are they going to be taken off the pp next? id love to hear your guys suggestions to "fix" the pp considering it was one of the best in the league last year, and a slow start isent the end of the world. The only real change the team should make is maybe putting ferland in front of the net instead of brouwer, but I think they like having the right shot option below the goal line.

It is a huge discrepancy in talent, but my point is that it really doesnt matter if hamilton is the 14th forward, it matters more if top players have someone they like around.

Why is the coaching thing still a discussion? The flames were a top team after a horrendous start last season, and its honestly a good thing most fans arent the gm. The flames have shown many good signs to start this season, and I would say the coaching has been reasonable, I see the flames turning a corner, looked pretty good tonight consistently albeit against a tired washington team.

For one what difference does it make if freddie is the 13th or 14th or 15th forward? that player generally doesnt matter, and doesnt make or break a game for the team. Players like having certain guys around, it helps them get through the grind of a NHL season and to say it makes him immature is kind of silly. I dont think gaudreau would be very happy if the flames decided to trade mony for example.