AHL- Apolyton Hockey League 07/08: V Blades of Glory

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Yep, terrible game by the Flames. Flames (and Kipper) played their 2nd game in as many nights, flying in very late last night, and it showed.

Haven't been impressed with them all season, but at least they're no Leafs or Oilers. The special teams are atrocious.

Guys lets not get all revisionist on this-- The Flames actually had a pretty decent first period. They outchanced the Nucks etc etc. It seemed things went downhill in the second when the power play was so very very bad. They didn't generate much of anything and then a few breakdowns cost them the game as Luongo was very good and the Nucks played a smart game defensively. The problem seemed to be that for the Flames, Godard on his few shifts seemed to be the hardest working guy-- I actually like his effort.

But out of the weekend there are some positives in that the Nolan-Lomabardi-Nystrom combo actually played pretty well saturday and Kipper had a good game. -- Not tested a lot but made a couple of key stops-- Sunday-- put simply, Kipper did not make the stops they needed

Overall negatives . . . The Langkow Huselius duo seems non-existent lately (Langkow hasn't seemed the same since his concussion) regardless of who plays with them and the defence still seems prone to too many bonehead plays


I still see this team as being a playoff-calibre team but not an elite one-- I just look and see that they are 8-9-3 in a stretch where Kipper has not been that good. I do think however that it is time to give one of the backups a game-- I don't know when but they should fit it in. Frankly they might get as good goaltending as they have gotten many nights from Kipper. I do think that the d can be consistently better but a number of their miscues get magnified out of proportion sicne Kipper isn't bailing them out

The offense-- hard to blame Iggy's line when they, on the year, have good production (nothing much on the weekend though). But they need some scoring elsewhere. I also think they do not have on their squad a tough and hard-skating forward-- Nystrom tried to fit the bill and is sometimes a real 'energy guy" but I think they need more of that

Perhaps Langkow needs to sit some more to get over his concussion or Conroy needs a night off --I would be willing to give some of the farm kids a whirl-- I don't know that they have that kind of very tough hitting forward down on the farm but they should have some guys that can show some better efforts-- Boyd and Prust might be worthwhile guys to give a few minutes

Oh and Asher have you heard how long Primeau will be out? he had an ankle injury Oct 20. Its not like he did much this year but he is a player I like in the long run and he adds some size up front

[Asher]

Sweet, that was awesome.

Rask (who, if you don't know, is the goalie prospect the Leafs traded to the Bruins for Raycroft) just raped Toronto in his first NHL start. Raycroft warmed the bench as a backup.

[Asher]

[Tingkai]Kippersoft shows that he's the best goaltender in the world, BOOongo loses the game against Edmonton. What a flash in the pan![/Tingkai]

[Flubber]

Well the Flames win -- I didn't see the game but the radio broadcast described it as unusual as the Flames popped 4 goals on only 15 shots. But it seems they won due to fundamentals-- The PK was good and Kipper did his job (only had 21 shots)

It was really interesting the last few days as it seemed the media have suddenly moved away from the "Sutter is a god" type attitude and started noting the number of players that have NOT excelled, the weakness of the Flames supporting cast's production and some systemic problems that seem to continue despite being on their 3rd coach in 3 years.

I find it interesting because all along I have not been that impressed with Sutter's folks in the supporting cast. He snatched Kipper early in his tenure and has re-signed some of the key components. But show me the 3rd or 4th line guy that exceeds all expectations . . show me a gem .. . I just haven't seen it yet.. Don't get me wrong-- I am not saying that Sutter is a poor GM or anything but I don't think that one run to the finals warranted him being almost totally shielded from more serious critical analysis over the last couple of years.

Overall I am not hugely impressed with this year's edition of the Flames. Perhaps I will be wrong but currently I see their main chance for a long playoff run to come only if they get ASTOUNDING goaltending and even that might not be enough (Detroit series last year). I just don't see this current edition as being markedly better than last year's squad. I don't write them off but I do think they need either someone unexpected to emerge or for there to be an acquisition of a top level hitting forward.


There are some positive signs from last night though--

David Moss scored
Owen Nolan is continuing his recent offensive contributions
Regehr was apparently very good-- If he can regain his form of 2 years ago, the Flames could be very tough

Stay tuned- In the last couple of years the Flames have gone on major winning streaks in the second quarter and the bandwagon tends to fill again. I will be curious to see how it plays out

[Asher]

Argh! Had Hasek starting, but Osgood started and got the shutout.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Argh! Had Hasek starting, but Osgood started and got the shutout.

It could happen to anyone

[Asher]

My team is in a huge slump.

[Flubber]

Weird week so far as even though we are only heading into the 4th night, I think I have already led and trailed in every category at some point. Now we sit tied in 5 categories and the leads are by the narrowest/"won't survive the night" margins.

So in the battle for second place an 8-0-0 or an 0-8-0 are both equally plausible for me

[Asher]

Wow. Two shorties by Chicago last night.

Looking at the shift chart is funny. On the 1st shortie, it was a 1D 4F configuration. 2nd shortie, 2D 3F.

The PPG the Flames scored? 3D 2F (Regehr, Phaneuf, Eriksson, Iggy, and someone else).

Tanguay is brutal on the point on the PP. I hope that's the end of that experiment.

On a plus note, these stats are thrilling:

http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-players-drive-their-teams-offence.html

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Wow. Two shorties by Chicago last night.

Looking at the shift chart is funny. On the 1st shortie, it was a 1D 4F configuration. 2nd shortie, 2D 3F.

The PPG the Flames scored? 3D 2F (Regehr, Phaneuf, Eriksson, Iggy, and someone else).

Tanguay is brutal on the point on the PP. I hope that's the end of that experiment.

On a plus note, these stats are thrilling:
http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2007/11/w...s-offence.html

Yup I attended the game and the Flames managed to outplay Chicago for pretty much all of the second and third period but were pretty bad on the PP except for Phaneuf's strong play that led him to pass to Iggy for a close in goal

The shorties

Tanguay was on his way to the bench for a change when he intentionally allowed the puck to go past him-- I think he feared a too many men penalty as lots of Flames were changing at the time-- A Chicago player also on a change jumped off his bench to corral the puck and go in for an easy breakaway.

Tanguay meanwhile was still standing on the ice at the players gate which no one had opened for him nor had a player gone on the ice.

The other shorty was easier to understand-- Aucoin missing a bouncing puck and Chicago was away to the races


Unfortunate as the Flames played pretty decent defensively otherwise-- Kipper didn't really face many other tough chances

[Flubber]

Other comments on individual Flames

Iggy -- scored-- occasional flashes but not much
Langkow-- Invisible
Conroy-- only slightly more visible-- perhaps translucent is the right word
Nolan- he is playing better and better
Huselius-- Noticeable only for his occasional lengthy displays of solo stickhandling to no avail
Tanguay-- one big gaffe, otherwise did his usual job of making nice passes-- still doesn't dig hard enough after the puck
Godard-- moved like a skating mule but was surprisingly strong in the corners in limited action
Nystrom-- always looks energetic
Boyd-- did not look out of place and showed good energy-- keep him up for a few more games

Yelle -- pretty forgettable -- only Godard was on the ice less
Moss- pretty forgettable
Lombardi- just a few flashes of his great speed-- some good pk effort-- only Iggy got more icetime among forwards

The Flames must have about 5 lines of forwards around these days since Nilson, Primeau andSmith are all around somewhere-- I know primeau was injured but I'm not certain about the other two ( not that I have seen much performance from them)

[notyoueither]

Nice to see both my problem children getting it together.

My hand was hovering over the drop button.

[Sparrowhawk]

Not sure anyone really cares, but just FYI, I am going to get to see an upcoming Tampa Bay Lightning versus Carolina Hurricanes game (in Tampa Bay), first NHL game in quite a while for me, and I am really looking forward to it! (Since the jets left Winnipeg the only live NHL game I have seen was an Edmonton-Boston game in....?1998? or so). Seeing as I have only been in three NHL arenas total, (Winnipeg before the Jets folded, Minneapolis before the North Stars moved, and Edmonton), it should be interesting to see a game in Tampa Bay.

I am quite excited by the prospect.

I think it even influenced my drafting this year as both in this draft and in a RL one I am in, I took more Carolina/Tampa Bay players then I ever would have otherwise, have been watching both teams a little closer then I would have, and have enjoyed both so I am looking forward to the game more then I thought I would be when we picked the game to go to .

/me

[Flubber]

Actually sounds like a good game to attend. There are players on both sides that I would enjoy seeing and a decent chance of reasonable offensive display . I think it should be fun but in an 82 game schedule, its pretty much impossible to tell which game will be amazing and which one will be a total dud

[Asher]

Originally posted by Flubber
Langkow-- Invisible

He hasn't been the same since Cooke gave him that concussion.