Flames vs. Wild Game Thread
by Robert Cleave on Mar 21, 2010 10:40 AM PDT
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PrintCalgary Flames at Minnesota Wild, Mar 21, 2010 12:00 PM PDT
As with the win over San Jose, it seems likely that the players at the bottom of the roster will have to carry whatever hopes the Flames have for the duration. Mikael Backlund was in the center of the action at both ends of the ice, of course, but the offence that he created is the item of interest. He seems to be able to whip fourth liners at the moment, which given the make-up of the rest of the forwards is nothing to belittle. There's no news of Higgins or GlenX escaping sick bay any time soon, so the lines that we saw Friday may have a bit of sustain.
Solidity at the end of the roster is paramount due to the indifferent play of the first line. Jarome Iginla's fistic exploits aside, that line was in the ditch the other evening both in regards to scoring chances and Corsi. The H2H icetime numbers suggest some mix-and-match, with the top two lines swapping somewhat against the top two SJ lines. That sort of action also might well occur this afternoon, with Koivu and the Havlat-Latendresse pair in lieu of Pavelski and Thornton.
If that's the case, the good work of Niklas Hagman needs to continue. I'm in accord with what I suspect is the consensus opinion on the matter when I say that the return of Higgins, whenever that may be, should represent the end of Ales Kotalik's days in the top six rather than those of his Finnish teammate.
Why was Nigel Dawes sitting after the Olympics, again? I'm still utterly confused at the line of thinking that lead to that decision, and his play since his return has simply reinforced my feelings that he was a better option than the team gave him credit for being. I don't want to slag on Nystrom and Mayers too much, though. They done everything asked of them to this point. I don't doubt that a healthy roster would present a dilemma for Brent Sutter as he tries to choose his 12 forwards on any given night, but Dawes shouldn't be part of the discussion when it comes to potential spectators.
It appears that barring injury, the defence pairs are set, for better or worse. With the construct of those pairs, and the team as a whole, it's pretty clear that the Flames hope to out-chance the opposition when Mark Giordano is on ice. In the unlikely event of Steve Staios rediscovering the 2004 version of himself, that would be a dynamite plan, to be honest. Gio has spent the last two seasons showing that he's too good for most team's bottom sixes to exploit, and he can turn the team north on the attack against that sort of competition with regularity. Another outing with a +10/-3 EV scoring chance differential would be good, no?
Left Wing Lock still isn't showing a confirmed goalie for either team as I put this together, but with a short turn-around, maybe Toskala again? This game and the Boston game next Saturday afternoon seem the best, and most likely, opportunities to get Miikka Kiprusoff some rest before season' end. That sound you hear still isn't me humming "The Kid is Hot Tonight", though ;-)
Minnesota has fallen out of the race. Injuries and sub-par seasons from Backstrom and Havlat are the main culprits to my eye, but they're still a dangerous club as long as Mikko Koivu is around. The Finn is one of the league's better players, though somewhat under-valued in the wider community, and he and Andrew Brunette have had solid years. Martin Havlat recovered from his dreadful start right about in tandem with the arrival of Guillaume Latendresse, and that line has looked dangerous against the Flames on every occasion this year. The Wild bottom six isn't quite as deep as Calgary's, although Kyle Brodziak has played well enough that one wonders why the Oilers let him go in the summer. Oh, wait, they're the Oilers. That's what they do.
Snark aside, Niklas Backstrom's off season really is at the heart of the Wild's disappointing year, though. His .913 EV SV % is nowhere near where he's been in the recent past, and Minnesota is still in the top ten in terms of shots against, so this isn't a case of him being peppered every night. Four more years at 6 mil a season might feel like a gamble that Chuck Fletcher lost, but I said the same about Kipper this summer, so as always, goalies; who the hell knows?
The last encounter between these clubs occurred in a similar scenario for the Flames. A home win against a club well up in the standings was followed by a trip to the North Star State on a Sunday afternoon. That day, a good start and Jarome Iginla's hot stick carried the battle. That sort of scoring from number 12 would certainly be welcome, but in all honesty, if the Flames top-six can break even, they have an edge the further down the roster that might be enough.
Game time is 1 MT on Sportsnet West.
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I’m very hopeful the Flames can get the 2 points today especially with Kipper in net and I believe for the first time this year we will get to see the NHL’s best backup in Josh Harding.
GO FLAMES GO!
GO FLAMES GO!!!
one has to wonder how much the org/front office has to do with coaching decisions. i find it miiiighty suspicious that the guys in the pressbox, after the olympics, happened to be on the lowest end of the payscale… perhaps dawes drew the short straw because he’s cheaper than moss and therefore lower on the hierarchy ? this theory would work for boyd, mcG, and mickis (though it falters when considering nystrom).
I suspect that the antediluvian mindset of the Sutters as a collective is at the heart of it. Nigel Dawes doesn’t appear to be the type of player that they see as a “fourth-liner” whatever that’s supposed to mean. Neither does Backlund. Sans injuries, they’d both likely be watching, IMO. I have this silly notion that using your 12 best forwards is a pretty good opening premise, but it’s clear to me after Daz’ comments when he traded Boyd that the last 3 spots up front are for certain styles of players only, and it takes a few guys getting nicked to alter the rotation.
by Robert Cleave on Mar 21, 2010 11:14 AM PDT up reply actions
The Score just flashed across the bottom
Derek Boogaard (face) questionable.
That is one of the best unintentional insults I have ever seen.
i guess “big” could mean “penalty time” more than “goals”
by walkinvisible on Mar 21, 2010 12:11 PM PDT up reply actions
Same here
There is one on Justin.tv allegedly, but it requires a password.
i saw that
surely there has to be one out there that doesnt require you to fill out a survey or enter a PW
you’re missing a couple of "i"s in your statement, there…. i think you meant “Gio Wild Gio”
by walkinvisible on Mar 21, 2010 12:19 PM PDT up reply actions
i wonder what domebeers thinks of simmer ?
by walkinvisible on Mar 21, 2010 12:21 PM PDT up reply actions
…who doesn’t ???
don’t say marc crawford.
by walkinvisible on Mar 21, 2010 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions
I didn’t think I could hate the a Telus any more than the last one…until they released this one.
It’s like they design them to piss me off.
by Kent Wilson on Mar 21, 2010 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions
Clearly what the Flames need
is Moar Staios.
Brunette could have had a picnic back there with all the space he had.
This is not looking good
They are getting murdered right now.
What an addition he has been for the Wild
Latendresse with a nifty move.
Gio didn’t look so good there
I like Brent Sutter, but he is a fucking retard for putting Toskala in net to start a game that is not a back to back situation.
He might well have put the final nail in the season.
I don’t think one bad season undoes a decade of great coaching any more than two good games overcomes three bad years of goaltending, really.
Toskala sucks, despite winning his first two here, and Sutter is pretty good, despite how this season has gone.
I’m judging him based on his decision making this year…which has been largely poor by my reckoning. He’ll obviously win me back if things get better in the future, but my report card for him this year would probably be a C or below.
That I can agree with.
Frankly, other than Kipper and Giordano, every single person who began this season with the Flames has underachieved. The coach is no different.
Well, he was hurt, but there’s no excuses since the Olympic Break.
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by Justin Azevedo on Mar 21, 2010 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions
Bourque was the worst player on that line this afternoon. Didn’t have a shot until the third period, wasn’t able to get good body position like he normally is and was just off all game. Extremely rare for him.
This game was a disaster from the blueline in. They might have been able to escape with at least a point if Toskala hadn’t sucked and defensive play hadn’t been so lax.
It almost seems like the situation of reasoning is that they couldn’t keep Kipper under 67 games with McL so now they are hell bent on getting as close to that “objective” as possible…irrespective of the conditions surrounding that decision making.
And…that’s fine if you have no large quality distinction between your keepers, but I don’t think anyone believes that is actually the case. And of course the simple fact that Kipper should be playing at least 71-78 games in a year (as the second round should be the minimum objective).
Whereas now, the playoffs seems highly unlikely.
What a bizarre play.
geez i hope he’s okay. definitely got his head and neck jammed when he hit the ice.
Dear Peter Loubardias,
They did not score “three unanswered goals” if we have subsequently scored ourselves. The phrase you are looking for is “three consecutive goals”.
Thank you for doing your part not to further undermine the English language.
Kindest regards,
Resolute
Staios is better than Gio today, and I’m hearing Kotalik’s name in a good way a lot.
Twilight Zone, man.
well gio was probably due for a baddie.
bummer about the timing….
by walkinvisible on Mar 21, 2010 3:51 PM PDT up reply actions
if that’s true Kent, I think the same could be said for the season. The will need 8 out of 10 by my estimations.
Yup. They lost 10% off the playoff chances last night and I think this is another 7-8% hit with a loss this afternoon.
In the instance of a tie with Detroit (hypothetically)
I’m losing track of the tie-break…down.
Wins are pretty close at this point, so it’s possible the teams finish tied with wins and points.
Then, head-to-head, we’re tied 2-2 (Flames 9GF-8GA)
We barely have the GF-GA split, but that’s the final tie-break correct?
So, if we’re tied….we get the spot?
I think the last tiebreaker is over-all goal differential, not H2H, IIRC.
by Robert Cleave on Mar 21, 2010 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions
right, that’s what I meant by the GF-GA split …overall as opposed to H2H.
but H2H points is the tie-breaker which comes prior, yes?
Yup. Points, wins, H2H points in the season series, overall GD.
by Robert Cleave on Mar 21, 2010 2:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, I could hear Loubardias, but the damn picture froze. Thanks, Res.
by Robert Cleave on Mar 21, 2010 2:13 PM PDT up reply actions
That’s the season.
Bad loss to an even worse team.
Someone needs to go beat some sense into Brent Sutter for starting Toskala.
Toskala gave up two bad goals, but the Flames would have still won if they were playing like a team that truly was desperate for points. It’s just so frustrating to see a weaker team with nothing to play for show a lot more desperation and intensity than the team that is a couple points out of the playoffs.
I missed the first part of the first period, but I see he was +0/-5 in the first 11 minutes, and looks like he was out for 3 on one shift against Havlat and Latendresse. Again, I didn’t see it, but that’s not good bench work unless they got caught on an icing.
by Robert Cleave on Mar 21, 2010 3:02 PM PDT up reply actions
ian white can play forward, i wonder if they will move him up and put pardy in instead of mcgrattan. This of course if langkow/glencross/higgins doesnt play next game
by Rod Blogojevich on Mar 21, 2010 3:18 PM PDT reply actions
“Journalistic Integrity”
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by Justin Azevedo on Mar 21, 2010 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions
Oi. Just watched this on DVR…not pretty. Nice work by Iggy to get the puck back on White’s goal, but shitty work everywhere else. Although it would be too easy to blame Toskala for the loss, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Thanks a lot, Veznia!
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As did I. The worst part is some kind of malfunction caused it to skip to real time so I saw the score and yet, continued watching. Yuck.
Yuck is right, sadly.
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Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Mar 21, 2010 4:23 PM PDT up reply actions
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