At this rate my prediction of a slightly better, but not much, season points wise will work out. Calgary is on-again/off-again, winning one, and then losing one. I guess you could say they should’ve lost in Chicago. They should’ve lost in Columbus tonight and they did. Notable reasons why? Well let’s look at the primary ones.
If you want evidence that the Flames are playing for the bottom pick then look no further than the lineup. With able bodies in the minors waiting to come up, and the likes of broken vets like Setoguchi and *shudder* David Jones, picked over the likes of Sven Baertschi and Josh Jooris, couple that with sitting Jon Gaudreau, and you get the picture. If coaching decisions make you scratch your head, maybe the reasons are coming from higher above (not the hockey gods, but head office).
Calgary thus far, although always better than Edmonton, can’t seem to start games properly. They have great third periods, with two goals to make it close tonight, but are very slow out of the gate.
The Flames also have problems scoring. We knew that coming into the year, we just didn’t think they’d generate little offence for 40 minutes each and every game. 2 shots in the first period vs Chicago. First shot on goal after ten minute mark tonight.
Jon Gaudreau sat in the pressbox. Don’t mind him there since he gets different perspective, but without his hands you get stonehands Lance Bouma instead. The Flames need all the help they can get on offence, and they need their vets to pick up their game.
We’ve given up, already, on David Jones and Setoguchi, we need better from Hudler and Glencross. When you see Josh Jooris in his first game as a Flame, well at least he’s moving. The rest? Well we can’t say everyone is bought into the big game the Flames are supposedly pursuing.
Jooris looked great out there. He scored the second goal on a pretty breakaway (top shelf, but for real) and was used in all situations including PK, PP, and the final minutes. He didn’t look out of place and sending him back to the minors is a sure sign the team wants to flounder this season.
Ramo was in net tonight, and made some key saves late, but got behind early on defensive breakdowns. Nonetheless, thus far you can’t fault the goalies for their play.
Your thoughts on the lineup selection?