Getting perilously close to the playoff cut line

[Ranger71]

:MARIS61: lol

 

[Ranger71]

At least we'll get a chance to see CK and probably Miller FT without the yo-yoing, and the fact they're saying they think some guys may be ready is positive that way, but it would be nice to see them be creative with a trade or the limited cap space they have. Its only Day 1 so we'll see I guess. I still think they need a 6th/7th dman as McIlrath isn't ready and they shouldn't bring back Eminger again, they need someone who can help on the PP. Surprising Babchuk or Zidlickys name weren't mentioned today with anyone.

 

[chuckd3534]

McD, Staal, Girardi, Moore, MDZ, Stralman, Falk.

That is a very solid 6. And Falk is good as a 7th. How many D's are better than that from 1-6? Not sure of many.

And before we say do we know about Staal, we need to stop. Everything says he is doing fine. Brooks said it again this AM. I have seen it written elsewhere as well.

So the D thing confuses me. How many teams have a better 1-6 on D. Not many IMO.

 

[dumpstralmannow]

Signing FA's doesn't mean you make your team better. It means you are desperate to fill positions because you don't have those players in your system. See Brad Richards.

 

[Ranger71]

I'm not sold on Falk being a consistent 7th dman, and we still don't have a shooter on D. Moore could eventually be a qb but not as of now.

 

[chuckd3534]

We agree to disagree. That is a very solid 6. And as a 7th dman Falk is fine. I think you would be hard pressed to find many better D's 1-6. As for a PP QB, all I will say is I have faith in McD, Moore, and MDZ under a new coach to produce more O. We'll see.

 

[Ranger71]

It is a solid six, but that element to me is still missing. I'd like to see McD/Moore grow into that role so we'll see. Both have good shots from the point.

 

[Disturbed]

Babchuk is definitely interesting - I wonder what his deal is nobody ever talks about him and he hasn't done much in Calg lately

I have said it a 1000 times but I think its hard to evaluate the players individually because they have been playing Torts hockey for 4+ years. I like our D overall but we are missing PP guy

 

[Ranger71]

Aaron Johnson just from his stats actually looks like a better 7th option than Falk but that's neither here nor there.

 

[chuckd3534]

Right. Either way we have a very good, solid, deep D IMO. Sather wanted that. No doubt in my mind after years of playing 4 and 5 dmen in the playoffs.

 

[Ranger71]

And Conor Allen could show something.

 

[jamsim67]

If this D doesn't back up into Hank's face, and attacks the blue line, I think that right there could be a recipe for a good season. I've grown tired of watching this D dropping to their knees trying to block 40 shots a game. Next season should be "The Season of the Odd Man Rush"

 

[dumpstralmannow]

Preach on. I said last year that our system basically under Torts was playing on the PK the entire game. I've never seen a system where it was 5 on 5 and their 2 point men were open all the time like it was a PP. Pathetic.

 

[Messiah717]

You just cannot play that style all season long and into the playoffs. You're players are dead during playoff time. How they didn't have more broken bone injuries is beyond me. The dropping back and leaving the point men free to fire away was beyond frustrating. Even more frustrating was watching guys fall down around Hank and take themselves out of the play.

 

[jamsim67]

There is no reason why this team cannot play a more up tempo style of hockey, with good (bordering on great) quality scoring chances. Yes you do have to have a defense, but that shouldn't be 90% of your game.