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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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    Calgary Flames struggle to keep pace after another slow start

    jedi17
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    • Post n°1

    Calgary Flames struggle to keep pace after another slow start Empty Calgary Flames struggle to keep pace after another slow start

    Post by jedi17 Sun 20 Nov 2016, 9:22 pm

    Calgary Flames struggle to keep pace after another slow start
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    Last offseason, Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving made the types of moves he believed would push his team to the next level.
    He fixed his team’s goaltending woes by dealing for Brian Elliott and signing Chad Johnson. He added a savvy veteran presence at forward in Troy Brouwer.
    He fired coach Bob Hartley, who ran a system that didn’t seem to keep up with today’s puck possession game, and brought in former Dallas Stars coach Glen Gulutzan who is still known as one of the smarter young minds hockey. Treliving also locked up center Sean Monahan and winger Johnny Gaudreau to common sense long-term contracts.
    The Flames seemed primed to return to the form that got them into the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and helped them win a round. Instead, Calgary has played some uneven hockey and stands at 7-11-1, which ranks 12th in the Western Conference. On Thursday it was announced they’ll be without Gaudreau for six weeks following a fractured his finger from last Tuesday’s game.
    Treliving is preaching patience, hoping that a few signs of life he has seen from the team will start to take hold even with Gaudreau out.

    “If there’s things out there that make sense for us or help us be better, we’ll obviously look at it but a lot of times you can’t trade yourself out of issues,” he said. “You have to find a way to get people playing to expectations, but that doesn’t stop you from – in the manager’s job, you’re always looking.”
    This is the second straight year the Flames have suffered a slow start after an offseason of apparent improvements. During the summer of 2015, Treliving dealt for defenseman Dougie Hamilton to shore up his blue line, but the team didn’t respond. They started the season 3-8-1 in the first month and finished 35-40-7.
    A lot of their struggles were pinned on their goaltending trio of Jonas Hiller, Joni Ortio and Karri Ramo. So this past offseason, Treliving addressed those problems by acquiring Elliott from the Blues and signing Johnson, who he knew from his time as the assistant general manager with the Phoenix Coyotes where Johnson once played. He also added Brouwer, one of the better unrestricted free agents on the market, to add depth to his forward group.
    So far, Johnson has performed as expected, with a 2.35 goal-against average and .910 save percentage. Brouwer has averaged 0.47 points per-game, which is around his career rate of 0.48. But Elliott has struggled with a 3.36 goal-against average and .882 save percentage. He has allowed three-or-more goals in each of his last four games played. This came after a stretch where he won three of four starts.
    “When you look at it, Brian probably didn’t get off to the start he wanted to,” Treliving said. “There was a stretch of games where he was real good and (Johnson) has been really consistent all year. Brian ran with it for a bit and (Johnson) has come in and he has gotten the last two wins against Minnesota and Arizona so, I didn’t necessarily look at Brian coming in here – we were real comfortable with both guys and comfortable with both goalies.”
    With Gulutzan at the helm, the Flames have shored their puck possession game somewhat, even if this hasn’t equated to wins. Last season, the Flames held a 47.74 adjusted 5-on-5 CF%, which ranked 23rd in the NHL. This season they’re at 49.89, which ranks 17th in the league.
    “I think Glen is a really good coach,” Treliving said. “He and his staff are – we haven’t gotten he results we wanted but I know he’s a real cerebral guy. I think he’s a real smart coach. I think he knows the game. I think he has a great feel for his players. I think he’s a real communicator with his players.”
    At the time of his injury, Gaudreau had 11 points in 17 games to lead the team. This is a drop-off from last season when he was about a point per-game player. Monahan, who notched 62 and 63 points the last two seasons respectively, has eight points in 19 games. Captain Mark Giordano, who had 21 goals in 82 games last season, has one in 19 games. Forward Sam Bennett, the No. 4 overall pick in 2014 NHL Draft, has nine points in 19 games. Overall the Flames rank 26th in the NHL in scoring with 2.26 goals per-game, a disappointment considering their firepower.

    “Early on we had a hard time keeping them out of our net. And then it went from that to we had a hard time putting them in the other net,” Treliving said.
    Even though a quick fix for the Flames could be tempting – there were rumors that teams interested in whether Hamilton was available – Calgary has talent. Treliving has built on the Flames’ playoff core from 2015 and the fruits of this labor should pay off at some point – at least that’s what he’s banking on.

    “You come into the season, as we all know in this league with how tight things are, you want to get off to a good start,” Treliving said. “We didn’t and now you deal with it of worrying about each game. The games come fast. You don’t necessarily have to sit on it too long because you’re playing every second night. We found ways to get some points (recently) and we have to be really small focused right now.”
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