I don't recall him getting blown up by teams. Like a lot of guys his size, he relies on speed, quickness, vision and hockey smarts, not to mention, a tough little bugger. If you can do those things, you can thrive in this league, playoffs or not. He can play on my team any day.No one is getting destroyed by the Leafs forests group. Let’s see how he does against a heavy forechecking team.
I don't recall him getting blown up by teams. Like a lot of guys his size, he relies on speed, quickness, vision and hockey smarts, not to mention, a tough little bugger. If you can do those things, you can thrive in this league, playoffs or not. He can play on my team any day.
One of these teams also made it 1 game away from the conference finals 2 years ago and has the best player on the planet.I mean.... one of the three options just had the second highest point total in the league. Yes they got bounced first round, but I guarantee if it was us half of you would say 'they just need some experience.'
I wish it was the Oilers but we aren't close to making the playoffs let alone the cup.
I agree, but we have also gotten worse since then. The regular season sort of proves that even with the best player in the world (or in our case the best player and another top 5 player) that alone can't get you into the playoffs let alone win the cupOne of these teams also made it 1 game away from the conference finals 2 years ago and has the best player on the planet.
We have the best building blocks though. An average GM could fix this team in a couple of years. The flames have a bunch of star players that have proven to disappear in the playoffs, an aging number 1 d and an old starting goalie. They had the luck of the Gods this year and all their players had Career years. Thats not happening again. They aren’t winning the cup anytime soon.I agree, but we have also gotten worse since then. The regular season sort of proves that even with the best player in the world (or in our case the best player and another top 5 player) that alone can't get you into the playoffs let alone win the cup
Everyone on this board thinks this team is doomed yet we all vote oilers. I love it.
I'm not going to believe in the Oilers winning a cup until the organization proves to me that they've cleaned up all the BS in the office.
Right now we've got McDavid, Drai and maybe Bouchard. Just maybe Bouchard will be the real deal.
We need more.
Even if Puljujarvi's season was replaced with 30G and 30A last season I'd still say it's not nearly enough. We need more.
Lol goaltending was their only bright spot in the playoffs.Calgary is sadly quite close, they just need to sort out goaltending.
If you get in the playoffs, you have a shot. So we are Toby Reider 12 goal season away from being a contender.
Calgary is sadly quite close, they just need to sort out goaltending.
...
Look at our most recent (I use that word loosely) runs......Kipper - stood on his head. Roloson - stood on his head. A couple years ago it was Talbot doing it.
Who is Kipper and when was that run ? My memory is foggy so many many years ago.
That and their star players need to grow a pair of testicles and actually play in the playoffs.
You're not going anywhere with guys who shrink in the playoffs like that.
And their window is closing, Giordano is actually their best player and he's turning 36, once he declines further, they're not going to just be able to replace him at the snap of a finger.
They actually don't have the window they think they do.
This is true of every team in the cap era, no one has much of a window. Too much parity. However, they have a great collection of young forwards. While Gio is old he still has 3-4 decent years left in him and they have some young d who can step up.
I think they need a good goal tender and they can win.
goal tending is key, look at St Louis, half way through the year there was talk they were going to sell every one. In comes Binnington and they might win the cup.
I mean that is also true of the Oilers, sadly we have Koski for 4 more years..
Any way, I think Calgary is the closest and I hate them, but they are very good and deep team.
Who is Kipper and when was that run ? My memory is foggy so many many years ago.
No offence but I think they have a lot of red flags.
They DID get great goaltending in the playoffs. Mike Smith stood on his head and they still only managed 1 whopping win.
Is Gaudreau a player that can really carry a team in the playoffs? He just had a playoffs with 1 whopping point (an assist). Mike Smith had the same number of points as Gaudreau. And he's not a baby anymore ... he's turning 26 and that was his third go around in the playoffs. He's not some playoff virgin anymore. Don't tell me it's "just goaltending" when your franchise player has 1 whopping assist in a playoff series you get embarrassed in.
Monahan similarly disappeared and a lot of Flames fans are wondering if they have a proper no.1 center. Welp if he's not good luck finding one, ask Jarome Iginla how long it them to get him one.
A lot of their "depth" was buoyed by Elias Lindholm having a big time year, but if you really look at his season, he was crashing down to Earth very hard in the second half of the year and didn't do much in the playoffs.
And assuming Giordano automatically has 3-4 more good years left is a leap in logic too ... he's 36 ... a lot of d-men do start to seriously decline at age 37/38. He already is showing signs he cannot handle faster players like MacKinnon (got schooled big time) and McDavid (he obviously desperately tried to flail to stop McDavid) and he was a dud in the playoffs himself.
Their window is smaller because of his age. Also I wouldn't froth over one regular season success. The Oilers also had one 100+ regular season too recently and everyone and their grandma was falling over themselves to pencil them in as "having made it", it didn't translate to guaranteed success.