I personally see big numbers distributed over a lot of players. Backlund, Stempniak, Tanguay, Cammy, Glencross, Hudler, Wideman will probably play 70 games or less, therefore guys like Comeau, Horak, Nemisz, etc. will probably get a bigger proportion of those 200+ goals than depth guys normally get.
Hence I don't see a lot of 25 goal scorers so much as I see A LOT of 15+ goal scorers. And I don't see a lot of 60+ points players as much as I see A LOT of 40+ point players. I'm kind of glad we have a lot depth given the amount of soft players we have.
Iggy has shown tremendous chemistry with both Cammy and Tangs in the past. Having Cammy as center on that line I think could be one of the most productive lines in the NHL. I'm really expecting a big season out of Iggy to. He knows his window is closing, his numbers were somewhat down last year, and he always bounces back. If that is indeed the top line next year, I think they will all be close to around 70+ points.
I believe this is a transition year for the Flames. The second line will do as much damage as the first and the third line will become a scoring threat as well. I don't see a lot of low scoring games including the Flames this year and the scoring numbers reflect that. Flames score a lot, and give up more on many nights. Defense is weak but will chip in offensively. Goaltending will be a bright spot and Irving will give the fans something to look forward to as Kipper heads out of town at the trade deadline.
I believe this is a transition year for the Flames. The second line will do as much damage as the first and the third line will become a scoring threat as well. I don't see a lot of low scoring games including the Flames this year and the scoring numbers reflect that. Flames score a lot, and give up more on many nights. Defense is weak but will chip in offensively. Goaltending will be a bright spot and Irving will give the fans something to look forward to as Kipper heads out of town at the trade deadline.
FORWARDS
Alex Tanguay- 15 G - 48 A - 63 P
Jarome Iginla- 28 G - 32 A - 60 P
Mike Cammalleri- 26 G - 28A - 59 P
Jiri Hudler- 24 G - 28 A - 52 P
Curtis Glencross- 30 G - 20 A - 50P
Roman Cervenka- 16 G - 32 A - 48 P
Sven Baertschi- 19 G - 26 A - 45 P
Mikael Backlund - 16 G - 25 A - 41 P
Matt Stajan - 14 G - 26 A - 40 P
Lee Stempniak - 10 G - 10 A - 25 P
Blake Comeau - 5 G- 10 A - 15 P
Lance Bouma - 4 G - 10 A - 14 P
Tim Jackman - 3 G - 10 A - 13 P
DEFENSE
Dennis Wideman - 12 G - 23 A - 45 P
Mark Giordano - 11 G - 28 A - 39 P
Jay Bouwmeester - 8 G - 25 A - 33 P
T.J. Brodie - 7 G - 14 A - 21 P (28/82)
Chris Butler - 6 G - 12 A - 18 P
Cory Sarich - 2 G - 11 A - 13 P
Anton Babchuk - 3 G - 8 A - 11 P
GOALIES
Miikka Kiprusoff - 26 W - 25 L - 2 SOL
Leland Irving - 15 W - 10 L - 4 SOL
259 Goals for. Bit steep IMO. Philly and Boston were tied for 2nd with 260.
Team Totals: 224 goals, 418 assists
Would have been around 11th overall last year.
Kipper - 68 GP, 38 W / 20 L / 6 OTL
Irving* - 14 GP, 5 / 8 / 1
*I predict Irving will "find his way into" another 8 games (or whaterver is needed) to make up the required # to prevent him from going to UFA next summer.
There is absolutely no reason to play Tanguay on the point, and I hope Hartley doesn't do that like Sutter did. Yes, he can set up plays, but a) he had a clear preference for Iginla and b) his slapshot is about as scary as a child's laughter. Brodie is no Weber, but he shoots harder than Tanguay, IIRC, and he should be equally as effective as a PP QB.
How hard your slap shot is doesn't determine your effectiveness on the PP on the point. Examples: Brian Rafalski and Phil Housley. Neither had a boomer, but both were ridiculously good offensively and on the PP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilkington
Hudler-26
Is this a prediction of goals scored? He scored 25 in his first full NHL season played 3rd and 4th line, and has scored 42, 57, 37, and 50 in the four seasons he's played since; only playing with top-six minutes or linemates last season.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkGio
I personally see big numbers distributed over a lot of players. Backlund, Stempniak, Tanguay, Cammy, Glencross, Hudler, Wideman will probably play 70 games or less, therefore guys like Comeau, Horak, Nemisz, etc. will probably get a bigger proportion of those 200+ goals than depth guys normally get.
Hence I don't see a lot of 25 goal scorers so much as I see A LOT of 15+ goal scorers. And I don't see a lot of 60+ points players as much as I see A LOT of 40+ point players. I'm kind of glad we have a lot depth given the amount of soft players we have.
Dunno about other guys, but Hudler missed seventeen games in his five full seasons in Detroit. And a few of those were healthy scratch during his rookie year and during the 2010-11 season when he was slumping after a year in the KHL (6 points in his first 30 games in 10-11, 31 in his last 43), but moreover he has never missed more than five games in a season due to injury.
glencross - backlund - stempniak will be given a two-way role against average competition and will compete well. I expect this to be our best line as far as corsi numbers goes.
boumeester (10g - 35a) and wideman (16g - 30a) should be very good offensively, but have poor corsi and +/- stats because they can't clear out the net or hit guys off the puck.
Giordano (8g - 20a) is our best two-way defesemen, with brodie (11g - 15a) mentoring him and becoming a good two-way defensemen too.
With injuries, i see baertschi, comeau, and jones performing well as our top 9 call ups. I hope to see 40 goals between the three of them.
Bouma, jackman, aliu do ok as defensive energy forwards.
I see byron, smith, horak, babchuck, sarich struggling for ice time.
All and all we should be top 5 in goals, bottom 15 in goals against. Optimistically looking for us to be in the 5th to 9th range in the conference all year, with nashville, pheonix, san jose, and red wings slipping back in the standings, while minny, edmonton, and dallas step forward. Kings face a cup-hangover problem, st. Louis and vancouver lead the conference, but anaheim and colorado remain in average-bottom contention.
blasphemy. Also, stajan on the first line? Shake your heaaad.
Can we not do this again many agree he deserves another chance and is currently our best center.
Cammo kicked his butt at centre. And it's certainly not many who think stajan deserves a second chance, if i recall many also want him to never skate for our team again.
blasphemy. Also, stajan on the first line? Shake your heaaad.
I can see Tangs, Iginla, and Stajan playing a defensive zone role in order to open things up for our remaining top 9. They're our best defensive players in some regards, especially considering face-offs, physicality and awareness.
My only reason for not wanting Stajan on the top line is because Cammy has a much higher offensive ceiling AINEC. This is just how I feel, but I think putting Stajan on the top line is going to lead to another season of mediocrity. We know what Stajan is. He will have moments where he is contributing, then we will see other stretches where he disappears and struggles with confidence. He has a ceiling of about 50 points and that would have to be with him getting top line minutes all season.
Whereas Cammy, I think has the potential to record a 70+ pt season playing with Iggy and Tangs. This team needs a #1 line that acts as its engine and everyone else feeds off. I don't think having Stajan on the top line achieves that.
Stajan has good qualities to him, but I don't view him as a #1 and I don't think he should be given that role. I would much rather try Cammy there or even Cervenka providing the skill he possesses.
My only reason for not wanting Stajan on the top line is because Cammy has a much higher offensive ceiling AINEC. This is just how I feel, but I think putting Stajan on the top line is going to lead to another season of mediocrity. We know what Stajan is. He will have moments where he is contributing, then we will see other stretches where he disappears and struggles with confidence. He has a ceiling of about 50 points and that would have to be with him getting top line minutes all season.
Whereas Cammy, I think has the potential to record a 70+ pt season playing with Iggy and Tangs. This team needs a #1 line that acts as its engine and everyone else feeds off. I don't think having Stajan on the top line achieves that.
Stajan has good qualities to him, but I don't view him as a #1 and I don't think he should be given that role. I would much rather try Cammy there or even Cervenka providing the skill he possesses.
I think everyone can agree that Cammy > Stajan skill wise, but the fact of the matter is we need to improve our FO % if we want to score, no one will be recording 70 points on this team if we don't improve our possession game. I am not convinced Cammy as the top-line C achieves this, and neither does burying our best FO man on the 4th line.
I think everyone can agree that Cammy > Stajan skill wise, but the fact of the matter is we need to improve our FO % if we want to score, no one will be recording 70 points on this team if we don't improve our possession game. I am not convinced Cammy as the top-line C achieves this, and neither does burying our best FO man on the 4th line.
Play Cammalleri at C and have Iginla take all the faceoffs for him.
I think everyone can agree that Cammy > Stajan skill wise, but the fact of the matter is we need to improve our FO % if we want to score, no one will be recording 70 points on this team if we don't improve our possession game. I am not convinced Cammy as the top-line C achieves this, and neither does burying our best FO man on the 4th line.
Thats the dilemma with Stajan. He's our best FO guy, but he's quite average at everything else. So a decision needs to be analyzed and made whether or not what is the best option to use him at. You, and others have valid points but regardless I still think Cammy's skill and upside trumps Stajan's FO ability. Conroy was our last good FO guy that played on the top line and others have still had quite productive years since then. Its obviously not ideal, but for that reason I chose Cammy.
I think everyone can agree that Cammy > Stajan skill wise, but the fact of the matter is we need to improve our FO % if we want to score, no one will be recording 70 points on this team if we don't improve our possession game. I am not convinced Cammy as the top-line C achieves this, and neither does burying our best FO man on the 4th line.
x2 on this.
Its all about puck possesion to have any success and Stajan can bring that.
Thats the dilemma with Stajan. He's our best FO guy, but he's quite average at everything else. So a decision needs to be analyzed and made whether or not what is the best option to use him at. You, and others have valid points but regardless I still think Cammy's skill and upside trumps Stajan's FO ability. Conroy was our last good FO guy that played on the top line and others have still had quite productive years since then. Its obviously not ideal, but for that reason I chose Cammy.
Look at it this way then,
We had Jokinen on the 1st line last year, who also struggled to win faceoffs. In all likelihood Cammy will be slightly worse on the dot.
Do you think Cammy (if he gets 70) scoring 10 more points than Jokinen will be difference in us making the playoffs next year?
Because to me it seems like thats what that plan boils down to.
Also, if we put Cammy on the 1st line C, Stajan has literally no spot on this team so he becomes a wasted asset. Put Cammy on the wing if you want him on the 1st line and use Tangs with Cervenka and Hudler.
Other than Iggy on the first line I don't see anything set in stone until Hartley has them on the ice for camp. Whoever happens to be the best center in camp will get the spot on the first line. Something Sutter wasn't able to do in my opinion.
Its all about puck possesion to have any success and Stajan can bring that.
You guys are overrating Stajan's faceoff ability, and totally ignoring the fact that his lack of confidence and speed will lead to an increase in turnovers.
Also, if we're going solely based on FO win % Let's just use Kolanos on the top line. His PPG was almost the same as stajan's and he wins 5 % more faceoffs... Good idea right?!!!?
Can we not do this again many agree he deserves another chance and is currently our best center.
