Calgary Flames Roundtable: Post trade deadline, playoff hopes

Question 5: What is the main thing the Calgary Flames need to change moving forward?

Jonathan Boulanger

Adding more skill and speed! Enough with Brian Burke’s “Big, Truculent” players. The game has evolved, and if the Flames don’t evolve too, they will be left in the dust. Just look up the road in Edmonton: Milan Lucic hasn’t scored since December. I wonder why. Connor McDavid on the other hand (one of the fastest and most skillful players in the NHL), is 3rd in NHL scoring.

Ian Gustafson

I read an article the other day about the Flames 2004 Stanley Cup run and the writer said that the difference between that team and this years team is that team had passion for the game and for each other. Every player skated hard when they were on the ice, they sacrificed their bodies to make a big hit, they passed well, they loved playing together. I don’t see that in this team; I don’t believe this team would die for one another. Whether it is leadership, coaching, or the whole team something needs to change.

Tom Oppolzer

They need to completely shake up the bottom of their team. Teams just don’t win when you have 5+ players in the bottom of your lineup that shouldn’t be playing in the NHL getting regular ice time.  The most obvious fix is handing the reigns over to kids like Mangiapane, Morgan Klimchuk, Marek Hrivik, and Rasmus Andersson.

Benjamin Prokopy

The power play. No team can expect to have success in the NHL going 0/14 with the man advantage in 3 games.

Dan Raicevich

Other than the coaching staff, the lack of elite scoring on the wings. It is very evident that if the likes of Gaudreau, Monahan and Tkachuk do not score on a nightly basis, the team doesn’t score.

The coaching staff needs to be heavily evaluated at the end of the season. I feel like there have been many coaching mistakes in terms of some of the systems that are run by this team. If a guy like Alain Vigneault of Joel Quenneville becomes available this summer, the Calgary Flames should throw the dollar signs their way.

Ramina Shlah

I agree with Tomas about the bottom-six. The Calgary Flames need to get some secondary scoring, but lately, they haven’t been getting a lot from their top line either. Hopefully, with Micheal Ferland returning tonight and rejoining that top line, they can find their spark again. Then maybe Sam Bennett, Mark Jankowski, and Garnet Hathaway can find their game again. But it’s hard to continuously hope for them to “find their game”. They need to get rid of the dead-weight as harsh as that sounds. Lazar, Stewart, Glass, and even Hathaway, all don’t quite fit well with this team right now.

Next: Is Matthew Tkachuk the next Flames captain?

Well, this was somewhat of a depressing roundtable but I guess those are the cold realities. If the Calgary Flames don’t make the playoffs, there are going to be major changes in the lineup. And maybe the bench too.