FGD: Brotherly Matchup

 

                                                        pic via: HFBoards

Wake up, throw some breakfast on, brew a fresh cup of Mojo, comfortably establish yourself on the couch and throw on some Calgary Flames hockey. That is a routine I quite enjoy and wish we’d see more of. There’s nothing like starting your day with some Flames hockey – especially when they’re playing well! Personally, I’d like to see more of these type of starts.

In today’s afternoon matchup, the 29-23-6 Philadelphia Brotherly Lovers (and/or Flyers) will be pitted against the steaming hot 22-28-7 Calgary Flames at 11 am MST on Sportsnet West. The Flames come into this game winners of 6 of their last 7 games while the Flyers come in on a roll of their own, having won 3 straight, 3 of their last 4. Usually when you have two teams feeling good about themselves facing off, you’re gifted an entertaining matchup – something to expect this afternoon.

Kudos to our friends at Daily Faceoff for the lines:

Mikael Backlund was absolutely hosed by the media this week when it was reported he would replace Henrik Sedin on Sweden’s national team in Sochi for the Olympics – and then didn’t. Nonetheless, he’s been white hot collecting another two points on the island on Thursday. It seems to me that Backlund has carried that line a little at times at late – which is a first for 11 and is great to see. I’ve also loved Monahan of late, he’s actually using his body a little more and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. What a perfect selection for the Flames at 6 last June. I don’t care if Nichushkin or whoever else could’ve been taken there become All-Stars because Sean Monahan is the right guy for the Calgary Flames right now, and in the future. Some are tempering their expectations for the kid but I really don’t care for that, he’s going to be a franchise player, write it down. Anyway, he’s playing with Cammalleri, who’s in his last few games as a Flame one hopes, and with Colborne who I’ve quite liked on the wing. Much better than at center, at least. Bouma has been a beast in his bottom six role playing with the wise Matt Stajan and David Jones, who has not been very good of late. Oh well. Maybe a compliance buyout is in his future this summer. Hartley said the Flyers are a big team so it’s important to dress two goons to match up. Bob, the Flyers are also a team that can skate well, an attribute not shared by the goons. I like fights though so personally, I don’t really mind.

Brodie has been unreal of late and it seems I touch on a rumour every FGD so I’ll continue the trend today: what would you think of dealing TJ Brodie for Ryan O’Reilly? It was discussed on the Fan 960 morning show and I’d be all for it, especially if you can land Aaron Ekblad in June. (Editor’s Note: That would be horrible.) The Ekblad thing is obviously no guarantee but regardless I’d do it in a heartbeat. It’s another interesting topic of discussion with the trade deadline rapidly approaching. Some of Brodie’s great play may be due to playing with Mark Giordano, who’s played himself into Olympic snub status this year with his exceptional play. The two have been a big reason why the Flames have as many wins in their last 7 as they do. Russell has been excellent since returning from injury, while Butler has been his usual meh to bad. Wideman has not been good in 2014, at all. He scored the other night and one hopes that can be a building block for a guy that looks like he may be struggling with confidence issues.

Berra get’s the start again today which is disappointing not because he’s been bad, but because I’d really like to see Joni Ortio. I’m sure a lot of people share that sentiment.

The Flyers are rolling thanks to some strong play from their top guys. Their top 9 is nothing to kid with, housing serious firepower throughout. Each line is also saturated with grit making them no easy task to defend. I’ll be interested to see how the Flames defense core handles the endless rotation of offensive weapons the Flyers will toss at them. It really boggles the mind that this group started the season 1-7.

The defense isn’t too shabby either, with a healthy serving of recognizable, veteran names. The one knock on them is however, footspeed – or rather the lack thereof. The group can move the puck fine, defend the net and work the offensive zone fine, but problem’s arise when getting from Point A to Point B. The Flames need to utilize their speed to capitalize on this Achilles heel.

Steve Mason has been excellent this year but is out with injury so we’ll likely see Ray Emery. That’s not necessarily good news though, if you remember it was Emery who last year, while a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, made three hundred and seventy seven thousand saves against the Flames in a shootout win that the Hawks had no business winning.

Like we’ve come to expect from most Flames games, this one should be a solid, entertaining matchup. The afternoon factor adds an additional perk for those like me, who enjoy it, and the fact that both these teams are rolling doesn’t hurt either. The Flyers are the better team on paper without a doubt, the pesky Flames have shown they can stick around with the best of them.

Here’s to a great game.