Cyril Sneer = Gonzo on Meth.
- Morris

Cyril kinda reminds me of what Burke would be like if he were a cartoon, a crusty old Bastard!

Jujhar Khaira

Little known fact... He drives trucks in the off-season as a long-term plan to supplement his income.


- laughs2907

Hahahaha.....is this serious???

You know what really pisses me off? When these long haul truckers piss in bottles and throw them on the side of the highway. Fcking disgusting!!!! I've heard some horrible stories about #2's as well

Hahahaha.....is this serious???

You know what really pisses me off? When these long haul truckers piss in bottles and throw them on the side of the highway. Fcking disgusting!!!! I've heard some horrible stories about #2's as well
- The-O-G

100% true.... And the bottle thing is gross...

Obviously as a whole, Edmonton's forwards are better, nobody is really going to argue that. The Flames are better up the middle as a whole IMO, but Edmonton's wingers are much better. That being said, I like how the Flames have 2 veteran guys on the wings in Hudler and Glencross, to help insulate the youth.

The Flames D as a whole is better than Edmonton's. By about the same margin as Edmonton's FWD's are better than Calgary's. Good mix of vet's, leaders, and experienced but young players with room to grow.

As far as goaltending is concerned I think it's up for debate. I think the Flames have a good mix with Hiller and Ramo. Hiller will provide stability while we can continue to figure out what Ramo's ceiling is. He really made strides in the second half last year, I think he has the talent to be a #1 goalie. Scrivens still has something to proves as does Fasth. I would give the Flames the edge because they have the more proven entity in Hiller.

The X-factor is the coaching as you said. And with this brings the work ethic and team mentality of the Flames. I think they are a lot closer as a group and it shows in their play. You can laugh all you want about this, but really, this attitude can make up for a lot in missing talent.

I think it's gonna be real close between these 2 teams. If I was going to put a wager on it I would say the Oilers will finish with about 4-8 more points than Calgary.
- The-O-G

Oil at centre and at D suffer from the same problem: They've got good depth players who are forced up by the lack of immediate high end players.

Stajan and Monahan are passable if unremarkable top 6 centres, and same for Backlund and Colborne as bottom 6 guys.

Nuge is a fine 1C, and Gordon/Arco are at least as good bottom 6 options as Calgary's bottom 6, but the lack of a true 2C forces us to miscast one/both of Gordon or Arco in roles they won't succeed in.

Same goes for D. Petry, Schultz, Ference, Nikitin, Fayne and Marincin are all perfectly acceptable 2nd or 3rd pairing players on most teams in the league. The lack of a top end guy exposes them.

In fact overall, Giordano is the absolute biggest reason that a team like Calgary who's a year or so into a rebuild is generally outperforming Edmonton.

Though I give Calgary the edge in coaching, I find it interesting you singled out team attitude/unity imo. That's the one thing Eakins has been trying his darndest to instill from the get go. I chose Hartley not because of the swagger he gets the team to play with - in general, I think "wanting it more" is a completely overrated quality - but because he's more experience and probably a much better tactician. The Oilers suffer immensely by having the personnel to have top 5 special teams in the league but not delivering on the ice and that comes down mostly to tactics.

Also, our zone entries are terrible.

100% true.... And the bottle thing is gross...
- HouseArrest187

Seriously....if you ever drive out to BC on the Trans Canada look on the sides of the highway. Milk jugs, G2 bottles, Coke bottles.

Mother (frank)ers

Edmonton has a better 1C.
Calgary has a better 2C.
Calgary and Edmonton have essentially equal 3Cs.
Edmonton has a better 4C.
Edmonton is better at left and right wing.

Calgary has a far better #1 d.
Calgary and Edmonton have equal #2 d.
Calgary and Edmonton have equal 2nd and 3rd pairings.

Calgary and Edmonton have equal goaltending. If you want to break it down, Calgary has the more proven (but more injury prone/declining) starter, whereas Edmonton has the better backup, albeit both unproven and injury prone.

Calgary has better coaching.

The Real or Jabroni?
- Morris

Anyone arguing that the flames have a better top 6 is a moron, their top 6 is pathetic this analysis is spot on well done

Oil at centre and at D suffer from the same problem: They've got good depth players who are forced up by the lack of immediate high end players.

Stajan and Monahan are passable if unremarkable top 6 centres, and same for Backlund and Colborne as bottom 6 guys.

Nuge is a fine 1C, and Gordon/Arco are at least as good bottom 6 options as Calgary's bottom 6, but the lack of a true 2C forces us to miscast one/both of Gordon or Arco in roles they won't succeed in.

Same goes for D. Petry, Schultz, Ference, Nikitin, Fayne and Marincin are all perfectly acceptable 2nd or 3rd pairing players on most teams in the league. The lack of a top end guy exposes them.

In fact overall, Giordano is the absolute biggest reason that a team like Calgary who's a year or so into a rebuild is generally outperforming Edmonton.

Though I give Calgary the edge in coaching, I find it interesting you singled out team attitude/unity imo. That's the one thing Eakins has been trying his darndest to instill from the get go. I chose Hartley not because of the swagger he gets the team to play with - in general, I think "wanting it more" is a completely overrated quality - but because he's more experience and probably a much better tactician. The Oilers suffer immensely by having the personnel to have top 5 special teams in the league but not delivering on the ice and that comes down mostly to tactics.

Also, our zone entries are terrible.
- Morris

Fair enough....are you considering pencilling Draisatl in at center somewhere? If not, who is the oilers 4th C?

It's interesting that you note Monahan and Stajan as 1-2, because going into next year I would actually consider Backlund as the Flames best centerman. In reality I think Monahan is a 2C (right now) as is Backlund and Stajan is most likely a 3 C with the ability to play 2C. I just think this group is a lot more solid than RNH-ARCO-GORDON, but maybe I'm off my hinges.

I didn't mean to insinuate that the Oilers don't try. But I just think the Flames are a closer group. Whether this is due to just the personalities on the team, the leadership group, or the coaching, I'm not so sure. Proabably a combo of all 3 in reality.

As far as the coaching tactics; I believe Hartley also has the edge in this department as you say.

Anyone arguing that the flames have a better top 6 is a moron, their top 6 is pathetic this analysis is spot on well done
- Bigern4MVP

I disagree that Edmonton has better 2nd and 3rd pairings....it might turn out that way by the end of the year. But as it stands right now I don't think so.

Fair enough....are you considering pencilling Draisatl in at center somewhere? If not, who is the oilers 4th C?

It's interesting that you note Monahan and Stajan as 1-2, because going into next year I would actually consider Backlund as the Flames best centerman. In reality I think Monahan is a 2C (right now) as is Backlund and Stajan is most likely a 3 C with the ability to play 2C. I just think this group is a lot more solid than RNH-ARCO-GORDON, but maybe I'm off my hinges.

I didn't mean to insinuate that the Oilers don't try. But I just think the Flames are a closer group. Whether this is due to just the personalities on the team, the leadership group, or the coaching, I'm not so sure. Proabably a combo of all 3 in reality.

As far as the coaching tactics; I believe Hartley also has the edge in this department as you say.
- The-O-G

If i had it my way, we would have gone after Jokinen, Legwand, We'd go after Roy, or heck, we'd trade for Chris Kelly if Boston needs to clear cap. Anything to give Draisaitl a 9 game how's it going and then send him back.

Gordon and Arco are solid 3C options, great 4C options and lacking 2C options. Nuge is a clear 1C in my opinion. The fact that Backlund, Monahan and Stajan could all pretty reasonably play 2C is likely an edge to you guys.

It all depends on whether we make a move, how Draisaitl does as a rookie, and most of all, whether Nuge can charge as far ahead of the Centre pack as Giordano is ahead of the rest of our combined defenses.

If i had it my way, we would have gone after Jokinen, Legwand, We'd go after Roy, or heck, we'd trade for Chris Kelly if Boston needs to clear cap. Anything to give Draisaitl a 9 game how's it going and then send him back.

Gordon and Arco are solid 3C options, great 4C options and lacking 2C options. Nuge is a clear 1C in my opinion. The fact that Backlund, Monahan and Stajan could all pretty reasonably play 2C is likely an edge to you guys.

It all depends on whether we make a move, how Draisaitl does as a rookie, and most of all, whether Nuge can charge as far ahead of the Centre pack as Giordano is ahead of the rest of our combined defenses.
- Morris

Agreed. The other X factor is who will the Flames have at 4C this year. Between Granlund, Reinhart, Byron and Knight I think they have some really good options and a good mix in terms of style of play. I think Colbourne is now on the wing permanently, but it will be interesting to see who earns that role and how well they do.

I'm happy with our goaltending now...

A city where players want to play? Haha funny... It sucks that all the UFAs are lining up to go to Calgary... It makes it incredibly difficult for the rest of the league. Damn Calgary

The Oilers will finish ahead of the Flames this season.
- laughs2907

The Oilers are, what, 4 draft years ahead of the Flames in their rebuild, and excuse me, but who finished with more points last year? I think the Flames had that by 10 points, AFTER trading Iggy, JBo, being down GlenX and Wideman for most of the season AND losing Kipper to retirement?? The Flames work hard, the veterans they have attracted through free agency have set excellent examples for the youth on the team and they played a very solid team game for much of the season, so despite having less dynamic talent in their top 6, they were one of the toughest opponents league wide last year, also leading the NHL in most 1 goal games with 46.

The difference on the free agent front is that, when the Flames have been in a competing position, they have attracted UFA's and RFA's to sign here, (JBo, ROR, Bertuzzi etc). Name the best player the Oilers have signed in the last 10 years... Maybe Sheldon Souray (or Dustin Penner, based on his helium at the time, though that cost them Tyler Myers, who would look great on that Dcore right now). The Flames have had no trouble in the last 10 years signing UFA's to contracts, just too bad we couldn't win with them. Even this year, getting Hiller and Raymond (and to a much MUCH lesser extent, Engelland, which no one in Calgary really understands AT ALL)

The Oilers are, what, 4 draft years ahead of the Flames in their rebuild, and excuse me, but who finished with more points last year? I think the Flames had that by 10 points, AFTER trading Iggy, JBo, being down GlenX and Wideman for most of the season AND losing Kipper to retirement?? The Flames work hard, the veterans they have attracted through free agency have set excellent examples for the youth on the team and they played a very solid team game for much of the season, so despite having less dynamic talent in their top 6, they were one of the toughest opponents league wide last year, also leading the NHL in most 1 goal games with 46.

The difference on the free agent front is that, when the Flames have been in a competing position, they have attracted UFA's and RFA's to sign here, (JBo, ROR, Bertuzzi etc). Name the best player the Oilers have signed in the last 10 years... Maybe Sheldon Souray (or Dustin Penner, based on his helium at the time, though that cost them Tyler Myers, who would look great on that Dcore right now). The Flames have had no trouble in the last 10 years signing UFA's to contracts, just too bad we couldn't win with them. Even this year, getting Hiller and Raymond (and to a much MUCH lesser extent, Engelland, which no one in Calgary really understands AT ALL)
- rmull905

Last 10 years? Peca, Pronger, Souray were decent UFAs... Don't pretend that Calgary is a desirable destination for UFAs while Edmonton is not... Neither place is popular. If you suggest otherwise, you're blind or incredibly biased.

Forget Nurse....I want that Wiz Kahlifa or whoever Jero was talking about.
- The-O-G

Jar jar binks..that annoying thing from the new Star Wars movies.

Edmonton has a better 1C.
Calgary has a better 2C.
Calgary and Edmonton have essentially equal 3Cs.
Edmonton has a better 4C.
Edmonton is better at left and right wing.

Calgary has a far better #1 d.
Calgary and Edmonton have equal #2 d.
Calgary and Edmonton have equal 2nd and 3rd pairings.

Calgary and Edmonton have equal goaltending. If you want to break it down, Calgary has the more proven (but more injury prone/declining) starter, whereas Edmonton has the better backup, albeit both unproven and injury prone.

Calgary has better coaching.

The Real or Jabroni?
- Morris

The real Bubba.100%.

If we just combined the two teams and called them the Alberta Avatars then it would be a playoff team with a promising future.

And Hartley would be coach of course.

The path both these teams are taking (one longer than the other ) it looks like we could be seeing some great playoffs series,can you imagine an oilers flames WC final that would be glorious

Obviously as a whole, Edmonton's forwards are better, nobody is really going to argue that. The Flames are better up the middle as a whole IMO, but Edmonton's wingers are much better. That being said, I like how the Flames have 2 veteran guys on the wings in Hudler and Glencross, to help insulate the youth. We have Poulliot, Purcell and Perron on the wings to insulate our youth.

The Flames D as a whole is better than Edmonton's. By about the same margin as Edmonton's FWD's are better than Calgary's. Good mix of vet's, leaders, and experienced but young players with room to grow. We have a good mix of that as well, (Nikitin, Ference),to go with the youth (Marincin, Schultz) and players entering their Primes (Fayne, Petry). You basically have 1 D-Man that is better than all of ours in Giordano, the rest are no more special than ours.

As far as goaltending is concerned I think it's up for debate. I think the Flames have a good mix with Hiller and Ramo. Hiller will provide stability while we can continue to figure out what Ramo's ceiling is. He really made strides in the second half last year, I think he has the talent to be a #1 goalie. Scrivens still has something to proves as does Fasth. I would give the Flames the edge because they have the more proven entity in Hiller. As would I, but just to show what a knob you are in your wording, I'm gonna say that we will continue to figure iut what Scrivens ceiling is, he made real strides in the 2nd half and I think he has the talent to be a true#1, while Ramo still has something to prove.

The X-factor is the coaching as you said. And with this brings the work ethic and team mentality of the Flames. I think they are a lot closer as a group and it shows in their play. You can laugh all you want about this, but really, this attitude can make up for a lot in missing talent.
This is true...but I think we can expect progress with Eakins, I'm sure he learned alot, will be better, and veteran NHL coaches are not born that way.
I think it's gonna be real close between these 2 teams. If I was going to put a wager on it I would say the Oilers will finish with about 4-8 more points than Calgary.
- The-O-G

24-28 points will be the more likely gap.

24-28 points will be the more likely gap.
- Jeropotato

Ok dream weaver. 1st off, Brodie is also better than anything you have. 2nd Ramo and Scrivens are in the same boat, trying to solidify #1 status. And you better hope to hell it isnt too late for the kids to finally have some strong vets fo show the way.

Oh, and Eakins sucks!

Ok dream weaver. 1st off, Brodie is also better than anything you have. 2nd Ramo and Scrivens are in the same boat, trying to solidify #1 status. And you better hope to hell it isnt too late for the kids to finally have some strong vets fo show the way.
- TandA4Flames

I guess I missed that side of Brodie. He's a solid defender. I wouldn't put him significantly better than the Oilers guys.

If Ramo and Scrivens are in the same boat, Scrivens is steering the ship and Ramo is mopping the poop deck, if you know what I mean.

You're right, it's probably the case that two-time Memorial cup MVP Taylor Hall has forgotten that winning is good because he didn't have Matt Stajan in the locker next to him.

I guess I missed that side of Brodie. He's a solid defender. I wouldn't put him significantly better than the Oilers guys.

If Ramo and Scrivens are in the same boat, Scrivens is steering the ship and Ramo is mopping the poop deck, if you know what I mean.

You're right, it's probably the case that two-time Memorial cup MVP Taylor Hall has forgotten that winning is good because he didn't have Matt Stajan in the locker next to him.
- Morris

Scrivens gets a shutout and suddenly he's driving a boat. Maybe one of those garbage barges.
Hall likely hasn't forgotten that winning is good, he just hast yet figured out how to win in in the NHL. For all his skill, he still often looks like a junior player out there; out of control, blowing tires and turning over pucks.

And Brodie, you should check his #'s, together he and Gio are one of the top possession tandems in the entire league. Add in Backlund and it gets even better. Too bad for us though that team possession takes a nose dive when all of those guys are not on the ice.

I guess I missed that side of Brodie. He's a solid defender. I wouldn't put him significantly better than the Oilers guys.

If Ramo and Scrivens are in the same boat, Scrivens is steering the ship and Ramo is mopping the poop deck, if you know what I mean.

You're right, it's probably the case that two-time Memorial cup MVP Taylor Hall has forgotten that winning is good because he didn't have Matt Stajan in the locker next to him.
- Morris

Why does everyone like scribbles so much,he's a poop goalie he had one great game and everyone thinks he's a starter him like reimer are both backups

Why does everyone like scribbles so much,he's a poop goalie he had one great game and everyone thinks he's a starter him like reimer are both backups
- Bigern4MVP

I'm not saying he's amazing, I'm saying he's got a better track record so far than Ramo (who's older), so they're not the same at all in my opinion.

Scrivens gets a shutout and suddenly he's driving a boat. Maybe one of those garbage barges.
Hall likely hasn't forgotten that winning is good, he just hast yet figured out how to win in in the NHL. For all his skill, he still often looks like a junior player out there; out of control, blowing tires and turning over pucks.

And Brodie, you should check his #'s, together he and Gio are one of the top possession tandems in the entire league. Add in Backlund and it gets even better. Too bad for us though that team possession takes a nose dive when all of those guys are not on the ice.
- TandA4Flames

Gio's a fantastic dman. Brodie has seemed to me like a solid benefactor and not a ton more. But i'll watch more closely I guess