Quote:
Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988
Nice to see players succeed elseware, but I never understood the love for Paul Byron. He did have great work ethic, but he simply couldn't execute and was really frustrating to watch. Was half decent on the PK.
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Well, thing is, he did execute.
People have caricaturized him as this guy who did nothing but flub breakaways.
He was one of, and maybe even our best penalty killers. Between him and Backlund, at least. "half-decent" is a gross understatement. Even now, where we have two amazing PKers in Frolik and Bennett, I think he would be our second-best or even best PKer.
He played up and down the lineup. If we needed a grinder on the first line, he could keep up with skill players without looking bad, but if we needed someone to keep it simple, he could do that too.
When the Flames came up against a trap team, he was pretty much the only player on the roster who could beat a trap. I don't even know if we have anyone right now who can beat a trap as well as he could. If our PP entries lately are any indication, no.
He was a notable part of Monahan's successful sophomore season before Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler was put together. I'd argue there were many games where he was the better player on that Monahan/Byron line shift-for-shift.
He never short-changed you on intensity/visibility. More than can be said about certain players who have played on our top 9 this season and I'm not going to name names but they make 4.5 million dollars a year.
He was part of some pretty awesome moments as a Flame and I contend we don't make the playoffs that last year he was here without the games he gave us in the first half, before he hit a string of injuries that put him out of the lineup before playoff time.
Do you win with a team of 12 Paul Byrons? Maybe not. But every team could use one of him.