Mitch Wahl came into camp slow as he was still recovering over the summer from concussion. Unfortunately for him, he was somewhat dismissed as the team was pretty heavy in the top six. There was some discussions between the Wahl camp with the Flames camp regarding his lack of ice time. Dont think Feaster liked this so Big Egos prevailed-God forbid a player should question his lack of ice time!!!- and Wahl was traded to Hamilton where they really didn't have a spot for him. In the end I understand Wahl wanted to go to Utah, where he could get lots of ice time rather than sputtering in Hamilton. I think we have seem some favouritism on the Heat team for Feaster picked players and I guess that is just that way it works. I hope Wahl does well in Utah and perhaps gets a good trade at some point.
Bancks hasn't suffered from not being a Feaster pick. The Flames love him and he plays with a lot of heart but Wahl has more talent. Ward plays Bancks in every oppportunity, likely trying to get him some time with the Flames. I am not sold that Bancks has the smarts but he puts in a ton of effort.
The Heat lost tonight to Rochester.....seem to be struggling even with Byron and Horak back and bringing in Connelly. I think Ward has some work to do. He may have been relying too much on Kolanos to score the goals. I think he has players he feels are going to win the game for him and he puts them in every situation but I think they get tired. For instance I don't know why Byron should play pp and pk...its too much and there are lots of great penalty killers on the Heat! When a team starts to lose that is when the coach has to do some self-reflection. Just my opinion....sorry to rant!
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