[transplant99]

Oy vay.

Originally Posted by JayP

McGrattan has played more along the lines of 3-5 minutes per night. And yes there are downsides.

He was averaging more than that the last 2 years elsewhere but now he somehow wont be able to on a team where there is a lack of guys in his role?
And even if he only plays 3-5 minutes...so what? That just gives the skilled guys more time....right?

- He hurts the team because he's not even close to an NHL caliber player when he's on the ice.

Hmm...well he has somehow duped multiple coaches into believeing he can play in the NHL without hurting their team then. And Im not sure what you mean he is not NHL caliber, he is in the NHL and has been for years. Is he a skilled guy who will put up offense? No, but that's not his role either so Im not sure where the issue is.

- He limits the team's ability to roll lines since he can't play a regular shift.

No he doesn't because no team in the league rolls 4 lines evenly or regularly. Pure nonsense.


- Playing 4 minutes a night means those minutes have to get filled in by another player. This most likely leads to third line guys playing more than they're capable of.

I see...so the extra minutes that regularly go to 1st and 2nd line players on every other club in the league will somehow now, and only in Calgary, be meted out to the 3rd line? Ok then.


It likely won't make much of a difference either way, but the fact that this organization still wants to employ hacks like McGrattan is not a good thing moving forward. The only opposition players this really affects are 4th liners - the idea of a nuclear deterrent threat working against quality hockey players blows up when you realize that he has to be on the ice against them to do anything about it.

Yeah...uhh...no. Just because a guy like McGrattan is on the bench does not mean other teams wont be aware of him. You do something to a Flame player while he is on the bench, you can be assured next time you are out on the ice he will be addressing it. Its pretty simple stuff and has been around the game for decades.