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Originally Posted by transplant99
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?
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Are our skilled guys capable of handling the extra icetime on a nightly basis?
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Originally Posted by transplant99
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.
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Why does he bounce around the league then? If having an enforcer and a nuclear deterrent is so valuable then how does a guy who provides that AND is as good as any other 4th liner in the league not an NHL regular (he has a combined 32 NHL games since in the past two seasons plus this year)? He gets jobs because he fights. When he's not fighting and is actually playing hockey, you could find 3+ lines of forwards on each AHL team that are more effective in those limited minutes.
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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.
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Well, considering there's not much difference between our top three lines this year, does it matter? And for a team void of top end forward talent, do we have the option to give out more ice time to our 1st/2nd line guys?
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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.
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Ever hear of this thing called the instigator rule? It isn't the 80's anymore. What has been around for decades might not be relevant in the modern NHL (shocking revelation - I know).
Either way, like I said it's really only relevant if a 4th liner does something. If it's a quality hockey player is stirring up trouble against the Flames, I guarantee the opposition would love for the Flames to match up McGrattan against him so he can act like a pylon and get scored on or "address it" by taking a penalty. If the other guy isn't willing to fight McGrattan, what can he do without putting us down a man? Threaten him?