Count me in as one of the few that thinks Hartley is bringing Baertschi and Monahan along decently.
Neither one of those players last night showed too much. Jones (who I wasn't a fan of at all) drove that line all night.
When they are having good solid shifts doing good things at both ends of the rink, they will of course be rewarded. You can't expect them to get loads of minutes in their first game. As the game went on, neither of them showed they deserved more minutes.
They will get better, and Hartley will reward them. I think the most important thing regarding the Flames is developing a culture of consistent hard work. Eventually Baertschi and Monahan (and every other future prospect) is going to earn their time into the higher lines with more minutes. The organization not only 'needs' them to, but WANTS them to. Just handing out big minutes is a bit of a disservice to the rest of the team.
Yes, you want them to develop properly. Flames didn't go out and sign a bunch of vets this off-season with the intent to compete. The Flames' top 6 are fairly one of the least talented in the NHL - only a matter of time before the kids start working their way up and taking jobs away.
When the new batch of kids come in, they will have to earn every minute of their time as well. Eventually you are left with a hard-working and hopefully a winning culture. Giving prospects development time isn't as simple as throwing them onto the top 2 lines and allowing them to fix their game. It is giving them top minutes in the AHL/Junior/Wherever else, and then bringing them up and making them earn their minutes while sheltering them.
Street showed a lot of heart, work ethic and had an all-round great game. He deserved the PP time and over-time. When Sven and/or Monahan do the same, they will get their time as well, without question.
EVERY coach prefers the vets over rookies, as the vets make less mistakes on defence. However, Hartley is also a coach that has brought along some notable youngsters in his time. He is a great coach for youth. I personally love his approach this year. This was the toughest camp that O'Brien has ever gone through from all the other 6 teams he has been on. He is positive, but also tough when he needs to be. That sounds like to me the proper coach to have around in a rebuild.
The kids will all get their chances. It is good to reward someone like Street who works his tail off constantly, and who is always sacrificing his body to make the right plays. He gets rewarded. What does this tell Sven and Sean to do? A light bulb should go off in their heads. The coach trusts Street because Street has earned that confidence. Sean and Sven will as well in time, as will every other prospect that has an NHL future with the Flames.
This is why you don't make Glencross a captain. Giordano plays a much harder working game every night (even last year, which was a terrible year for him, you could see him trying). Glencross takes too many damn nights off and sulks too much - though his pay-grade allows him to do so. If Glencross worked as hard as street, he would probably be close to a consistent 40 goal scorer and would be making more than double what he makes now.
This is the message that the Flames have to send to every prospect. Come in, work hard, do what you are told, and you will get lots of time. Don't do it, and you will not be a Flame.
Oilers didn't surround their prospects with good vets, and few have ever had to work for their spots. Yakupov I think will end up being a better player in the long run because they aren't doing that with him - he is having to earn his minutes. That is the proper way to develop.
There is nobody on here that said Baertschi and Monahan were better than any of the forwards ahead of them, or better than Bouma and Street. They WILL be, and when they are equal at least, they will be given more minutes and responsibilities. It will come soon.
In Monahan's case, he is going to get some PP and PK minutes before his 9 game stint is up. Flames need to see him in all situations coming up so they can make a better decision on whether to keep him or send him back. For his first NHL game, those weren't bad minutes at all. I bet it increases every game. Probably for both of them, unless they are having a terrible game/effort and get stapled to the bench.
|