Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I'm not a big Hartley fan but it's way too early for the pitchforks. This is the hardest playing Flames team since 2006 and I have to give him credit for getting the players to play hard every night. Unlike most here I'm not that high on Backlund as I feel he's not going to amount to much more than he is so I don't have an issue with Hartley challenging him to be better because he's not living up to his draft status quite frankly.
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I'm not going to sit here and pump Hartley's tires, however for where this team is at, it's infinitely more exciting than the 3 full seasons prior to his arrival.
Central scouting had Backlund as the 2nd best european forward in the entire 2007 draft. He just doesnt have that extra gear, at least in Calgary. I don't understand some of Hartley's lineup moves, but then again I bashed a ton of Brent's.
Monahan is already better than Backlund. He's the 1st line center this team needs. Backlund looks bad on the 3rd/4th lines because he's not tough enough.
Puckluck said it best, there are other teams who could turn Backlund into a stud (Detroit) but that's also just speculation. As for Ramo, I don't think he's that much better than MacDonald honestly. They are both bad. I'd give Berra a shot, it's a rebuild afterall.