Some people are making valid point with regarding to the younger players being benched.
Who has really been benched lately? Baertschi, Backlund and Bouma. Colborne starts with a C, so it can not possibly be him! Ok, back to the serious business...
Summarize some points from this thread:
Hartley is trying to:
1) Force the youth on this team to work harder, plain and simple. Not allow them to get complacent and float out there at any time (much like what the Flames have been for years). The Flames in the last few years were able to regularly beat some top teams in the NHL, but they would have the most difficult problems against the hard-working teams - especially when you saw a young skilled team that worked hard like Chicago.
2) Teaching tool - sitting in the press-box for a game or two now and then is 'standard practice' amongst even blue-chip rookies around the NHL. Happens. It is part of growing into an NHL player, as much as fans don't agree with it.
3) What I haven't seen too much spoken of, is the competition. What did Hartley tell Backlund? "Monahan and Colborne are eating at your minutes. You have to earn them back." or something like that - too lazy to look up the exact quote, but it was something close to that. I really like Backlund, and feel his offensive potential has been a bit 'capped' by Brent's reinforcement of his system into Backlund. It has made Backlund into a wonderful defensive center, but he needs a bit of time to get that offensive game up now. With that being said, even Feaster said that the organization at this time views Backlund as a third line center. So, Backlund and Colborne are in direct competition for that 3rd line center, along with a few other players on the farm.
At the end of the day, I think Hartley is just trying to make the future core of this team 'hungry' for minutes, and get them used to skating as a team for a full 60 minutes. His practices are harder than most in the NHL as he preaches physical fitness (O'Brien said it was the hardest camp he has even been to, and Smid just said he was surprised at how hard Calgary practices). He is trying to build a team that skates hard for a full 60 minutes.
How do you do that?
Well, what about the vets that aren't putting that effort in? Who doesn't? Cammy seems to be going hard on every shift - moreso than Baertschi I would say. Stajan seems to be working hard all the time out there too. Most of the vets ARE doing it. Some aren't... and I will bet that the ones that aren't will eventually be moved out sometime this season.
Now this is a total reach on my part, but what happens when a kid like Baertschi or Backlund asks: "Well, why am I getting benched when some of the vets aren't pulling their weight with every minute you give them?". What does Hartley say? How does (or would, if that question has never arose) rationalize it to the young player? I think it is just common sense to the young player who wouldn't even ask to be honest, but it would probably be something like this: "We are in a rebuild, and those guys are here to just hold the fort. They are developed and were part of a losing culture. I am here to make sure that culture doesn't carry on in the future, so I have to be harder on you guys than on them, who will eventually be moved out and replaced by you."
Now, of course this is all speculation and easily refutable. But for the people that require a 'story' to link what they see happening on this team, it helps to perhaps see it a different way than pointing at Hartley and saying how horrible he is.
When it was announced that Hartley was the new coach, I hated it. I looked at him as one of those washed-up coaches who couldn't even hold down a job in the NHL and had to work in Europe even though he had a Stanley cup on his resume. I have also been on record as disliking Brent last year, disliking Keenan, and being indifferent to Playfair, but loving Darryl.
I think Hartley is the best coach this team has had since Darryl (and I know there will be people who disagree with me). Why do I think that?
Darryl was the very last coach that was able to make this team better than the sum of its' parts. Every other coach has failed to do so. I know Moon has made it clear he hates Hartley, but even Moon would find it difficult to refute that this team has been playing better than the sum of its' parts (especially when you factor in the shaky goaltending since he doesn't think Berra and Ramo are much to write home about, right Moon?). For the Flames to 'hang' with some pretty good teams right up until the last minute without giving up and rolling over and dying... well, that is Hartley.
So benching some players that I am sure we can all agree at this point are the 'core' pieces moving forward, isn't a bad thing to do at this stage when the message being sent is "you have to be better, and there are other guys out there that you are directly competing with that have been better than you. When you get back in the lineup, you have to be better than them or you will keep losing your minutes to those guys. Go and take your minutes back."
Look at the difference between Calgary and Edmonton on how they play, and tell me that isn't a world of difference. I can't wait until next Saturday - Edmonton is going to play us so hard, and I bet we end up out-skating them and out-working them, and out-scoring them. Flames are going to come out hard for that game, I would bet.
As for Colborne, if he doesn't work hard to win some minutes from Backlund et all, he will get benched a game or two as well. I bet Monahan gets benced a few times this season too. The only young guy that doesn't get benched (unless his play turns 180 degrees for more than 3-4 games) is Brodie, as there isn't much there to compete with for a core moving forward.
I can't believe how disappointed I was when Hartley was announced the new coach of the Flames, how last season I was a bit 'won-over' by him in some ways, and how this season I am just thrilled that he is the guy in charge.
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