I almost avoid the site when Baertschi went down. Too much work.
Amazes me when the lack of information creates a vacuum that sucks in conspiracy theories; why would a coach and GM have a personal vendetta against a top prospect? Silly
The league has changed. Top offensive players rarely only play one direction or in one zone anymore, they all lead the way all over the ice. When young players join these teams they see nothing but dedication from the best, highest paid players, and they have little choice but to jump in and pull the rope from the same side.
Baertschi is being watched ...
a) on the ice
b) in the video room
c) in how he applies what he learns in the video room to the ice
They clearly have seen that he loses details when live fire begins. We've all seen it. We've also seen his skill and want to see it happen.
Baertschi isn't helped by the fact that he just happens to be inconsistent on a team that has a 19 year old that does everything right, a reclamation project that is willing to to anything, and a young defenseman that took criticism, applied it and had his game improve dramatically.
Baertschi is just more of a tough love case that is taking more time. Hartley plays the hell out of Monahan, Brodie and Colborne because they are sponges.
Add in the rumblings of Baertschi's disastisfaction about rookie camp and the Penticton thing and you have a guy that needs to be pushed to get serious about the details or he will always be in and out of the lineup.
I hope he succeeds, he's an entertaining player, but I'm willing to sacrifice the player to see four others developed in a foundational way that makes the Flames a generational powerhouse.
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