Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinordi
Didn't read that part but if you're seriously considering Martin, Fowler and Orpik then I guess Johnson certainly deserves to be in the conversation.
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I think this statement in light of your other ones in this thread is showing why you are over reacting here.
There is some truth to what you're saying about Burke being a bully, etc., but I think your concerns about what this means for the direction of the Flames organization are totally off base.
I think Ryan is a fantastic goal scorer, without any other attribute or intangible that is in the same stratosphere as his goal scoring. Being dispassionate, indolent, or inattentive are horrendous qualities to have in a short, best-on-best tournament. Canada made a similar mistake taking Bertuzzi in Turin. At the time, PPG big body player a year and a half removed from 40+ goals and 90+ points, but a player that never should have been picked for that team, and who eventually helped to sink that team's chances for a medal.
Ryan doesn't have the question marks Bertuzzi did at the time, but there are still question marks about his competitive drive and consistent, reliable effort. Burke wasn't close to the only one with this belief, either.
If you look at some of the other selections left off the team, you'll probably see similar traits. Byfuglien, you never know what you're going to get from him in terms of attentiveness and compete. He's a dominating player when he is 'on', but there is precious little track record to indicate he can do that for longer than a couple of games at a time, and with the exception of that amazing game in Vancouver, not much of an indication he can do it on command, either.
If Orpik, Martin and Fowler are there, then definitely Jack "Muh Farkin" Johnson deserved to be in the conversation as well. He might be the 4th out of the 4, but, then again, what would Johnson look like paired with Kris Letang, with Crosby, Dupuis and Kunitz in front of him compared to what he has in Columbus?