[Baaarrden]

I couldn't remember if we had a thread on this halfway through the season or not but couldn't find anything when I searched.

Just thought with it being the end of the year and all, it may be time to look back and give each individual player a letter grade for how they performed this season. For a team that was projected to be dead last, there sure were a number of nice surprises this year. Sure we still ended up near the bottom, but a number of players definitely exceeded my expectations.

I only included players on this list who played 25 or more games and who actually played over the course of the entire season, I put the other notable players at the bottom which mostly includes players who played for us more recently but did not play through the majority of the season.


Backlund - A - really improved and grew this season, finally put up the points many thought he should have been getting a couple seasons ago
Bouma - B - knows his role and played it well this season
Brodie - B - grew much more comfortable with his game, was consistent throughout
Butler - B- - still not a fan at all of him but the second half of the season I thought he played extremely well and completely turned his game around from the first half
Byron - B - played huge for us this season (much bigger than the 5'7 he is) and put up some points
Cammalleri - B - pretty on par season for what I expected out of Cammy, nothing super special about the season but I wouldn't say he really ever played bad
Colborne - B+ - grew much more comfortable as the season went on, still needs to fill out but was thoroughly impressed with the pickup of him and his play this season
Galiardi - F - did not play up to my expectations, never really seemed to find his game this season
Giordano - A+ - only positive things to be said about him this season, everything he did showed he deserves to be the captain of this team. +12 on a bottom 5 team ain't too bad either.
Glencross - C+ - meh. Was injured for the majority of the season and played alright when he was back in the lineup but was nothing special IMO
Hudler - B+ - although the second half of the season was significantly worse than the first half, I have to give the guy credit for coming in and coming close to matching his career best season. Had his play been as consistent as it was through the first half, he would definitely have deserved an A or A+
Jones - F - meh again. Nothing special here, produced less than I expected.
McGrattan - A - truculence. Showed he is exactly the type of character player that the Flames need going forward with an added offensive bonus once in a while.
Monahan - B+ - nice to see him come in and put up as many goals as he did. He was a bit streaky throughout (except for those first 10 games or so) but overall I thought he played a pretty solid season
Russel - B+ - another player who had a much better first half than second but overall he surpassed my expectations and definitely played well.
Smid - C+ - noticeable at times, invisible at others, didn't really have any expectations of him when we got him and so I'm not disappointed but not super impressed either
Stajan - B - tough second half for him (for obvious reasons) but thought he played a decent game this season
Westgarth - C - don't really think he is what this team needs, he played well at times and have no real complaints about his play, just didn't think he fit well
Wideman - C - season started out decently, but injuries and lack of effectiveness seemed to get the best of him, was definitely not one of our best dmen

Ramo - B+ - was questioned early due to his play but really tightened the ropes the second half and showed he has potential

Hartley - A - some questioned whether he was the right man for this team and after the Canucks incident, it became evident he was. No question in my mind that he is the right coach for this team
Burke - B - many were happy with the exit of Feaster, but I also think many thought Burke was going to do more. No real complaints and I still think he is the right man for his job.

Other notables:

Agostino - B-
Baertschi - C - based solely on his NHL performance at the beginning. Showed growth in the AHL for the rest and at this point believe it was the right decision to send him down for the year.
Granlund - B+
Hanowski - D
Reinhart - C
Van Brabant - C
Wotherspoon - B

MacDonald - D
Ortio - B

Overall I thought this years team was one of the more exciting Flames teams to watch in recent years and despite finishing in the bottom 5, I think this season showed that the future is much brighter than many believed early on.