Quote:
Originally Posted by flamesfever
I think it's a reflection of how disappointed many of the CP fan base felt about the matter.
The thing that bothered me the most was a new GM, who hadn't really seen Byron's play, and who was probably heavily influenced by Burke's emphasis about getting bigger as a team, was responsible for the decision. It kind of reminded me of the situation when Martin St. Louis was let go after a management change...not that I'm comparing the two players.
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I am sure Treliving had seen plenty of Byron's play while the Asst. GM in Phoenix as that would be part of his job. Plus, there is video of every single Flames game and likely a video of just Byron that the video guy can put together for Treliving as well that he would want prior to FA and in considering whether to go to arbitration or not.
Plus, every other GM had a chance to sign Byron and did not and it is pretty tough to imagine that not a single scout, GM, coach, Asst. Gm etc. in the league hadn't seen enough of Byron to get a decent read on him.
Unles Byron improves by insane leaps and bounds this has nothing similiar to the Martin St. Louis case as at least MSL had shown some top end offensive talent in the AHL at some point. Byron is pretty okay in his time in the AHL.
Trying to pin this on some made up "Burke mandate to get bigger" is BS. It is a simple case of a borderline (at best) NHLer getting a one way deal over a two way deal. Byron wasn't not qualified because he is small but because he is a dime a dozen and losing him doesn't really hurt the Flames.