Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - [News] Update: Flames recall Sven Baertschi. Colborne on IR.

Cleveland Steam Whistle · 11-03-2014, 05:19 PM

I completely agree with the sentiments on here preaching patience with Sven, far too early to be writing off or anything like that. Very young, lots of time, he will develop at his own pace, and time will tell what that nets him. I also agree that he's learning his mental toughness.

(Total conjecture on my part in this paragraph) I believe he's very much struggling with the fact that in his head he "made it" with that brief 5 game stint years ago when got the first call up and lit it up. Wrongly, he assumed he was now a permanent NHL player and has struggled with wrapping his head around the fact that he is still in competition with some of his peers to earn a spot. It's got to be the toughest thing for any young guy to do, get over that hurdle of being an every day NHL player, and a huge weight lifted when it gets removed and you can simply focus on getting better to help the team, not just your survival. While I feel he likely only has himself to blame for this, the mental barrier of having that huge task put back in front of you after you thought you removed it already is likely very hard.

What I really think Sven has to show he can do is being able to play HIS game (putting up points etc..) while also playing the REST of the game at an acceptable NHL level. So far, he's proved he can do one or the other, but any offensive NHL player needs to do both. This is the phenomenon that the "Sven fanboys" will call the Flames trying to "change his game". But it's not. It's not that they want to make him a defensive specialist, it's that they need him to maintain a certain level of acceptability in his game on the back end or away from the puck, a minimum standard so to speak that all players must maintain. Clearly, Sven can put up points, if he just focuses on putting up points and neglects the rest of the game. When asked to take care of the rest, he fails to put up points, which he must do to be an effective player. Hopefully what he will develop into the player he needs to be, one that meets the minimum requirements and puts up points. It's what his peers that have had success in their call ups are doing and why they are sticking. Still a lot of time for him to do it though, and we just need to be patient.

11-03-2014, 05:19 PM	#236
Cleveland Steam Whistle Franchise Player Join Date: Oct 2011 Exp:	I completely agree with the sentiments on here preaching patience with Sven, far too early to be writing off or anything like that. Very young, lots of time, he will develop at his own pace, and time will tell what that nets him. I also agree that he's learning his mental toughness. (Total conjecture on my part in this paragraph) I believe he's very much struggling with the fact that in his head he "made it" with that brief 5 game stint years ago when got the first call up and lit it up. Wrongly, he assumed he was now a permanent NHL player and has struggled with wrapping his head around the fact that he is still in competition with some of his peers to earn a spot. It's got to be the toughest thing for any young guy to do, get over that hurdle of being an every day NHL player, and a huge weight lifted when it gets removed and you can simply focus on getting better to help the team, not just your survival. While I feel he likely only has himself to blame for this, the mental barrier of having that huge task put back in front of you after you thought you removed it already is likely very hard. What I really think Sven has to show he can do is being able to play HIS game (putting up points etc..) while also playing the REST of the game at an acceptable NHL level. So far, he's proved he can do one or the other, but any offensive NHL player needs to do both. This is the phenomenon that the "Sven fanboys" will call the Flames trying to "change his game". But it's not. It's not that they want to make him a defensive specialist, it's that they need him to maintain a certain level of acceptability in his game on the back end or away from the puck, a minimum standard so to speak that all players must maintain. Clearly, Sven can put up points, if he just focuses on putting up points and neglects the rest of the game. When asked to take care of the rest, he fails to put up points, which he must do to be an effective player. Hopefully what he will develop into the player he needs to be, one that meets the minimum requirements and puts up points. It's what his peers that have had success in their call ups are doing and why they are sticking. Still a lot of time for him to do it though, and we just need to be patient.