Personally, I thought the Flames mishandled Baerstchi last season. Burke's comments were the complete opposite of how you want to motivate a guy of Sven's disposition, and the way Hartley treated him in terms of his position in the lineup never seemed to make sense to me. Fair or not, a guy like Sven clearly needs to be showered in positivity to succeed. And when given the chance, he was showing some great chemistry with Monahan...but for some reason, the team didn't stick with it. He was instead demoted in the lineup, asked to play a different game, and eventually lost his confidence.
Personally, I think it was a mis-read of a prospect by the Flames management and coaching.
This year however, I put them blame at the feet of Baerstchi. He's looked listless the whole season. When he was given the chance in the NHL, he never seemed to take the opportunity (there was maybe one game this year where you saw flashes) to show what he can do. When he was in the AHL, he just didn't produce like you wanted a guy too.
That, is on Sven.
Whoever's fault it is in the end (and Im a believer that both parties have their share of blame), it was clear that if Sven succeeded, it wasn't going to be here. It's a shame it might have to be in Vancouver.
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