Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Menace
One thing I am 100% convinced of, if Sven was given 2:15 of PP time per game, he would have outproduced Raymond quite easily (and would probably still be a Flame).
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Here is the loop I think that people fixate on.
IF Baertschi was given a chance then he would produce and still be playing for the Flames.
Let's break this argument down into 3 steps:
If Baertschi was given a chance: I will argue that he was given more than a fair chance, and was the beneficiary of a few unearned call-ups probably due to his draft pedigree. Does the chance include PP time and top 6 minutes? Why should it require those 2 factors for it to be 'fair'. It would be 'unfair' to the rest of the team, no?
then he would produce: Do people really believe that Hartley and/or management are morons? Don't people realize for a second that Hartley and/or management KNOW that giving a player 3/4th line minutes and no PP time would result in not many points? So, if Hartley, Treliving, Conroy, Pascal, Huska, Burke, King and the ownership group all know (just like the rest of us mere fans) that slotting Sven this way would result in a lack of production, then why do people suppose this happened? Could it be that everyone and their dog knows that given a chance, Baertschi can produce? Could it be that offence was NOT what they were looking for to begin with? Could it be that what Burke spoke about - effort in every zone and every shift, and play in the defensive zone - were the areas that the Flames NEEDED to see improvement on? Makes sense to me. I don't for a second think that the Flames treated Sven unfairly and put him in a position to fail intentionally. What on earth would the Flames gain from doing so?
and still be playing for the Flames: Again, offence was never the question. If Baertschi competed as hard as Gaudreau does, and showed as much effort as Gaudreau does, and won as many puck-battles as Gaudreau does, or back-checks as hard as Gaudreau does, then he would still be a Flame. If Gaudreau can (and does) do all of these things with less professional experience and less physical strength, then why couldn't Baertschi?
I don't think this organization had any questions about Baertschi's ability to produce offensively. I don't think that is what he was being graded on at all. I think from the comments that came out over the years that it was his compete level first and foremost in all zones. Baertschi usually got his ice-time elevated (especially in the first 2 seasons) when he did so, and got demoted when he didn't.
Then again, who knows? Maybe everyone in the Flames organization are just complete morons scratching their heads and thinking Baertschi is a bust just because he wasn't able to score on the 4th line with reduced minutes. Maybe they are just getting lucky with Gaudreau, Jooris, etc?
It seems that everyone who seems really upset about this are upset because they think Baertschi didn't get a fair shake. I have yet to see one single shred of sound logic in proving that theory. I think it is very safe to say that the Flames are NOT interested in having players that are very one-dimensional. Everyone has to buy-into their style of play. That is part of creating an identity. That is part of success.
I wonder how many people who are so upset that Calgary traded away Baertschi were also upset about the Flames trading away Tanguay. They seem to mirror one another in a couple of ways if you ask me.