[GranteedEV]

I could get the argument against Jooris if he wasn't putting up over two minutes a game of penalty killing time for the Flames in the playoffs. He was second among forwards on the whole team after only Stajan in total PK time. And that was with Jooris being scratched for the last two games against the Ducks with Bouma's return instead of being moved to RW, because Hartley thought Mason Raymond and Brandon Bollig's "veteran experience" would be more valuable (and we lost those last two games in chokey fashion, with Raymond and Bollig playing less minutes than Jooris would have).

I could get the argument against Jooris if he didn't have the best backcheck against Marchand ever to save the game against Boston that we ended up winning.

I could get the argument against Jooris if he wasn't one of the strongest possession players on the Flames. But he's overwhelmingly one of the best possession players on the Flames.

I could get the argument if Jooris wasn't a strong faceoff guy, but he went a solid 48.7% in the regular season which was better and then won 28 of 53 in the playoffs as a rookie.

I could get the argument if Jooris wasn't one of the best players on the team at winning puck battles in the corners. But he is. Which is what made him such a good fit on that Gaudreau/Hudler line in the first place.

I could get the argument against Jooris if plays visibly died on his stick. But they didn't. Second half of the season though, they didn't really get to his stick in the first place, because plays died on his linemates' sticks. Glencross, Colborne, Raymond... what do these guys have in common?

It's basically "Jooris didn't finish the season on a point scoring tear, therefore he's invisible". You do need point scorers, but just because a player isn't scoring points doesn't mean they're invisible. And sometimes, being invisible is a sign a player, especially a depth player, is doing something right.

Jooris is sort of a "poor man's Frolik", that also happens to be a RH shot and can play centre. We signed Frolik not for his point scoring but for his intangibles... remember Treliving's speech on Frolik's intangibles? He said you WIN with players like that. Having more of them doesn't mean you only play one of them at a time. Giordano, Brodie, Byron, Frolik, Jooris, Backlund... that's how you build a strong possession team that has the puck. By having the puck, you give Monahan, Gaudreau, Hudler, Bouma, Bennett opportunities to use their talent in the offensive zone instead of wasting them blocking shots. And yes, I just called Lance Bouma a talented offensive player... he proved it last year to me.