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Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
You can still give him the same minutes, but bench him for a few shifts after Dion did something stupid. You work within the mandate. Maybe take him off the first unit PP for the next PP that the Flames got, and put him on the 2nd unit. Doesn't have to be all the time, but a coach who thinks a defencemen has a 2 cent brain would find a lot of flexibility working within the mandate. Maybe force him to actually work with Regehr and Warrener during practice.
The fact that none of these things happened (AFAIK) leads me to believe that Keenan didn't think that Dion had a 2 cent brain, mandate or not (which I seriously don't buy).
If this narrative came out of a former teammate or former coach/assistant coach or someone that you could at least validate in some way, I would believe this (illogical) tale.
Not everything wrong with the team has to come from some 'upper management or owner conspiracy'.
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Keenan in 2012:
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Keenan also questioned whether the team would have been better off keeping Dion Phaneuf, adding: "When you got a superstar forward (Iginla) and certainly a winning goalie (Miikka Kiprusoff) ... you need to be anchored by a defenceman that would have the calibre of carrying a team as well so I don't know if Phaneuf would have drawn into that. He certainly had more upside than another defenceman that I was coaching and he's a guy that needs a lot of direction and you need to be firm him but he can give you minutes and results offensively."
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Keenan in 2010:
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While Flames players continue to insist there were no problems inside the dressing room during Dion Phaneuf's tenure in Calgary, former coach Mike Keenan has a slightly different take.
Keenan confirmed to TSN that there were, in fact, issues with Phaneuf and his teammates.
According to the report, veteran players referred to Phaneuf as "Neon Dion" and found him "cocky at times."
Having said that, Keenan acknowledged enjoying his time coaching Phaneuf, one of the more competitive players he has dealt with.
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The scuttlebutt around the team was phaneuf had the nickname 2-20 based seasons in the league (2) and seasons he'd acted like he'd played (20).
The clapping would not surprise me as part of the reason phaneuf was so emotional following the trade.