I have 1 question to everyone who's blaming Brouwer or poor player usage for our terrible PP this season: How do you explain the 10 finish last season with Brouwer on the PP?
If Brouwer or the coaching staff was so absolutely terrible on the PP strategies, how is it possible that they somehow managed to create a system in place that actually was able to beat out 20 other teams?
Fact: Flames were a top 10 PP in 16-17 with Gulutzan, Cameron and Gerard
Fact: Before Versteeg went down with an injury, the PP was ranked 11th in the entire league
Why did we sink so much? The answer is Kris Versteeg. The real problem was not Brouwer, blaming him is a complete cop out as he helped propel this team to a top 10 PP the season before. But when Versteeg went down with an injury, no one else on this roster could replicate his skill set and we sunk.
Just look at the stats and it tells you everything you need to know:
Before Versteeg injury:
Ranked 11th: 22.1%
After Versteeg injury:
Ranked 30th: 13.5%
No one on this team, not even Dougie could permanently fix this PP. The Toronto Maple Leafs deployed a similar strategy as we did but they somehow finished #2 in the NHL. The difference? They have Nylander and Matthews on the flanks and that's just something that we can't replicate. We don't have a 2 rockets on the flanks like they do. The problem this season wasn't Brouwer and it wasn't the system, the problem was the personnel and I'll go up against anyone on that all day, any day.
|