Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Is Mike Smith the new Brian Elliot and is James Neal the new Troy Brouwer?

Erick Estrada · 11-13-2018, 07:47 AM

I'm listening to the radio right now and Warrener and the crew is defending him. Saying that he didn't look bad in preseason and certainly not anything that showed he should have been relegated to 3rd line but that's where he ended up. They said they are pretty sure when he signed Treliving wasn't promising him little time on the powerplay and 3rd line duty. They also said the team has gone out of their way to be protective of Smith who has been outright bad at times. Said Frolik spent one night in the press box but has been in the coach's good grace ever since and Neal seems to not get that and said they probably can't blame him for not being happy with his situation.

My opinion is that Peters right now isn't a fan of him for whatever reason which to me is puzzling as I have to imagine Treliving got in touch with him before free agency to discuss their options. When you commit this term and salary to a player and bury him it's never going to go well as Neal has scored over 20 goals in every season he's played over 40 games so it's not like Treliving overpaid a depth guy like Brouwer here where they crossed their fingers he could be a 20 goal guy. Neal is the very definition of consistent 20 goal scorer. To me it seems like something Peters is going to have to get over because Neal will probably be a Flame longer than he will and considering the lack of scoring depth this team has it just doesn't make sense to bench one of the proven goal scorers on the team.

11-13-2018, 07:47 AM	#162
Erick Estrada Franchise Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Fernando Valley Exp:	I'm listening to the radio right now and Warrener and the crew is defending him. Saying that he didn't look bad in preseason and certainly not anything that showed he should have been relegated to 3rd line but that's where he ended up. They said they are pretty sure when he signed Treliving wasn't promising him little time on the powerplay and 3rd line duty. They also said the team has gone out of their way to be protective of Smith who has been outright bad at times. Said Frolik spent one night in the press box but has been in the coach's good grace ever since and Neal seems to not get that and said they probably can't blame him for not being happy with his situation. My opinion is that Peters right now isn't a fan of him for whatever reason which to me is puzzling as I have to imagine Treliving got in touch with him before free agency to discuss their options. When you commit this term and salary to a player and bury him it's never going to go well as Neal has scored over 20 goals in every season he's played over 40 games so it's not like Treliving overpaid a depth guy like Brouwer here where they crossed their fingers he could be a 20 goal guy. Neal is the very definition of consistent 20 goal scorer. To me it seems like something Peters is going to have to get over because Neal will probably be a Flame longer than he will and considering the lack of scoring depth this team has it just doesn't make sense to bench one of the proven goal scorers on the team. Last edited by Erick Estrada; 11-13-2018 at 07:50 AM.