Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
I think the thing that concerns me about this whole thing is the organization's inability or unwillingness to try to repair the relationship with the player.
|
This is very likely on the player, not the team. Neal has always been known to have an ego. With the way Frolik performed the second half of last year and with Stone returning after being bought out, it is pretty obvious that Treliving and the Flames know how to repair relationships when needed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
Obviously, there were issues on and off the ice, and I'm willing to accept that Neal likely bears the lion's share. However, it also seems crazy that the relationship would implode so quickly from July 2, 2018.
|
Again, look at Neal. He arrived, ran his mouth about how all that mattered was winning. Then, when his role wasn't what he expected, he seemed to quit. He never put forth an effort defensively, he was disengaged physically.
Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
We know that Neal's previous 3 teams were quality, successful organizations. It's fair to speculate whether Poile and GMGM were personally ready to drive him to the airport, but I think it's also fair to ask if there was something different about the Flames organization, or the core leadership group that contributed to this failure.
|
Yeah there was a difference, we never played him in the role he wanted. He was outplayed by Lindholm, Bennett & Frolik, which pushed him out of the top 6 for the first time in his career.
Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
We know that Frolik had issues last year...a respected veteran with his name on the cup who spent three years in Chicago.
We suspect that Hamilton wasn't fully accepted for being a different kind of guy ...
Troy Brouwer.
|
We know that Frolik's agent had issues, an agent that is extremely outspoken when it comes to his clients. We also know that Frolik was almost traded, but we also know that Frolik came into camp as one of the best conditioned players and has always brought this team a consistent effort even when he was being used in a diminished role.
Hamilton is a recluse and someone that seems to have a quirky personality, people like that are always going to have more difficulty fitting in, I say this as someone that fits that description myself. It's fine and dandy when things are going well, but when it isn't it wears thin on people.
Brouwer was given significant chance here, he was just simply not a fit on the ice and he seemed to lose the team when he more or less defended the Wild when Gaudreau was injured by being slashed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
Underperforming UFAs is not a problem unique to Calgary, but I think it's fair to consider whether this team hasn't developed a sufficient culture for winning. You can say that they should suck it up and be professionals, but the other team has pro-hockey players too. It's a game of millimeters and milliseconds - positive headspace/confidence and implicit trust in your teammates can be a big part of winning those micro-battles. This team simply hasn't figured out how to do that [in the playoffs], nor have they been able to integrate newcomers with experience on teams that had 'winning cultures'.
|
Again, I put this on Neal and his ego. He put his ego ahead of the needs of the team, it is really that simple.
You claim that newcomers can't integrate, but why is it only some UFAs that are the issue? Lindholm, Hanifin, Frolik, Hamonic, Andersson, Kylington, Valimaki, Mangiapane, Ryan, Valimaki and Rittich all fit in just fine while being new to the team. Even by all accounts Lucic, Talbot and Rieder are having no issues fitting in either.
So, why single out the minorities and make it seem like a common problem.