Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I don't think there is much he can do about it. Rinaldo is effective in limited action, and I think the Flames have gotten the most from him they can reasonable expect. I get the desire to reward him for his good play, but it seems like he is playing at a level right now that he possibly cannot sustain. As such, I get the rationale behind pulling him from the lineup, with the understanding that there will be more opportunities for him in the near future.
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Agreed, he was HUSTLING last game late in the third with the game out of reach. There’s a reason most guys don’t play like that. Part of it is the mental game to keep borderline players hungry, and the other part is the physical game that is unsustainable (a la Ferklund vs Vancouver).
He’s also been rewarded plenty so far this year; for a guy on a PTO who made the AHL team, getting 5 NHL games in so far is much better than it could have been for him. Smith-Pelly had to move to Russia this year to find a job.
Reider has been playing reliably as well recently, and his PK game has been great while letting the other guys rest. It’s not efficient to lean on your top 6 to kill penalties, which makes Reider, Frolik, and Jankowski relatively valuable. Frolik has been heating up alongside Rinaldo, and is a useful tool with mixing the lines. Jankowski is somebody who you could make an argument for, but between the PK and his role at center, I can see the argument for the current decision.