Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - What if Sam Bennett has another good playoff performance?

TheSquatch · 08-07-2020, 09:40 AM

I've always been on the fence with Benny, talent, drive, and presence all check out. Hockey IQ has been the x factor for me. Bennett took a stupid hooking penalty early in game 1 of the series and I thought for the 1000th time "man he just doesn't get it".

And then last night you see him at full speed, causing rather than reacting, and basically being a force out there, and yeah, it causes me to wonder about whether we are seeing what this guy is (and has been held back from by poor linemates) or just what this guy is when he has his head in it (and the question of course is can he keep his head here for a season?).

I think it would be stupid to "sell high" if this is the window where the Flames have that nice balance of young guys who are panning out (Andersson, Valimaki maybe, Dube, Mangiapane), and skilled "veterans" some of whom are also not that old - Bennett, Tkachuk, Lindholm, Gaudrea, Monahan, Backlund, maybe even Looch.

This does go to show how important that #6 pick was though - if Bennett pans out, the team is good enough, the slotting is better, everything. If he doesn't, the team is maybe not good enough.

08-07-2020, 09:40 AM	#112
TheSquatch Powerplay Quarterback Join Date: Jan 2019 Exp:	I've always been on the fence with Benny, talent, drive, and presence all check out. Hockey IQ has been the x factor for me. Bennett took a stupid hooking penalty early in game 1 of the series and I thought for the 1000th time "man he just doesn't get it". And then last night you see him at full speed, causing rather than reacting, and basically being a force out there, and yeah, it causes me to wonder about whether we are seeing what this guy is (and has been held back from by poor linemates) or just what this guy is when he has his head in it (and the question of course is can he keep his head here for a season?). I think it would be stupid to "sell high" if this is the window where the Flames have that nice balance of young guys who are panning out (Andersson, Valimaki maybe, Dube, Mangiapane), and skilled "veterans" some of whom are also not that old - Bennett, Tkachuk, Lindholm, Gaudrea, Monahan, Backlund, maybe even Looch. This does go to show how important that #6 pick was though - if Bennett pans out, the team is good enough, the slotting is better, everything. If he doesn't, the team is maybe not good enough.