Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
So the team ... management, coaches all want him at center and to succeed, but then changed their mind and decided to tank his season?
Does that honestly make sense for you?
He started camp on the third line with Dube and Lucic. It didn't click. They moved him to center on the fourth line and the line got filled in. They moved him to the third line with quality players and kept him there because he wasn't getting out played for the most part, but couldn't produce.
That's not tanking a player.
My point though was the group of players around him suggest he gets the chances based on shot metrics but he's an undeniable presence on lines that don't put the puck in the net. That can't be bad luck year over year.
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Actually, I think its more that they know they can move him about and play him where other players are not as versatile.
Don't think they're actively tanking his season or whatever.
Just sucks because all the Flames brass did this offseason was say to anybody that listened they were going to run him at center. And then less than 20 minutes into game 1 it was over. The questio. Shouldn't be is it Bennetts fault but why couldn't the players do anything in their roles that he swapped in for on other lines. Namely Ryan being hot dog poop unless he plays 4c.
So theres that angle as well.
Wards praised his versatility more than once.
No, Bennett hasn't played so good to earmark a permanent role in CGY but he's also been used to plug holes. So that kind of points to a 50/50 failure acceptance from Bennett and the team.
Honestly, all I ever wanted was one full season of him locked into one position and play with usable linemates.
Dube may have been the driver of that line but it worked. There was hockey jazz going on there. Which is what you want. You want all lines to succeed. Just a shame they broke that up before we could see 8f there was sustainable success for them.
It really has been and always will be my greatest source of frustration with the Bennett/Flames debate.