Quote:
Originally Posted by Red
Rhett's right.
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What is it that he is right about?
Here are the statements he's made
1)
Sam Bennett's done nothing to earn being in the lineup
5v5 Bennett is
4th on the team in expected goals (3.42 - he has 3 so that sounds about right)
3rd on the team in unblocked shot attempts rate (11.38/60 minutes)
2nd on the team in shots on goal rate (8.6 / 60 minutes)
4th on the team in goals rate (0.76/60 minutes)
4th on the team in penalties drawn rate (1.01/ 60 minutes)
If he's done nothing, then what have other guys done? Less than nothing? But either way, on a roster of, let's say 11 regulars, this is not
nothing. And yes, he's had a ####ty year. NO ONE is happy with his play overall. But everything is relative. and yeah, there are areas of his game he SHOULD be unsatisfied with, but this is NOT NOTHING.
2)
"oh, so I'm worse than Sam Bennett? Show me how!"
Yes, guys like Simon, Leivo, even Dube and Backlund have
not been markedly better than Sam Bennett this year. I don't know how Rhett can argue otherwise. And last I checked, Dube started the season up the lineup while Bennett was on the fourth line, so it's not as if guys haven't been given opportunity themselves. That extends to the others as well. Maybe Rhett would rather see Nordstrom elevated up the lineup?
3)
"team-worse minus-8"
So now, Rhett is referencing
a stat that means SFA. If players in the year 2020 are looking at plus-minus, I really gotta cringe.
4)
"takes terrible penalties"
Bennett has taken four minors this year.
Two of them came in one game, at the beginning of the year.
One of those was the so-called interference in the Oilers game. Which, most would probably argue was a clean ####ing hit.
One of those was against the Leafs. Maybe it was terrible, I dunno, because I honestly don't even remember it, but he was far from the only Flame to get put in the penalty box in those games with the way they were called.
5)
"Has been bumped up to the first line for no apparent reason"
That's not a Sam Bennett issue. That's not
even a Geoff Ward issue. That's a roster issue, Rhett. Tell me who should be there. And yeah, sure, you could argue Dube, but that's nitpicking since teams roll at least three lines 5 on 5 and Dube's supposed to be an effective part of that other line.
6)
"the other guys aren't great but there is no reason, in the world, that Sam Bennett needs to be in that lineup"
You know, other than the fact that the other guys aren't even
passable.
7)
"you've got a guy, that clearly doesn't care"
That's
not clear, actually. At least at 5 on 5, the guys' third on the team in hits
taken. Guys who don't care don't usually take hits to make plays, they quit on those plays. The guy leads the team in ES shots blocked. Blocked shots are a questionable stat and not one I read a lot into in terms of performance... but you don't block shots if you don't ####ing care. He's fourth on the team in high danger chances. You can talk all you want about the value of what that means on the ice, but you don't go into high danger areas if you don't care.
What's clear exactly, Rhett? That his agent said he might like a change of scenery in a contract year? Well, that's
not the same as not caring about his teammates right now. Learn to separate the business side of things from the GAF side of things.
And yeah, you can talk all you want about an "uninspired" backcheck a handful of games ago but you'd have to be reading really, really deep into it to come to a conclusion that the guy clearly doesn't care.
8)
"his goal in Toronto wasn't because of anything that he did"
Look at the goal again, Rhett. Look who's in the corner battling hard for the puck that eventually ends up on Andersson's stick on the point.
The guy who doesn't care.
Sorry, but this was just a trash take by Warrener.
I'm not even defending Sam Bennett here, I'm literally defending Geoff Ward, who I don't even like.
So what is Warrener right about?
This idea that as soon as any guy asks for a trade, you bury him in the press box? That literally doesn't happen. Anywhere. Teams have won championships with players playing who we later discover "didn't want to be there".
Honestly, the more I've been hearing Warrener speculate on this team's locker room, the more I'm starting to wonder if HE was the cancer in those Iginla teams' locker rooms.