Quote:
Originally Posted by The Yen Man
He was the first player that I got a named jersey for. I honestly thought he'd retire as a Flame as an all time great. Those first 3 seasons really did feel like the sky was the limit for Dion. Who would have thought those would end up being his prime years, and he'd decline so much after that. Not really sure what happened.
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I really think that when the team lost Roman Hamrlik, it required Phaneuf to do far more than he was capable of doing for the team too early in his career without a comparable replacement. He was always an excellent number 2 or 3 PP trigger man in my mind, but not someone who can do all the heavy lifting of a true number 1.
Not to say Hamrlik was this guy either, but he certainly did an admirable job of giving the Flames great value within the top 4 at the time.