Quote:
Originally Posted by Badgers Nose
I think a good coach could have found a way to help Benny find his regular season game/role. We were a playoff team when he was here, so it was stupid to trade him for nothing only to then go looking for post season grit at the TDL.
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Meh, whatever. The Flames in their 10-year prime from 2013 - 2023 were good without Bennett on the team and reached the 2nd round of the playoffs with the same notable players disappearing in that those 1st and 2nd round playoffs. If Bennett was so super special, maybe the Panthers have a one man Bennett team. There are 20+ guys also on that team that also make the team great. I think if the Flames built a team with Barkov, Ekblad, Montour, and a bunch of others they acquired or drafted, even with different coaches, the results may have been likely better in the Western Conference. I think it's really moot to single out one player as being a legend when he barely cracked the lineups only to pout and asked for a trade when things aren't going his way. The Flames bent over to accommodate him for his shoulder injury that he didn't even disclose and they accommodated him to try and fit him in the lineups. For one thing, if he's deemed only a playoff performer, doesn't it make sense to actually get the team there in the first place? Secondly, Flames are known to get bounced in the first round or early second round exits. So, why didn't Bennett and gang play like they're playing now? Yeah, he's playing hard at times but still makes the bonehead penalties like we all know he makes.
Yeah, we all had unlimited ceiling for him when he scored 4 goals against the Panthers in his first early season as a Flames. That was the height of his career as a Flames. If Bennett lived up to the expectations while he was a member of the Flames, I have no problem with him being labeled along with the greats in a Flames uniform. His tenure as a Flames was mediocre at best.