He brought light in what looked like a dark tunnel with a bleak future when Iginla left.
Lost Kipper, dealt Regehr, dealt Bouwmeester, and sadly Iginla as well. Baertschi wasn’t panning out to be as good as we wanted him to be. Out comes this small LWer from the USA, drafted in the 4th round in 2011 without much expectation of making it. The league at the time was always trying to mirror LA of the early 2010s, size and skill (but emphasis on size).
But he did play above expectation. He always did. He knew he was small, but he elusive. His skating was out of this world. The stick handling, the hockey IQ, even had an underrated shot for his size. The epitome of a play driver, if you notice the highlights his teammates were always trying to give him the puck. Why? Because something good always happened. He blessed many teammates on his likes, turning AHL tweeners into capable NHL scorers, middle 6 forwards into top 6 threats and top 6 scorers into elite 1st line players. He did it all.
Retire his jersey. This is a player that scored 609 points in 602 games for the franchise. He will sorely be missed. Every now and then I always liked fo see what former Flames players did, but for Johnny I was always curious to see how he was doing in Columbus. I missed him that much. He will always have a special place in my memories. Thank you Johnny, thank you for the memories. I hope you and your brother are embraced in heaven as you see the whole hockey world mourning for the loss of you two.
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