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Originally Posted by GioforPM
I'm sure he wanted to play for Sutter. But frankly having a trade request and then yanking it doesn't sit well with me anyway. Especially when the new coach is doing exactly what the old coach did.
Calgary made big mistakes developing Bennett. But no one seems to put any onus on Bennett to (a) play better within the role and (b) make the most of what time he had when given what he wanted. I think that Florida gave him a better chance to succeed for sure. But that's pretty typical - Calgary did the same with Lindholm. I also think that Bennett probably figured that he had to up his game after the trade, which he finally did.
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Lots of people have put the onus on Sam Bennett, but just take a look at how he has been handled in Florida compared to Calgary. In Calgary he would have been put right back down on the fourth line but in Florida he has been on the second line since he got there. We can keep trying to blame the player over and over but at the end of the day Calgary didn't know what they had in Sam Bennett and they didn't know how to harnesses his potential. Even Conroy after Bennett was traded said that he should have been given more of an opportunity . If Craig Conroy saw something, why don't we believe him?
Even Sutter said he was disappointed to see Bennett traded, Bennett himself said that he liked playing for Sutter. Sam is proving everyone wrong since he got to Florida and we are still blaming the player. What many don't realize is that Florida has been doing this with several other players too, they are able to identify players that are being handled poorly in other organizations and bring them into their own. Sam Reinhart is another one.., a player that we probably could have gotten at that time too.
I get trying to share the responsibility between the Calgary Flames and Sam, but improvement for the Calgary Flames doesn't come from blaming Sam Bennett. It comes from self-evaluation within the organization. Cuz we need to look at Florida and see how they're treating the players and building them up. Calgary doesn't need to blame the player they need to recognize they made some blunders. That is a big issue when you consider how difficult it is to get top elite players in this league.
I agree with EE, I think it's unfair to blame the player when the organization has to do better job to keep their star players. In Florida he's the assistant captain in Calgary he is likely still hovering the fourth line under Tre. Craig Conroy on the other hand seems to have gotten the coaches vets and the young players playing together and supporting each other.
That is a huge step!