Alex Plante demands a trade - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

jtfrogger · 09-09-2008, 03:50 PM

This news is over a week old, but I didn't see any mention of it here. Alex Plante is demanding a trade from the Hitmen.

Quote:

"He wants to play hockey but not for the Hitmen," admitted general manager Kelly Kisio, while explaining why the six-foot-four, 225-pound rearguard from Brandon had not reported for the Western Hockey League club's first day of training camp on Saturday.

Quote:

"You sit back and scratch your head and wonder what you have to do to make kids happy," sighed Kisio, considered to be one of the premier GMs in the league. "We played him with Karl Alzner so he could have a big draft year, then he gets hurt and has trouble getting back into game shape and we're getting blamed for it."

Part of me wishes to see him sit out for a bit just to set his development back even further, which would mean the Oilers might not get much out of a mid-1st round pick.

However, I would rather see the Hitmen get some value out of him. His trade value right now is probably fairly low with him not reporting. Kisio might have to wait at least a few weeks to wait for a good offer. It is hard for me to imagine this being a good decision for Plante.

I am not a fan when superstars pull this type of stuff. I really don't expect this from a good player that struggles with injuries. A lot of mid-1st round picks end up as journeymen minor leaguers. Without knowing the intimate details of what is going on, I get the feeling that Plante has a sense of entitlement. If there are any more issues with his development, he may end up going nowhere other than the AHL with a few injury filler games in the NHL.

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

Resolute 14 · 09-09-2008, 03:58 PM

Read about that. That really sucks for Calgary. I would really love to know why Plante wants out. It is a very rare thing for a player to express displeasure with the Hitmen organization, and I'm not certain he could blame the team for his injury woes last year. Would love to know what's up.

Though Kisio managed a great trade in an even worse situation with Keegan Dansereau last year.

Perhaps make this the 2008-09 Hitmen/WHL thread?

FurnaceFace · 09-09-2008, 03:59 PM

I can't imagine the management of any NHL team being very impressed with a junior player showing that attitude. I think I might have a quiet word with Plante if I were his agent. I can't see the player coming off as anything but bad in the eyes of the big clubs.

Super-Rye · 09-09-2008, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Read about that. That really sucks for Calgary. I would really love to know why Plante wants out.

It's simple. He was a top pairing d-man, got injured, kids stepped up. When he came back he wasn't playing very well and lost some ice-time because of it. He figured he deserved that ice-time while his play definitely showed he did not. With that type of attitude he was certainly drafted by the right team.

Good Bye Alex, don't let the door hit your @$$ on the way out.

604flames · 09-09-2008, 04:12 PM

Too bad Prince George picked up Cameron Cepek from the Oil Kings last night otherwise I can't think of a better place for Plante to end up...

Dion · 09-09-2008, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

I can't imagine the management of any NHL team being very impressed with a junior player showing that attitude. I think I might have a quiet word with Plante if I were his agent. I can't see the player coming off as anything but bad in the eyes of the big clubs.

I agree. It sends a poor message to the Oilers who drafted him and any other WHL team that might trade for him. Plante could also be sitting for a while as other teams know the prediciment Kisio is in and will probably offer less than fair value in a trade.

jtfrogger · 09-09-2008, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Though Kisio managed a great trade in an even worse situation with Keegan Dansereau last year.

What was the issue? A quick search, and I found this and this. The article was somewhat vague. Do you know anything more?

I agree that it was a great trade.

OzSome · 09-09-2008, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dion

I agree. It sends a poor message to the Oilers who drafted him and any other WHL team that might trade for him. Plante could also be sitting for a while as other teams know the prediciment Kisio is in and will probably offer less than fair value in a trade.

Kevin Lowe probably encouraged him to demand a trade.

hehehe!!

I don't care much for this guy. He is demanding a trade because it was slowing down his development (not playing enough). Well, i got news for you Plante... you should play harder and better in order to get the ice time you want. If I were Kisio I wouldn't give this guy the satisfaction and just bury him. Who cares how he turns out, he will be an Oiler in the future anyways. If Kisio decides to trade him, make sure he gets more than he needs.

Resolute 14 · 09-10-2008, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 604flames

Too bad Prince George picked up Cameron Cepek from the Oil Kings last night otherwise I can't think of a better place for Plante to end up...

I would love to see him sent to Portland.

He'd get to play 40 minutes a game, though he'd only win about ten of them in total.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtfrogger

What was the issue? A quick search, and I found this and this. The article was somewhat vague. Do you know anything more?

I agree that it was a great trade.

From what I heard, Dansereau came into camp out of shape/unprepared to play. The Hitmen actually kicked him out of camp. They sent him home and set about trading him.

He did score 22 goals and 54 points with Swift Current, but Kyle Bortis, one of the players we got back, scored 37 goals and had over 70 points, while Paul Postma had 14g, 42p on the blue line. Not a bad return for Dansereau and Plouffe.

604flames · 09-11-2008, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

I would love to see him sent to Portland.

He'd get to play 40 minutes a game, though he'd only win about ten of them in total.

I didn't want to be too hard on the kid..

In all seriousness though, how long until he becomes a Wheat King do you think?

burn_this_city · 09-11-2008, 09:58 AM

Since when do Jr. players feel they have a right to demand trades?

EldrickOnIce · 09-11-2008, 05:18 PM

Let him sit for the season.
The Flames own the Hitmen - he's an Oiler pick, so....

moon · 09-11-2008, 05:39 PM

Alex Plante doesn't seem like he is a good enough player to A. Demand a trade and B. complain about how he is being used.

If he wanted more ice time last year perhaps he could have done something to deserve it.

In the games he played against Lethbridge he looked very bad and very slow. It may have been because of the injury but as a guy that hate Kisio and would love to trash him at any chance I can't see how he is at fault at all on this issue.

I hope he goes to Brandon so Wheatkings fans have another guy to overrate as there team once again fails to live up to the insane expectations their fans have of that team.

albertGQ · 09-12-2008, 11:46 AM

I did a mortgage application for him and his parents

I should've declined it

Buff · 09-12-2008, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OzSome

Kevin Lowe probably encouraged him to demand a trade.

hehehe!!

While I doubt it happened, Lowe could have a motive for doing such a thing. One of their top draft picks is playing for a junior team owned by one of their top rivals.

OzSome · 09-12-2008, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Since when do Jr. players feel they have a right to demand trades?

exactly!!!! what ticks me off is the guy is an average player and to top it off he is an Oiler draft pick.

Flickered Flame · 09-28-2008, 07:42 AM

Alex played for the Hitmen last night. Did he have a change of heart?

DFO · 09-28-2008, 10:21 AM

For his sake I would hope he changed his mind. There was some talk that it was his father really steering this mess and trying to get him on the hometown team.

JiriHrdina · 09-28-2008, 10:22 AM

The Herald article on the matter, though it doesn't shed a lot of light.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...c-910a580cb4d0

jtfrogger · 09-28-2008, 09:07 PM

I'm assuming that Kisio didn't get any good offers for Plante. Considering the weak year he had last year on top of a potential attitude issue, I can't see why anyone would offer anything more than a late draft pick.

So, Plante was probably informed that no one was offering anything reasonable and someone clued him in that sitting out the year wouldn't be a good move for him. I would think that the Oilers would be quite clear with him that if he didn't report to the Hitmen, that he was risking not getting a contract offer this year.