Bollig and his role on this team?

[Mav]

A buddy and I have been discussing this a lot lately.

Why is he started consistently by Hartley? I thought the motto this year was Always Earned, Never Given... What is he bringing to the team right now?

Fighting has all but dried up, so thats not it. A lone enforcer to protect Gaudreau? The whole team should be standing up for him, so that can't be it. Is he supposed to bring energy? Bouma seems to be doing all of that on his line anyways.

I just hate seeing Granlund get sent back down, when they could slide him to the wing and slot him with Stajan and Bouma, then have four lines that could roll?

Just looking for some answers here...

[btimbit]

See the turning point of the first LA game.

Although I wish he did that more consistently, he's good at his role, and it's not a role Granlund could fill. Ferland maybe

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Mav

A buddy and I have been discussing this a lot lately.

Why is he started consistently by Hartley? I thought the motto this year was Always Earned, Never Given... What is he bringing to the team right now?

Fighting has all but dried up, so thats not it. A lone enforcer to protect Gaudreau? The whole team should be standing up for him, so that can't be it. Is he supposed to bring energy? Bouma seems to be doing all of that on his line anyways.

I just hate seeing Granlund get sent back down, when they could slide him to the wing and slot him with Stajan and Bouma, then have four lines that could roll?

Just looking for some answers here...

To reach the salary floor?

[Robo]

not a fan of bolligs game at all but i dont think granlund should be kept up to play on the fourth line

[Erick Estrada]

He's a physical presence on the 4th line who can keep up with the play better than McGratton. That's his role and while he's not having as good a year with the Flames as he did with the Hawks last year sometimes it takes players a while to get settled in with a new team. He's on the books for another couple of years so get used to him as he's not going anywhere.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Ever since Stajan has centered the 4th line, Bollig has been better.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Ever since Stajan has centered the 4th line, Bollig has been better.

I don't think he's been that bad as some fans simply have too high of expectations for a 4th line player. You don't ice your skilled guys on the 4th line.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't think he's been that bad as some fans simply have too high of expectations for a 4th line player. You don't ice your skilled guys on the 4th line.

This. It's the 4th line, don't expect a 20 goal guy. He's solid at what he does, and better yet, seems to be improving and/or getting used to the team.

Giving Granlund 4th line minutes is a waste.

[Travis Munroe]

I personally would much rather see Ferland in that role.
I don't have numbers to back it up but Ferland seemed to play the body a lot more, had better speed & is just as tough.

[Finger Cookin]

He's been a healthy scratch 18% of the time. Other than McGrattan, has anyone else missed that much time without being injured?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't think he's been that bad as some fans simply have too high of expectations for a 4th line player. You don't ice your skilled guys on the 4th line.

It wouldn't be Calgarypuck if we didn't expect 30 goals from 4th liners and Norris Trophies from third pair D and get upset when it doesn't happen.

[savardandjokinen]

I would rather ferland, BVB or Wolf because of the direction we're going.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

It wouldn't be Calgarypuck if we didn't expect 30 goals from 4th liners and Norris Trophies from third pair D and get upset when it doesn't happen.

Yeah, pretty much this. Drives me crazy.

Other than taking care of your own end and playing few minutes with high energy and maybe some physical play, there is nothing else I expect from a 4th line winger.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

I personally would much rather see Ferland in that role.
I don't have numbers to back it up but Ferland seemed to play the body a lot more, had better speed & is just as tough.

I want to see Ferland play in Calgary too but not on the 4th line. Ferland is a 2nd or 3rd line player. That's why I think Brandon Bollig fills in his role as a 4th liner and energy guy who can play physical/obnoxious/fighting.

Some people thinks Bollig is not doing his job that is because he is not contributing in scoring. Well good luck on that.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

It wouldn't be Calgarypuck if we didn't expect 30 goals from 4th liners and Norris Trophies from third pair D and get upset when it doesn't happen.

Shhhhhh. It's been a little quiet over the past few weeks. Posts like that may trigger another conversation of how our defensive 3rd pairing is in dire straights and badly needs to be upgraded.

[foshizzle11]

I think he is doing his job. I wouldn't mind more physicality out of him, to punish the other team a bit more often when he is out there but overall as a 4th liner, he doesn't hurt this team. I would rather have him than McGrattan out there.

Is Ferland a 4th liner? Why bring him up to play the 4th line, I thought he could be top 9 player, not 4th line material. I guess we will see, maybe he replaces Bollig in a couple of years.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't think he's been that bad as some fans simply have too high of expectations for a 4th line player. You don't ice your skilled guys on the 4th line.

I guess Baertschi is all grit and sandbox, and no skill then? Maybe you wouldn't ice skilled guys on the 4th line, but Hartley sure would.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by btimbit

See the turning point of the first LA game.

Although I wish he did that more consistently, he's good at his role, and it's not a role Granlund could fill. Ferland maybe

This is pretty much it. Gaudreau even mentioned it as the turning point in the game. Bollig can help the Flames be as physical as these power house teams.

Ferland can also fill this role, but is a better all-round player. Even though he wasn't producing offensively in his 8~ NHL games, he seemed to be consistently hitting and playing fast paced Flames hockey. A numbers game sent him down and the Flames started slumping with the injured players coming back.

Bollig is a player that might be dealt at the trade deadline as he has plenty of quality playoff experience and is a solid depth player. Not sure we'd get a 3rd rounder back for him though..

[JJ1532]

Granlund will not benefit from playing 7-12 minutes a night on the bottom line, so I don't think him staying up would have been wise. For me, unless you are putting some of the prospects on that bottom line(which I don't agree with), we don't have an abundance of bottom line guys in the organisation. I think Bollig has done ok in recent weeks and lets not forget that(in my opinion anyway) his hit on Kopitar just before Christmas I believe was the catalyst for us coming back into that game.

He's done ok in recent weeks. Nothing special, but solid enough.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Yeah, pretty much this. Drives me crazy.

Other than taking care of your own end and playing few minutes with high energy and maybe some physical play, there is nothing else I expect from a 4th line winger.

What bugged me before was that he wasn't good in the defensive zone. having Stajan seems to have addressed that, so all's well with me.

His energy has improved as well of late IMO.