[GDT] The Battle of Abbotsford: Flames vs. Canucks 8 MT

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Can Honzek turn pro?

Yes. He turns 20 before the end of the calendar year, so he can play in the AHL if the Flames want him to. He could also go back to junior if they want that.

[Funkhouser]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Can Honzek turn pro?

Yes, he is done with the CHL and can play in the AHL this season.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Honzek showed up and has a fantastic camp

Need to back it up with a dominating year in junior

God I hope he doesn't go back to Junior. What a waste

[Jiri Hrdina]

I would prefer he turns pro so the Flames can be more hands on in his development.

[Robbob]

For him he needs to play against bigger players and adapt to the speed of a pro game. Going back to the Giants would hurt his development IMO.

[Toonage]

I think Honzek is a lock for the Wranglers, but I hope he gets a chance to play on Pospisil's wing before he goes down. That'd be fun given their story from this offseason.

[Flames1217]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Honzek showed up and has a fantastic camp

Need to back it up with a dominating year in junior

He can play in the A this year, I would like to see the team keep him there in Calgary.. he's earned it and he needs to continue to put on muscle.

Honzek slows down the game and uses his size to hold onto the puck and let plays develop. Players like this need to be strong. A prime example of this is Alexis Lafrenière. Once he had enough strength to play his game he started to really have an impact game in and game out.

Not saying Honzek is like Laffy but there are some similarities. Let him put on some size, continue to hone his craft and have him come in next year with a solid spot in the lineup. Things are crowded at the moment already, Honzek can use the seasoning.

[FanSince'01]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Can Honzek turn pro?

Originally Posted by activeStick

Doesn't he only have a year and a bit of experience with the Giants?

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the ruling is that only players who turn 20 before Jan 1st of a given year or have played 4 CHL seasons can go to the AHL. Honzek is a November 2004 birthday, so he'll be 20 before Jan 1st which I believe means he can go to the AHL this year.

Edit: Yup, what others said

[Bonded]

Honzek keeps making me eat crow

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

It wasn't. I froze it (as did someone else in this thread) and it was close but good. I am actually amazed at how often the linesmen get those bang-bang plays right (it looked offside to me too, live)

even if it was a good goal, I don't think his body of work has been that compelling, though I don't think he should be in the next round of cuts.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by jg13

Have a feeling Basha is going to have quite the year in Medicine Hat with McKenna

I'm biased as F but I think he'd get 40 pts in the NHL this year. He won't obviously.

I think this might be one of those situations that he might not light it up as much as he could as the old days because:

• He's not playing with NHL players at his level. He has to slow down.
• Med hat has a lot of players they have to allocate ice time too.
• There are too many players on the team with big agents and previous promises that will demand top line minutes next year.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by sch19lks

I don’t want Zary or Pospisil on the fourth line. Even if they’re playing centre

I think the whole idea of a player being unable to develop on the 4th line is a bit outdated.

Lots of good teams have successful integrated talent on the 4th line, it just means the 4th line can't be a young guy with two talentless grinders and needs to be a more offensive line and I think Pelletier and Lomberg as line mates is a good line still.

Generally there was about 48 minutes of 5v5 TOI per game,

Last season Kadri and Backlund played 14 minutes each at 5v5, and Pospisil and Zary played about 12 minutes each.

Let's say you were to play the 4 lines something like:

Kadri: 13 minutes
Backlund : 12 minutes
Zary/Pospisil w/ Huberdeau: 12 minutes
Zary/Pospsil (4th line): 11 minutes

Is that really the end of the world...I think people over estimate the value of the extra 2-4 minutes of 5v5 ice time.

It's more how much PP and PK time they'd get and I think you could have both on the second unit.

Unit 1: Kuzmenko, Kadri, Shrangovich, Huberdeau
Unit 2: Zary, Pospisil, Mantha, Coronado

Personally I'd rather have both Zary and Pospisil being developed as centers instead of them being on the wing,

Even just long term ignoring those two you have: Huberdeau, Sharangovich, Coronado, Honzek, Basha, Gridin, Stromgren and others vying for top 9 winger spots.

Way better off developing Zary and Pospisil as centers if that's what they want and fits their skill sets.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I think the whole idea of a player being unable to develop on the 4th line is a bit outdated.

Lots of good teams have successful integrated talent on the 4th line, it just means the 4th line can't be a young guy with two talentless grinders and needs to be a more offensive line and I think Pelletier and Lomberg as line mates is a good line still.

Generally there was about 48 minutes of 5v5 TOI per game,

Last season Kadri and Backlund played 14 minutes each at 5v5, and Pospisil and Zary played about 12 minutes each.

Let's say you were to play the 4 lines something like:

Kadri: 13 minutes
Backlund : 12 minutes
Zary/Pospisil w/ Huberdeau: 12 minutes
Zary/Pospsil (4th line): 11 minutes

Is that really the end of the world...I think people over estimate the value of the extra 2-4 minutes of 5v5 ice time.

It's more how much PP and PK time they'd get and I think you could have both on the second unit.

Unit 1: Kuzmenko, Kadri, Shrangovich, Huberdeau
Unit 2: Zary, Pospisil, Mantha, Coronado

Your 1C should play a lot more than 2 minutes more than your 4C.

Lindholm, Backlund, and Kadri all got 15 minutes even strength. That's bizarre in itself to have 3 roighly equal centers. Which left Rooney at 8 minutes

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by DJones

God I hope he doesn't go back to Junior. What a waste

Ok wherever, let’s keep the momentum from this camp

[ThatHighGuy]

Honzek has been a standout in every pre-season game so far. Just thinks the game so well and has good speed for someone his size. I know it's not likely that he makes the team but I selfishly want him to.

Parekh has been too much of a passenger so far. What makes him great is his offensive talent and ability to make stuff happen out of nothing and you can see his offensive talent on display sometimes but he hasn't really been assertive which is okay considering he's only 18. Should be sent back to Saginaw but would like to see him get some more pre-season games to see if he can get a little more comfortable.

[Ba'alzamon]

Mangiapane started as a 4th liner.

[Savvy27]

It's a long way back now but Kobasew, Saprykin, and Lombardi were 17th, 13th, and 11th among forwards in average icetime in the 2003-04 season. They were all able to develop playing 4th line minutes and they were all contributors by the end of the season.

Personally, I think it's a great source of motivation to have talented young guys on the 4th line pushing for minutes and responsibilities. If the coach basically rolls the lines and then rewards the players who are playing best each night, that could be a way that the Flames depth would be advantageous over a long season.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by DJones

Your 1C should play a lot more than 2 minutes more than your 4C.

Lindholm, Backlund, and Kadri all got 15 minutes even strength. That's bizarre in itself to have 3 roighly equal centers. Which left Rooney at 8 minutes

Think it just shows that the Flames don't have a 1C. There is no pressure on Huska so he should experiment all year long with his lines. Till the deadline on getting all those that will be traded on producing. From then on and even some beforehand on development.

[Bonded]

It also depends on what the 4th line is being used for as well. Developing on the 4th line of a contender is usually different than a 4th line on a rebuilding team

[redmile04]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

Yes, he is done with the CHL and can play in the AHL this season.

Was injured last year and didnt play much in the CHL last year, but definitely start him in the AHL and see how it goes. Worst case he can be sent to CHL i believe still? Doubtful he goes down though after this camp though.