[News] Bennett Out 4-6 Months with Shoulder Surgery *UPDATE* Back Skating

[sureLoss]

IF the Flames decide to put him on a 2 week conditioning stint, February 22nd may be the ideal time.

As has been previously explained, Bennett on a 2 week conditioning stint will still count towards the 23 man roster limit.

However the Flames play the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders that week in the New York area. With the farm team close by in Glens Falls, it should be easier for the Flames to travel with a 22 man roster.

Also as of March 2nd the 23 man roster limit gets lifted.

[Rerun]

I think the Flames should return him to Kingston for conditioning. Playing in the AHL, against men, is not the right place to be while he's trying to get into shape. He's more likely to get hurt there than in the OHL.

[Volica]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I think the Flames should return him to Kingston for conditioning. Playing in the AHL, against men, is not the right place to be while he's trying to get into shape. He's more likely to get hurt there than in the OHL.

I have to imagine that the coaching staff here in Calgary has been working him out to the most of his abilities during his injury. I am certain he's a lot of gym days with the professionals (both trainers and players) and will be in game shape as he comes back (clearly not the speed, you can't get that from pumping weights and doing chin-ups).

I think he'll get some full practices with Calgary. He might get a game here just for a feel... then I think he'll be sent down to Kingston where the problem is that team is not overly good. He might will them into a the playoffs (they are currently in the 8th seed if I remember correctly), so that might be great for them. I think he'll get to suit up with the Flames by the end of February (maybe against the Devils or Sens in March?) just to give him that taste. This kid is completely driven to compete, you give him that taste, you got him hooked for next season; and that's what you want as Flames management.

[Enoch Root]

wrong thread

[Burner]

did he go on the father son trip??/


that would be cool by the Flames

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I think the Flames should return him to Kingston for conditioning. Playing in the AHL, against men, is not the right place to be while he's trying to get into shape. He's more likely to get hurt there than in the OHL.

He can't go to Kingston for "conditioning." Once he is dispatched to Juniour, he is no longer available for recall by the Flames until his season in the OHL has ended.

Besides, even if he is more likely to get hurt in the AHL than in the OHL, I would argue that the difference in risk is practically negligible. I am fairly certain that it would be a mistake for the Flames to make their decision based on a prevailing fear about Bennett's potential for injury. The decision should be based on where he is able and ready to play. They can know that even after two or three games in the AHL, and then if necessary still choose to return him to Juniour without any further consequences.

[FlamesAddiction]

There was an article in the Kingston paper a couple of days ago where they pretty said it was a foregone conclusion that he would go to the AHL for conditioning and then the Flames would be making a decision at that point. They seemed to think it was about 50/50 that he goes back to Kingston.

Pretty much what most people are thinking here, but the way it read, it sounded like they had discussed it with the Flames at some point.

I can't find the story online.

[Vulcan]

It reads to me as just an educated opinion.

The 18-year-old, who probably would have a top-10 seat on the OHL's scoring leaderboard had he not required shoulder surgery in October, is still with the Flames. He's back practising and, by all accounts, likely headed to the AHL for a conditioning stint sooner than later.
From there, the upstart Flames have a decision to make: do they grant the quick, skilled winger a stint in the big leagues, or do they ship him to Kingston where he can star?
If Bennett does indeed rejoin the Frontenacs, and is able to reach game speed quickly, suddenly the middle-of-the-pack team is competitive in the Eastern Conference.

http://www.thewhig.com/2015/02/06/be...tenacs-a-boost

[tvp2003]

We're now exactly four months from when it was announced he was going in for surgery.

1) Good to see Sam's a relatively quick healer

2) Kudos to Sam for being diligent in his rehab

3) If he plays for the Flames, I doubt we see Sam on the CA road trip, or the HNIC game against Vancouver. Maybe Feb 16 against Boston?

4) Flames have a brutal 7 game Eastern road trip coming up (Feb 24 to Mar 8) -- depending on personnel available at the time, this might be a good time to fit in some games for Sam, and rest a few guys for the home stretch.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

We're now exactly four months from when it was announced he was going in for surgery.

1) Good to see Sam's a relatively quick healer

2) Kudos to Sam for being diligent in his rehab

3) If he plays for the Flames, I doubt we see Sam on the CA road trip, or the HNIC game against Vancouver. Maybe Feb 16 against Boston?

4) Flames have a brutal 7 game Eastern road trip coming up (Feb 24 to Mar 8) -- depending on personnel available at the time, this might be a good time to fit in some games for Sam, and rest a few guys for the home stretch.

It's almost assured he'll at least go AHL before NHL, no? I don't think we see him in the NHL in February

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

We're now exactly four months from when it was announced he was going in for surgery.

1) Good to see Sam's a relatively quick healer

2) Kudos to Sam for being diligent in his rehab

3) If he plays for the Flames, I doubt we see Sam on the CA road trip, or the HNIC game against Vancouver. Maybe Feb 16 against Boston?

4) Flames have a brutal 7 game Eastern road trip coming up (Feb 24 to Mar 8) -- depending on personnel available at the time, this might be a good time to fit in some games for Sam, and rest a few guys for the home stretch.

A tough road trip is the worst situation possible for his first games. Very difficult to shelter him and control his minutes.

If he plays, I would think a conditioning stint first, then sheltered action on home ice.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

He can't go to Kingston for "conditioning." Once he is dispatched to Juniour, he is no longer available for recall by the Flames until his season in the OHL has ended.

Besides, even if he is more likely to get hurt in the AHL than in the OHL, I would argue that the difference in risk is practically negligible. I am fairly certain that it would be a mistake for the Flames to make their decision based on a prevailing fear about Bennett's potential for injury. The decision should be based on where he is able and ready to play. They can know that even after two or three games in the AHL, and then if necessary still choose to return him to Juniour without any further consequences.

Don't forget that it also took standout rookies who were completely healthy 3-5 weeks to start making a consistent impact with the Flames in Monohan and Gaudreau. This was also in October/November as opposed to February/March when players are all dialed in and fighting for playoff positioning. Even with the re-injury risk in the equation, the path for Bennett has to be through Kingston and then ADK once the junior season is over.

It would take something incredibly amazing for a rookie to step in late season prove he can play more than a few shifts game in and game out over seasoned pros for the final 30 games. I really doubt the organization is willing to potentially see Sam play a role of 8-10 minutes a night and healthy scratch for even a few games when he could be leading the charge somewhere else and getting as many games as possible under his belt this year.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

I really doubt the organization is willing to potentially see Sam play a role of 8-10 minutes a night and healthy scratch for even a few games when he could be leading the charge somewhere else and getting as many games as possible under his belt this year.

Yep. The guy is going to have missed more than half a season of development time as an 18-year-old. He needs to play lots of hockey. Better 20 minutes in the OHL than 10 minutes in the NHL.

[foshizzle11]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yep. The guy is going to have missed more than half a season of development time as an 18-year-old. He needs to play lots of hockey. Better 20 minutes in the OHL than 10 minutes in the NHL.

I don't agree with this. The intensity and quality of play is so much higher at the NHL level, that he will develop faster playing smaller amount of minutes IMO. I saw this when I coached at a high level for other sports. Players who play at their level tend to plateau and I feel that is similar to guys like this.

If he is terrible, can't keep up with the team and is clearly struggling in the AHL for a conditioning stint, then he can go back, no NHL action at all.

We will see.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Don't forget that it also took standout rookies who were completely healthy 3-5 weeks to start making a consistent impact with the Flames in Monohan and Gaudreau. This was also in October/November as opposed to February/March when players are all dialed in and fighting for playoff positioning.

By all counts, Bennet will not be playing any hockey until he is completely healthy, so I'm not entirely sure where you are going with this. Will he need to be a standout to pick up a regular shift? Yes. Whether or not he can remains to be seen, but it seems foolish to simply dismiss this as a possibility out of hand.

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Even with the re-injury risk in the equation, the path for Bennett has to be through Kingston and then ADK once the junior season is over.

"Re-injury risk"? This is a red herring. Again, there WILL BE NO RISK because the Flames will not let him play until the injury is completely healed. By all counts, the shoulder is ALREADY in better shape now than before he had surgery.

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

It would take something incredibly amazing for a rookie to step in late season prove he can play more than a few shifts game in and game out over seasoned pros for the final 30 games. I really doubt the organization is willing to potentially see Sam play a role of 8-10 minutes a night and healthy scratch for even a few games when he could be leading the charge somewhere else and getting as many games as possible under his belt this year.

I generally agree with this, except for the belief that the team would be reticent to see Bennett in a limited role or in the press box "even a few games." A few games of low activity is not going to have any detrimental long term effect. Nevertheless, in no way do I see how this in any way conflicts with the notion that he should and will get games in the AHL and with the Flames this spring to demonstrate his readiness before (if?) he is sent back to Kingston.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

It reads to me as just an educated opinion.

http://www.thewhig.com/2015/02/06/be...tenacs-a-boost

What the hell?

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

I don't agree with this. The intensity and quality of play is so much higher at the NHL level, that he will develop faster playing smaller amount of minutes IMO. I saw this when I coached at a high level for other sports. Players who play at their level tend to plateau and I feel that is similar to guys like this.

If he is terrible, can't keep up with the team and is clearly struggling in the AHL for a conditioning stint, then he can go back, no NHL action at all.

We will see.

Dunno.

I think that, once healthy, it is important for the Flames to ensure that his play can return to where it was when drafted. In other words, I think it is important to the Flames and to Sam to see that he can go back to the OHL and dominate as he should. That experience would address both the injury and the desire, in my opinion. It's important for Sam to know that he's healthy and back to normal; it's important for the Flames to see that Sam's not going to play down to his competition.

[GioforPM]

Textcritic, just because an injury has healed to the extent play is allowed, does not necessarily mean it's not subject to being reinjured. I don't know that there's a concern in this case, but there's lots of examples of injury areas being prone to injury again. I would expect this is more so now in a playoff battle.

[Blarg]

Originally Posted by Burner

did he go on the father son trip??/


that would be cool by the Flames

No he did not. IIRC, players on IR do not go on road trips as a rule.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Textcritic, just because an injury has healed to the extent play is allowed, does not necessarily mean it's not subject to being reinjured. I don't know that there's a concern in this case, but there's lots of examples of injury areas being prone to injury again. I would expect this is more so now in a playoff battle.

His shoulder will be stronger post surgery guaranteed. Now add to that professional trainers and best physios money can buy. He'll be fine.