Should we bench Monahan for a game or 2?

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by cofias

Bergeron is a perennial Selke candidate. To compare Monahan to him, after watching him play for a long time now, is just so fundamentally absurd. Bergeron dominates opponents on a shift-by-shift basis and carries his line. Monahan does nothing of the sort. In fact, most of the time, he does the opposite.

Please note that there is nothing that would please me more than if Monahan played like or turned into Patrice Bergeron. But unfortunately the facts don't support that at the moment, and we need to live with that reality. The hope is that Gulutzan or another coach will be able to do for him what Butter did for Backlund.

Bergeron at 21-22 years old probably drew the same skepticism.

[19kcup]

so who would draw into the lineup to replace him? you call up linden Vey and put Monhan in the press box? if anything the coach needs to put him in a better spot with line match ups to get his feet back under him.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by 19kcup

if anything the coach needs to put him in a better spot with line match ups to get his feet back under him.

Monahan & Gaudreau (when he was healthy) were already isolated

Backlund and Stajan are taking the tough match-ups.

i.e. they are primarily used in the offensive zone situations.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

He's very much still developing.

Has to overcome this adversity though. That's part of the growth. Have to be able to bounce back from bad months and lacklustre seasons.

Benching Gaudreau never hurt him though, and neither would it Monahan. If watching from another perspective for a game or two can help him rethink his game this season a bit, then there's nothing to lose.

He's already bounced back from one dry spell that I can recall (obviously not a bad season). Funny, though, how working through a bad period or seven season is something that's part of growth, but some people would just rather trade a player.

Monahan may never be Toews or Kopitar, and may not even be a first line C always. But he can score 30 goals and 60+ points. That's Getzlaf, Carter, ROR production.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

What do you mean should we bench Monahan? I'm pretty sure the coaching staff and not CP makes these decisions.

And no Gulutzan should not bench Monahan. There are no good options to replace him in the line up and he needs ice time to play out of his slump.

Incase you didn't notice the season is past the quarter mark. How long does a player need to "play out of his slump"?

We heard this rhetoric all the time with Iginla.....you should not have to wait for a player to start doing basic things like compete hard, go to the nasty areas and generate more shots on goal etc etc.

If Monohan were doing all the above, fans would not be losing faith in him. Right now, he deserves all he is getting.

[Gord_Wappel]

Most games i have watched this year he has reminded me more of Rob Niedermeyer than Bergeron or Toews. Problem is he doesn't skate as well as Neidermeyer but has a much better shot.

[Crumpy-Gunt]

I remember people calling me a monahan hater for pointing out my fears of us giving him a big contract based on 3 years of unsustainable goal scoring. Tap ins.

I think it was gojetsgo who got the most upset about my suggestion of bridging monahan and splitting him and johnny up to see what sean can do alone.

The monahan contract and the giordano contract killed our rebuild. Along with a few other smaller signings that didnt need to happen.

I hope the kid comes good but ever since i saw the highlights AC made for monahan ive always viewed him as an incredibly overrated soft center with poor skating and just a good wrister from the slot.

Meh whatever. I just have this "I TOLD YOU SO" feeling. Even got into a fight on air with pat steinberg over monahan and my opinion that he is vastly overrated and relies on others for offense.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Monahan's goals have not been tap in's.

Congratulations on the rest of the post. I'm ecstatic Ferland is having a good season and proving me wrong. You're just a crappy fan.

[IgiTang]

Some of the posts in this thread really show how little some people know about development.

I really hope Sean Monahan doesn't check out CP. It's pretty shameful..

(Not CP, some of the posts within)

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by Gord_Wappel

Most games i have watched this year he has reminded me more of Rob Niedermeyer than Bergeron or Toews. Problem is he doesn't skate as well as Neidermeyer but has a much better shot.

He isn't off to a great start, but comparing him to Rob Niedermeyer? Ridiculous.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Monahan's goals have not been tap in's.

Congratulations on the rest of the post. I'm ecstatic Ferland is having a good season and proving me wrong. You're just a crappy fan.

I'm typically pessimistic by nature I suppose but thing is I really do hope I'm wrong and like it when I'm pleasantly surprised. Maybe the Flames have conditioned me that way.

It's better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised / excited than have expectations and then disappointed in the result, in my opinion. Can't have it all ways as a fan I guess.

I don't think the answer for Monahan is scratching him either. Not sure what the answer is for him. I'm sure he is aware he has played better...

[flamesforcup]

Originally Posted by Crumpy-Gunt

I remember people calling me a monahan hater for pointing out my fears of us giving him a big contract based on 3 years of unsustainable goal scoring. Tap ins.

I think it was gojetsgo who got the most upset about my suggestion of bridging monahan and splitting him and johnny up to see what sean can do alone.

The monahan contract and the giordano contract killed our rebuild. Along with a few other smaller signings that didnt need to happen.

I hope the kid comes good but ever since i saw the highlights AC made for monahan ive always viewed him as an incredibly overrated soft center with poor skating and just a good wrister from the slot.

Meh whatever. I just have this "I TOLD YOU SO" feeling. Even got into a fight on air with pat steinberg over monahan and my opinion that he is vastly overrated and relies on others for offense.

Yup i dont understand why we didnt bridge him. I dont see any dynamic ability he will suddenly develop that will make him command so much more than what hes getting paid right now. I will always like Monahan but alot of people are sceptical about him right now is because of his contract

[calgarywinning]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I think it will just make matters worse for Monahan.

You bench players for three reasons mostly:

1) They are not giving enough of an effort
2) They are young and need to learn
3) Competition for spots

I don't see anything that Monahan matches. Giving him even more pressure is just going to add to his burden. Players just need to play through things sometimes. Maybe you cut his ice-time, demote him in the lineup, etc., but you don't make him a scratch. It will just ruin whatever confidence he has left at this point. He needs to be built up, not be taken down.

I really like this because it also applies to the workplace as well. Demotion and punishment can be a negative force in development for players that have worked their way through 1, 2 and 3.

[calgarywinning]

Also, this Monahan talk is ridiculous. The guy is a solid young 2 way centre. He didn't get his goals of tap-ins. He got them off elite hand eye co-ordination.

While he has had some bad games recently, which will add up to such a low percentage in games played over his career.... has anyone paid attention to his face off wins?

He has been a Pro and will continue to work through this slump and come out on top. I especially suspect there maybe some lingering physical issues he is playing through. Gaudreau has been horrible over the last three games? Right... we shouldn't have signed him to the contract.

[DeluxeMoustache]

I'm not worried about Monahan. He has not had a good start but many variables have come in to play.

You don't put up 2 solid seasons and then suddenly become incapable. The coach needs to understand what worked under the last guy and translate that to this year, assuming all else is settling.

A game off won't kill the guy but I think they should let him play through it and revisit in 10-20 games

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

I'm not worried about Monahan. He has not had a good start but many variables have come in to play.

You don't put up 2 solid seasons and then suddenly become incapable. The coach needs to understand what worked under the last guy and translate that to this year, assuming all else is settling.

A game off won't kill the guy but I think they should let him play through it and revisit in 10-20 games

We're all on the outside, speculating. We don't know the cause(s) of the problem. Is it due to an ongoing injury or is it due to the results of an injury which disrupted his offseason fitness regime? Is it due to a lack of confidence? Is it due to his failure to adapt to the new system(s) being employed and his inability to figure out how to play his game within these structures. Is it due to off-ice issues? Is it due to a combination of some of the above? It's hard to prescribe solutions without an understanding of what is behind the problem.

[flamesforcup]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

Also, this Monahan talk is ridiculous. The guy is a solid young 2 way centre. He didn't get his goals of tap-ins. He got them off elite hand eye co-ordination.

While he has had some bad games recently, which will add up to such a low percentage in games played over his career.... has anyone paid attention to his face off wins?

He has been a Pro and will continue to work through this slump and come out on top. I especially suspect there maybe some lingering physical issues he is playing through. Gaudreau has been horrible over the last three games? Right... we shouldn't have signed him to the contract.

This myth needs to die. In Monahans 3 and a quarter seasons so far he has never been above average defensivly (to put it nicely).

[Justin]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

What do you mean should we bench Monahan? I'm pretty sure the coaching staff and not CP makes these decisions.

That's the great thing about sports, it brings people together on common ground. "We" is completely acceptable. Stop trying to be politically correct.

[FireGilbert]

What does that have anything to do with being PC? It was just a joke the thread title could have been worded better.

I have no problem if fans say things like we won, we lost, we traded for player x, we signed player y, we got new jerseys, etc. but it starts to get a little silly when used to ask about coaching decisions the fan base has zero impact on.

[AltaGuy]

Monahan is terrible right now, and has significant development to do before he's the player that I think he will be.

He needs to improve his quickness first and foremost. With that he becomes better defensively and more of a threat offensively.

I think he'll get there. And much of the Flames' future depends on him developing successfully here on out.