Grade the Team

[Baaarrden]

I couldn't remember if we had a thread on this halfway through the season or not but couldn't find anything when I searched.

Just thought with it being the end of the year and all, it may be time to look back and give each individual player a letter grade for how they performed this season. For a team that was projected to be dead last, there sure were a number of nice surprises this year. Sure we still ended up near the bottom, but a number of players definitely exceeded my expectations.

I only included players on this list who played 25 or more games and who actually played over the course of the entire season, I put the other notable players at the bottom which mostly includes players who played for us more recently but did not play through the majority of the season.


Backlund - A - really improved and grew this season, finally put up the points many thought he should have been getting a couple seasons ago
Bouma - B - knows his role and played it well this season
Brodie - B - grew much more comfortable with his game, was consistent throughout
Butler - B- - still not a fan at all of him but the second half of the season I thought he played extremely well and completely turned his game around from the first half
Byron - B - played huge for us this season (much bigger than the 5'7 he is) and put up some points
Cammalleri - B - pretty on par season for what I expected out of Cammy, nothing super special about the season but I wouldn't say he really ever played bad
Colborne - B+ - grew much more comfortable as the season went on, still needs to fill out but was thoroughly impressed with the pickup of him and his play this season
Galiardi - F - did not play up to my expectations, never really seemed to find his game this season
Giordano - A+ - only positive things to be said about him this season, everything he did showed he deserves to be the captain of this team. +12 on a bottom 5 team ain't too bad either.
Glencross - C+ - meh. Was injured for the majority of the season and played alright when he was back in the lineup but was nothing special IMO
Hudler - B+ - although the second half of the season was significantly worse than the first half, I have to give the guy credit for coming in and coming close to matching his career best season. Had his play been as consistent as it was through the first half, he would definitely have deserved an A or A+
Jones - F - meh again. Nothing special here, produced less than I expected.
McGrattan - A - truculence. Showed he is exactly the type of character player that the Flames need going forward with an added offensive bonus once in a while.
Monahan - B+ - nice to see him come in and put up as many goals as he did. He was a bit streaky throughout (except for those first 10 games or so) but overall I thought he played a pretty solid season
Russel - B+ - another player who had a much better first half than second but overall he surpassed my expectations and definitely played well.
Smid - C+ - noticeable at times, invisible at others, didn't really have any expectations of him when we got him and so I'm not disappointed but not super impressed either
Stajan - B - tough second half for him (for obvious reasons) but thought he played a decent game this season
Westgarth - C - don't really think he is what this team needs, he played well at times and have no real complaints about his play, just didn't think he fit well
Wideman - C - season started out decently, but injuries and lack of effectiveness seemed to get the best of him, was definitely not one of our best dmen

Ramo - B+ - was questioned early due to his play but really tightened the ropes the second half and showed he has potential

Hartley - A - some questioned whether he was the right man for this team and after the Canucks incident, it became evident he was. No question in my mind that he is the right coach for this team
Burke - B - many were happy with the exit of Feaster, but I also think many thought Burke was going to do more. No real complaints and I still think he is the right man for his job.

Other notables:

Agostino - B-
Baertschi - C - based solely on his NHL performance at the beginning. Showed growth in the AHL for the rest and at this point believe it was the right decision to send him down for the year.
Granlund - B+
Hanowski - D
Reinhart - C
Van Brabant - C
Wotherspoon - B

MacDonald - D
Ortio - B

Overall I thought this years team was one of the more exciting Flames teams to watch in recent years and despite finishing in the bottom 5, I think this season showed that the future is much brighter than many believed early on.

[pylon]

Personally I think the team has to be graded as a a whole. There were so many players in and out this year, and what successes they had, were pure team effort, night in, night out. Considering what they had to work with, considering they destroyed the Canucks season with one of the most epic troll jobs in NHL history, and lastly, considering they still finished ahead of "The something special up there's" you have to give this team an A+

There was never a dull moment, and it is probably the most entertaining Flames season since 04.

[kyuss275]

A for effort

A++ for Gio. An outstanding year by him, and I didn't think he had it in him.

[flamesfan1297]

You get an A+ for effort

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by pylon

There was never a dull moment, and it is probably the most entertaining Flames season since 04.

I am not sure I'd agree with there never being a dull moment. That 10-15 game stretch around Christmas was pretty brutal. They went many nights without scoring a single goal, and it was unbearable to witness. The rest of the season was fun to watch, just not that stretch of games.

[Badgers Nose]

Entertainment value I would say B+. Since 2006/7 the team was a C- or D+ team for me.

[Northendzone]

Meh, I'll wait for trout,an to do this for me

[dammage79]

A for effort overall.

So many positives this season I couldn't single one out. That team plays like a team/family. I'll grade them on that.

[Psytic]

Everyone gets an A except Gali and D. Jones.

[Hatter]

Agree with most. A for effort. Not many passengers on this team.

[strombad]

It was pretty much the best possible kind of season you could ask of a non-playoff team.

Competitive, hard nosed hockey that gave us our identity back and had the whole league take notice that we were not a team to be looked over. Great progression from the young guys, surprising performances from Ramo and Ortio, and book's worth of hilarious Hartley quotes.

Whatever. We suck standing wise but we did the best with what we had and it was a lot of fun to watch most of the time. I'll take it over any of the past 6 or 7 years.

C (A+)

[moon]

Backlund - B - Improved offensive output looking like a solid 3 line guy. Poor FO may limit him from becoming better than solid 3rd line Center
Bouma – B+ - Gave everything you could hope for from him. Would be nice to see him get a bit more offense but effort, defense and heart certainly there for a solid bottom 6 guy
Brodie - A – solidified himself as a top 4 and showed at times potential to be top pairing guy, at times played a little too risky but will learn to pick his spots as he matures
Butler - C – Not the trainwreck he has been but still a weak defender with poor puck skills
Byron - C – Showed he may be able to be more than an AHL guy, his speed is intriguing but not enough offensive ability to look like anything more than a bottom line/fill-in guy
Cammalleri – C+ - Came on at the end of the year but was poor enough early that he didn’t attract much attention, or enough value, at the deadline
Colborne - B+ - Was a project that showed he can play at the NHL level. Not sure he has future in top 6 but a big body for the 3rd line that can fill in at center and pot a goal or two is a nice thing to have
Galiardi – D- Avoids the F because I saw effort there every time I saw him just brought nothing other than that to the table, don’t see a spot/role for him next year
Giordano - A+ - Not much to say that hasn’t been said great year after a few shakier years and really stepped up when it would have been easy to coast
Glencross - C – Injuries obviously derailed his season but when healthy still saw a pouty, whiner that didn’t seem to be able to deal with misses/calls he didn’t like, hardworker but need more from him as a vet
Hudler - B - Lots of offense for a team without much creativity but a ton of turnovers and not a lot of defense, found his effort wasn’t always up to snuff as well especially later in the season
Jones - F – Didn’t see quite the effort from him as I did from Galiardi and at his salary he needs more than effort. Only reason to keep him at this point is to help reach the floor
McGrattan - B – Seems like a great guy in the room and that everyone loves him, great as an enforcer as well, his play however is pretty terrible, clueless in own zone and unable to move puck out of the zone, good guy to keep around during rebuild but can’t play a shift if this team is looking to compete for play-offs
Monahan – A- - Great season scoring wise, would like to see more assists but not sure that is all on him considering linemates, defense really improved as season went on
Russel - B – Defense fell off big time from first 20 games which isn’t a surprise but put up numbers and was decent enough defensively to be a bottom pairing/PP guy going forward
Smid - C – A for effort/heart D/F for talent/skill, gives it his all every shift but his foot speed and recognition make him a pylon out there most of the time
Stajan - B – Did about as well as you could ask at this point in his career, good guy to take most of the key draws, go against the top line and provide vet leadership
Westgarth - D – seems like a nice guy who understands his role but really not necessary out there with mcGrattan. Wish him the best and hope he finds a spot somewhere just not in Calgary
Wideman - D – As usual a defensive nightmare and not nearly effective enough on the PP to make up for it, hard to see a spot for him going forward as Russell seems a decent replacement for the PP/bad defense guy at a much cheaper rate
Ramo – B - He was okay and looked better at end of the year, doesn’t look like the solution long term but is fine to be the rebuild guy while we see what Ortio/Gillies are or we find a solution elsewhere

Hartley – B – didn’t have much to work with and got team to show up more often than not, defense system looked like a trainwreck and offense seemed to be go out and do stuff, not a solution long term but a guy for the rebuild to eat up losses and yell until the team is more ready to compete and we can bring in a competent coach
Burke - B – almost an automatic A for canning Feaster but loses marks for not dealing Cammy and seemingly looking to bring him back, this grade really incomplete until we see this offseason as that will be the major part to evaluate him

Other notables:

Agostino - C-
Baertschi - C
Granlund - B+
Hanowski - D
Reinhart – B+
Van Brabant - D
Wotherspoon – B+

MacDonald - C
Ortio – B+

[edn88]

I agree with Pylon - rate the team as a whole. A for effort, D for results (they did miss the playoffs), B+ on first year of a rebuild, A- for entertainment value, A for getting fans excited, B for Burke's hair.