Sven "Fricken" Bartschi!

[ignite09]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Nothing wrong with a little optimism. Sven has all the potential in the world to be a fantastic player in this league.

This board needs a little more optimism right now, I think.

Sure, but they also need realism. This organization turned a 500 goal scoring, Art Ross winning, future HOFer into a perrenial loser. This team ain't gonna be saved by any one player.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

Dude chill. Hasn't even played a whole season yet. Give him some time before we make these "superstar" assumptions.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by ignite09

Sure, but they also need realism. This organization turned a 500 goal scoring, Art Ross winning, future HOFer into a perrenial loser. This team ain't gonna be saved by any one player.

Come on now. This is exactly what I'm talking about.

Iginla is not a perennial loser. This thread is about Baertschi. We don't need to bring this kind of nonsense talk into this thread.

Yes, I believe that Sven has the potential to be a top player in this league. Some others do as well. We don't need to dilute this belief by saying stuff like this. What's the point?

Is he the singular answer? No, I don't think many are saying he is. But he could be the most important part going forward, and I believe he will be. He's a huge part of the solution.

[ignite09]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Come on now. This is exactly what I'm talking about.

Iginla is not a perennial loser. This thread is about Baertschi. We don't need to bring this kind of nonsense talk into this thread.

Yes, I believe that Sven has the potential to be a top player in this league. Some others do as well. We don't need to dilute this belief by saying stuff like this. What's the point?

Is he the singular answer? No, I don't think many are saying he is. But he could be the most important part going forward, and I believe he will be. He's a huge part of the solution.

Ain't nonsense, he's a winner everywhere but with this team. Not his fault, but that's the point. Sven should be good, but giving him the title of Franchise saviour is asinine. Usually it's the one's who put him on a pedistal early are the first ones too rip on him when he doesn't meet expectations.

[BloodFetish]

This is exactly why player development is so important. Bartschi appears to have top-end talent and on-ice vision, and now it's up to the coaches and player development personnel to transition his junior skills to the NHL.

A few years ago I'd be a lot more pessimistic about Bartschi's chances of becoming an impact player in the NHL. Now, with guys like Troy Ward and Weisbrod in the player pipeline I am much more hopeful he'll be the next Claude Giroux

[nik-]

I think most people are optimistic about Sven. It's just that most people are a little more realistically optimistic. I think Sven would/will be a nice piece on a good team, but like Hossa is in Chicago. I know he's been compared to Hossa before, but I don't mean in playstyle but in fit. Not the top dog, but a real solid contributor.

We really need to get a top young center who's at minimum at Sven's ability level and another good winger.

[868904]

There is definitely something special about Sven. Regardless, Flames will need more than one "superstar" if they hope to win a Stanley Cup anytime soon.

The Pens have 2 and haven't been winning it every year.

[sworkhard]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Remember Robbie Shremp got 145 points in the juniors too.

Sven has impressed for a few games in the big leagues but it has to be consistent.

Robbie Shremp got the vast majority (>70%) of his points on the PP. Baertchi got less than 40% of his points on the PP IIRC. The lesson to be learned from Shremp is that PP production isn't worth much if ES production is missing, and with Shremp, ES production was really missing,

If you want to compare Sven's Junior numbers with an NHL players, his are almost identical to Claude Giroux. That's not to say he'll end up being as good as Giroux, but so far he's had a very similar career, by almost every metric. Just please be realistic in your optimism.

I think it's fair to be exited about Baertchi though. His NHL equivalency is 49 points in 82 games in the NHL. This would make him the first guy with a legit chance of becoming a productive top 6 forward that we've had in years.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by ignite09

Sure, but they also need realism. This organization turned a 500 goal scoring, Art Ross winning, future HOFer into a perrenial loser. This team ain't gonna be saved by any one player.

He actually became all those things *with* this organization.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Nothing wrong with a little optimism. Sven has all the potential in the world to be a fantastic player in this league.

This board needs a little more optimism right now, I think.

Optimism is fine.

The garbage about Feaster haters "putting that in their hat and smoking it" is not optimism and just plain stupid. Easy to see why people weren't impressed with the post as that kind of ruins the optimism earlier by taking it over the line.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Remember Robbie Shremp got 145 points in the juniors too.

Sven has impressed for a few games in the big leagues but it has to be consistent.

Did Shremp score 3 goals in his first 5 NHL games?

[FlamesAddiction]

Well, as jaded as I am with this team's prospect pool, I am cautiously optimistic that Sven is the real deal... and by that I mean that he will be a top 6 six forward [knocks on wood].

How good he will be, it's hard to say as the sample size is so small. Will he be the next Hossa, Ericsson, Vanek or Sturm (pre-injury problems)? Who knows....

I certainly believe he will fair better than Robbie Schremp. Sven has a repuation for being a very hard worker on and off the ice, and incredibly mentally focused. Schremp was always considered a flakey dipsy-doodler even before he was drafted. Not that I blame the Oilers for drafting him where they did, but he was always considered high risk-high reward.

[ignite09]

Originally Posted by the2bears

He actually became all those things *with* this organization.

You completely miss the point. A stupidly awesome Sven scoring 110 pts. a season could still be leading a bad hockey club. We'll need a few Svens to contend, one ain't going to save a franchise.

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by moon

Optimism is fine.

The garbage about Feaster haters "putting that in their hat and smoking it" is not optimism and just plain stupid. Easy to see why people weren't impressed with the post as that kind of ruins the optimism earlier by taking it over the line.

Agreed. And the idea that we are going to build a Stanley Cup contending team around Baertschi while our neighbors to the North have Eberle (who outscored Iggy this season), Hall, Hopkins, Yakupov, Klefbom, etc is silly.

I am excited about Baertschi and I think he will be an impact player in the NHL. But some people make it way to easy for Feaster to sell his snake oil to.

Baertschi is a great piece. But we need a whole lot more.

[ThePrince]

Originally Posted by kehatch

Agreed. And the idea that we are going to build a Stanley Cup contending team around Baertschi while our neighbors to the North have Eberle (who outscored Iggy this season), Hall, Hopkins, Yakupov, Klefbom, etc is silly.

I am excited about Baertschi and I think he will be an impact player in the NHL. But some people make it way to easy for Feaster to sell his snake oil to.

Baertschi is a great piece. But we need a whole lot more.

They also have no real depth beyond those pieces at forward or in net. It'll take a lot more than those guys to win a cup.

And who's to say Baertschi won't be just as good of a player as Eberle? I'm not saying he will, but we can hope, and if so, he would be a great piece to build a franchise around.

Plus, it seems like the Oilers rushed Hall and RNH into the league. They might be able to put up points, but they were boys playing with men, and got beat up quite a bit, which is why they keep getting injured. If we become bottom dwellers, there would be a lot more pressure to rush these types of players rather than staying patient with their development, a la Seguin.

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by ThePrince

They also have no real depth beyond those pieces at forward or in net. It'll take a lot more than those guys to win a cup.

And who's to say Baertschi won't be just as good of a player as Eberle? I'm not saying he will, but we can hope, and if so, he would be a great piece to build a franchise around.

Plus, it seems like the Oilers rushed Hall and RNH into the league. They might be able to put up points, but they were boys playing with men, and got beat up quite a bit, which is why they keep getting injured. If we become bottom dwellers, there would be a lot more pressure to rush these types of players rather than staying patient with their development, a la Seguin.

Did I say something to contradict any of that? All I said was that Baertschi isn't enough to build a team around. Not by himself.

The poor kid is going to be under enough pressure. No need to make expectations unmanageable.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by moon

Optimism is fine.

The garbage about Feaster haters "putting that in their hat and smoking it" is not optimism and just plain stupid. Easy to see why people weren't impressed with the post as that kind of ruins the optimism earlier by taking it over the line.

I meant it tongue-in-cheek. Sorry for the misunderstanding. If I was better at conveying my feelings via the written word I probably woudn't be sizing out pressure relief valves in the oil & gas industry, for a living.

I know that one draft choice does not a General Manager make. As far as I'm concerned the jury is still out on Jay Feaster.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by 868904

There is definitely something special about Sven. Regardless, Flames will need more than one "superstar" if they hope to win a Stanley Cup anytime soon.

The Boston Bruins say hello.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by ignite09

You completely miss the point. A stupidly awesome Sven scoring 110 pts. a season could still be leading a bad hockey club. We'll need a few Svens to contend, one ain't going to save a franchise.

Agreed. But he certainly could be the key towards rebuilding the franchise into a Cup contender.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by kehatch

Baertschi is a great piece. But we need a whole lot more.

Also agree.. but he could be the great starting piece that we need.