I respect everyone's opinions of Ward, whether positive or negative.
I'll just add my piece to this thread. The bolded part is just wrong. Nobody has been purposefully benched more under Ward than Kolanos. In fact, at least twice a game Reinhart will turn the puck over or bobble the puck, which leads to an odd man break and he doesn't miss a shift.
Since the lockout, Reinhart's time on ice has essentially doubled from 9:40 to 19:23 per night. It seems like he's always out there and in every situation imaginable except goalie. That's just one example. Another example is an increase in ice time for Byron and Sylvester. Breen plays the second most minutes of any blueliner (behind Callahan. Used to be behind Brodie).
I also want to note that Ward doesn't stifle offense. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Straight out of Ward's mouth (start watching at the 2:00 mark):
is that why Reinhart is a -17?
i am not concerned with his -17 because if he plays in every situation imaginable, his development will be through the roof in his first pro year. If he plays big minutes next year again, then that negative hopefully will come down.
What has Ward and Wiesbrod said about Max? I trust both of them.
And for Ward trying "to win first" is not a bad thing. I would love to have our prospects in a winning atmosphere... Something the flames haven't been able to provide in 5 years.
i am not concerned with his -17 because if he plays in every situation imaginable, his development will be through the roof in his first pro year. If he plays big minutes next year again, then that negative hopefully will come down.
What has Ward and Wiesbrod said about Max? I trust both of them.
And for Ward trying "to win first" is not a bad thing. I would love to have our prospects in a winning atmosphere... Something the flames haven't been able to provide in 5 years.
Reinhart's a -17 because during the lockout, there were players that were put ahead of him on the depth chart and played huge offensive zone minutes.
Reinhart's a defence-first centre, so he was put in defensive situations against other team's top players and (understandably) wasn't put in offensive situations. In other words, lots of defense + little offense + first year pro = a plus/minus number like he's got. That -17 really is not a big deal.
He's doing good for a first year pro. I talked to him just last week and his confidence is sky high with the more opportunities he's been given.
EDIT: The proof that his confidence is growing is in his stats line. In his first 35 games he had 5 points. In his last 13 games, he's collected 9 points.
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Street and Taylor cleared waivers. So glad they did.
Quick question though: If either get called up again, will they have to clear waivers again when they get sent down?
Taylor required waivers because he's been on an NHL contract before (and is a certain age). Street is on his first ELC and doesn't require waivers yet. He will next year, I believe.
My understanding is you get waived once, but I haven't read the new CBA. Irving, for instance, can be assigned without waivers now. I think. It MAY be you get waived and if you clear, you're fine for 30 days, which was the deal under the 2005 CBA.
Taylor required waivers because he's been on an NHL contract before (and is a certain age). Street is on his first ELC and doesn't require waivers yet. He will next year, I believe.
My understanding is you get waived once, but I haven't read the new CBA. Irving, for instance, can be assigned without waivers now. I think. It MAY be you get waived and if you clear, you're fine for 30 days, which was the deal under the 2005 CBA.
Yeah, until the details of the new CBA come out it's hard for us to be sure. The one big change IIRC is that players now can be called up without having to go through waivers. I'd guess being sent down would still be under the old rules, maybe.
the handling of irving this offseason has me severly questioning what exactly is the philosophy of our AHL affiliate.
how can i guy who basically didn't make the heat even as a backup, played very few games, somehow manage to become the big club's backup.
Other teams used the lockout as a means to get their young guys top mins in the AHL so they got a headstart when the NHL season resumed. The flames decided against this, knowing they didn't really have any other decent backup goaltending options.
Just a franchise fail in my opinion.
Depends how you look at it. 6 games through mid-January is about what we would have seen Irving play while backing up Kiprusoff.
You can prepare players in more ways than one. Getting a workhorse goaltender used to playing 1-2 times a month can't be an easy task.
I really do have to wonder why they're not calling up Wahl? He seems like he's been putting up points in the ECHL.
It's clear that Ward and Wahl have different philosophies on how to play the game.
I think Mitch Wahl is going to be one of those "ones that got away" for the Flames.
I really don't understand it. I watched the games that Wahl played in Abbotsford when he got called up. I thought he was the best player for the Heat. Was he beast defensively? No, but he wasn't a complete liability. No worse than Kolanos. I thought he generated many scoring chances and if he had some better line mates with some finish, probably would have picked up a few assists.
This is a real pet peeve for me. I understand playing the team system, but sometimes you have to let your players play to their strengths. Ward just reeks of the Sutter "my way or the highway" attitude. The Flames are organizationally weak at centre and the one creative and skilled centreman they have at the pro-level continually gets shafted by the minor league coach. They sign all these veteran career minor leaguers with no skill and creativity instead of giving Wahl, a draftee, a chance.
PMM, I respect your opinion on the Heat and really want to know what you think of this whole Wahl thing? What do you think of Wahl's play when he was called up from the HEat?
For all the talk on hockey IQ and creativity and skill, the Flames are being real two faced to Wahl I think.
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Calgary Flames, PLEASE GO TO THE NET! AND SHOOT THE PUCK! GENERATING OFFENSE IS NOT DIFFICULT! SKATE HARD, SHOOT HARD, CRASH THE NET HARD!
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It's clear that Ward and Wahl have different philosophies on how to play the game.
I think Mitch Wahl is going to be one of those "ones that got away" for the Flames.
I really don't understand it. I watched the games that Wahl played in Abbotsford when he got called up. I thought he was the best player for the Heat. Was he beast defensively? No, but he wasn't a complete liability. No worse than Kolanos. I thought he generated many scoring chances and if he had some better line mates with some finish, probably would have picked up a few assists.
This is a real pet peeve for me. I understand playing the team system, but sometimes you have to let your players play to their strengths. Ward just reeks of the Sutter "my way or the highway" attitude. The Flames are organizationally weak at centre and the one creative and skilled centreman they have at the pro-level continually gets shafted by the minor league coach. They sign all these veteran career minor leaguers with no skill and creativity instead of giving Wahl, a draftee, a chance.
PMM, I respect your opinion on the Heat and really want to know what you think of this whole Wahl thing? What do you think of Wahl's play when he was called up from the HEat?
For all the talk on hockey IQ and creativity and skill, the Flames are being real two faced to Wahl I think.
I totally agree. I have watched several Grizzlie games, Wahl is doing great and needs more challenge. I imagine he will go to a different organization. Will be Calgary's loss. Some kind of ego thing, or whatever, going on in Abby....almosts feels like grown ups acting like children.
Heat are getting totally schooled by Peoria. They're lucky they're only down 1-0.
Taylor looks really solid despite the team in front of him crapping out.
PMM, I respect your opinion on the Heat and really want to know what you think of this whole Wahl thing? What do you think of Wahl's play when he was called up from the HEat?
For all the talk on hockey IQ and creativity and skill, the Flames are being real two faced to Wahl I think.
I'll agree that he was pretty damn good when he got called up for those three or so games. I think Wahl's biggest issue is he's scared of getting blindsided again. He shies away from nearly every hit and it results in turnovers a lot.
I honestly can't speculate one way or the other about perceived issues between Wahl and Ward. There may or may not be. I don't think Ward is anywhere near as Sutter-esque the way you've described. In fact, I'd say he's probably the opposite. I think all coaches are "my-way-or-the-highway" to a certain extent. With Ward, he's bullish on his players adhering to his defensive system, but on offense he let's them wheel and deal as much as they like.
Getting back to Wahl though, it's just too bad we couldn't go back in history and see how his career goes if he hadn't got that concussion. That was a scary night not just for him, but for fans too. I remember listening to that game and hearing that he had been rushed to the hospital. Scary stuff.
I feel really bad for him, but I can't see him having much more of a future with the Flames. If I were him, I'd go over to Europe to play hockey and enjoy his time elsewhere.
The big thing, too, is the difference in speed and skill level between the AHL and ECHL. Wahl can wheel and deal on the perimeter in the ECHL, while the AHL is a bit different.
