Sean FRICKIN Monahan

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

Can we get a poll to see who thinks he should stay and who thinks he is better served spending the year lighting up the OHL?

Personally I think he is better served staying in the NHL but there are definitely benefits to seeing him returned to the OHL too. I don't think his game is going to suffer either way, just too mature mentally to let something like this phase him.

Just hope whatever happens this place doesn't explode with "omg can't believe this happened" from either side.

[djsFlames]

Monahan's time is still best served in the NHL.

He was more exposed tonight than we would've wanted partly because of the injury situation right now. If Stajan, Cammalleri and Jones were in he would be seeing some very sheltered and favorable situations where he could continue to learn and succeed. When we get back to that point it'll be the most ideal development situation for a kid whose understanding of the game has far surpassed the CHL level.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Monahan's time is still best served in the NHL.

He was more exposed tonight than we would've wanted partly because of the injury situation right now. If Stajan, Cammalleri and Jones were in he would be seeing some very sheltered and favorable situations where he could learn and succeed. It'll be the most ideal development situation for a kid whose understanding of the game has far surpassed the CHL level.

Nothing wrong with "trial by fire" so long as management understands he's in over his head.

[MrMastodonFarm]

I think Monahan had a quiet game more then a bad game tonight.

[djsFlames]

I suppose.

But I've always been a proponent of easing young talents into the game and letting them climb their way up the roster by their own progression. That way, when they're playing top 6/top 2 minutes it's cause they've proven that they're ready for it. (ex. Brodie)

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

I suppose.

But I've always been a proponent of easing young talents into the game and letting them climb their way up the roster by their own progression. That way, when they're playing top 6/top 2 minutes it's cause they've proven that they're ready for it. (ex. Brodie)

Mono is very very much more talented than Brodie. Not taking anything away from TJ, because he is going to have a long and fruitful career, but Mono is in a different league altogether.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

I suppose.

But I've always been a proponent of easing young talents into the game and letting them climb their way up the roster by their own progression. That way, when they're playing top 6/top 2 minutes it's cause they've proven that they're ready for it. (ex. Brodie)

If this is honestly how you feel, then you should have no problems whatsoever with how Monahan has been handled by Flames management thus far, and furthermore no problem if they decide to keep him on the roster. I haven't yet had a chance to watch the Anaheim game, but in virtually every prior game this season, Monahan has been among the Flames better forwards. He has EARNED the chance to be here, and so long as he continues to be one of the best nine forwards on the team, then there is no reason to send him back to Juniour. If he does stay with the Flames, then fans also need to understand that his time will include bad games and quiet games from time to time, which DO NOT presuppose that he would have been better served to have been dispatched back to Ottawa. He's learning on-the-job, and so long as he is showing consistent growth and improvement, it's all good.

I'm fine if the Flames decide to send him back to Juniour, but in my mind, this is not the obvious choice right now.

[flylock shox]

Another article on sending him down.

[ricardodw]

6 games 1 hit 1 blocked shot .. 42% on faceoffs. Monahan is playing a small man's game.. not the role we need him to play.

Send him down before he becomes accustomed to it

He is only just 19 .... He has a good taste of how big and fast the NHL is. He needs to go and knock and play a big man's role against some guys his age. Focus on winning 60% of his faceoffs. Next year he will be bigger and faster and be more willing and able to play the role the Flames are counting on him for.


Jonathan Toews spent a full year in the NCAA after being drafted 3rd overall.

Very similar body types and hopefully Monahan turns out like Toews.

[renny]

I think the coaching staff have done whatever they could to shelter Monahan. For example in his own zone, he was playing left wing for most of the night rather than center. You could see him and Sven exchanging glances to confirm the position change. Nothing wrong with doing that though as the kid is still learning and playing the winger role in your own zone is much easier than the center position.

I'm having a really heard time with this one, I think either way the Flames go it's not going to hurt Monahan's development. If he stays in the NHL, I think he'll learn by trial and error (management, fans and coaching staff just need to realize he'll make mistakes). Going back to the OHL won't hurt him either, he'll continue to dominate at that level and get tons of ice time. I wish there was some way he could be sent to the AHL so that he could work with Troy Ward to continue learning the Flames' systems.

[Gary83]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

6 games 1 hit 1 blocked shot .. 42% on faceoffs. Monahan is playing a small man's game.. not the role we need him to play.

Send him down before he becomes accustomed to it

He is only just 19 .... He has a good taste of how big and fast the NHL is. He needs to go and knock and play a big man's role against some guys his age. Focus on winning 60% of his faceoffs. Next year he will be bigger and faster and be more willing and able to play the role the Flames are counting on him for.


Jonathan Toews spent a full year in the NCAA after being drafted 3rd overall.

Very similar body types and hopefully Monahan turns out like Toews.

Toews doesn't really hit, since you're complaining about physicality and all. Monahan will get better in the dot by playing in the NHL, not by dominating the OHL.

[SuperMatt18]

It will be more clear after the next couple games.

Sharks, Kings, and Coyotes all have good center depth and the Flames will not be able to shelter Monahan with the last change on the road.

If he can hold his own in those games against the likes of Thornton, Couture, Pavelski, Richards, Kopitar, etc then he should stay up in the NHL. If he looks overwhelmed against those centers then he will be better served in the OHL.

These teams all make up our division now and he will have to be able to play against those centers for it to make sense to keep him up.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

6 games 1 hit 1 blocked shot .. 42% on faceoffs. Monahan is playing a small man's game.. not the role we need him to play.

Send him down before he becomes accustomed to it

He is only just 19 .... He has a good taste of how big and fast the NHL is. He needs to go and knock and play a big man's role against some guys his age. Focus on winning 60% of his faceoffs. Next year he will be bigger and faster and be more willing and able to play the role the Flames are counting on him for.


Jonathan Toews spent a full year in the NCAA after being drafted 3rd overall.

Very similar body types and hopefully Monahan turns out like Toews.

Your whole insistence on blocked shots and hits is really tiring, but I'll just say this:

Toews had (in 64 games) 27 hits and 13 blocked shots, if you boil that down to 6 games, you're looking at 2.5 hits and 1.2 blocked shots per 6 games stretch. As well, his FO% was 53.2 to end the season.

If he stays, he has plenty of time to get there, there is no evidence to suggest Toews started off at that pace (which is only MARGINALLY higher than Monahan).

Calm yourself, your RGR has already been proven as totally useless, so if you're going to say Monahan should be sent down, then at least use a better reasoning than him playing a "small" game. He uses his body out there, he's just not hitting (which is an unreliable stat, as every building counts hits differently).

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by strombad

Your whole insistence on blocked shots and hits is really tiring, but I'll just say this:

Toews had (in 64 games) 27 hits and 13 blocked shots, if you boil that down to 6 games, you're looking at 2.5 hits and 1.2 blocked shots per 6 games stretch. As well, his FO% was 53.2 to end the season.

If he stays, he has plenty of time to get there, there is no evidence to suggest Toews started off at that pace (which is only MARGINALLY higher than Monahan).

Calm yourself, your RGR has already been proven as totally useless, so if you're going to say Monahan should be sent down, then at least use a better reasoning than him playing a "small" game. He uses his body out there, he's just not hitting (which is an unreliable stat, as every building counts hits differently).

Really you are going to denigrate Toews because he has only won 53.2% of his face offs???

the Flames have basically never had a center winning 53.2 % of their face off since Theo Fluery in 1998-99.

Iginla has been the only Flame who has exceeded that for more than a few face offs and even Iginla was only taking half the number of faceoffs as a regular centre.


As to the hits being variable under different officials explain why compared to the rest of the Flames team of which he is the least hitting player playing in the same rinks with the same people doing the counting?

He has 1 hit in 6 games. Hudler and Baertschi.... guys who are in the NHL because of their vastly superior talent have 3 and 4 hits... playing in the same games under the same official counts.

You can't say that you have been watching the games and not noticed Monahan playing shy???

He has been great with the puck and makes great decisions in time and space but has not shown any inclination to crash the net or win puck battles.

He looks like a very talented 19 year old playing against men. This is very similar to Hall, RNH and Yakapov. As 19 year olds they had the talent to play in the NHL but they adapted their game to being physically dominated.

[Enoch Root]

I think that this 9 game stint has served its purpose - we know that he is a very smart hockey player and is going to be a tremendous NHLer.

But he is not going to be that this year.

And he and the Flames also know what he needs to work on.

I would like to see him have a more pressure-free development year in junior where he can develop his offensive game, a well as the things he needs to work on. Where he can play in all situations and grow his confidence.

Another benefit of sending him down is that it allows for more opportunities for the other centres in the organization to get NHL experience and for the organization to see what they've got with some of these guys.

Colborne, Horak, Knight, Reinhart and Granlund would all benefit from getting ice-time with the big club.

Backlund is looking solid. Monahan is good to go for next year.

Let's focus this year on finding out what else we've got

[belsarius]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I think that this 9 game stint has served its purpose - we know that he is a very smart hockey player and is going to be a tremendous NHLer.

But he is not going to be that this year.

And he and the Flames also know what he needs to work on.

I would like to see him have a more pressure-free development year in junior where he can develop his offensive game, a well as the things he needs to work on. Where he can play in all situations and grow his confidence.

Another benefit of sending him down is that it allows for more opportunities for the other centres in the organization to get NHL experience and for the organization to see what they've got with some of these guys.

Colborne, Horak, Knight, Reinhart and Granlund would all benefit from getting ice-time with the big club.

Backlund is looking solid. Monahan is good to go for next year.

Let's focus this year on finding out what else we've got

For most of these first 6 games I have been on the keep him up side but after watching last time I am starting to lean to send him down. You are right, he now knows what to work on, what to improve. Give him the year to work on the details, bulk out a little more.

It was the clips of Sven covering defensivally that really got me thinking of the differences between the two. After only a taste of NHL action last year you can really see the differnce in Sean and Sven in how they react on this level. Sven really showed how much more ready he looks for the NHL and was rewarded in the third with a lot of ice time with Hudler and I think he made a good showing of himself.

With all of the centers you mentioned I dont think it hurts Monahan or the organization to give him the one more year and see what else in the cupboard can shine.

[Bill Bumface]

5 game point streak- "There is no way you can send him down, he's ready!"

1 game with no points- "Send him down! No point keeping him up! Not enough shot blocks!"

[Envitro]

It's funny, someone mentioned the quiz on TSN last night, and Bob was the only one on the panel that said he should be sent down.

Interestingly both Ward and Johnson, former players themselves, said that he'd benefit more from being in the NHL than playing the 4th year of Junior.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Really you are going to denigrate Toews because he has only won 53.2% of his face offs???

the Flames have basically never had a center winning 53.2 % of their face off since Theo Fluery in 1998-99.

Iginla has been the only Flame who has exceeded that for more than a few face offs and even Iginla was only taking half the number of faceoffs as a regular centre.


As to the hits being variable under different officials explain why compared to the rest of the Flames team of which he is the least hitting player playing in the same rinks with the same people doing the counting?

He has 1 hit in 6 games. Hudler and Baertschi.... guys who are in the NHL because of their vastly superior talent have 3 and 4 hits... playing in the same games under the same official counts.

You can't say that you have been watching the games and not noticed Monahan playing shy???

He has been great with the puck and makes great decisions in time and space but has not shown any inclination to crash the net or win puck battles.

He looks like a very talented 19 year old playing against men. This is very similar to Hall, RNH and Yakapov. As 19 year olds they had the talent to play in the NHL but they adapted their game to being physically dominated.

Only by your flawed logic was I denigrating Toews.

We aren't comparing Monahan to every other Flames player, you compared him to Toews, and I showed you why comparing him to Toews as a shot against Monahan isn't warranted. You, of course, left out my very correct points about their hitting and blocked shots not being far off, and considering this is only game 6, as I said before, Monahan has plenty of time to match Toews' numbers, they aren't that lofty.

Either way, Monahan was already one of the best face off guys in the OHL, he was automatic, sending him down isn't going to improve his face off skills when he's already dominated the dot. As for his physical play? The was one of the knocks against him pre-draft. It could stand to be improved, but comparing him to Toews in that sense is ridiculous, seeing as Toews barely managed higher 'physical' stats on average in his first full season than Monahan has over 6 games. Monahan hasn't looked shy, he goes to the tough areas, but he doesn't hit. Do you learn to play more physical in the NHL by playing in the OHL? I'd be mighty surprised were that true. I could see value if he was college or AHL bound, but playing against weaker opponents isn't going to help his physical game.

It stands to reason that your gripes are not warranted against a player who has only played in 6 career NHL games.

[GreenLantern]

To be fair.. I did predict the wheels would start falling off this ride last night in Anaheim. The Flames will pick up 1 or 2 points on this road trip, before the end Monahan will be back in Ottawa.

No problems there, he had a great taste of the NHL and showed a lot of poise and maturity. Go back, get traded to a contender, dominate the OHL, dominate the WJ's get all that great experience and come back stronger and better next year. The Flames are not a contender, Mackenzie laid it out great last night, is Monahan the difference between the Flames winning the Stanley Cup this year or not?

It was a fun start to the season and we all enjoyed it, but please lets not get delusional here.