Flames Exploring Trade Options

[saillias]

46% isn't much to boast about. With the amount of time Backlund's been in the league, if he can't push 50% he needs to be a legitimate offensive talent to play centre. Plus food for thought... Maybe if Monahan and Colborne had better faceoff men to practice against and learn from, they wouldn't have the abysmal %s they do now?

[HighLifeMan]

Originally Posted by Robo

That doesn't help backlunds case too much backlund at 4 years in the league is barely outplaying a rookie and his numbers show . I would put more time in developing a rookie in a rebuild than a 4th year player who just doesn't seem to get better

These two players are separated in age by a minuscule 10 months, and the differential in developmental years at the proffesional level is one season.
How you could possibly use Colborne's lack of previous success as a professional athlete as a reason to keep him around instead of or ahead of a more established player is beyond me.

In addition to that Backlund did in fact shown significant improvement in his game last season..enough so that he was rewarded with a two year contract extension. I fail to see how a 10 game sample size to start this season (in which he recorded 4 points) is enough to overlook the growth he made last year and the commitment we made to him by inking him to that contract.

I also don't think it is any coincidence that this team has seemingly gotten away from what made them successful as a team after Mark Giordano went down with injury and Mikael Backlund was pushed into a diminished role. More than any other forward on this team Backlund has previously shown the ability to drive possession of the puck in a positive direction.

Originally Posted by saillias

46% isn't much to boast about. With the amount of time Backlund's been in the league, if he can't push 50% he needs to be a legitimate offensive talent to play centre. Plus food for thought... Maybe if Monahan and Colborne had better faceoff men to practice against and learn from, they wouldn't have the abysmal %s they do now?

Where did I boast about it faceoff ability?
Backlund consistently gets ragged on for his lack of success in the faceoff dot but yet again when directly compared to Colborne it is yet another aspect of his game in which he is the superior player.

[Hyde]

This talk about faceoff abilities reminded me of this Herald article from a few weeks ago; some good quotes from Colborne and Street.

“He knew I was a rookie,” recalls Colborne. “I’d been kicked out three times already. He’d go in first (at the dot) and I’d follow, and I was the one getting kicked out. Finally, I said, ‘Look, I’m trying to show the coach that I can win a draw . . . so let me at least finish a draw, take a draw. I don’t care if I lose it, I just want to take it.’ ”

“It’s different game to game, linesman to linesman,” says Street. “You’ve got to push the boundaries and find out what you can get away with. It’s different if you’re the home team, the road team. A rookie doesn’t get away with a whole lot that a veteran might get away with. There’s a lot of variables.”

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...468/story.html

[saillias]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

These two players are separated in age by a minuscule 10 months, and the differential in developmental years at the proffesional level is one season.
How you could possibly use Colborne's lack of previous success as a professional athlete as a reason to keep him around instead of or ahead of a more established player is beyond me.

In addition to that Backlund did in fact shown significant improvement in his game last season..enough so that he was rewarded with a two year contract extension. I fail to see how a 10 game sample size to start this season (in which he recorded 4 points) is enough to overlook the growth he made last year and the commitment we made to him by inking him to that contract.

I also don't think it is any coincidence that this team has seemingly gotten away from what made them successful as a team after Mark Giordano went down with injury and Mikael Backlund was pushed into a diminished role. More than any other forward on this team Backlund has previously shown the ability to drive possession of the puck in a positive direction.



Where did I boast about it faceoff ability?
Backlund consistently gets ragged on for his lack of success in the faceoff dot but yet again when directly compared to Colborne it is yet another aspect of his game in which he is the superior player.

You didn't boast about faceoff ability, and I wasn't accusing you of such, I was simply using the expression.