[News] Shane O'Brien assigned to Heat. Breen recalled.

[kyuss275]

They should probably bring up Smith instead. More than likely the player coming up is going to be sitting in the pressbox. Breen needs all the playing time he can get.

[Vinny01]

I really hope this is for a trade reason and not bringing up that pylon Breen

[868904]

I wonder if Hartley and Burke were upset that SOB wouldn't fight Kassian? And they figure truculence is the main reason they keep SOB in the lineup and if he's not being truculent, maybe you put someone else in there who will? Even though Breen hasn't shown much but you know he will fight if challenged.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

It's amazing that you are such an astute talent evaluator after seeing him for a whole 43 minutes in ice-time at the NHL level.

It doesn't take much to see a player that is so out of his element. Watching Breen play was like watching an overgrown midget player trying to play major junior. He stood out like a sore thumb.

[Brick]

How about Tyler Wotherspoon?

[Moneyhands23]

Originally Posted by Brick

How about Tyler Wotherspoon?

Im extremely excited to see him in the Nhl. Not sure if he is ready yet tho.

[kehatch]

Breen wasn't any better than O'Brien. But the Flames will have to decide if they want to keep Breen beyond this season.

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk

[Moneyhands23]

What time will we know if he clears??

Nevermind...thanks sureloss

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by Brick

How about Tyler Wotherspoon?

Drury18 alerted me to this article on Wotherspoon earlier this week.

http://www.abbynews.com/sports/heat/news/241745651.html

He's having a very good rookie season, but I'd be hesitant to call him up to play on the bottom pairing as he's so young. I feel as though that would be rushing him a bit, which might derail some solid progress in his development.

We want someone who can deputise when needed but we aren't worried about sitting in the pressbox when the top 6 are all healthy.

Billins would get my vote, but he's so small & we have so many oompa-loompas in the lineup already. Losing him might derail the Heat's season.

Ramage is another option as I feel he probably maxes out as a bottom-pairing D, and since he's a college grad and an older rookie pro he might not be affected nearly as much by sitting in the press box. RH shot on the bottom pairing would be a bonus.

Breen's fine in the pressbox & if he had to dress & play 7 minutes a night it ain't the end of the world. It's not like we're in the playoff hunt.

Adios SOB... Hated you at first but grew to tolerate you.

[sureLoss]

Darren Dreger @DarrenDreger
O'Brien and Samuelsson cleared Waivers.

[FlameZilla]

Ouch. Wounder for Shane's ego.

[BigFlameDog]

Originally Posted by iggysback05

I think Burke may have pulled off a real filthy one. Essentially he adds Locke to the Heat roster, replaces Cundari with O'Brien and Chicago gets squat unless Cundari gets sent back down.

Can't actually see him pissing of another organization that bad during a meaningless season. Would be an extremely stupid move IMO

[BigFlameDog]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

Because excellent is a massive stretch? He's what 24 now? This year is his breakout year and he's still on pace for fewer than 35 points.

I don't think trotting out his point totals for this year helps your argument. The flames suck right now and are offensively challenged to say the least. The couple of guys that may have helped him pad his stats have been injured more than healthy this year.

[The Original FFIV]

Burke said he would address this situation in the am. Any media types in here know of his availability? Probably on trade call now

[moon]

Originally Posted by BigFlameDog

I don't think trotting out his point totals for this year helps your argument. The flames suck right now and are offensively challenged to say the least. The couple of guys that may have helped him pad his stats have been injured more than healthy this year.

How does it not help his argument?

Backlund is not a young player anymore so that BS excuse used in the past is out. The Flames are a bad team which means he has every opportunity to take a big role and get force fed top minutes and yet he still isn't good enough to do that even on this team with little to no competition.

And the word used to describe him was excellent. Excellent guys don't need other players to help them pad their stats. If he was excellent he would be able to create offense all on his own and certainly a hell of a lot more than a 35 point pace that he is currently on and would be a big career high for him.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

It's funny how many of you talk about Breen like he's Zach McKelvie or something.

Truth is, he wasn't good in the NHL. He got walked around. He didn't think the game very well. He left opponents uncovered in front of the net which resulted in goals.

On the flip side, he's too good for the AHL. He's the team's shutdown guy. This weekend against the Comets, no joke the guy probably blocked about 30 shots on his own. Since he's been sent down, not a single player could get around him. He's playing smart. His back is probably sore from all the times he's had to cover/carry Wotherspoon.

So if he's too good for the AHL, but not good enough for the NHL, what do you do? I'd cross my fingers and toes that a fully healthy Breen who has had time to warm up and play (in whatever league), would hopefully become something in NHL with time. It's a rebuild. If a 24-year-old beast can become even a bottom pairing guy, you take that chance.

With that said, if it is a trade he's involved in. I'll miss him on the Heat.

[Geeoff]

SOB clearing is the shocker of the year. Worst player on one of the worst teams? I'm surprised no one came-a-claimin'!

[kyuss275]

The article that I read said that Burke would adress the situation if SOB cleared waivers. I would think if they were sending him down they would already have done it. I wonder if Burke has a trade with SOB? If so i hope Burke is eating up 50% of SOB salary and takes a 7th round pick in return. I really don't want to see what kind of player SOB would get back in return in a player for player trade.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

Originally Posted by moon

How does it not help his argument?

Backlund is not a young player anymore so that BS excuse used in the past is out. The Flames are a bad team which means he has every opportunity to take a big role and get force fed top minutes and yet he still isn't good enough to do that even on this team with little to no competition.

And the word used to describe him was excellent. Excellent guys don't need other players to help them pad their stats. If he was excellent he would be able to create offense all on his own and certainly a hell of a lot more than a 35 point pace that he is currently on and would be a big career high for him.

Excellent at what he does - which is playing a strong two way, third line centre role. Excellent may be a stretch. I would have used good at this point. However, trotting out point totals doesn't add to that discussion when that's not intended to be the full measure of his game by any means.

What is this about creating his own offense? There's very few players in the NHL who can create offense all on their own in today's game. Those are the elite level athletes like Ovechkin, Crosby, Kane, etc. I didn't see anyone putting Backlund in that category. That's not his role. Yet on this goal starved team, he is still tied for 2nd among forwards in points. The people that continue to blast Backlund are those that are expecting him to be some kind of elite number one centre. I think we can all agree that is not going to happen. He is developing very well into what he should be at this point - a good two way third line centre that can contribute on the scoreboard. He may be 24 but I would argue that he's transitioned into this type of role in the last couple of years so he's still getting used to it and developing quite well. I wouldn't trade that for Brookbank.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

? If so i hope Burke is eating up 50% of SOB salary and takes a 7th round pick in return.

That's roughly $1,500,000.00 for a 7th round pick... don't know about anyone else but I would really hope that Burke doesn't place that kind of valuation on the last round of the draft. Sends a bad message to other GM's (Namely that he doesn't put value on cap space and you can buy it cheap from the Flames).