Notes from Dec 5 practice - Stajan confirmed to play Saturday

[sureLoss]

optional practice today - so hard to read into a lot

• Colborne skated today before the main group

Derek Wills @Fan960Wills
13 players on the ice at the Saddledome for #Flames optional practice. Hiller the only goalie, so I suspect Ramo starts again tomorrow.

• Would be Ramo's 5th straight start
• Ramo shutout the Sharks last weeks so some logic to playing him again

Derek Wills @Fan960Wills
Baertschi, Raymond, McGrattan wearing green jerseys, Stajan sporting a grey one. May be misleading at optional, but I bet he plays tomorrow.

Derek Wills @Fan960Wills
#Flames Head Coach Bob Hartley confirms that centre Matt Stajan will return to the line-up tomorrow vs. #Sharks. #CGYvsSJS

• looks like the Flames will scratch Baertschi in favor of playing Stajan
• this will be Stajan's first game after missing 16

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
"That was his best game in the @NHL ... I love this kid ... He's just getting in gear. He's gonna be a good one." - Hartley on @ferdaddy27

[Igster]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

[*]looks like the Flames will scratch Baertschi in favor of playing Stajan[/LIST]

Not surprising. The kid is trying, but he just can't get over that hump.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Igster

Not surprising. The kid is trying, but he just can't get over that hump.

It didn't help Sven that Ferland had a pretty big game last night. Sven played well (I didn't see the whole game, but I heard what I didn't see). But the commentators were gushing over Ferland.

[sureLoss]

Derek Wills @Fan960Wills
#Flames Head Coach Bob Hartley confirms that centre Matt Stajan will return to the line-up tomorrow vs. #Sharks. #CGYvsSJS

[SeanCharles]

Send Sven to the A or scratch Bollig and play him. Sitting him in the pressbox for any more than 1 game is not good for anyone..

[StrykerSteve]

Happy for Stajan, sad for Baertschi.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Baertschi been better than Bollig lately. But welcome back Stajan.

[Five-hole]

Baertschi has been doing the right things lately. His compete is way up and he's making plays. He needs to have some guys on his line who can anticipate and cash in on his passes, but that's not gonna happen until Sven starts outplaying someone ahead of him in the depth chart.

He's not gonna displace Glencross. We know what Gaudreau is doing. So he's gotta outplay Ferland, or Raymond when he comes back. Tall order. I think he'll be sent back down when Raymond draws in. Colborne likely pushes Granlund back to the A, who I think has fallen off a bit and could use a quick stint in the minors to rediscover his offence.

[Imported_Aussie]

If this game was against a less physical team, then I could see Bollig scratched instead, but, right or wrong, coaches go for the physical presence on the 4th line wing when facing the California teams

[Fire]

Stajan will probably be eased in my taking Bouma's center spot on the 4th line while Bouma is moved to the wing. Sven in the pressbox and probably sent down soon.

[puffnstuff]

Would have liked to see Ferland and Sven swap lines for at least one game in the last few. See what that would have done.

[icarus]

Nice praise for Ferland. That preseason photo of Johnny Hockey, Ferland and Sam Bennett hanging out together will be made into a Flames poster one day.

[zukes]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Would have liked to see Ferland and Sven swap lines for at least one game in the last few. See what that would have done.

I've been thinking that too. Ferland can give what he's been giving on the 4th line, let's see if Baertschi can get some offense going with some more skilled players. I give Baertschi props though, playing in the 4th line has forced him to play a full 200 foot game, which was Burke's biggest complaint about him.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by zukes

I've been thinking that too. Ferland can give what he's been giving on the 4th line, let's see if Baertschi can get some offense going with some more skilled players. I give Baertschi props though, playing in the 4th line has forced him to play a full 200 foot game, which was Burke's biggest complaint about him.

I think, though, that the success of Jooris moving up to the 2nd line shows the value of a muscle player in the line mix. Ferland arguably has more offence than Jooris and should help Granlund and Byron in that regard. He's fast as well, so he can keep up.

[sa226]

Ferland's game is so ridiculously underrated. He's going to be a good one.

He did a few things last night that had me re-evaluating what he can be.

How many young power forwards have the gall to try that bank off the net move on a Dman, and have it work? I thought stuff like that was only reserved for Johnny Hockey.

[Bingo]

I really hope they say the right things to Baertschi when he heads down, and that he hears it and goes with the plan.

He's way more on the right page now than at any point in the last two years. Just go down, and play the exact same way. Force his way up the roster and start producing.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Baertschi been better than Bollig lately. But welcome back Stajan.

Don't think it's relevant though, they are here to do very different things. I'd be shocked other than to injury if this team ever rolls a line up that doesn't contain one of Bollig or McGratts on it. Right or wrong, team firmly believes given how small we are through the rest of the line up, they need to add some muscle / deterant somewhere in the line up, and Sven can't be that.

Good time to bring Stajan in though, team won last night, but was far from their best effort. Inserting STajan now could be the perfect timing.

[sa226]

One thing I have noticed about Baertschi is that he seems to have trouble creating space for himself. I can't really put a finger on why because I think his play has improved quite a bit. He has more jump and his confidence doesn't seem to be the major stumbling block anymore. He is just playing.

But when you watch the other young guys they seem to be able to make space or use tight space to their advantage. Baertschi seems to be stuck in a phone booth with 5 other guys.

Maybe its just me.

[sa226]

Dp

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by sa226

One thing I have noticed about Baertschi is that he seems to have trouble creating space for himself. I can't really put a finger on why because I think his play has improved quite a bit. He has more jump and his confidence doesn't seem to be the major stumbling block anymore. He is just playing.

But when you watch the other young guys they seem to be able to make space or use tight space to their advantage. Baertschi seems to be stuck in a phone booth with 5 other guys.

Maybe its just me.

I think that's the part of his game they're trying to improve.

Sven appears to favour being just at the periphery, waiting for a puck to squirt loose from a scrum by the boards so that he has a split second to make a pass or take a quick shot. But to compete he needs to be the 4th man in that 3 man scrum and take the puck. But as you say, he doesn't look nearly as confident in those tight spaces.

There was a telling play for me in the Arizona game where he was behind the net with an arizona dman, the puck went into the air... and he looked absolutely lost with no idea where the puck was. For someone with that much skill and handle on the puck, it just showed to me that he enters those scrums with eyes partly closed. He's getting there, but still not wide eyed and confident in those one-on-one battles.