Sam Bennett/Kingston Frontenacs discussion

[tvp2003]

Cue the next 1000 post thread on whether Calgary should call up Sam...

[GranteedEV]

As cool as it would be to get Sam back, I'd rather see him single handedly lead his team to a series comeback down 0-3.

[Captain Chuckles]

I was also wondering why they were able to shut down Sam (other than the 2 assist game). The NB goalie Jake Smith appears to be the top goalie in the limited games so far. 1.00 GAA - 0.967 save % - 1 SO

[PeteMoss]

I haven't watched the games but north Bay is coached by Stan Butler and they've basically been the same boring defensive team for 20 years (they were in Brampton previously). Think the Jacques Lemaire Minnesota wild teams and you've got an idea of the style they play. Just hard to score on.... And Kingston historically has been a terribly coached no system gong show (they've changed coaches since I last saw them but it's been about 15 years of this in Kingston.)

Not really surprised it's gone like this.... Its a super structured team against a team with no system

[Gaudfather]

So if the Frontenacs lose the series in four games then Bennett theoretically could be in the Flames line-up for Saturday night's game in Edmonton.

[skudr248]

I'll be at the game Saturday so hope so

[868904]

That sucks, was hoping to see Bennett do well in the playoffs.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Cue the next 1000 post thread on whether Calgary should call up Sam...

No need. Of course they will. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Whether/how much he plays would fill a lot of pages tho.

Interestingly the Flames will reward the playoff failure. They won't like that. Much

[skudr248]

Originally Posted by 868904

That sucks, was hoping to see Bennett do well in the playoffs.

You will... Stanley Cup playoffs start April 15th where the Flames will play the dirty Canucks

[T@T]

Is there a reason he wouldn't go to Adirondack and help them out first?

[Textcritic]

^
Because he is good enough to play in the NHL, and also because the boost he provides is potentially more beneficial to the Flames?

[Delthefunky]

Originally Posted by Gaudfather

So if the Frontenacs lose the series in four games then Bennett theoretically could be in the Flames line-up for Saturday night's game in Edmonton.

Perfect way to ease him into the NHL

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by JohnnySkittles

Only reason I'd be hesitant to put Bennett into an NHL playoff game with zero to a handful of games of NHL experience would be that he plays a very in your face, chippy game. He's not yet filled out completely, and he's so intense that I don't think he'd care and would go all out and potentially injure himself again.

Have you seen him out there? He looks like he's 6'1" and just under 200lbs. He did a lot of filling out while he was sidelined this season. For the record he's only just a couple of pounds smaller than Iginla was when he broke into the league playing a physical style.

He's played 40 (!!) minutes a game some nights in Kingston. This is not some delicate flower who we need to be hand-wringing about picking up an injury. This is an NHL-ready player who might be the difference between beating the Kings and Jets to the playoffs or golfing in April.

The only downside I can think of is someone would have to sit in the pressbox (*cough* Raymond *cough*) but if you're worried about Sam Bennett you needn't bother.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

^
Because he is good enough to play in the NHL, and also because the boost he provides is potentially more beneficial to the Flames?

Possibly and likely yes, but this is a tight knit group who fought like hell together to make the playoffs, fans can say sit so and so all day to play the 18 year old but in reality it could be a chemistry killer.

He's a natural center, you can't expect him to play wing in his first few games can you?, so who do you move and who sits in your opinion?

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by T@T

Possibly and likely yes, but this is a tight knit group who fought like hell together to make the playoffs, fans can say sit so and so all day to play the 18 year old but in reality it could be a chemistry killer.

He's a natural center, you can't expect him to play wing in his first few games can you?, so who do you move and who sits in your opinion?

He was with the tight-knit group all season while he rehabbed his shoulder. He's one of them.

He also broke into the OHL as a winger and is likely to start his NHL career at that position, considering the depth at C we currently have.

I'd slot him onto the 3rd line with Colborne and Jooris/Granlund. Raymond either sits or replaces Ferland on the 4th line. His added intensity should make a bit more room for Colborne to operate.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

He's played 40 (!!) minutes a game some nights in Kingston.

It was pointed out earlier in this thread that the OHL doesn't publish ice time numbers, so the sites that show ice time use an extremely flawed method of calculating ice time by assuming players are on the ice for an amount of time proportional to the number of goals scored when they're on the ice.

So, if a team wins a game 4-0, and the player was on the ice for 3 of the 4 goals, his ice time estimate for that game would be 45 minutes.

[Trailer Fire]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Have you seen him out there? He looks like he's 6'1" and just under 200lbs. He did a lot of filling out while he was sidelined this season. For the record he's only just a couple of pounds smaller than Iginla was when he broke into the league playing a physical style.

He's played 40 (!!) minutes a game some nights in Kingston. This is not some delicate flower who we need to be hand-wringing about picking up an injury. This is an NHL-ready player who might be the difference between beating the Kings and Jets to the playoffs or golfing in April.

The only downside I can think of is someone would have to sit in the pressbox (*cough* Raymond *cough*) but if you're worried about Sam Bennett you needn't bother.

No, he hasn't. The OHL (CHL overall, I believe) doesn't actually track ice time, but instead use their point totals from the night to average out their ice time. The specifics are beyond me, but he doesn't play 40 minutes a night.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Have you seen him out there? He looks like he's 6'1" and just under 200lbs. He did a lot of filling out while he was sidelined this season. For the record he's only just a couple of pounds smaller than Iginla was when he broke into the league playing a physical style.

To be fair, Conroy himself said that the biggest issue with Bennett's game right now is that he doesn't protect himself, and puts himself in situations where he could get injured.

[GreenLantern]

So if he was averaging 2.18 PPG against OHL teams we should expect to see something north of 2.5 against Edmonton.



Get it? Because Edmonton is no good.

[GioforPM]

NHLe/ENG