The Legend of Sam Bennett

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by shadowlord

I realize that tonight is only one game, but Bennett's goals tonight really weren't a function of his quality teammates.

Goal 1 - garbage goal off a goalie-rebound from a point shot.

Goal 2 - wraparound goal where Sam had possession from the blueline in (arguably he goal a good pass from Huberdeau just inside the blueline, but Sam had to weave his way around all 5 defenders)

Goal 3 - Bennett carried the puck from his own blueline and sniped it on entry.

I've seen all of Bennett's games with Florida and this can be said to be true in general. Now of course he benefits from playing with Huberdeau (who wouldn't?) but a lot of his points come from simply crashing the net. So called garbage points but it's the result of the way he plays the game.

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think it's an interesting "What If" question to consider if the Flames hadn't traded Sam.

I start with the premise that he would have continued to play better under Sutter but it is unlikely he would have taken a massive step that we've seen in Florida so far.

So then the question is...do the Flames leave him unprotected. I think that answer is Yes.

Then the question is...does Seattle take him or Gio? On one hand, they seemed to focus on building their blueline and Gio is a big part of that. On the other hand their forward group is very weak including at Centre.

So I think it's 50/50 but for the sake of the thought exercise, let's say they take Sam.

So at the end of all that where does that leave the Flames
- Still without Sam
- They wouldn't have the assets (2nd and Emil) gained from the Sam trade
- On the other hand they would have Gio still
- They would also have potential assets gained from flipping him at this deadline (probably less than 50% chance that would have happened though)
- They likely do not trade for and sign Zadarov. Not sure if the Gudbransson signing is as impacted. Perhaps.

Just fun to play out how it would have impacted other decisions.

The Flames should've traded Bennett years ago before they tanked his value by playing him in a bottom six winger role.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Joborule

The Flames are getting exactly what they deserve.

A ####ty organization, gets ####ty results. The last 30 years speaks for itself.

Happy Bennett was able to escape and salvage his career as a great player.

Lol.

Were fans of other teams this salty when Glencross came here? Bourque? Huselius?

It happens sometimes that a player doesn’t fit with an organization. Maybe it’s the city, the coaches, the teammates, leadership. Hell, maybe it’s the player himself who didn’t put it together.

We already have like 10 threads where you can hate the Flames. Can’t this one thread just be about Sam Bennett?

Can you not be happy for Bennett without hating the Flames? Or maybe you’re not happy for him at all, you’re just bitter and angry.

[agulati]

So happy for Bennett to get the hat trick. I’m glad that he is finding success and will be following him closely in the future.

I wish we had found a way to give him a longer opportunity with Sutter, but with the expansion draft looming, there needed to be a move made.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by agulati

I wish we had found a way to give him a longer opportunity with Sutter

Sutter never played on the top PP, or on the top PK, or twenty minute nights, or even as a center. He needed out of Calgary, fullstop. And it appears Kylington does, as well.

Originally Posted by shadowlord

I realize that tonight is only one game, but Bennett's goals tonight really weren't a function of his quality teammates.

To me, the offense is the thing that gets all the attention, but his play as a center - defense and transition - is what he actually brings to his line that is completely overlooked by statwatching. He's basically a version of prime Backlund for his team, and even as a Flame he typically showed more raw skill than Backlund.

[Redrum]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Or if we had a coach with half a brain that would have played him with top 6 talent. Unfortunately by the time that man arrived it was too late.

Yeah, a little bit. It's more the Huberdeau thing though.

[1Nite]

Originally Posted by Saqe

I've seen all of Bennett's games with Florida and this can be said to be true in general. Now of course he benefits from playing with Huberdeau (who wouldn't?) but a lot of his points come from simply crashing the net. So called garbage points but it's the result of the way he plays the game.

If he was still on the Flames, I wonder how many penalties he would get and goals called back?

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Lol.

Were fans of other teams this salty when Glencross came here? Bourque? Huselius?

It happens sometimes that a player doesn’t fit with an organization. Maybe it’s the city, the coaches, the teammates, leadership. Hell, maybe it’s the player himself who didn’t put it together.

We already have like 10 threads where you can hate the Flames. Can’t this one thread just be about Sam Bennett?

Can you not be happy for Bennett without hating the Flames? Or maybe you’re not happy for him at all, you’re just bitter and angry.

We're these players the highest draft pick in their franchise history?

This was a colossal mismanagement of player asset as possible. Miss do happen, but this was egregious considering they never really gave their highest pick ever a true chance due to ####ing up the coaching situation considerably for several seasons in a row.

Also thanks for assuming my opinion on him. Yes, I hate him so much for being successful; as many on this forum had assumption of him being able to be so.

[Freddy]

Bennett for me is a low hockey IQ player that kept being coached to fit roles within systems here in Calgary with low success. If he had been just unleashed to play the North-South game he naturally wants to play and the Flames had tried to find players to compliment him the Flames identity would be faster, tougher, push the tempo kind of hockey. We currently have a top 6 who like to snap it around summer shinny style and wonder why it doesn’t translate to regular season and even worse in the playoffs.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Freddy

Bennett for me is a low hockey IQ player that kept being coached to fit roles within systems here in Calgary with low success. If he had been just unleashed to play the North-South game he naturally wants to play and the Flames had tried to find players to compliment him the Flames identity would be faster, tougher, push the tempo kind of hockey. We currently have a top 6 who like to snap it around summer shinny style and wonder why it doesn’t translate to regular season and even worse in the playoffs.

Is it really "low hockey IQ" if his preferred style of play is the style of play that is successful, and his failures come from not adapting to the style of play you feel is "summer shinny"..?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Freddy

Bennett for me is a low hockey IQ player that kept being coached to fit roles within systems here in Calgary with low success. If he had been just unleashed to play the North-South game he naturally wants to play and the Flames had tried to find players to compliment him the Flames identity would be faster, tougher, push the tempo kind of hockey. We currently have a top 6 who like to snap it around summer shinny style and wonder why it doesn’t translate to regular season and even worse in the playoffs.

That's a CP misconception. He's a skilled, hard working player that at times lacks discipline. You just have to let him go out and play his game which is what Quenneville has done as he feels the positives outweigh the negatives of the occasional bad penalty. Flames coaches put all their efforts into neutering him and a neutered player is what they got.

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Is it really "low hockey IQ" if his preferred style of play is the style of play that is successful, and his failures come from not adapting to the style of play you feel is "summer shinny"..?

He could’ve been successful here too if he had linemates that could keep up. I think Mangiapane and Dube have similar North-South intuition with strong motors, but if they play with our top 6 they have to slow it down, find the set play positions and lose any momentum they may have generated through the neutral zone.

Tkachuk for me epitomizes the summer shinny stereotype of constantly trying moves that work when the defenders aren’t playing physical. Gaudreau, Lindholm, Tkachuk, Monahan are never thinking to go through defenders and not be denied, while Bennett, Mangiapane, and Dube are willing to pay a price to exert their will/determination.

[Freddy]

I really liked Bennett and feel bad calling him ‘low hockey IQ’ but he doesn’t use his linemates very well and instead is the battering ram his linemates follow to clean up the garbage. His highlight videos pre draft were all him single handedly skating through entire teams to score big goals. He’s showing in Florida if you just let him be him you don’t need to overly coach him to get success.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by 1Nite

If he was still on the Flames, I wonder how many penalties he would get and goals called back?

I did think that there is no way his first goal last night counts if he’s still a Flame…

[dustygoon]

I've always been a fan and am still gutted at that horse-#### trade. One of his goals was the greasy kind we know of. Another a nice wrap around. And the 3rd? A bullet to the top corner from the slot.

I find the lack of mea culpas and pube eating on here to be hilarious. It's one thing to be frustrated with his development path. I just have a problem with those posters that had such conviction in his uselessness and such vitriol towards him.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

It wasn't a match here.

Let it the eff go.

I think it’s fair to ask why it wasn’t a match. What happened that made the highest draft pick in franchise history look like a bust while he was here but immediately look like what we thought we were getting when he goes somewhere else? Something rotten in this organization and I’d like to know what it is.

[Macman]

I think what happened to Sam Bennett here was a bit of an anomaly. These things happen when a player can't find their groove or can't adjust, maybe it was just the dynamics of the other players around him. I never thought he was a bad player but I did notice a couple times when he got left behind on the breakouts but still quickly caught up.

Also keep in mind that Bennet was down the list of top players here so that may have had something to do with it as well. Good on Florida for recognizing a possible better fit for Sam or did they just take a chance and hope it would work out there for him.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by Macman

I think what happened to Sam Bennett here was a bit of an anomaly. These things happen when a player can't find their groove or can't adjust, maybe it was just the dynamics of the other players around him. I never thought he was a bad player but I did notice a couple times when he got left behind on the breakouts but still quickly caught up.

Also keep in mind that Bennet was down the list of top players here so that may have had something to do with it as well. Good on Florida for recognizing a possible better fit for Sam or did they just take a chance and hope it would work out their for him.

2-3 games with top players once in awhile is not a chance, just like what they are doing to Kylington now. That should kill most career but Bennett is too good.

He had a great playoff then come the new year , they said no room at center , you can be a bottom 6 winger. Totally messed up. And yeah the Flames are not too good for Sam Bennett.

[tvp2003]

Had Bennett been drafted by a different team in 2014, there’s no guarantee he would (or wouldn’t) be the player he currently is in Florida under Q. In many respects, he still had to learn and develop, ie the toe drag bull**** and skating through people in junior doesn’t work in the NHL, and you can’t take lazy penalties, especially in the O-Zone.

Part of me thinks that Calgary was almost like an extended stint in the AHL (which he never had), where he had time to figure out the pro game. The crappy part is that Florida became the beneficiaries of that work, and all we got were several frustrating seasons and what we got back in the trade.

I also think Bennett’s fate in Calgary was sealed when Mangiapane passed him on the depth chart. Interestingly, Mange had no problem working his way up from the fourth line whereas Bennett struggled with it. That, in a nutshell, was the enigma of Sam Bennett and his time in Calgary.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

I've always been a fan and am still gutted at that horse-#### trade. One of his goals was the greasy kind we know of. Another a nice wrap around. And the 3rd? A bullet to the top corner from the slot.

I find the lack of mea culpas and pube eating on here to be hilarious. It's one thing to be frustrated with his development path. I just have a problem with those posters that had such conviction in his uselessness and such vitriol towards him.

Some were polarizing him and forcing others to accept "their opinion" of him; Even calling him a replacement-level player. Even now some are looking for anything to downplay the fact Sam is doing so well. He scored a hat trick so it must be someone else who is feeding him his success. I think it has more to do with the coach playing him often and in all situations that has brought Sam Bennett's skills back to the surface.