Rhetzky wants to have a chat about the Captain

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

He’s playing through an injury.

I think his play has not been at its usual level in a while. If he *is* playing through an injury, maybe it's time to consider sitting him? Move Zary back to center and bring in a fresh winger?

I know it would hurt the ego, but he does look behind the play to me.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

He has 1 year left on his deal, and his play may have taken a hit, but he is not holding the team back.

"He doesn't hold the team back."

The exact job description everyone looks for in a Captain.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by FBI

Well backlund used to be solid everywhere until like 20-30 games. Now he’s the worst I’ve sign in his career.

When NHL players lose that crucial half step, as they age, it can result in some pretty sudden drop offs. Look at Gio. Went from Norris winner to barely #6-7 d-man in a couple of seasons. Backlund is 36 in about a week.

The vast majority of the forwards older than him are guys so offensively talented that they can still produce without their former physical abilities. Pacioretty seems to have fallen off this year too.

[camm13]

Originally Posted by Circa89

when does he need to do this?

When Abbott says it 6 times a game.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

"He doesn't hold the team back."

The exact job description everyone looks for in a Captain.

What do you want him to do? His job really isn't to produce offence, and we have taken the 2nd most penalty minutes in the NHL and he is top PK player.

Rasmus Andersson is 28 and is -27 and 13 points since mid-October and people are quick to defend him. That he is playing too much and out of position.

The is C is just a decal, the leadership in the room is a group.

His age is likely catching up to him now anyways, maybe the coaches should take more blame for overaplaying him.

[Badgers Nose]

He’s playing like I would expect an old Backlund to play. And playing to his contract IMO.

Still love the guy, but he has 1 maybe 2 seasons left in him at this level.

Still a solid defensive centre, but should be no where near the PP.

[saillias]

The only person I blame in this equation is Huska, for playing him like the #1 center on this team.

Surprise, a 35 year old athlete, will be 36 this month, doesn't have the hands he used to. Even in his prime he was a 40-50 pt guy. Guys like Crosby or Giordano aren't the norm, they're freaks.

He was also never physical. He doesn't contribute through physicality. This is a misunderstanding of the player and a lack of respect for what he does.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

I never really thought he was the right pick to begin with but I don't think it's fair to criticize him for it at the moment.

He's playing far, far too much on a nightly basis and that is on Huska, not Backlund.

5 points in his last 25 games while routinely playing 19/20 mins a night just isn't going to cut it. His offensive game has vanished, and when he's leading the TOI charge it hinders this teams ability to score goals.

Backlund is averaging 19:08/night, which is the second highest in his career, behind only last season where he was averaging 19:14. Backlund is also getting 1:55 minutes per night on the PP.

This team can't score...so they are overplaying an aging vet who was known for his shut down game, including giving him loads of PP time. He has 2 PP points all season.

Cut Backlund's ice time back, at least back to his career average of about 17 minutes/night. Keep him far away from the PP. The Flames just acquired Frost, who is a capable PP centre. Frost, Kadri, and Zary should all be easily ahead of Backlund on the PP depth chart. The Flames would be better off playing a 2nd d-man on the PP than Backlund.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I swear that show is becoming harder to listen to. The only person that seems to care enough on that show to be prepared is Pinder. He at least backs up his views with stats, and upon presenting them, usually gets disregarded and met with a contrarian viewpoint, and then dismissed just for being Pinder.


Warrener used to be the insightful 'locker room' and 'team dynamics' guy who shared his experience and so on. I can't believe how off-base he is with Backlund. I can only assume that he thinks if you aren't scoring, you should be fighting. Backlund doesn't fight. Maybe that's the burr that is annoying Warrener here. Backlund's offence has taken a step back - he is 35, on a team that has overall been a low-scoring team. He still plays defence at a very high level, and the stats back him up on that. Beyond that - this team on paper isn't very good, yet they are in a playoff spot. They are playing hard almost every night. Sure Rhett, the leadership that Backlund brings is the elephant in the room.



I think for the last few weeks, I just skip to the guest portion, and then turn if off when that segment is over. I find it increasingly more difficult to listen to for some reason. Maybe it is just me, so I hope I either get over it, or they improve somehow.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Circa89

when does he need to do this?

Right f###ing NOW!

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I swear that show is becoming harder to listen to. The only person that seems to care enough on that show to be prepared is Pinder. He at least backs up his views with stats, and upon presenting them, usually gets disregarded and met with a contrarian viewpoint, and then dismissed just for being Pinder.


Warrener used to be the insightful 'locker room' and 'team dynamics' guy who shared his experience and so on. I can't believe how off-base he is with Backlund. I can only assume that he thinks if you aren't scoring, you should be fighting. Backlund doesn't fight. Maybe that's the burr that is annoying Warrener here. Backlund's offence has taken a step back - he is 35, on a team that has overall been a low-scoring team. He still plays defence at a very high level, and the stats back him up on that. Beyond that - this team on paper isn't very good, yet they are in a playoff spot. They are playing hard almost every night. Sure Rhett, the leadership that Backlund brings is the elephant in the room.



I think for the last few weeks, I just skip to the guest portion, and then turn if off when that segment is over. I find it increasingly more difficult to listen to for some reason. Maybe it is just me, so I hope I either get over it, or they improve somehow.

I generally just catch the guest segments on the podcast later these days, but I feel like the wider show lately has kind of reflected how the Flames are playing.

[Badgers Nose]

I like that they have different opinions.

Rhett never liked Mikael as captain. And he’s been pretty clear about what he values in a captain versus what he thinks Backlund brings.

From what I’ve heard, the players love Backlund and he was the obvious choice for captain. Outside of the perenial selke guys, he was one of the best shut down centres in the league during his prime. Sid once said he was the player he least liked playing against.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

What does Rhett Warrener mean by it?

I imagine he means that whenever there is criticism of Backlund, it's met by "that's not his job" or "don't look at that, look at this instead."

You know what we really need? Someone we can rely on to win faceoffs. Why isn't he putting that on his shoulders and getting better at faceoffs? I don't expect him to score 30 goals, but I do expect him to figure out a way to lead this team on the ice. For a defensive specialist Captain, it seems like "get better at faceoffs" should be a pretty easy ask.

What exactly is he doing to lead this team? I mean that. Like I'm actually asking for specifics. He's the Captain of the Calgary Flames. In which way has he been the guy our team can lean on? In which way has he put this team on his back?

Rhett tongue-in-cheek asked about goals, but he's really just listing all the ways in which a Captain can lead by example. Goals, hits, playmaking, faceoffs. Even just banging around in front of the net, causing some chaos.

Rhett's an NHL player who's both been a Captain and followed captains. He knows what he's talking about. He know what drives other players to join the fight. Playoffs are war, and we have a General who only shows up in the invisible stats that you have to calculate after the game is over. Valuable metrics, for sure, but nothing that's going to make other players go through a wall to win anything.

I still don’t understand if fan assigned immunity was from Rhett or you because you said it in your post
Again he faces plenty of criticism
War analogies in sports are lame

[Rhettzky]

Rhetzky wants to have a chat about the Captain

No i do not.

[Yeah_Baby]

I really think Rhett has a bee in his bonnet when comes to 11 because of something 11 said or did as a prospect or rookie back in the day.

[Sec214]

A Captain can play the game anyway he wants.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Bingo

A pass for what?

Not producing offensively when he's a shut down center?

The Backlund onslaught lately has been insane.

No, it’s been very fair criticism for lazy uninspired play.

Watch him. Watch him “try” and tell me with a straight face he’s giving his all out there.

Backlund is controller disconnected.

[traptor]

Yeah Rhett doesn't seem to think very high of Backlund and it goes beyond just this.

He was scoffing at the idea of Backlund being captain before it was announced.


They must really not of clicked when they played together.

[TheScorpion]

I agree with Rhett to a certain extent on this but I think it's tough to single out any one player on a team where we've seen two thirds of the roster struggle to contribute over significant chunks of the year.

Backlund, Andersson, Sharangovich, Farabee, Pospisil, Frost, most of the other defencemen, even Zary at times. Coronato, their most consistent offensive player IMO, is on pace for 46 points. It's been an extremely tough go for everyone, and when the team has been at its best, they've been grinding out wins at the expense of individual production.

[BigThief]

Backlund is an aging transitional captain for team that isn't expected to be good. I like the guy who he's Todd Simpson, Steve Smith, Bob Boughner and Dave Lowry. This is not something to get bent out of shape over.