What are your thoughts on Joe Colborne so far?

[metroneck]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I personally don't understand why the "4th line" needs to have such a stigma.

If he is playing with Bouma and Galiardi is it really that bad?

Eventually Stajan, Cammy, and Stempniak will be gone and ice time will open up for him but for the time being there is no issue with him playing on the 4th line.

Agreed... Jackman - whoever - McGrat is a 4th line that you'd play 4-6 min.

Bouma - Colborne - Galiardi is your second 3rd line that can play 12 min + penalty kill.

By good NHL team standards, the Flames have 2 solid 3rd lines, a decent 2ish - 3rd line (a tweener), and an ok 2nd line.

No true first line, and a lot of holes on D.

[Poe969]

I think as soon as he establishes a himself and gets a "U" in his name, he'll be unstoppable!

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I think as soon as he establishes a himself and gets a "U" in his name, he'll be unshtuppable!

fyp

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by metroneck

Agreed... Jackman - whoever - McGrat is a 4th line that you'd play 4-6 min.

Bouma - Colborne - Galiardi is your second 3rd line that can play 12 min + penalty kill.

By good NHL team standards, the Flames have 2 solid 3rd lines, a decent 2ish - 3rd line (a tweener), and an ok 2nd line.

No true first line, and a lot of holes on D.

That would be perfectly fine and I think ideal for the team. It's not going to happen however, as 4th lines never see enough ice team required to properly develop a player into a top 6 scorer. The flames are definitely deep up front but I can't see the 4th line getting more than 7 minutes a game.

[NuclearFart]

Waaaaay too tentative a player for his size. Other than occasionally using the wing span to his advantage, he plays like a 6'0" player. If you're not going to throw hits or power your way to the net, at least study Jagr to learn how to take advantage of body size to protect the puck and open up plays.

[Drury18]

I'm still not a fan of this trade. I still think we took a spot away from one of the guys in the Heat system (Horak, Knight or Reinhart) that might have been essential in their development. We didn't need anymore centres and now we have so many that these guys are going to have to wait longer for their chance.

If he was a developed player and had more NHL experience, maybe I could have accepted it. But he is another project and pretty much a prospect like the rest of them and I think it was a needless trade to make.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by Drury18

I'm still not a fan of this trade. I still think we took a spot away from one of the guys in the Heat system (Horak, Knight or Reinhart) that might have been essential in their development. We didn't need anymore centres and now we have so many that these guys are going to have to wait longer for their chance.

If he was a developed player and had more NHL experience, maybe I could have accepted it. But he is another project and pretty much a prospect like the rest of them and I think it was a needless trade to make.

Colborne has a higher ceiling than any of the guys you mentioned. He's also, as you mentioned, further along in his development than the other 3. He's also roughly the same age (23 – Knight is 23 & has zero NHL experience, Horak is 22 & Max is 21). It's rare that such a promising prospect is available for peanuts. I really don't know how anyone isn't a fan of this trade, especially on the grounds that he's holding others back. We have every reason to believe this guy will be as big a part of a successfully rebuilt Flames team as any of our prospects. He's gotten better and better each game, and Toronto fans are grinding their teeth that they had to let this guy go. Excellent move by Feaster (or Burke, or whoever).

[Badgers Nose]

if he pans out as Burke suggests as a Steckel 2.0 then Flames have their next Patterson/Otto/Yelle/Conroy type player.

That would be absolutely awesome for a 4th round pick!

[TheDebaser]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I think as soon as he establishes a himself and gets a "U" in his name, he'll be unstoppable!

Would you like to buy a vowel?

[edn88]

in the games that I have noticed him, he looks like he has some potential. Nice to see a big body go the front of the net, and I have seen him sprung on two breakways, one he finished and other was close.

I think he could have some great upside.

[Heavy Jack]

The addition of two big centers in Colborne and Monahan has given this team a different identity that is noticeable. I haven't seen centers go to the net like those two for this team in a long while. It's great to see that they are giving Joe more and more responsibility, I highly doubt he was expecting to be playing alongside a guy like Cammy at any point this season when he signed that 1 year deal with T.O. He's really great in the face-off circle too which is great to see, excellent value deals so far in Russell and Colborne.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Drury18

I'm still not a fan of this trade. I still think we took a spot away from one of the guys in the Heat system (Horak, Knight or Reinhart) that might have been essential in their development. We didn't need anymore centres and now we have so many that these guys are going to have to wait longer for their chance.

If he was a developed player and had more NHL experience, maybe I could have accepted it. But he is another project and pretty much a prospect like the rest of them and I think it was a needless trade to make.

There is some sort of disconnect.

The Heat has 5 NHL calibre centres and is 4-4-1 and none of them is at a ppg pace in the AHL.

Knight Reinhart, Horak, Blair Jones and Ben Street are all touted to be Colborne level centres that are NHL ready but the Heat is not dominating the AHL.


What is the problem? Do they have bad attitudes? Poor coaching or just not as good as the Flames fans imagine.

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

There is some sort of disconnect.

The Heat has 5 NHL calibre centres and is 4-4-1 and none of them is at a ppg pace in the AHL.

Knight Reinhart, Horak, Blair Jones and Ben Street are all touted to be Colborne level centres that are NHL ready but the Heat is not dominating the AHL.


What is the problem? Do they have bad attitudes? Poor coaching or just not as good as the Flames fans imagine.

The AHL is a hard league to score in and I think 4-4-1 is really great for a young team that has seen quite an overhaul this past season, I wouldn't look too far into the not at a PPG pace. Street came up and performed admirably to start the season, Knight and Reinhart are going to need to blossom more into their potential but I don't see much more than really good bottom 6 energy players in those guys. Blair Jones is a wasted contract IMO but Horak is the only one out of the players you have listed that has me scratching my head and agreeing on the disconnect that you mentioned. I think Horak needs to be given more than a game next time up, he's a smart player and is defensively reliable. I think both teams are performing above expectations to this point in their respective seasons.

[SHOGUN]

I only see a bigger version of Scott Gomez.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by SHOGUN

I only see a bigger version of Scott Gomez.

Which is easily worth a 4th round pick while he's still under team control.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

The AHL is a hard league to score in and I think 4-4-1 is really great for a young team that has seen quite an overhaul this past season, I wouldn't look too far into the not at a PPG pace. Street came up and performed admirably to start the season, Knight and Reinhart are going to need to blossom more into their potential but I don't see much more than really good bottom 6 energy players in those guys. Blair Jones is a wasted contract IMO but Horak is the only one out of the players you have listed that has me scratching my head and agreeing on the disconnect that you mentioned. I think Horak needs to be given more than a game next time up, he's a smart player and is defensively reliable. I think both teams are performing above expectations to this point in their respective seasons.

Horak is going to get jerked around all year and then next year when he's waiver eligible he'll suddenly be good enough to stick in the NHL all year. Such is life as a borderline prospect.

[Miniac]

This belongs here too,

Hartley talk about Colborne's progress.