Flames first quarter season report card

[The Boy Wonder]

I agree with almost all the grades! Thanks for the post, it was a great read.

[troutman]

Those don't sound like my children's report cards:

Joe can expedite competency-based convergence to close the achievement gap, and transition discipline-based SMART goals outside the box. He will repurpose actionable networks through high impact practices. Next term Joe should disaggregate shared opinions through the collaborative process, and generate cooperative schemas across cognitive and affective domains.

[Aarongavey]

Smith should definitely be a F. In the past 15 years there have only been 2 goalies that have had worse than an .876 save percentage and played in at least 20 games. None in the last 10 years. He has been played at a historical level of terrible. There are no examples that I can find where there is a .054 difference in save percentage between two goalies on the same team. We could be watching history with Smith, so I think it is a well-deserved F at this point.

[SeanCharles]

Just to not get bogged down in letter grading with + & - I evaluate it differently.

Passing with flying colours:
- Gaudreau
- Monahan
- Tkachuk
- Lindholm
- Gio
- Rittich
- Hamonic
- Bennett

Above average passing grade:
- Brodie
- Hanifin
- Valimaki
- Andersson
- Backlund
- Hathaway
- Frolik

Not failing but have more to give (most listed have been coming around lately):
- Ryan
- Jankowski
- Dube
- Stone

Almost failing:
- Czarnik

Failing:
- Smith
- Neal

[Jiri Hrdina]

Slightly different grades on the degree to which they met expectations. 1 basically meaning they have not met expectations at all, 3 meaning they met their expectations and 5 meaning they’ve consistently exceeded

Within that then

5 ratings
Gio
Rittich
Lindholm
Tkahcuk

4 ratings
Brodie
Hamonic
Valimaki
Andersson
Monahan
Gaudreau

3 ratings
Backlund
Hanifin
Bennett
Ryan
Frolik
Dube

2 ratings
Stone (hard to evaluate)
Neal
Jankowski
Hathaway
Czarnik

1 rating
Smith

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think your grades for the most part are bang-on Deluxe. Maybe Bennett goes down a slight notch to a B+ for me.



Peters absolutely gets an A. Not only are the Flames winning games, but they are playing an entertaining style. You can't win a championship every year of course - heck, it is an incredibly tough thing to do once every decade, and loads of teams have never won a single one. I think it is important to entertain the fanbase, and I think the fanbase have been getting their money's worth.


You forgot Prout and Peluso - they each played at least one game, though not much to go by.



My ratings would be:


Peluso - C - met expectations. Didn't hurt the team, was a pleasant surprise in helping to sustain offensive zone time from what I recall.


Prout - D+ - lots of shots on net, but poor quality (from what I remember - though it might have been preseason too). The only mistake was getting fooled by Pettersen on a pass, and went out of position instead of making the safe play - cost the Flames a goal. That is literally the only instance I remember him making a mistake, but I don't really remember him doing anything great. Played physical.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Slightly different grades on the degree to which they met expectations. 1 basically meaning they have not met expectations at all, 3 meaning they met their expectations and 5 meaning they’ve consistently exceeded

Within that then

5 ratings
Gio
Rittich
Lindholm
Tkahcuk

4 ratings
Brodie
Hamonic
Valimaki
Andersson
Monahan
Gaudreau

3 ratings
Backlund
Hanifin
Bennett
Ryan
Frolik
Dube

2 ratings
Stone (hard to evaluate)
Neal
Jankowski
Hathaway
Czarnik

1 rating
Smith

I like these. I would put Neal down at 1 given his contract and expectations he really has yet to do anything at all. But I think I would agree with every other rating you have.

[Jiri Hrdina]

^Yeah I had Neal as a 1 originally and maybe that's where he should be.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

^Yeah I had Neal as a 1 originally and maybe that's where he should be.

Neal is definitely a 1.

I think your Bennett rating is too low. Started a bit slow through the first 5-10 games but has really picked things up.

I think it's goofy to rate him lower because he hasn't been generating points, unreasonable expectations. Guy has never been and i obviously don't think ever will be a point producer, but he has cut his minor penalties in a huge way, is much quicker in all 3 zones and in a contract year, is playing his bag off most nights.

I think Bennett at his peak is what we're witnessing now.

Right now him, Tkachuk, and Hamonic are the heart and guts of this roster.

I'd rate Bennett an A/5.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Neal is definitely a 1.

I think your Bennett rating is too low. Started a bit slow through the first 5-10 games but has really picked things up.

I think it's goofy to rate him lower because he hasn't been generating points, unreasonable expectations. Guy has never been and i obviously don't think ever will be a point producer, but he has cut his minor penalties in a huge way, is much quicker in all 3 zones and in a contract year, is playing his bag off most nights.

I think Bennett at his peak is what we're witnessing now.

Right now him, Tkachuk, and Hamonic are the heart and guts of this roster.

I'd rate Bennett an A/5.

A 5 suggests he is vastly exceeding expectations and I don't see it that way. I agree that he's been playing well but 8 points in 22 games still tracks to expected performance. If he continues his recent play I could see him being a 4 by mid-year.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

A 5 suggests he is vastly exceeding expectations and I don't see it that way. I agree that he's been playing well but 8 points in 22 games still tracks to expected performance. If he continues his recent play I could see him being a 4 by mid-year.

Let me put it like this then,

Bennett hasn't wildly exceeded your expectations up to this point?

IMO, he's been the best player on the team in perhaps as many as 5 games this season. To me, that is wildly successful.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Let me put it like this then,

Bennett hasn't wildly exceeded your expectations up to this point?

IMO, he's been the best player on the team in perhaps as many as 5 games this season. To me, that is wildly successful.

No. In my view this had to be the expectation for him to carve out a role on the team. Absent consistent production I wanted to see him be able to impact the game in other ways. So for me right now he's doing that.

I think he's adding an important element that this team doesn't have a lot of but I also don't agree that he's been the best player in many games. He's played his role very well though.

[FBI]

Bennett is on pace for 15-15=30
Not huge but definitely trending the right way..
Even Janko is stepping up a bit now and on pace for 8-17=25 and trending up.

[Strange Brew]

It’s a rating over the entire quarter season of games. Bennett has trended up lately but after 10 games I’d have him in the 2 category as there was no production at all. He has really blossomed in last set of games and more than just chipping in with some offense. But consistency will be something to look at with Bennett so I like the 3 category for him right now.

[edslunch]

Expectations for Bennett are tough to quantify. Everyone here wanted him to be better than he was last year.

Some people figured he would be better - the give him time camp - and he is, though maybe not in the way people assumed (points). I’d say he’s meeting expectations for those folks.

Some had given up on him, so surely he’s exceeded expectations for them.

In either case he still hasn’t put it all together though hopefully there are signs.

Combining the two perspectives I’d give him a B

[DeluxeMoustache]

I gave Bennett an A partly based on the incoming expectations (and a lot of CP was vicious!). The dramatic arc of his season has seen him given, what, 7-8 minutes and 4th line duty the first 2 games?

He reportedly was determined to show the coaches his 2 way game, has been noticeable every night. He turned the tide of the Colorado game, a comeback win where he was not seen on the scoresheet.

Different guys have different development curves. Treliving gave his perspective tonight. The organization and, as far as I can see, the general fan base (with some exceptions, of course) are pleased with his progress.

So with an A, in his case, it reflects where he started, what the expectations were, the initial opportunity he got and how he worked with what he had to with with, and jumped 2 lines. To me that’s an A

It’s partly the grit and character that it took to end up closer to his potential. Hope that makes sense.

The irony is, I suppose, that, given I felt like Gulutzan was a mess and basically mismanaged this asset, my personal expectations of him (and his potential) are probably higher than his aggregate stats would reflect this first quarter. So there are many ways you could justify a lower grade.

But to me, I was considering my impression of the general expectations as well. For the grade (A), it was not just the stats but the trend and the narrative of how he got there.

I am totally cool with contrasting viewpoints, on Bennett and everyone. I just think it’s nice to look back at a substantial body of work and discuss.

Appreciate all the comments so far!