They should have shoehorned Bennett into centre. But Florida just had a way better setup to do so because their 1C was also the shutdown C. With Monahan and/or Lindholm at 1C and Backlund at shutdown C, each playing 20+ minutes per game, Bennett could only get 15 minutes at best.
That's after the Lindholm trade.
The easy thing to do was put Bennett in the 3rd line C position like Hartley did to start Monahan off. He would have been behind Monahan (1C) and Backlund (2C). Lindholm was still in Carolina.
They should have shoehorned Bennett into centre. But Florida just had a way better setup to do so because their 1C was also the shutdown C. With Monahan and/or Lindholm at 1C and Backlund at shutdown C, each playing 20+ minutes per game, Bennett could only get 15 minutes at best.
The Flames should have played Bennett as a 2C, and Backlund as a 3C.
That was the answer then, that is the answer now.
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The easy thing to do was put Bennett in the 3rd line C position like Hartley did to start Monahan off. He would have been behind Monahan (1C) and Backlund (2C). Lindholm was still in Carolina.
As I said - that gets him 12-15 minutes. He got significantly more in FLA. They could offer him 2C and pretty much a whole offensive role that year with Huberdeau.
The roster could have easily been structured something like that.
That means to me, you are playing both Tkachuk and Bennett something like 12 minutes per game assuming the first line of Calgary gets 20 and the first line of the opposition ( that Backlund plays) gets something similar (and Sutter used Ryan to check good lines of Backlund wasn’t available).
Are you saying Bennett should have played shutdown centre? Because otherwise he’s getting 3C minutes no matter what you call him.
I’m saying Bennett should have been the #2 centre on the team.
I’m saying the coaches who made the dumbass decision were in fact dumbasses who used Backlund as a crutch, and couldn’t construct a 2nd properly - it should have been Tkachuk - Bennett - best option available.
It was a complete failure by the coaches/organization, and emphatically so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
That means to me, you are playing both Tkachuk and Bennett something like 12 minutes per game assuming the first line of Calgary gets 20 and the first line of the opposition ( that Backlund plays) gets something similar (and Sutter used Ryan to check good lines of Backlund wasn’t available).
Your assessment is wrong then, just like Ward/Peters/Gulutzan.
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I’m saying Bennett should have been the #2 centre on the team.
I’m saying the coaches who made the dumbass decision were in fact dumbasses who used Backlund as a crutch, and couldn’t construct a 2nd properly - it should have been Tkachuk - Bennett - best option available.
It was a complete failure by the coaches/organization, and emphatically so.
As a crutch for what? Shutting down the opposition’s best line? I’m afraid I’m not getting what you think the role would be there. Are you suggesting Bennett and Tkachuk check the opposition top line? We know Monahan and Gaudreau couldn’t match that way. When they tried they were overwhelmed.
Maybe Bennett and Tkachuk could grow into that but they certainly weren’t able back then.
Who on that lineup do you line up against McDavid or MacKinnon. I know who does it on Florida. It’s not Bennett.
Yeah, and you know who can’t do it? Backlund. We saw as much.
They used Backlund as a crutch because they were bad coaches.
I find it incredible that you’re even bothering to defend them, seeing as their stellar performances saw them all demoted or out the league.
They sucked at their job, and hurt the Flames. Conroy even spoke to the team never giving him the opportunity at the position that they drafted him to fill.
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Yeah, and you know who can’t do it? Backlund. We saw as much.
They used Backlund as a crutch because they were bad coaches.
I find it incredible that you’re even bothering to defend them, seeing as their stellar performances saw them all demoted or out the league.
They sucked at their job, and hurt the Flames. Conroy even spoke to the team never giving him the opportunity at the position that they drafted him to fill.
I’m not defending them. I’m saying Florida had a much better slotting situation. And back then Backlund was a Selke candidate.
Conroy says they drafted Bennett as a center… doing exactly what he is doing, and never put him in the position to do that, and that’s on them
Except in the playoffs, where he was excellent
Said pretty much what I've been saying, "the Flames didn't know what they had in Sam Bennett at the time." That doesn't mean Conroy didn't know but the succession of coaches beyond Hartley didn't help.. You need a coach that understands how to develop. The coaches we brought in for the most part didn't seem to see what they had.
The roster could have easily been structured something like that.
It could also have been structured like this, with your six best forwards in your top six
Monahan - Backlund - Lindholm (three guys who can take any draw and switch positions)
Gaudreau - Bennett - Tkachuk
Mangiapane - Ryan - Frolik
Lucic - Dube - X
__________________
"May those who accept their fate find happiness. May those who defy it find glory."
Yeah, and you know who can’t do it? Backlund. We saw as much.
They used Backlund as a crutch because they were bad coaches.
I find it incredible that you’re even bothering to defend them, seeing as their stellar performances saw them all demoted or out the league.
They sucked at their job, and hurt the Flames. Conroy even spoke to the team never giving him the opportunity at the position that they drafted him to fill.
Yeah it’s laughable there are people defending the Flames handling of Bennett
