[News] Bennett Out 4-6 Months with Shoulder Surgery *UPDATE* Back Skating

[chubeyr1]

In my opinion the kid should go back down to the minors. He is still regaining strength after the injury and has missed four months of hockey. Give him some WHL games and a summer training and then he plays next season for the Flames.

I also have no issues keeping him up the nine games either. If he excels great keep him up. Just no need to rush the kid, and trust me as much as he wants to play right now for the Flames I want to see him do just that. Smart thing to do though is the safe play.

Lot of people are arguing here over stuff that does not really matter at this point, not till he plays at least.

Is he skilled enough to be on the team today? I would say He has more natural ability than many on the roster but I am not sure he is ready. Missed a lot of hockey. I could also add Poirier has been in the AHL and I think he has great skills and is ready now, more than Bennett in my mind.

[GioforPM]

I think you all are making some pretty big assumptions. How can you say a player who has never played a real NHL game is better than guys that have? Chances are you are correct, but plenty of posters said the same about Sven (and other prospects).

If you are going to test out whether he's better, either you better be really really sure in order to put him in when the Flames are playing really important games, or wait until early in the season, when it usually happens.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I think you all are making some pretty big assumptions. How can you say a player who has never played a real NHL game is better than guys that have? Chances are you are correct, but plenty of posters said the same about Sven (and other prospects).

If you are going to test out whether he's better, either you better be really really sure in order to put him in when the Flames are playing really important games, or wait until early in the season, when it usually happens.

This really isn't that complicated.

No one is saying you hand him the keys to the city.

All you do is keep seeing how he progresses with the next step. You can pull the plug at any time. But the only way to see how good he is, is to put him on the ice.

[PantherExtreme]

He's going straight back to junior people

[foshizzle11]

Originally Posted by PantherExtreme

He's going straight back to junior people

Green text?? Not sure if you are trolling, but we don't know that and neither do you. Seems like the Flames might have other plans other than just sending him back.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by PantherExtreme

He's going straight back to junior people

Is he? How do you know this? No definitive statement from the Flames have been made yet. Even further to countering your statement, why would they have him start practicing with the main club as soon as this week or the next if their sole intent was to send him straight back to juniors?

[BACKCHECK!!!]

By the time he is medically cleared, Bennett will have probably had something like 6 weeks of on-ice practice with Flames players and coaches in a non-contact capacity.

I'd bet he probably gets a solid 2-weeks of full-contact practices after that.

At which point it ought to be fairly obvious where he stands. It's not like he's going to step out of a bacta healing tank in 2 weeks, and they have to decide what to do with him before he sets foot on the ice.

They've been watching him practice for weeks already, and know exactly where he is at. They'll have an even better idea after watching him play full-contact in practices. The only people who have major questions about where he stands is us in the peanut gallery.

[wingmaker]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

What the hell are you talking about????? I didn't even really state an opinion.

Hey Street,

I'm sorry if you felt attacked. I was more responding to the thread in general. I know that I quoted you but that was only because I thought your comment about him not playing "real hockey" since May was very hyperbolic and was an escalation of a general trend to make Bennett's absence from the game or his injury itself far worse than it was in order to support a general opinion that he is either too fragile, too small, too young, or has been away from the game for too long as reasons to make a snap decision on his future without actually knowing the particulars of the situation. I did not mean to single you out necessarily. My bad.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I think you all are making some pretty big assumptions. How can you say a player who has never played a real NHL game is better than guys that have? Chances are you are correct, but plenty of posters said the same about Sven (and other prospects).

If you are going to test out whether he's better, either you better be really really sure in order to put him in when the Flames are playing really important games, or wait until early in the season, when it usually happens.

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

This really isn't that complicated.

No one is saying you hand him the keys to the city.

All you do is keep seeing how he progresses with the next step. You can pull the plug at any time. But the only way to see how good he is, is to put him on the ice.

GioForPM's point above still stands. The people saying "he's better than Raymond/Bollig/Stajan/Byron/whoever so just put him in" are making a big assumption. I agree that from what I've seen the probability is that he's a better hockey player than those guys in terms of skill, but will it translate? Is he mature enough? Tough enough? Will he buy into the system? Is he in shape? All of these at the NHL level. And that's not even taking into account positional depth or team needs etc.

Your way of putting it makes sense.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by wingmaker

Hey Street,

I'm sorry if you felt attacked. I was more responding to the thread in general. I know that I quoted you but that was only because I thought your comment about him not playing "real hockey" since May was very hyperbolic and was an escalation of a general trend to make Bennett's absence from the game or his injury itself far worse than it was in order to support a general opinion that he is either too fragile, too small, too young, or has been away from the game for too long as reasons to make a snap decision on his future without actually knowing the particulars of the situation. I did not mean to single you out necessarily. My bad.

Thanks. Sorry I misunderstood. I was somewhat being purposefully hyperbolic as I believe the playoff drive and potential playoffs are a boon for the development of the young guys on the roster and Bennett hasn't played any hockey in a while never mind at the level they'll need to in order to make it to the playoffs. It may be fine and Treliving may decide it's ok, I'm just wondering aloud if that's even a good idea.

[sureLoss]

Pat Steinberg @Fan960Steinberg
Sam Bennett takes the ice for morning skate today. Wearing a yellow jersey for no contact. First time he's skated with the group. #Flames

[sureLoss]

[Buff]

Looks good. Put him in between Hudler and Gaudreau. Clearly he is ready.


*just getting that out of the way

[sureLoss]

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
"It's Christmas morning for Sammy." - Hartley on Bennett skating with the team. Hartley cautioned there is no timeline on his return.

[Scoutski]

I really hope he goes back to junior without playing in the NHL... Sure I'd love to see him, but if he has a really good game, I'd hate to see Sven 2.0 when it comes to fan expectations.

That said, I really have a lot of trust in the current staff, like BACKCHECK said, they know what the deal is, so if he goes in, I'm going to trust they think he's good enough.

[Scoutski]

I really hope he goes back to junior without playing in the NHL... Sure I'd love to see him, but if he has a really good game, I'd hate to see Sven 2.0 when it comes to fan expectations.

That said, I really have a lot of trust in the current staff, like BACKCHECK said, they know what the deal is, so if he goes in, I'm going to trust they think he's good enough.

[burn_this_city]

If he had scored on that drill I'd say he's NHL ready, but the routine pad save says OHL bound.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Scoutski

I'd hate to see Sven 2.0 when it comes to fan expectations.

I don't think this will happen given our plethora of prospect depth and good young players. I don't need to list them.

We have plenty of reasons to be excited, not just one. I think the fact that Sven was expected to single-handedly turn the franchise around was the issue.

But you never know.

[Badgers Nose]

Could be the biggest deadline acquisition for the Flames is this guy.

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by Scoutski

I really hope he goes back to junior without playing in the NHL... Sure I'd love to see him, but if he has a really good game, I'd hate to see Sven 2.0 when it comes to fan expectations.

That said, I really have a lot of trust in the current staff, like BACKCHECK said, they know what the deal is, so if he goes in, I'm going to trust they think he's good enough.

If he plays he'll be put on the 3rd to start just like Moneyhands was. I'm sure he'll get a cup of coffee with the Flames this year. It will put extra pressure on guys ahead and behind him.