The Kids: Expectations vs. Reality

[SHOGUN]

Originally Posted by nik-

That's quite a lot to ask. Those two are two of the best skaters in the league.

Dem power squats and HIIT says it's possible.

[Daradon]

I think it's natural to overvalue prospects. Every org and every fan does it. Part of it is optimism, and part of it is that the media rams it down your throat to a certain extent.

I think it's obvious that Monahan is going to be huge. It's not just his skills, but it's his whole attitude. He wants to learn, he wants to play, and he's focused on the whole game. He may slide back for a year or two as a lot of young players do, but I fully expect him to be a star in the league, possibly a superstar.

After that, I think anything could happen with the young kids. I remember the buzz around Kobasew, both his first time up, and his second a few years later. He never panned out to be much more than a third line guy.

Saprykin also had big early buzz.

I think our prospect pool is better than those years, but I think like most things, it's a numbers game. You can probably half the kids right down the middle when guessing if they will be regular NHLers or impact players. And it's guaranteed that there will be some that look promising now, that will not be able to keep it up. There will probably also be one or two that can't make it work here, but make it work for another team after a trade.

[$ven27]

Highly doubt it. Some players are just gifted with speed. If all you had to do was squats Marty St Louis would have Bure speed

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Highly doubt it. Some players are just gifted with speed. If all you had to do was squats Marty St Louis would have Bure speed

Heh, he's done pretty well without Bure speed. Better than Bure in fact.

[FAN]

Monahan is a franchise player.

[Fire in the disco]

I'm still a little surprised and I think it speaks volumes of Burkes dislike for Baertschi that he hasn't been called up.

I'm one of the few who hasn't bought into the "attitude issues". I'm starting to wonder if Sven will get another chance with the big club. Sure hope I'm wrong though. It's clear that the fan bases expectations have been heavily tempered, but I still think the kids the real deal. A .5 ppg game pace thus far in his career added to the chemistry he and Monahan had earlier in the season makes it a little frustrating to see him not getting a chance, considering we have 6 forwards called up at the moment.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Fire in the disco

I'm still a little surprised and I think it speaks volumes of Burkes dislike for Baertschi that he hasn't been called up.

I'm one of the few who hasn't bought into the "attitude issues". I'm starting to wonder if Sven will get another chance with the big club. Sure hope I'm wrong though. It's clear that the fan bases expectations have been heavily tempered, but I still think the kids the real deal. A .5 ppg game pace thus far in his career added to the chemistry he and Monahan had earlier in the season makes it a little frustrating to see him not getting a chance, considering we have 6 forwards called up at the moment.

Sven is getting the tough love Kadri treatment. I think in the end this will be great for him and he will be far more motivated to make an impact.

[Fire in the disco]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Sven is getting the tough love Kadri treatment. I think in the end this will be great for him and he will be far more motivated to make an impact.

Gotta admit that's a good way to look at it, just not fully convinced that it's the right approach

[Funkhouser]

Long time lurker ('04), first time poster.
I spend enough time reading posts, I always hoped to avoid wasting more time posting. I guess it's too late now!

I have a free ticket available to any CPer for Saturday's BC playoff game. Any takers??


I'm stoked to see Johnny live, considering the flames game I saw in Montreal this year was a dud. Let me know.

[Gaskal]

Anaheim fan from HF:

Just realized the Flames are icing half their AHL team...and they're dominating

[dissentowner]

Five years from now Johnny Hockey will be one of the top players in the NHL, I have zero doubt.

[wretched34]

This isn't so much directly related to expectations of the kids, but more so the team.
I know I for one had very lowered expectations going into the season, and was prepared for a season full of big losses, but was still excited to see the kids get their chances, and watch them develop.
Although the team still sits near the bottom of the league, as expected, what has really blown me away is how close they have kept the majority of the games.
Of the 66 games played, the team has only lost 9, by 3 or more goals, and have won 5 by 3 or more. They've lost 11 games by 2 goals, and 20 by 1 goal. While winning 2 by 2 goals, and 19 by 1 goal. That's 52 of 66 games, won or lost by 2 or less goals.
The fact that 20 of our losses are by 1 goal, it really makes me wonder how quickly this team can turn it around. The kids for the most part are playing at or above my original expectations, and with a few more on the way, possibly even next year, if Hartley is left behind the bench, and the team continues to play his way, we could manage to swing some of those 1 goal losses into 1 goal wins. If even half of them, that puts us in a fight for a wildcard spot at least.

I love the way the team is playing, as a team, and look forward to adding some more skilled youth next season, and seeing how far they can climb.

[hummdeedoo]

Originally Posted by wretched34

The fact that 20 of our losses are by 1 goal, it really makes me wonder how quickly this team can turn it around.

I wondered about this too - maybe they are closer than we think?

But I've since come to the conclusion that while it's not easy icing a hard working competitive team - Great job by Flames and heat coaching staff - It's closing the gap between where we are now and the top teams that's really hard.

Burke alluded to this himself with his crawl,walk run, sprint analogy - I believe Burke thinks we are in a walk/run stage?

Winning those 1 goal games means accumulating more talent while keeping the chemistry/work ethic in place.

I think for the most part getting more talented means getting the right picks (Not necessarily the top pick), development and as we've seen lots of patience. This can be somewhat accelerated by adding established players (Trades, FA signings).

In short, becoming a more talented team is going to take time.

[Scoutski]

Originally Posted by hummdeedoo

Burke alluded to this himself with his crawl,walk run, sprint analogy - I believe Burke thinks we are in a walk/run stage?

...

In short, becoming a more talented team is going to take time.

I'm pretty confident Burke said we were still crawling, which is fair enough. A lot of the young kids who are going to need to be a part of the future are still hovering on less than 30GP and then a whole lot more haven't even graduated to pros yet.

I'm not disagreeing with you though because as you say, becoming talented is going to take some time here...

[BigFlameDog]

Surprised to hear about Ramage but only because I don't have time to follow the Heat.

But I also think trying to forecast a 20 or 21 year old d-man is really hard and I base that 100% on an example like Giordano....unless they are a pure stud these guys won't show what they may be until 24-26, even 27. A whipping boy like Butler has even improved a ton over the last year.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by BigFlameDog

Surprised to hear about Ramage but only because I don't have time to follow the Heat.

But I also think trying to forecast a 20 or 21 year old d-man is really hard and I base that 100% on an example like Giordano....unless they are a pure stud these guys won't show what they may be until 24-26, even 27. A whipping boy like Butler has even improved a ton over the last year.

Except Ramage spent all 4 years in college and thus is already 23. You'd expect him to be ahead of a 21 year old Wotherspoon in development but he isn't.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Except Ramage spent all 4 years in college and thus is already 23. You'd expect him to be ahead of a 21 year old Wotherspoon in development but he isn't.

I think it is pointless comparing the progression of young defensemen. Some break through at 20 or 21, others don't break through until 24 or 25. Who cares? As long as they break through at some point, that's all that matters.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by BigFlameDog

Surprised to hear about Ramage but only because I don't have time to follow the Heat.

But I also think trying to forecast a 20 or 21 year old d-man is really hard and I base that 100% on an example like Giordano....unless they are a pure stud these guys won't show what they may be until 24-26, even 27. A whipping boy like Butler has even improved a ton over the last year.

IIRC Giordano was playing in the AHL all star game, so some promise and expectations were there.

[urs-angel]

Originally Posted by Turd Ferguson

Long time lurker ('04), first time poster.
I spend enough time reading posts, I always hoped to avoid wasting more time posting. I guess it's too late now!

I have a free ticket available to any CPer for Saturday's BC playoff game. Any takers??


I'm stoked to see Johnny live, considering the flames game I saw in Montreal this year was a dud. Let me know.

PM sent! Hope I am not too late...

[kehatch]

I have been impressed with many of our prospects and young players. Monahan, Byron, Bouma, Backlund, and Brodie come immediately to mind. A few others like Ortio and Granlund made good first impressions.

That said we are missing prospects at key positions, we have to fill a LOT of positions, in short there is still a lot of rebuild left.

Where are our Kane's and Toews? We are weak at D. We are weak on the right. Goal is questionable. I still think we need a top end C.

I love watching the Flames right now. But I am hedging my bets on a quick rebuild. In fact, it will probably get worse before it gets better.

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