Flames recall Sven Baertschi, Wolf, and Wotherspoon

[Drury18]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Good to hear, however, could you speak about how his skating has improved from the beginning of the year? Seemed as though he needed to work on acceleration, overall speed, and agility in development camp. Thoughts?

I had a write-up about that in the Wolf thread as someone else brought up the same question. There has been improvement since camp and the start of the year. Most of it looks to be the fact that he has access to training/equipment/coaching here that he didn't have in Germany.

Originally Posted by Drury18

As for his speed and skating, yes he does have a unique skating style, but there is nothing wrong with his speed. He might not be a clean or pretty skater, but he's an effective skater. Someone mentioned Hanowski, well Hano doesn't play the PP very often due to his skating. Wolf is on the 2nd unit and playing with Poirier and keeping up just fine, he's not causing offsides, missed chances or blowing plays for his team because he's chugging along from behind trying to keep up. He's also shown bursts of speed up the boards with the puck. He has good puck control when using his speed as well as using his size. I don't think Huska has backed away from putting him into different situations because of his skating, so I think you are bringing up a non-issue. He's also said he's worked with the guys in Adirondack to adjust his skates (he mentioned in the interview they put something in or on his skates and now he can feel his ankles and move them better, he didn't have this in Germany) and get some more help with his skating style, something he didn't have access to in Germany. If he's brought up to Calgary and they identify something they don't like in his skating, I'm sure he will be offered more help and based on how he's taking everything so far, he will listen and improve. Again, this isn't a kid who came up through the CHL/NCAA system with access to all these additional coaches and training and equipment, he came up in Germany where they have limited access to anything. He hasn't been taught all these things that our kids here have been educated about since 16 and just not getting it, he's learning this for the first time.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

^^^Awesome, thanks for the notes!

[CsInMyBlood]

Exciting news everyone!

Alright Sven, this is the time to stay up forever.

I'd love to see a Sven-Backlund-Byron line. Keep the Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler line intact.

Bouma-Jooris-Jones. Would be a hard working, hard line to play against.

Leaving, Bollig-Colborne-Wolf? Raymond-Colborne-Wolf? Bollig-Stajan-Wolf? Raymond-Stajan-Colborne? Regardless, really hope we get to see Wolf play tomorrow.

Also can't wait to see how Wotherspoon does. Be so nice if he can cement a spot as a 5-6 this year.

[Badgers Nose]

All I know for sure is that the Flames are making impossible for me to miss a game. This is the most interesting season I can remember.

[djsFlames]

I'm not usually excited about bottom line call ups,

But damn am I pumped to see the Wolf.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

Exciting news everyone!

Alright Sven, this is the time to stay up forever.

I'd love to see a Sven-Backlund-Byron line. Keep the Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler line intact.

Bouma-Jooris-Jones. Would be a hard working, hard line to play against.

Leaving, Bollig-Colborne-Wolf? Raymond-Colborne-Wolf? Bollig-Stajan-Wolf? Raymond-Stajan-Colborne? Regardless, really hope we get to see Wolf play tomorrow.

Also can't wait to see how Wotherspoon does. Be so nice if he can cement a spot as a 5-6 this year.

Colborne is wasted on the 4th line in your scenario. IMO:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler <-- Scoring line.
Bouma-Backlund-Jones <-- Takes the tough assignments and can counter attack.
Sven-Jooris-Colborne <-- Jooris digs and mucks, Colborne takes pucks to the net and is good around the net, Sven lurks and dishes the puck.
Wolf-Stajan-Byron <--Sneaky good 4th line with a good mix of skill/size/speed and a good 2-way pivot.

Bollig/Raymond sit.

Roll'em and come at them in waves. Sabres won't know what hit'em.

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by heep223

Colborne is wasted on the 4th line in your scenario. IMO:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler <-- Scoring line.
Bouma-Backlund-Jones <-- Takes the tough assignments and can counter attack.
Sven-Jooris-Colborne <-- Jooris digs and mucks, Colborne takes pucks to the net and is good around the net, Sven lurks and dishes the puck.
Wolf-Stajan-Byron <--Sneaky good 4th line with a good mix of skill/size/speed and a good 2-way pivot.

Bollig/Raymond sit.

Roll'em and come at them in waves. Sabres won't know what hit'em.

I am really hoping this is the scenario as well and Bollig & Raymond get parked for a few games. The lines even look as a worth while fit as well.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by heep223

If Wolf plays physically and is smart about it, and if he isn't a defensive liability, he is an easy and obvious upgrade over Bollig. He has a real opportunity here and I hope he takes advantage of it.

For some reason he reminds me of Ville Nieminen.

If hes anything close to Ville then this is going to be awesome!

[polak]

Hey a tough guy that can play is always useful. Especially with all the Johnny's and Bennett's coming up.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

IIRC he led the German league in PIMs.

He was a 'deliver a brutal head shot, then punch the guy on the ice, then start punching the first guy who comes over to say anything about it" kind of player.

He hasn't been suspended in the AHL yet, which is a good sign, but I have serious misgivings about bringing a guy with that level of crazy onto the NHL team.

We need some of that up here. Those guys are beauties and really make the opponent look over their shoulders.

[sureLoss]

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
"The big bad Wolf has been great this year." Bob Hartley on David Wolf's play in Adirondack.

Pat Steinberg @Fan960Steinberg
Hartley also says as of now Baertschi, Wolf, and Wotherspoon won't play tomorrow. #Flames

[DJones]

Originally Posted by heep223

Colborne is wasted on the 4th line in your scenario. IMO:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler <-- Scoring line.
Bouma-Backlund-Jones <-- Takes the tough assignments and can counter attack.
Sven-Jooris-Colborne <-- Jooris digs and mucks, Colborne takes pucks to the net and is good around the net, Sven lurks and dishes the puck.
Wolf-Stajan-Byron <--Sneaky good 4th line with a good mix of skill/size/speed and a good 2-way pivot.

Bollig/Raymond sit.

Roll'em and come at them in waves. Sabres won't know what hit'em.

Just a personal preference but I prefer more balanced lines. Jooris has always seemed to work well with Gaudreau and Hudler while having Backlund or Monahan on the "3rd" line makes it even more dangerous.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
"The big bad Wolf has been great this year." Bob Hartley on David Wolf's play in Adirondack.

Pat Steinberg @Fan960Steinberg
Hartley also says as of now Baertschi, Wolf, and Wotherspoon won't play tomorrow. #Flames

I get Sven and Wolf but I wanted to see Wotherspoon. If you just wanted to bring a defense up to play 7th defenseman why not bring up Potter.

[devo22]

I'm really, really, really stoked for Wolf. It's unbelievable how his game has developed over the last few years and I'm sure that 5 years ago, absolutely nobody on this planet would have thought that this guy would ever get a chance in the NHL. When he started his DEL career in Hannover, his skating was ... well, I don't want to say "non-existent", but it's not far fetched. He stayed in the lineup because he was big and gritty, but nobody ever thought he'd have the hands and the speed to compete at a much higher level. That transfer to Hamburg really kickstarted his career and he's worked tremendously hard. Very happy for a guy to finally see it all come together.

I know I translated and shared this when the rumour spread last year that he was signing with the Flames, but hey, can't hurt to share it once more. German article about Wolf.

In Iserlohn, David Wolf did not find any new friends. For the fans of the Iserlohn Roosters, the left wing of the Hamburg Freezers was the enemy number one; nobody was booed and insulted as passionately as the 24-year-old. But Wolf is used to the feeling. These days he shows his typical smile when he thinks of the six games against Iserlohn - and the fact that he would not be provoked with only one exception. "If you look at the statistics, I did not do a lot wrong", says the former penalty king.

This is an understatement: Wolf, a tough fighter and fearless hustler in front of goal, was the outstanding player of the quarter-final series of the DEL; in the six games he scored four goals and five assists. As a result, the Freezers have reached the DEL semifinals for the second time in the club's history. For many, Hamburg is the number one contender for this year's title.

As a part of the famous first line with Jerome Flaake and Garrett Festerling, Wolf was already stellar in past seasons. But something was missing. "I was not a leader", says Wolf. That has changed this season. "David has matured and grown", said coach Benoit Laporte on his favorite roughneck. At one time, Wolf described his play as following: "Sometimes I have to specifically target a guy - skate to him, knock him down, done."

No wonder that the Islerlohn fans do not like him in particular. His colleague Flaake says: "David is one of those guys that you rather have on your own team." Meanwhile, Laporte has taught his "Bad Boy" how to play smartly. His number of penalty minutes has reached an acceptable level. In training, his teammates have accepted his big mouth and small provocations.

Wolf can convincingly explain where the aggression comes from. Child of divorce, troubled adolescence, a sick mother: little David often resorted to his fists to deal with his problems. "Brawls on the street were normal", he says. But Wolf, 6'3 and 218, is also a thinker. "I used to think about every missed opportunity after a game," he says. Working with a mental coach since 2012 has given him much more balance. "I have a thicker skin now", says Wolf. "Things do not drive me up the wall as quickly any more."

In addition, Wolf stands for the new Freezers identity. Three years ago, they shifted their focus to young German players - now Wolf, Flaake, Festerling, Oppenheimer, and the slightly older Schubert form the cornerstone of a team with title aspirations. You could often see the players bonding after training at their favourite restaurant "Venezia".

"Hockey is my life", says a tattoo on Wolf's left upper arm, and the language of this sentence could soon dictate his life. It is believed that there is an offer from the Calgary Flames of the NHL for the upcoming season. Wolf does not want to reveal too much, as he is still under contract with the Freezers until 2018. "Several NHL clubs have scouted me over the past two years," he says, "but there is nothing more to say." With his physicality and his courage, Wolf would probably be a great NHL player.

[sureLoss]

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
"The biggest difference in my game now is confidence." - Sven Baertschi on his call-up

[Fire]

Originally Posted by T@T

I was told last year indirectly by a euro scout Wolf was a meathead and would never "ever" see NHL silks.

Email sent.

Maybe you should wait to see if he actually suits up for a game. No guarantee he plays against the Sabres or at all. Though hopefully he does get the chance to prove himself as the 4th line LWer.

[northcrunk]

Too bad it sounds like Mason Raymond will play another game for this team......

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

IIRC he led the German league in PIMs.

He was a 'deliver a brutal head shot, then punch the guy on the ice, then start punching the first guy who comes over to say anything about it" kind of player.

He hasn't been suspended in the AHL yet, which is a good sign, but I have serious misgivings about bringing a guy with that level of crazy onto the NHL team.

In fairness to him, in his interview last week he explicitly noted that the league in Germany was not nearly as physical or tough as the AHL. In that respect, I got the impression that he played that way in Germany because he knew it gave him an explicit edge, but that he wouldn't have a similar edge in the AHL.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

In fairness to him, in his interview last week he explicitly noted that the league in Germany was not nearly as physical or tough as the AHL. In that respect, I got the impression that he played that way in Germany because he knew it gave him an explicit edge, but that he wouldn't have a similar edge in the AHL.

The rules for fighting are very different in the leagues over here. In Germany, fighters used to get a match penalty and an automatic one game suspension, but they changed it a couple of years ago ... now it's still pretty strict (I believe fighters automatically get 14 penalty minutes and there can still be match penalties and suspensions). Fighting is just not that common over here, it's pretty rare. It also kind of explains Wolfs number of penalty minutes in his DEL career ... he'd have 3 fights per season and rack up around 50 minutes just for those.

Wolf was simply a bull in a china shop in Germany. He always played more of an NA game than others and loved hitting and getting under the skin of his opponents.

EDIT: found this in the thread back then in regards to his PIM in Germany.

Originally Posted by devo22

PIMs don't tell the whole story because the DEL is far stricter about fights and scrums. Here's how his 152 PIMs divide:

13 x Roughing
7 x Tripping
6 x Slashing
5 x High Sticking
5 x Hooking
4 x Interference
1 x Checking to the Head

2 x Game Misconduct (20 min)
3 x Misconduct (10 min)

It's worth noting that the refs would sometimes hand out 2 + 2 (for roughing each) + 10 (misconduct). Wolf had three of those ... so no wonder his PIM total is quite high. He'd rack up 15-20 PIM in one game, then go five or six games without a single penalty. One of the two game misconducts was for the checking to head and the other one was for a scrum.

As to the question whether he's dirty. From the games I've seen, no I wouldn't call him dirty in general. Thing is he's an extremely physical player who likes to go the dirty areas and who isn't shy of scrums, pushing and shoving etc. He can be like a bull in a china shop out there. I believe the NA game will suit his playing style a bit more than the DEL.

Also worth noting is that he's a guy that has been known for having a short fuse in the past and I think other teams liked to provoke him. He's improved in that area though. In one of the PO games against Ingolstadt, however, he was given a misconduct after banging his stick on the glass in frustration ... because an opposing fan spit on him.

[HighLifeMan]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Calgary Flames @NHLFlames
"The big bad Wolf has been great this year." Bob Hartley on David Wolf's play in Adirondack.

Pat Steinberg @Fan960Steinberg
Hartley also says as of now Baertschi, Wolf, and Wotherspoon won't play tomorrow. #Flames

That's annoying but understandable.
I view all three of these guys as upgrades on current roster players.