Sam Bennett as a center or winger?

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Corsi and all that doesn't record stuff like that.

Uh, yeah it does.

The Sabres generated a Corsi event out of that sequence, and Bennett's line didn't.


You're describing exactly the same thing that the Corsi count is describing. Poor play by a 5-man unit, which results in the team's Corsi differential getting worse.

If Bennett actually does this kind of thing frequently, it will show in his Corsi numbers.

If he's posting strong Corsi numbers, it's probably not happening as often as you think.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Par

I don't know how much time the coach or the video coaches is spending individual with the players but I don't think it is enough, the coach should sit down with the young players and go over some things. Tell Bennett things he is doing wrong, tell Dougie the things he is doing wrong(tell him to be more physical and nasty), spend more time with the with each player. I don't think that is happening. There are some coaches that can get players to play at a elite level, I don't think that Glen Gulutzan is one of those coaches.

You can tell this after 4 games? You've been told that GG doesn't work with young players by someone?

Who are these coaches who elevate good players into elite ones, and what players did they do that to?

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Who are these coaches who elevate good players into elite ones, and what players did they do that to?

Marc Crawford probably has the best "history" of this.

Marc Crawford.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Marc Crawford probably has the best "history" of this.

Marc Crawford.

What player did he impact (who wasn't elite or going to be elite anyway)?

My impression was that he was given a very good team in Quebec/Colorado (Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, C. Lemieux) and won a cup. Then he didn't do much afterwards.

[GoJetsGo]

Crawford elevated Ray Bourque off the bench to take that shoot-out attempt while Gretzky sat. That was elevating.

[Par]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

You can tell this after 4 games? You've been told that GG doesn't work with young players by someone?

Who are these coaches who elevate good players into elite ones, and what players did they do that to?

I was referring to people that were hard on Bennett and D.Hamilton, I was saying that the coach should sit down with them and tell them what wrong things they are doing.

I have not been told that GG doesn't work with young players, it was a observation after seeing Bennett and D.Hamilton playing like chickens with their heads cut off.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Par

I was referring to people that were hard on Bennett and D.Hamilton, I was saying that the coach should sit down with them and tell them what wrong things they are doing.

I have not been told that GG doesn't work with young players, it was a observation after seeing Bennett and D.Hamilton playing like chickens with their heads cut off.

So your assumption that GG hasn't spoken to them about their mistakes? Just because they've not fixed them within two or three games? Ok.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Par

I was referring to people that were hard on Bennett and D.Hamilton, I was saying that the coach should sit down with them and tell them what wrong things they are doing.

I have not been told that GG doesn't work with young players, it was a observation after seeing Bennett and D.Hamilton playing like chickens with their heads cut off.

I think one of the main reasons why GG was hired was because of his ability to work with young players. His most recent example of this was as an assistant coach in Vancouver where he worked with the youngsters there, in particular, a young Sven Baerstchi, who the former coach in Calgary had no interest in working with.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Bennett attempts to continue the forecheck with 3 opposing Sabres below the dot, 2 forwards starting to make their way back. Worst case scenario is there's an outlet pass to the Sabre by the boards with speed and becomes a 2 on 2, which isn't likely.



A couple great passes later and Foligno finds him in a 1v2. Kulak is a little far up thinking of challenging the Sabre who passed to Foligno, and is caught behind. Engelland doesn't compensate for the space between him and his defense partner, Foligno attempts to slip by and walks around an outplayed Engelland.

Things that could have happened differently to have prevented the goal:

* Engelland doesn't get walked around
* Kulak and Engelland are in position
* Brouwer doesn't miss his stick check
* Bennett clogs the neutral zone with his defensmen

I don't know how you can say that the goal is evidence of Bennett's growing pains full time at centre. The play in itself? I don't think it was a bad play in itself to potentially generate more offense.

Yeah not sure how Bennett is responsible for that. Engelland is probably most responsible, the stick check is the worst thing he can do in that situation, either back up fast or lay the body on the puck carrier.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by 868904

I think one of the main reasons why GG was hired was because of his ability to work with young players. His most recent example of this was as an assistant coach in Vancouver where he worked with the youngsters there, in particular, a young Sven Baerstchi, who the former coach in Calgary had no interest in working with.

Hartley did try to work with Sven. What can you do when Sven refuses to put the work in, especially when it comes to working hard on each shift? Sven stuck out like a sore thumb. He has apparently even acknowledged lately that he had to grow up a bit. That was on Sven.

Hartley worked with all the other young players, including the other guy traded to Vancouver in Granlund. He - for the most part - got pretty good results. You can even go back further to the other teams Hartley has been on, and he has a really solid track record of working with young players. I am not saying Gulutzan doesn't (I really don't know one way or the other), but insinuating that Hartley didn't is just false.

[calgaryblood]

So a few months later, are people's opinions the same? Because I still think he should be a winger. Doesn't look like a center at all right now.

Long term I still want him as a center as I think he has it in him to be a good center but he's still very young and needs to learn to play better positionally defensively.

[robaur]

Bennett is simply a winger. the sooner the management realize it / the coaching staff realize it ... the better it will be for his career and this organization.

i've never seen him as a center. watching development camp / OHL / preseason / his game film in the NHL....i've never seen his potential to be a center but obviously im wrong because the folks that are paid for their evaluation have envisioned him as their center.......but im that guy that thinks he can do better than tod button as head scout so what do i know...he got promoted by his brother in 2001 and i think is charity as he is still head scout of this team 16 years later.

[MarkGio]

Im not that worried about it, and I understand why management want him as a centre. Here's our current center depth:

-- Backlund (#1 Centre)
-- Monahan (Struggling #2 Centre)
-- Bennett (developing center/#3 center)
-- Stajan (4th line)
-- Jankowski (center prospect)

After that it's bone dry. To win in this league you need a 1-2 punch and good centre depth.

For the first year, Backlund is a legit #1 centre in this league. His 2nd year campaign was worse than Bennett's. Hell, offensively Backlund's 5th & 6th year wasn't much better than Bennett's current. Right now there's no panick to decide Bennett's fate one way or the other, however, without him in the center rotation there's a panick to draft and obtain centre depth, much unlike to the overabundance and easy-to-obtain winger depth the Flames have.

If Bennett and Monahan continue to struggle next season, then there's cause for worry. This is their first coaching and system change at the NHL level, and Bennett's first position change. And we're winning games and both guys are putting up some points. Just wait it out.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by robaur

Bennett is simply a winger. the sooner the management realize it / the coaching staff realize it ... the better it will be for his career and this organization.

i've never seen him as a center. watching development camp / OHL / preseason / his game film in the NHL....i've never seen his potential to be a center but obviously im wrong because the folks that are paid for their evaluation have envisioned him as their center.......but im that guy that thinks he can do better than tod button as head scout so what do i know...he got promoted by his brother in 2001 and i think is charity as he is still head scout of this team 16 years later.

I can agree with you on the Sam Bennett front. But I disagree with you completely about Todd Button. This is the guy who had Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov as wild cards in the 2011 draft and if it was up to him, we'd have 2 franchise wingers in the lineup.

Anyone who has this kind of keen eye on talent should have his opinion held in high regard.

[dabrit]

Bennett was playing Center in the OHL have people forgotten this?

[Fire]

Originally Posted by dabrit

Bennett was playing Center in the OHL have people forgotten this?

Doesn't mean he's capable of being a center in the NHL. Still early so he could figure it out, but I see him as a winger. Hopefully Backlund will sign an extension for a reasonable price and Jankowski can make the jump to the NHL next season.

[ComixZone]

You would think people around here would be a bit more patient with player development considering everyone is raving about how good Mikael Backlund is now. Backlund had a long, long development cycle and, thanks to that patience, the team is reaping the benefits.

Player development is not a straight shot upwards, and it does not happen over night. Show some patience.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

You would think people around here would be a bit more patient with player development considering everyone is raving about how good Mikael Backlund is now. Backlund had a long, long development cycle and, thanks to that patience, the team is reaping the benefits.

Player development is not a straight shot upwards, and it does not happen over night. Show some patience.

Who isn't showing patience? Jesus Christ, just because some feel he would make a better winger at 20 doesn't mean we are losing patience.

Stamkos spent time on the wing as well early on and later on in his career. Several centers start off their careers on wing if they aren't good defensively.
Bennett is not good defensively and not even average defensively. He's bad and we can't have him play as many minutes as a center when he is bad defensively and not even contributing offensively.

[Savvy27]

It may work out fairly well if Jankowski continues to develop. He's bigger, seemingly better at face-offs, and has more of a playmaking style. The two of them might end up being a very complimentary pair with Bennett on the wing.

It's absolutely true that Bennett is young enough to deserve patience as he develops, but I understand the concerns about how his style of play might be better suited to the wing.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Who isn't showing patience? Jesus Christ

Jesus has all the patience for you my sweet child