The Legend of Sam Bennett

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Atodaso

I'd really like to know what happened during that All Star break though.

So, has everyone had enough fudge?


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[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

NHL.com with some quotes from The Chirp With Darren Millard

It's interesting that Sam acknowledges he can't be complacent and feel that he has "arrived". He has to keep working because as soon as he takes his foot off the gas, he's in trouble.

He has the icetime and the linemates now so whether Sam continues to bring it is going to be up to him.

Also confirms what we know about Sutter and being able to tap into a guy like Sam. Damn.

[GioforPM]

Just saw that OT goal. Good for Sam, but if Markstrom had let that shot in there would be screams for his head. And the goalie knew it (threw his water bottle). Nice shot but from well out.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I think there are two very basic factors

1) The Flames thought they had a legitimate number one center in Sean Monahan based on the counting stats he put up.

2) The Flames thought they had a legitimate number one-B center in Mikael Backlund, based on the documented dominance of the 3M line(s)

I don't think it's any more complicated than that. The Flames thought Monahan-Backlund was a good enough 1-2 punch and unless Bennett showed McDavid/MacKinnon levels of out-of-this-world ability, he couldn't possibly be an upgrade.

Not to add salt to the wound, but the Flames clearly had high hopes for Jankowski. Between him and Ryan (who has shown is a legitimate C in this league), Bennett wasn't displacing either of them either.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Just saw that OT goal. Good for Sam, but if Markstrom had let that shot in there would be screams for his head. And the goalie knew it (threw his water bottle). Nice shot but from well out.

As a goalie…. GET YOUR ####ING STICK OUT OF THE WAY!

that’s an easy save without the distraction/mini screen/potential tip from the D’s stick.

[EVERLAST]

Benny Benny Benny Benny and the Rats!!!!

So happy for this guy. Wonder what kind of wrecking man he becomes for the panthers in the Playoffs

[Enoch Root]

There was no tip on the OT goal, it went in clean.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

NHL.com with some quotes from The Chirp With Darren Millard





Team flat out shouldn't have traded him. They should have kept Darryl and Benny together. Now we traded our highest pick ever for spare parts and he's blossoming elsewhere.

What a cluster!@#$ of an organization.

I'm fully on the Fire Brad Treliving Bandwagon at this stage.

Just goes to show that Treliving's coaching hires really did have a damaging effect on this organization. Highest pick in franchise history, and was neutered due to bad coaching after bad coaching.

Coaching does matter. A lot. It's the biggest reason Treliving should be fired along with several other issues that he has created. Hopefully Christmas comes early once the season is over.

[Enoch Root]

I am really happy for Bennett. I always liked him and always rooted for him. And I never felt that he got the opportunities and direction here that he needed. I always felt that he was a better player than what we were seeing.

What surprises me about this thread though, is how few people are looking at Bennett and asking if the same is true, more or less, for the whole team. For a year and a half, we have been debating about whether this is a talented team that is playing poorly and under-achieving, or a talentless team that needs to be blown up.

IMO, Gaudreau is instantly an 80-100 point guy, if/when he is traded. People talk about Huberdeau like he is better than anyone on the Flames, but Gaudreau is just as good, if not better. Tkachuk and Lindholm have shown how good they can be. At one point, Monahan was a great player. We can go on down the list.

Another way to look at it is with the acquisitions. Leivo was a solid player before coming here. Simon was a useful player. And again, go back as far as you like... Neal had flaws, but he was a better player in Vegas than what we saw. Brouwer was a solid player in WAS and STL (not saying they were stars, but they were better than they were in Calgary). This list too, goes on and on.

The 64,000 question here, is why the hell is Calgary such a black hole for player talent?

[Bleeding Red]

I wonder - anyone think that the NHL/CHL agreement may have had a hand in this mess?

Maybe if CGY could have sent SB to the AHL first rather than having to choose between a league of teens or a rush to the NHL, this might have turned out a bit differently?

It was clear that another year in the OHL would not help SB, but maybe a year or 2 in the AHL would have.

I think I recall that during their top years DET had a policy of "drafted prospects play in the AHL first. Show us what you can do there, do it consistently, and then you'll move up"

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I am really happy for Bennett. I always liked him and always rooted for him. And I never felt that he got the opportunities and direction here that he needed. I always felt that he was a better player than what we were seeing.

What surprises me about this thread though, is how few people are looking at Bennett and asking if the same is true, more or less, for the whole team. For a year and a half, we have been debating about whether this is a talented team that is playing poorly and under-achieving, or a talentless team that needs to be blown up.

IMO, Gaudreau is instantly an 80-100 point guy, if/when he is traded. People talk about Huberdeau like he is better than anyone on the Flames, but Gaudreau is just as good, if not better. Tkachuk and Lindholm have shown how good they can be. At one point, Monahan was a great player. We can go on down the list.

Another way to look at it is with the acquisitions. Leivo was a solid player before coming here. Simon was a useful player. And again, go back as far as you like... Neal had flaws, but he was a better player in Vegas than what we saw. Brouwer was a solid player in WAS and STL (not saying they were stars, but they were better than they were in Calgary). This list too, goes on and on.

The 64,000 question here, is why the hell is Calgary such a black hole for player talent?

give you everything except Neal. He just fell off a cliff as his play in Edmonton shows.

From an outsider point of view. I don't think Bennett really did get a fair shot on the top two lines. It seemed he's get thrown on there for a game or two and not ever be given time to develop chemistry.
Not to mention that the Flames seemed to give up on him as a center. Seems that if he didn't have instant success, down he'd go. Never got the chance to work through any struggles. Just how I felt, anyway.

I took a quick look and it seems that in the last 5 years, Bennett had over 18 minutes of ice time in a game only twice.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Bleeding Red

I wonder - anyone think that the NHL/CHL agreement may have had a hand in this mess?

Maybe if CGY could have sent SB to the AHL first rather than having to choose between a league of teens or a rush to the NHL, this might have turned out a bit differently?

It was clear that another year in the OHL would not help SB, but maybe a year or 2 in the AHL would have.

I think I recall that during their top years DET had a policy of "drafted prospects play in the AHL first. Show us what you can do there, do it consistently, and then you'll move up"

We rushed Bennett, that’s for sure - but he showed well in his rookie season. Things didn’t go off the rails until Treliving’s bumbling trio of coaches got ahold of him.

Hang this on Tree, Gully, Peters, and Ward.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Just saw that OT goal. Good for Sam, but if Markstrom had let that shot in there would be screams for his head. And the goalie knew it (threw his water bottle). Nice shot but from well out.

Let’s not kid ourselves. If Johnny scored it, it would be a snipe

No goalie is happy with an OT goal against

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Oliver Kylington is going to win a Norris someday, isn’t he?

He could be the next Anton Stralman

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Bleeding Red

I wonder - anyone think that the NHL/CHL agreement may have had a hand in this mess?

Maybe if CGY could have sent SB to the AHL first rather than having to choose between a league of teens or a rush to the NHL, this might have turned out a bit differently?

It was clear that another year in the OHL would not help SB, but maybe a year or 2 in the AHL would have.

I think I recall that during their top years DET had a policy of "drafted prospects play in the AHL first. Show us what you can do there, do it consistently, and then you'll move up"

Originally Posted by ComixZone

We rushed Bennett, that’s for sure - but he showed well in his rookie season. Things didn’t go off the rails until Treliving’s bumbling trio of coaches got ahold of him.

Hang this on Tree, Gully, Peters, and Ward.

Yep. Bennett had a fine stat with Hartley - who just won another championship...

Bennett's misuse started with Gulutzan, and continued with each coach except you could say for Sutter.

It's too bad Sutter wasn't coach at the start of the season. The hell is wrong with this organization man.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The 64,000 question here, is why the hell is Calgary such a black hole for player talent?

IMO the organization is in a rut and it all goes back to the Gulutzan hire. His hiring stunted the growth of the team as he's the coach that started snowball effect with Bennett. His square peg in round hole approach wasted the talent of guys like Brodie (playing him on the wrong side) and Hamilton (was 2nd powerplay QB for a long time which is unforgivable). He turned the team from a quick transition team to a plodding, methodical team that looked much better in advanced metrics than they did on the ice. I feel the reason the team looked so good in the first 2/3 of Peters first season is that the players had the exuberance of feeling unchained from Gulutzan hockey. Brodie wasn't playing on the wrong side and the forwards were no longer playing that perimeter hockey. We will never know what happened after that all star break but after that they kind of lost that edge and continued down the path that Gulutzan set for them. Peters Babcockian approach wore on the team and once again they had an uptick going to Ward but that pley eroded as Ward made more and more questionable decisions behind the bench and moved the team back to perimeter hockey. I feel what happened to this team is a cumulative effect of a really, really bad coaching hire setting the decline in motion.

[Strange Brew]

That Bennett quote stings. Just feels like our GM is a step behind. Finally brings in a coach with some pedigree and then proceeds to trade the highest pick in franchise history after he had started showing some signs of life.

I don't put it all on the other coaches, as Bennett clearly needed to do more himself. He was not good this year before Sutter arrived.

It's just frustrating as a Flames fan to see none of this stuff working out the way we'd like. And having zero confidence in the "plan" going forward.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

There was no tip on the OT goal, it went in clean.

At most the stick hid the puck for a split second and disguised the shot a little. But even if deflected, it was from a long way out.

[Jiri Hrdina]

I find the question whether it hit the stick or not to be a great example of confirmation bias.
Those that have generally been pro Sam see it go in clean
Those that have generally been not pro Sam see it hit the stick

Frankly I can't tell either way if it did or not with any certainty.

[Wastedyouth]

Dillon Dube and Andrew Mangiapane have done more with less in their time and development with the Flames. They are better players and werent gifted with the benefit of the doubt and chances a 4th over all pick does.

The only issue Sam Bennett had was Sam Bennett.

Everyone just needs to get over it.