The Legend of Sam Bennett

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by New Era

That should be a lengthy suspension. Defenseless player? Check. Facing the boards? Check. Left his feet? Check. Hit him square in the numbers? Check. Zero defense of this stuff regardless of who the player is or who is being hit.

Im stunned he didnt get 5 and a game for it. It could have been boarding or charging as this was an egregious example of both. He must have skated 35 feet in a straight line before launching himself.

Unreal.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Im stunned he didnt get 5 and a game for it. It could have been boarding or charging as this was an egregious example of both. He must have skated 35 feet in a straight line before launching himself.

Unreal.

If it was a regular season game, yes absolutely.

Late in the third period of a playoff game that has been VERY physical? Minor penalty doesn’t seem unreasonable. I think Coleman stayed in the game as well; if he gets KO’ed then Sam probably gets tossed.

[powderjunkie]

I encourage anyone to rewatch that game (because it was great).

If you just watch the full speed GIF on repeat from that one angle it looks damning. Most other angles show it's more borderline. In the context of that game as it wasn't particularly egregious.

Higher probabaility of minor-moderate injury. There were 5 or 6 boardings-from-behind that sent guys head first into the boards from 3 feet way. Lower probability, but those are the hits that might paralyze a guy.

I'm fine with Sam getting a game, but there were several other hits worthy of review IMO.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I very much doubt it.

I don't think coaches are quite as nearsighted and reliant on confirmation bias as the general fan. Sam Bennett takes bad penalties sometimes. He also just generally takes penalties as a result of the way he plays the game. He was no worse for minor penalties on the Flames than guys like Backlund, Tkachuk, Gio, Andersson, or even Mangiapane (to name a few).

It's never mattered to some fans what the actual story is. The hit was definitely nasty and deserves a suspension. End of the day, though, that's the result of the way Bennett plays the game, and the way he plays the game is why he's been so popular in Florida in general and specifically with Q. As we've seen, when he's playing that way, he gets good results.

He got two points, led the team in blocks and takeaways, put up a good amount of shots and hits and was second only to Barkov for forwards icetime despite taking the two minors. There were also two other guys who took non-coincidental minors and Vatrano got a coincidental for embellishment. It's the way things go.

People talking like this is why coaches don't trust him are desperately reaching for something that makes this trade ok. Bennett just put up two points while playing a huge role in the playoffs for another team. It's tough to admit we messed up, but one bad penalty in the 3rd doesn't make it any less necessary to do so.

I am a Bennett fan and want him to succeed. I was hopping that they killed the penalty because a PP goal at that point of the game would be a killer. That penalty was 100% not the way he plays, he is a clean hitter. That just wasn't a smart play. I thought Florida had TB on the mat and were doing well managing the game until then. Bennett is going to giving more rope because he has been successful, but he can't hurt his team like he did last game. You better believe that coaches will do something about it if it continues to happen repeatedly.

[EVERLAST]

I cringed watching that hit but realized the Bolts were hitting this way too and there were allot of missed calls on the Bolts.

Great game. I was surprised Q didn't seem to wanna park Bennett on the bench after that.

I wouldn't however be surprised to see Sam sit the next game since he truly was the goat which I hate saying but its true.

However , what I'd like to see is the reverse of what we'd see here all too often where Sam would play rough and tumble and then get demoted, limited time and then his play would regress.....but I do wonder how much rope Q gives Sam?

What a violent game that was .....and I loved it.

[Wood]

I think he gets a game

There were some pretty dangerous hits in that game, Duclair got crushed from behind in the 1st as well. I think that was McDonagh

This series is going to be great, I hope it goes 7

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

I cringed watching that hit but realized the Bolts were hitting this way too and there were allot of missed calls on the Bolts.

Great game. I was surprised Q didn't seem to wanna park Bennett on the bench after that.

I wouldn't however be surprised to see Sam sit the next game since he truly was the goat which I hate saying but its true.

However , what I'd like to see is the reverse of what we'd see here all too often where Sam would play rough and tumble and then get demoted, limited time and then his play would regress.....but I do wonder how much rope Q gives Sam?

What a violent game that was .....and I loved it.

I highly doubt Bennett was ever demoted here for playing overly physical.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Domoic

Another classic Bennett --- had a goal disallowed in last nights game (bad call, IMO).

Not sure how any non-bias person would say that was a bad call. He pushed the goalies pad away from the post and then deposited the puck in the space he created.

[The Yen Man]

Yesterday's game was pretty much Sam Bennett in a nutshell. Played hard, generated offensive chances due to tenacity with the puck and forecheck, but then gave the other team an opportunity with a bad penalty that resulted in a goal.

Unfortunately, that's kind of how you have to treat Bennett. If you start neutering his play, he'll revert to regular season Sam Bennett where he's tentative and second guessing himself. With Bennett, you just have to take the bad with the good.

[GioforPM]

Like I said, Bennett had a real up and down game and ended up on the negative side of the goals for and against when you consider he was in the box for two against, on the ice for one against and two goals for. Especially when you add in that he will be suspended (I think when they call a hearing that's a given).

That all said, this will not impact how the coaches look at him or trust him IMO. There'd have to be more of a pattern, which there isn't, and even then, look at Tom Wilson's ice time.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Yesterday's game was pretty much Sam Bennett in a nutshell. Played hard, generated offensive chances due to tenacity with the puck and forecheck, but then gave the other team an opportunity with a bad penalty that resulted in a goal.

Unfortunately, that's kind of how you have to treat Bennett. If you start neutering his play, he'll revert to regular season Sam Bennett where he's tentative and second guessing himself. With Bennett, you just have to take the bad with the good.

Even his disallowed goal was pretty typical, no? A chance from a foot out that he kind of muscled in. That's my recollection of his stereotypical PO goals last year.

I'll say this - I've never thought Bennett's penalties were lazy. The opposite, actually.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Like I said, Bennett had a real up and down game and ended up on the negative side of the goals for and against when you consider he was in the box for two against, on the ice for one against and two goals for. Especially when you add in that he will be suspended (I think when they call a hearing that's a given)..

I'm not going to expend any energy on all the other stuff, but re: bolded, that goal was 0% on Bennett. Three panthers forwards (Huberdeau, Hornqvist, Bennett) had 3 guys in on the forecheck on the PP, with Bennett on the far right side. Lightning defenseman makes an outlet pass through the middle (roughly through Horqvist) leading to a two-on-two situation at the other end. Barkov covers his guy and yandle is left on a 1 v 1 and somehow turns that into a breakaway when literally any other defenseman in the league breaks that up. Yandle and Bobrovsky are pretty much the only guys you could fault, and even Bobrovsky should be given a pass.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I am a Bennett fan and want him to succeed. I was hopping that they killed the penalty because a PP goal at that point of the game would be a killer. That penalty was 100% not the way he plays, he is a clean hitter. That just wasn't a smart play. I thought Florida had TB on the mat and were doing well managing the game until then. Bennett is going to giving more rope because he has been successful, but he can't hurt his team like he did last game. You better believe that coaches will do something about it if it continues to happen repeatedly.

For sure, but he just doesn't do it repeatedly.

And the better he is and the more dependent they are on him outside of it, the longer his rope is.

Look at Tom Wilson. Guy does dumb #### all the time. Still out there for over 16 minutes in game one putting up points.

Fact is that most coaches know it's a trade-off and are willing to make it.

[CliffFletcher]

The penalties that drive coaches crazy aren’t the borderline or even cheap hits. It’s the stupid penalties in the offensive zone that are Bennett’s calling card. The slash or trip on a d-man three seconds after he’s head-manned the puck. Usually when his team just got the lead or at another momentum-shifting point in the game. He’s been yelled at by four different NHL coaches (5 after last night) for it, but nothing has changed.

[Monahammer]

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I'm not going to expend any energy on all the other stuff, but re: bolded, that goal was 0% on Bennett. Three panthers forwards (Huberdeau, Hornqvist, Bennett) had 3 guys in on the forecheck on the PP, with Bennett on the far right side. Lightning defenseman makes an outlet pass through the middle (roughly through Horqvist) leading to a two-on-two situation at the other end. Barkov covers his guy and yandle is left on a 1 v 1 and somehow turns that into a breakaway when literally any other defenseman in the league breaks that up. Yandle and Bobrovsky are pretty much the only guys you could fault, and even Bobrovsky should be given a pass.

I'm not going to delve into who did what on each play. He had a secondary assist and a primary one which was nice. And +/- is obviously a flawed stat. There were also plays where he fell down and the line got trapped a bit, where he made a nice dangle through players, where he tried the same but didn't succeed, where he went up and down the ice without much happenening. One of his penalties was arguably a soft call. The other one he probably got off lightly as far as the on-ice call (we'll see what the league says).

But on the night, there were 3 goals where he was on the ice, and two critical ones when he was in the box. Them's the facts.

[dino7c]

He will get a game, probably just one though since playoff games are worth more.

That was a ridiculously bad hit. If there was a major injury on the play he would be in serious trouble with the league.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Even his disallowed goal was pretty typical, no? A chance from a foot out that he kind of muscled in. That's my recollection of his stereotypical PO goals last year.

I'll say this - I've never thought Bennett's penalties were lazy. The opposite, actually.

A spinorama move along the goal line isn’t that typical...he created his own loose puck in the crease to jam in...

Reminded me a bit of Iginla’s PP power move...which I don’t ever recall working.


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[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The penalties that drive coaches crazy aren’t the borderline or even cheap hits. It’s the stupid penalties in the offensive zone that are Bennett’s calling card. The slash or trip on a d-man three seconds after he’s head-manned the puck. Usually when his team just got the lead or at another momentum-shifting point in the game. He’s been yelled at by four different NHL coaches (5 after last night) for it, but nothing has changed.

Hartley and Peters makes 2 NHL coaches. The other two guys...

Did Sutter or Q have to yell at him about an O-zone penalty yet?


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[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

A spinorama move along the goal line isn’t that typical...he created his own loose puck in the crease to jam in...

Reminded me a bit of Iginla’s PP power move...which I don’t ever recall working.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh, I think it was pretty typical Bennett. The spinorama was pretty much him getting the puck in an awkward position and doing what he could to move it at the net. IOW, it wasn't done as a dangle, just sort of a bull in a china shop move.