The Legend of Sam Bennett

[flamesgod]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Goddamn right he is. Most under-rated player in the league. A fire hydrant could score 40 points playing with Jonathan Huberdeau.



Naww, its completely accurate. Bennett continues to play north-south Bennett hockey and cash in on opportunities from the goal mouth, off the work of others. Hey, garbage men have their place in the NHL. It would just be nice if people would acknowledge a garbage man when they one is action.



Sure he would. How many coaches, including Sutter, would not play him at center? Accept the fact that Sam Bennett was destined to be a winger on the Flames and he was never going to work his way onto a line where he could be of consequence. He fell into a really great situation in Florida, but he is not a play driver, he's a passenger who gains benefit of playing with an elite player who makes everyone on his line look good.



Hardly much contribution? You should check the tape rather than relying on the scoresheet. The video presents a much different story. Huberdeau is the play driver on most of Bennett's points. The Legend continues.

He was destined to be a winger on the Flames because of dumb decision making. Doesn’t make it right.

[Roof-Daddy]

The only thing worse than knowing the Flames destroyed their highest ever draft pick by saddling him with terrible coaching hires who endlessly buried him with terrible line mates, and put him position to continuously fail, and when they finally brought in an actual qualified NHL coach who would have reversed all that, about two seconds later they traded him for pennies on the dollar to an organization who has put him in a position to flourish.......is being constantly reminded of it by seeing this thread bumped every single time the guy does something good, which is apparently quite often now.

[Northendzone]

i sort of wish this thread could be locked so it would fade away.

inmho there is not much to to say about sam, his time here and the trade, unless there is news on how many pull-ups he can now manage

[Strange Brew]

Yeah not much new being said here but probably just have to live with it so long as he keeps playing well.

It would be funny to go back and see who posts in here most frequently and if they have offered anything new. For those disappointed about Bennett’s tenure with Calgary, probably best to stay out. Without the constant attention and the need to defend how great he is playing, the thread likely withers.

[Roof-Daddy]

There is never anything new added here. It's just a circle jerk for every time Bennett scores a goal or registers a point.

Could easily go in the OOT thread like every other OOT goal scored every night.

But, some folks thought Bennett was a bust, others didn't. Now that it's clear that Bennett wasn't a bust and it's just that the clueless, inept Flames organization badly mismanaged him the latter group wants to rub it in every chance they get.

[Monahammer]

I don't like the hand waiving. It wasn't all mishandling. There were definitely periods of huge effort and attitude problems from bennett here. If it was all usage, how would you explain the rise of a player like Mangiapane under the same regime?

Anyways, I will only ever remember Bennett as a total failure. Doesn't matter what he does elsewhere. Here, he sucked. That's what matters. Why people insist on talking about him baffles me.

[Flamesfan05]

I don’t remember there was an attitude or effort problems with Bennett.
He requested a trade because they ####ed him on his contract year after he had a great playoff again. 4th line wing? Derek Ryan over Bennett? You would be pissed if you were him. Justified.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

There is never anything new added here. It's just a circle jerk for every time Bennett scores a goal or registers a point.

Could easily go in the OOT thread like every other OOT goal scored every night.

But, some folks thought Bennett was a bust, others didn't. Now that it's clear that Bennett wasn't a bust and it's just that the clueless, inept Flames organization badly mismanaged him the latter group wants to rub it in every chance they get.

Do you think people were maybe just asking for it a little bit when the thread was renamed ‘The legend of..”?

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I don't like the hand waiving. It wasn't all mishandling. There were definitely periods of huge effort and attitude problems from bennett here. If it was all usage, how would you explain the rise of a player like Mangiapane under the same regime?

Anyways, I will only ever remember Bennett as a total failure. Doesn't matter what he does elsewhere. Here, he sucked. That's what matters. Why people insist on talking about him baffles me.

Lots of people believed the player would get better results given better opportunity. Quite simply, that is what is happening now. It is something that had to be evaluated after he left. And when it was evaluated shortly after he left, then some people were saying that he would essentially revert to what they thought he was

Until the Flames draft higher than 4th, he shall be the highest ever draft pick in franchise history, and therefore noteworthy

How his career turns out will be a topic and he will be tied to the Flames

The current management has responsibility for how it played out, for asset valuation, for player development, etc.

And then simply, some people still like the player and are pleased to see him find success

I’m surprised that you would be baffled

[GioforPM]

With Bennett it wasn’t attitude or effort - it was attention to detail and lack of structure to his game.

The 4th line winger bit? Nah. In 2020-21, Bennett spent the most time with Gaudreau and Monahan - about 100 minutes. The second most frequent combo was Lucic and Dube at 60 minutes.

https://frozenpool.dobbersports.com/players/sam-bennett

[FBI]

I just like to see Bennett thrive and for Lanny to be consistently proven wrong despite the stubbornness lol.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I don't like the hand waiving. It wasn't all mishandling. There were definitely periods of huge effort and attitude problems from bennett here.

What effort and attitude problems, exactly? Even when he wasn't producing he was consistently one of the only Flames to leave a mark on most games.

He was unequivocally mishandled here. You can blame him a little for penalties (though that's par for the course given the fine threshold and his style of play) but he played the wrong position, with linemates who didn't match his pace, for coaches who arbitrarily took him on or off special teams for mediocre veterans during his most crucial developmental years.

If it was all usage, how would you explain the rise of a player like Mangiapane under the same regime?

Mangiapane is a winger, Bennett is a centre.

Mangiapane is a natural finisher like a Cammalleri, Bennett is a volume scorer like a Zetterberg. Mangiapane deserved the opportunity but natural finishers always get more opportunity (look at guys like Monahan and Laine vs guys like Kadri and Puljujarvi who are more complete)

Mangiapane was never stapled to Mark Jankowski.

They are different players.

Period.

The organization already arbitrarily wrote off Bennett as a top two line centre by the time Mangiapane was a rookie... and they're the same age.

Anyways, I will only ever remember Bennett as a total failure. Doesn't matter what he does elsewhere. Here, he sucked. That's what matters. Why people insist on talking about him baffles me.

Pot, meet Kettle.

Originally Posted by GioforPM

With Bennett it wasn’t attitude or effort - it was attention to detail and lack of structure to his game.

The 4th line winger bit? Nah. In 2020-21, Bennett spent the most time with Gaudreau and Monahan - about 100 minutes. The second most frequent combo was Lucic and Dube at 60 minutes.

https://frozenpool.dobbersports.com/players/sam-bennett

What you neglect to mention is that Monahan wasn't NHL calibre in 2020-21, despite playing the most important position.

Bennett spent his time in random spots, yes. But even when he left here, and was producing under Ryan, he was on a line with Ryan and Ritchie. When he was given a chance at centre prior to the trade request, it was with Nordstrom and Lucic. And when he got a chance with Lucic and Dube, Lucic was giving up a ton of pizzas.

[Strange Brew]

And it continues.

If a new title would bring in some fresh discussion, I'm all for it. But I doubt that helps.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

What you neglect to mention is that Monahan wasn't NHL calibre in 2020-21, despite playing the most important position.

Sure, but when Sutter removed Monahan from that spot he put the best guy available in his place. That was Lindholm. And it was very successful. For better or worse, Bennett was never a better option (at any critical time) at a top 6 centre than Monahan, Backlund or Lindholm. No coach was going too mess with the Gatorade line when it was going. And no coach was going to remove Backlund from his second line checking centre spot. And when it was time to move Monahan off the line, it was pretty clear that the top line had to be Gaudreau, Tkachuk and Lindholm. And to that point his most consistent success was on Backlund’s wing. Coaches are conservative - they dislike an experiment when their job is on the line. So that’s what happened.

Florida had a spot open at 2C with an elite winger, behind a line with an elite centre. For Calgary to go something like Mangiapane - Lindholm - Tkachuk and Gaudreau - Bennett - Lucic would have been a pretty far fetched move.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Sure, but when Sutter removed Monahan from that spot he put the best guy available in his place. That was Lindholm. And it was very successful. For better or worse, Bennett was never a better option (at any critical time) at a top 6 centre than Monahan, Backlund or Lindholm. No coach was going too mess with the Gatorade line when it was going. And no coach was going to remove Backlund from his second line checking centre spot. And when it was time to move Monahan off the line, it was pretty clear that the top line had to be Gaudreau, Tkachuk and Lindholm. And to that point his most consistent success was on Backlund’s wing. Coaches are conservative - they dislike an experiment when their job is on the line. So that’s what happened.

Florida had a spot open at 2C with an elite winger, behind a line with an elite centre.

A tad revisionist. Even Cali Panthers Fan did not expect Bennett to be playing centre for them, much less on a line with Huberdeau. Quennville simply had more vision than half a decade of the Flames organization.

For Calgary to go something like Mangiapane - Lindholm - Tkachuk and Gaudreau - Bennett - Lucic would have been a pretty far fetched move.

far-fetched? So what, exactly? That is how successful teams operate. They maximize the assets they have. How nice would it be to have those two lines producing, playing a complete 200-foot game, and still have Mikael Backlund available to anchor another line?

When the Oilers moved a career (even in junior IIRC) left winger Mark Messier to #2C, in the middle of the playoffs, it was far-fetched too.

When Jon Cooper moved career superstar centre Steven Stamkos to the wing of a no-name Anthony Cirelli, it was far-fetched too

When Darryl Sutter moved career pressbox filler Oliver Kylington to what has effectively, immediately become his top defense pair, it would have sounded far-fetched. I wish Sutter would do something equally far-fetched like play Matthew Phillips or move Sean Monahan to the wing of Dillon Dube, quite honestly.
Even Sutter doesn't get a bye. Gaudreau - Monahan - Ritchie was a disaster.

[GioforPM]

^^. Talk about revisionist. Stamkos was playing mostly wing at the time (with Kucherov and Point), then he got hurt, Point, Palat and Kucherov clicked and then he returned they wanted another centre playing instead of Corelli, who had played centre before.

Who was Messier displacing at 2C with the Oilers? Name that player. That’s the difference. It was desperation.

Kylington was placed with Tanev because Sutter wanted him to have a defensive presence and who else was he going to partner with? It’s all circumstances at the time.

Tell me a coach who’d say “we have open of the top lines in the league, let’s break it up” about the Gatorade line. Tell me a coach who’d say “our top checking centre is Backund - let’s demote him and try out Bennett, because though he’s underperformed, we want to experiment”.

[GioforPM]

Anyway, I’m done with this. I agree it’s gone too long about nothing. I believe that Sam Bennett didn’t work out here because of a number of factors. I do not believe it was all on him, all on the team or that it’s all about Huberdeau now. It’s way more nuanced that that. But there’s no use in any further debate.

[powderjunkie]

Huberdeau's production has also jumped to a whole new level since Bennett came along (from 1.0-1.1 ppg to 1.4ish ppg)

[AustinL_NHL]

BENNETT CANNOT BE STOPPED!!!

Goal 19

[TheoFleury]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Huberdeau's production has also jumped to a whole new level since Bennett came along (from 1.0-1.1 ppg to 1.4ish ppg)

But Bennett is just a trash can that huberdeau banks pucks in off of...

Am I doing this right?