Which is kind of hilarious...because even as a Bennett supporter in his time in Calgary I'm not sure I'd even have him as average playmaking ability or hockey sense. Pure determination, will, and individual skill...100%. Playmaking and hockey sense...not so much.
I do feel like the Flames really messed up in developing his skillset somehow, they wanted to make him a prototypical power forward and don't think his other skills were unlocked.
Like Sam Bennett at the NHL level always was a bit out of control and a bit chaotic. He wasn't like that at the junior level, where he was more composed with his play. I watch his junior videos and I never saw the playmaking ability he shows in those videos at the NHL level at all.
Not sure if that was just not being able to translate that at the higher speed of the NHL, or if it was just what he thought he had to do to be an NHLer.
Last edited by SuperMatt18; 06-08-2023 at 09:46 AM.
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Which is kind of hilarious...because even as a Bennett supporter in his time in Calgary I'm not sure I'd even have him as average playmaking ability or hockey sense. Pure determination, will, and individual skill...100%. Playmaking and hockey sense...not so much.
I do feel like the Flames really messed up in developing his skillset somehow, they wanted to make him a prototypical power forward and don't think his other skills were unlocked.
Yeah to me Bennett is a hammer, not a scalpel. He shoves in rebounds created by his linemates.
Yeah to me Bennett is a hammer, not a scalpel. He shoves in rebounds created by his linemates.
He's more than just a rebound pusher IMO.
And I think he works well with gifted playmaking wingers like Tkachuk and Huberdeau because his speed and ability to drive the middle of the ice opens up space for them.
But he doesn't show much playmaking ability or elite hockey sense at the NHL level at all IMO.
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And I think he works well with gifted playmaking wingers like Tkachuk and Huberdeau because his speed and ability to drive the middle of the ice opens up space for them.
But he doesn't show much playmaking ability or elite hockey sense at the NHL level at all IMO.
I was exaggerating but not by much. He's never the best player on his line, when that line is successful. He'd probably have done fine with Gaudreau. But Monahan and then Lindholm were there and who's going to decide to just oust them in favour of Bennett?
Which is kind of hilarious...because even as a Bennett supporter in his time in Calgary I'm not sure I'd even have him as average playmaking ability or hockey sense. Pure determination, will, and individual skill...100%. Playmaking and hockey sense...not so much.
I do feel like the Flames really messed up in developing his skillset somehow, they wanted to make him a prototypical power forward and don't think his other skills were unlocked.
Like Sam Bennett at the NHL level always was a bit out of control and a bit chaotic. He wasn't like that at the junior level, where he was more composed with his play. I watch his junior videos and I never saw the playmaking ability he shows in those videos at the NHL level at all.
Not sure if that was just not being able to translate that at the higher speed of the NHL, or if it was just what he thought he had to do to be an NHLer.
After watching those highlights, I'm still seeing the same player. Bennett would have had more space at the junior level, so he would've had an easier time stickhandling. Bennett's stickhandling abilities are pretty solid at the NHL level though, he just gets less opportunities to use them. I wouldn't say I saw any great "playmaking" in that highlight real. Mostly Bennett scoring on the rush, in close, or shooting from the point. All stuff he does now.
Bennett is ferocious at finding the puck and putting it in the net, and he has some great stickhandling abilities, but that 's just about the extent of all he's ever shown offensively.
Bennett could have benefited from a season in the AHL. The jump from juniors to the NHL is massive. Aside from the obvious differences in size and speed, your processor has to work much faster to analyze plays developing. An adjustment period in the AHL could have helped with that.
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Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
Bennett could have benefited from a season in the AHL. The jump from juniors to the NHL is massive. Aside from the obvious differences in size and speed, your processor has to work much faster to analyze plays developing. An adjustment period in the AHL could have helped with that.
Perhaps, but the shoulder injury and missed critical season was a killer blow.
I wish we had a player like Sam Bennett. Lindholm - Bennett would be a pretty good 1-2 punch. Hell, throw in an affordable Sean Monahan as a 3rd line centre and we may have the bones of a contender…
Bennett could have benefited from a season in the AHL. The jump from juniors to the NHL is massive. Aside from the obvious differences in size and speed, your processor has to work much faster to analyze plays developing. An adjustment period in the AHL could have helped with that.
Bennett scored 18 goals as a 19 year old, the AHL wasn't available to him until the age of 20 per the CHL-NHL agreement so while Sam might have benefited from the AHL, it literally wasn't an option.
It will always be among the biggest wtf in league history that we literally never played Tkachuk and Bennett together for even one game while they were both in calgary. Asinine.
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Yep it was a preseason line. Brouwer for some ungodly reason was promoted to play with Monahan and Gaudreau, while Tkachuk got slotted to Backlund and Frolik while Bennett then began his long journey of getting tossed around the bottom of the roster only to land back with the line-sewering Troy Brouwer shortly thereafter.
Hartley was a terrible coach.
Gulutzan was incompetent.
Peters was a disaster.
Ward was incompetent.
Darryl came in to murder the entire era.
I remember once upon a time we used to debate about what impact head coaches actually had on players/teams.
We have the answer now. It is significant. All of the good work that was done by the Flames over the last decade was knee-capped by coaching hires.
