Sam Bennett

[robrob74]

4 hours ago, conundrumed said:

An assist on Duclair's opener. Cleared the zone on the PK to Duclair outta the box and Duclair went ham and cheese.

I was watching Fla pre-Bennett, just continuing to do so, good hockey.

Not much point wondering what went wrong here. Florida has a lot of good players. Lomberg's full time 4th line too.

Should discuss why he was let go, perfect 4 line team guy.

I really liked Lomberg but wondered why he had to fight to stay in the lineup. This teams identity crisis is needing to have enforcers to cover for lack of toughness and Lomberg shouldn’t have had to play that role and it is all for not having toughness throughout the lineup. 
 

it’s like Having Rinaldo. He’s there for nothing, but if the Flames let Lomberg play they’d have had something. 
 

For me he was playing a role he’s not suited for like Bennett. I want toughness but not when it is fabricated. 

[Thebrewcrew]

Happy for Bennett.

 

He might be able to carve out a role like Maroon had in EDM where he’s a compliment to an elite skilled player like Huberdeau

[The_People1]

39 minutes ago, Thebrewcrew said:

Happy for Bennett.

 

He might be able to carve out a role like Maroon had in EDM where he’s a compliment to an elite skilled player like Huberdeau

 

Boy, he might carve out a Ryan O'Reilly and emerge as the Panther's #1 Center.

[conundrumed]

6 hours ago, The_People1 said:

 

Boy, he might carve out a Ryan O'Reilly and emerge as the Panther's #1 Center.

He's clearly not Barkov😂

But he plays all situations, breaks up plays, wins battles, drives the net well.

He's playing a well-rounded 200' game.

[robrob74]

1 hour ago, conundrumed said:

He's clearly not Barkov😂

But he plays all situations, breaks up plays, wins battles, drives the net well.

He's playing a well-rounded 200' game.

 

our team is full of double standards. There are standards for some players and those standards don’t apply to others. Top two lines plus Lucic can make as many mistakes as possible and then any younger ones can’t. It stifles them, they start to muck up their game trying not to make mistakes and then it just permeates and you get a situation where the player can’t do anything right because they’re playing not to make a mistake. They play cautiously which suppresses their skill and talent and we get what we got in Benny. Now we are doing it to Valamaki. 
 

not saying he is not making mistakes but why not call out Lucic when he does or other vets? Lucic has been one of the worst at it this year. He’s the reason for at least 6 on the giveaways.

[travel_dude]

3 hours ago, robrob74 said:

 

our team is full of double standards. There are standards for some players and those standards don’t apply to others. Top two lines plus Lucic can make as many mistakes as possible and then any younger ones can’t. It stifles them, they start to muck up their game trying not to make mistakes and then it just permeates and you get a situation where the player can’t do anything right because they’re playing not to make a mistake. They play cautiously which suppresses their skill and talent and we get what we got in Benny. Now we are doing it to Valamaki. 
 

not saying he is not making mistakes but why not call out Lucic when he does or other vets? Lucic has been one of the worst at it this year. He’s the reason for at least 6 on the giveaways.

 

Backlund was a mess last night.

Here's a list of players that have not been scratched for obvious mistakes:

Tkachuk, Gaudreau, Monahan, Lucic, Backlund, Nordstrom, Mangiapane, Gio, Tanev, Ras, Hanifin, Markstrom

Here's alist of ones that repeatedly make mistakes:

Tkachuk, Monahan, Lucic, Backlund, Ritchie, Nordstrom, Gio, Ras.

 

I get what you are saying, but Bennett had enough reasons to be scratched.  I would have scratched Lucic after two games where he was crap.  Probably more than that.  Same is true of Backlund who floats a lot of games, but then makes great plays.  So, to balance it out, do you scratch Bennett who makes a few mistakes but doesn't do much otherwise positive?  Or a Lucic who has both positive and negatives?  Same is true of Backlund.

 

I don't think Bennett would have moved the needle on the 3rd line with Lucic.  Not the same game as the playoffs.  Would he have moved the needle with Gaudreau?  I doubt it, they are not really complementary players.  Even at his best here, Bennett's shot in the slot was over the net.  With Tkachuk, I think you see a lot of grit and no finish.  He's better off where he is.  Playing with good players on a team that can finish.

 

[robrob74]

6 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

Backlund was a mess last night.

Here's a list of players that have not been scratched for obvious mistakes:

Tkachuk, Gaudreau, Monahan, Lucic, Backlund, Nordstrom, Mangiapane, Gio, Tanev, Ras, Hanifin, Markstrom

Here's alist of ones that repeatedly make mistakes:

Tkachuk, Monahan, Lucic, Backlund, Ritchie, Nordstrom, Gio, Ras.

 

I get what you are saying, but Bennett had enough reasons to be scratched.  I would have scratched Lucic after two games where he was crap.  Probably more than that.  Same is true of Backlund who floats a lot of games, but then makes great plays.  So, to balance it out, do you scratch Bennett who makes a few mistakes but doesn't do much otherwise positive?  Or a Lucic who has both positive and negatives?  Same is true of Backlund.

 

I don't think Bennett would have moved the needle on the 3rd line with Lucic.  Not the same game as the playoffs.  Would he have moved the needle with Gaudreau?  I doubt it, they are not really complementary players.  Even at his best here, Bennett's shot in the slot was over the net.  With Tkachuk, I think you see a lot of grit and no finish.  He's better off where he is.  Playing with good players on a team that can finish.

 

 

but what I am saying is that if he had a little more runway earlier in his career he wouldn’t play so tentative and then end up making more mistakes. 
 

that, on top of getting “real” opportunity to play with some actual good players. 

[jjgallow]

1 minute ago, robrob74 said:

 

but what I am saying is that if he had a little more runway earlier in his career he wouldn’t play so tentative and then end up making more mistakes. 

 

There are many parallels between Backlund and Bennett.

 

And yes, if Backlund was traded to a different organisation earlier in his career I do think he might have pulled a Bennett.    Both are high skill players the Flames put in grunt roles when they were young in order win games at that time.

 

I realize we're talking about different coaches and different GMs but somehow it seems to be a consistent problem through time here.

[The_Tribal Chief]

I think the problem here lies is that most teams are in a win now situation they dont have the player for the positions that are required so because of it they use rookies to cover the holes way to early in there career and that is just cause they owners want there money from the team winning etc so they always jump the gun to get good faster then they should

[ABC923]

Just a quick question, but who was Fla second line centre before Bennett got there?

[robrob74]

10 hours ago, ABC923 said:

Just a quick question, but who was Fla second line centre before Bennett got there?

was wondering the same thing! 
 

conundrum said they were watching them before Benny arrived. 
 

but talk about guts! To put Benny in that position and being new. Our team didn’t even try him at first or second line center. anytime they put him in the top 6 it was LW, where he drifts to center all the time. It’s only been 3rd or 4th line all the time for C. 
 

I think if they stuck him with Lucic and Dube from the start, we’d still have Bennett. Although, off-season talk was that he was probably going to get pushed to 4th line C again.
 

Everyone thinks it was just Dube that made that play-in-off line a success, but Benny did a lot to use them effectively. 

[conundrumed]

14 hours ago, ABC923 said:

Just a quick question, but who was Fla second line centre before Bennett got there?

Mainly Alex Wennberg, occasionally Noel Acciari. 

I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall between Zito and Treliving.

I don't rain fire and brimstone on the Flames for this move.

It clearly wasn't working. Treliving gave him a great spot with an org that I believe clearly wanted Bennett badly.

This was excellent TDL mgmt for Florida imho. Don't over-spend, get pieces you're missing.

Both Bennett and Montour were excellent adds. It bolsters their already dangerous lineup with the right kinds of pieces.

Again, Treliving did excellent by BOTH the player and the org.

That had to have been the easiest, "I've traded you" exit interview he's ever had.

"I've talked to Bill, and they're really excited about getting you".

All a player needs to hear, and he's surrounded by great players.

Watch Florida games. Bennett looks great. He's such a great skater.

2 games ago vs Chicago, he was hashmarks to the net with the 2 dmen literally draping him on each side. Remarkably, he made it look like a breakaway. If he'd have scored, you would never see the end of that clip. He's doing well, mainly, because he's such a great skater and he's been great on reads, on both D & O.

Just watch their games, tell me if I'm wrong.

He's exactly what the Panthers needed, a 200' game center with a physical game for all situations.

 

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

1 hour ago, conundrumed said:

Mainly Alex Wennberg, occasionally Noel Acciari. 

I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall between Zito and Treliving.

I don't rain fire and brimstone on the Flames for this move.

It clearly wasn't working. Treliving gave him a great spot with an org that I believe clearly wanted Bennett badly.

This was excellent TDL mgmt for Florida imho. Don't over-spend, get pieces you're missing.

Both Bennett and Montour were excellent adds. It bolsters their already dangerous lineup with the right kinds of pieces.

Again, Treliving did excellent by BOTH the player and the org.

That had to have been the easiest, "I've traded you" exit interview he's ever had.

"I've talked to Bill, and they're really excited about getting you".

All a player needs to hear, and he's surrounded by great players.

Watch Florida games. Bennett looks great. He's such a great skater.

2 games ago vs Chicago, he was hashmarks to the net with the 2 dmen literally draping him on each side. Remarkably, he made it look like a breakaway. If he'd have scored, you would never see the end of that clip. He's doing well, mainly, because he's such a great skater and he's been great on reads, on both D & O.

Just watch their games, tell me if I'm wrong.

He's exactly what the Panthers needed, a 200' game center with a physical game for all situations.

 

At the risk of starting the finger pointing I'd say the Flames coulda used a player like that too.

[ABC923]

Bennett was scratched tonight, is he fighting an injury? I know Fla is in a position to rest guys, but all their other top 6 guys were in.

[Addicted]

1 hour ago, ABC923 said:

Bennett was scratched tonight, is he fighting an injury? I know Fla is in a position to rest guys, but all their other top 6 guys were in.

Florida reported a minor upper body injury I believe 

[conundrumed]

5 hours ago, Addicted said:

Florida reported a minor upper body injury I believe 

Yup, DTD. Jesus that team just keeps finding enough scoring to win.

[conundrumed]

I'm turning this into a Panthers thread. lol

When the Flames and Wings are your favourite teams, you find another team to latch onto while you're waiting.

Streaming their feeds for the last few years has me addicted. Hated the Trochek trade, cuz I love Trochek (Bennett isn't Trochek), but I get it's a numbers game with Barkov, Huberdeau and Ekblad.

I like the Canes too, but damn, I wish us or Detroit were in on Trochek for cheap! Always liked him in jr.

When you're on the Florida feed, they interview a lot of players post-game. From Barkov to Lomberg.

Barkov is likely my fave in the NHL right now. Got the C at a young age, wears it very well.

Every question he answers he deflects from because he's really good to saying it's because his teammates are exceptional.

He's a great leader. None of it is about him, it's all about the team. He's very modest, considering if anyone feels like arguing with me that he's the best 2-way center in the league.

The Canes have had their number, typically up 2 heading to the 3rd. They're right their on the verge of ending that. Their O attack when they need a goal is relentless.

So again, watch Florida games. Quenneville is a genius, they're superfun to watch if you like fast hockey.

They're especially where the Flames and Wings need to get.

Watch and learn.

I want them to win the cup this year. They're going to be a handful. Tons of speed. Owen Tippet's moving up, he's like Duclair, good size and speed on the wing, more skill.

They are definitely on the verge. I was happy they took Bennett. And Montour. I assumed both would do well as puzzle pieces.

Watch out for them. They have all of the ingredients for a watch and learn session.

Tampa doesn't own them and the Canes are bending under the pressure.

 

[robrob74]

2 hours ago, conundrumed said:

I'm turning this into a Panthers thread. lol

When the Flames and Wings are your favourite teams, you find another team to latch onto while you're waiting.

Streaming their feeds for the last few years has me addicted. Hated the Trochek trade, cuz I love Trochek (Bennett isn't Trochek), but I get it's a numbers game with Barkov, Huberdeau and Ekblad.

I like the Canes too, but damn, I wish us or Detroit were in on Trochek for cheap! Always liked him in jr.

When you're on the Florida feed, they interview a lot of players post-game. From Barkov to Lomberg.

Barkov is likely my fave in the NHL right now. Got the C at a young age, wears it very well.

Every question he answers he deflects from because he's really good to saying it's because his teammates are exceptional.

He's a great leader. None of it is about him, it's all about the team. He's very modest, considering if anyone feels like arguing with me that he's the best 2-way center in the league.

The Canes have had their number, typically up 2 heading to the 3rd. They're right their on the verge of ending that. Their O attack when they need a goal is relentless.

So again, watch Florida games. Quenneville is a genius, they're superfun to watch if you like fast hockey.

They're especially where the Flames and Wings need to get.

Watch and learn.

I want them to win the cup this year. They're going to be a handful. Tons of speed. Owen Tippet's moving up, he's like Duclair, good size and speed on the wing, more skill.

They are definitely on the verge. I was happy they took Bennett. And Montour. I assumed both would do well as puzzle pieces.

Watch out for them. They have all of the ingredients for a watch and learn session.

Tampa doesn't own them and the Canes are bending under the pressure.

 

 

 

One thing I notice that the Flames don't have is that desire to play for each other, the way you're explaining it, selflessness. When there's an expectation to be that good on a daily basis (and I mean REAL expectations when a guy is playing that way and it trickles down), the team follows suit. Everyone just plays better. For whatever reason the Flames would have maybe one guy going at any given time. Most not going, then it is bad and it is a trickle affect the other way. Makes it hard to play. I just don't see that in Calgary. 

 

I think Florida will be my team. I haven't followed anyone traded from the Flames or after leaving as I will be following Bennett. I haven't had players like that since the days of Roberts, McInnis, Gilmour, Niewendyk... 

 

I think I found that oner the years most of what I'd watch for was for Benny to break out, to prove he could do it, with all of the naysayers. I just don't think jumping around a lineup is a recipe for success for a young player, especially if the team expects to find some consistency. For me it's about the whole, the whole line. Throwing a random 3rd player on each line doesn't work. If 2/3 of the line is garbage, there's only so much treasure you can gather out of that. Throw one piece of garbage on a line and then you can make it look better, but it's still very average. And I feel that's what the Flames are doing. 

 

Yes we have really good parts, but not the right compliments to play with them.

 

With Bennett, when you carry two players, there's only so much you can do, and we saw what he could do playing with some talent in Dube.  

[travel_dude]

2 hours ago, conundrumed said:

Barkov is likely my fave in the NHL right now. Got the C at a young age, wears it very well.

Every question he answers he deflects from because he's really good to saying it's because his teammates are exceptional.

He's a great leader. None of it is about him, it's all about the team. He's very modest, considering if anyone feels like arguing with me that he's the best 2-way center in the league.

 

Other than Nate, he was the player I wanted in that draft.

We only seemed to be in on #1 overall, so I don't even know if #2 was on the table.

Would have preferred to have Barkov over Monahan + Poirier + Klimchuk.

Wonder how well FLA would have drafted with three picks in 2013. 

Weeger was their only other pick that amounted to anything.

 

That's not a shot against Monahan.

He's not the problem with this team.

Would probably have altered Flames history a bit more.

Who knows though.

[ABC923]

1 hour ago, travel_dude said:

 

Other than Nate, he was the player I wanted in that draft.

We only seemed to be in on #1 overall, so I don't even know if #2 was on the table.

Would have preferred to have Barkov over Monahan + Poirier + Klimchuk.

Wonder how well FLA would have drafted with three picks in 2013. 

Weeger was their only other pick that amounted to anything.

 

That's not a shot against Monahan.

He's not the problem with this team.

Would probably have altered Flames history a bit more.

Who knows though.

To be fair, given that Poirier and Klimchuk were busts, it's really comes down to Monahan vs Barkov. I thought those other two had potential at the time, so in hindsight it's a no brainer but I'm not sure I would have been on board at the time.

[cross16]

Whether it was on the table or not i'm not sure if relevant as I don't believe Florida would have taken the deal. there was a decent drop off from Barkov to Monahan pre draft that I don't think extra picks would have closed the gap on. 

 

Their 3 game win streak, 2 of which Kipper started, in April that season is what cost them Mackinnon/Barkov. It's really too bad Kipper didn't take that trade to Toronto. 

[travel_dude]

5 hours ago, cross16 said:

Whether it was on the table or not i'm not sure if relevant as I don't believe Florida would have taken the deal. there was a decent drop off from Barkov to Monahan pre draft that I don't think extra picks would have closed the gap on. 

 

Their 3 game win streak, 2 of which Kipper started, in April that season is what cost them Mackinnon/Barkov. It's really too bad Kipper didn't take that trade to Toronto. 

 

Isn't that always the case, winning the wrong games at the wrong time.

You mean the drop off between players in the draft?

Oh, for sure.

The player results that draft year was closer.

 

 

I thought there was a chance we could get him, but not at 6.

Feaster only seemed to be in on Nate, but who knows otherwise.

[The_People1]

I think my rankings for that draft was,

 

MacKinnon

Jones

Drouin

Barkov

Lindholm

Nurse

Monahan

Horvat

Nichuskin

Domi

 

I don't think we even tried to move up except for MacKinnon

[travel_dude]

49 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

I think my rankings for that draft was,

 

MacKinnon

Jones

Drouin

Barkov

Lindholm

Nurse

Monahan

Horvat

Nichuskin

Domi

 

I don't think we even tried to move up except for MacKinnon

 

Yeah, I think I saw that at the time as well.

It was shocking to a lot that Jones dropped.

I guess I can sorta understand why Tampa passed on Jones, but Drouin should not have been that highly rated.

I don't think Feaster was interested in anyone but Nate.

 

[conundrumed]

Bennett back in action, and you guessed, PP goal from Huberdeau and Barkov.