Patrick - Flames Fan said:
If he was so "NHL Ready" why was he set down last year?
As I said, he was first sent down last year to shore up his defensive game(Q would not let him play Offense until he was playing Defense first). At the trade deadline we were forced to pick up Savage(it was a part of the Sillinger/Johnson trade). Pleau thought it would be better for Sejna to stay in the minors and get playing time. If you rember, Sejna got his late season call up a week before the TD and played in both of the Blues games before the TD. Had we not been forced to take on Savage, Sejna would have remiained in St. Louis on Weight's line. HE was NHL ready THEN. NOW, he is playing in the AHL just to get some playing time.
Sammy said:
This is about the biggest disingenuous, peice of horsecrap I have ever read. Sejna broke into the NHL but Balej didnt? Yeah ok, thats why he played all of 20 games, all but 2 in the 1st quarter (a whopping 7 games more than Balej), where he scored all of 4 points.And yeah, ol Pete's coach muist of really put the reigns on him in Worcester where he scored an earth shattering 12 goals in 59 games.And hes an "NHL regular".? Yep, no doubt about it.
If such & such happened, he would have.... Laughable. If its & buts were peanuts & nuts, every day would be Christmas.
Lastly, according to your illogical logic a 27 year old who breaks into the NHL has more "status" ( your ridiculous "foundation" argument) than a 20 year old who hasnt. Frickin ridiculous& I am not even a Balej fan , just a guy who cant handle ridiculous arguments.
1) Sejna orginally bypassed the AHL altogether. THAT IS AN UNDISPUTEABLE FACT. Balej did not(in fact, he still isn't condered NHL ready). Sejna was SENT to the AHL because his Defensive game was not up to Q's(unusually high) standards.
2) Balej played in his first NHL game only 1 year earlier than Sejna did(and that was an injury callup). Once again, is a 1 year difference THAT big?
3) I was given to believe that NHL readiness was how players were compared, not by AHL readiness. For somebody to say "Balej is better cause he got into the AHL sooner" changes how prospect are supposed to be compared. Sejna, while he may be 2 years older than Balej, is currently NHL ready(if the season were to start up on time, Sejna WOULD be on the Blues roster). From I have heard, Balej is NOT currently NHL ready yet but WILL be NHL ready by the end of the year. From that, the 2 prospects are just over a year different in their developement paths. Are YOU really trying to tell me that a 1 year difference in developement makes up THAT big a difference between players?
4) Nice try at distortion there. We aren't talking about a MASSIVE difference in developement, we're talking about a 1 year difference. Balej and Sejna's developements are only 1 year apart, that in and of it self is not enough for somebody to say " Balej is lightyears ahead of Sejna in terms of developement". If you perfer Balej, fine, but base it on a REAL basis of comparisson, not AHL readiness. As I said, some players bypass the AHL altogether. Does that mean that anybody who played in the A is better than somebody who didn't? Try telling that to Rick Nash. The AHL is simply 1 path of player developement, it is not a basis for comprisson unless you are using their points(in which case you do have to consider that Sejna was sent down after the AHL season had already started and had to develope chemistry with his teammates while Balej was given a full training camp and season to develope chemistyr with his teammates). NYRangers did NOT use that as his basis for comparrisson, he used their AHL readiness to compare them and quite frankly, that is a joke.