Confirmed with Link: Sam Bennett and 6th (2022) traded to Florida for 2nd (2022) and Emil Heineman

[DomBarr]

Sutter had a chance to change everything, a collective f*** up. He is responsible as well. No excuse.

Sutter isn't responsible for Bennett not showing or being given a chance to show his potential in Calgary he had only coached him for a month before the trade.
Bennett's tenure with the Flames was done the minute his agent went public. It was only a matter of when an offer would come in that would make Treliving bite. In this case the offer was from one of the ideal teams for Bennett. A team low on center/grit depth with one of the best coaches at putting players in a place to succeed who is not a rigid system guy.

 

[HighLifeMan]

I just don't get the insistence of giving Bennett a free pass for his play here. I am not saying the organization doesn't shoulder a heavy responsibility for his struggles and lack of development either (because they do), but it's a two way street. Bennett mailed it in at times. A player doesn't just "realize" his potential based purely on a change of scenery. A public trade demand was made regardless of whether it came from the player's mouth or his agents mouth (discussions obviously occurred). An unhappy employee is not a productive employee. It's unfortunate because I believe Sutter would have got more out of him. When Bennett played with pace, tenacity, physicality, and emotion he was lights out here as well regardless of who he played with.. the problem was that it rarely if ever happened for more than a few games at a time outside of the playoffs, which I am sure had the coaches (five of them) extremely frustrated. There are certain things a player can do to position himself better to move up the lineup. We saw Mangiapane work his way into more minutes playing on his off wing with the likes of Derek Ryan. I am not sure you can say the same for Sam (especially over the past two seasons)

It's a shame it didn't work out here, but it happened for a number of reasons. It sucks, but at some point you have to cut ties and Treliving did well in terms of getting value on a player that had shown very little. I wish nothing but success for Bennett, and he's currently enjoying a ton of it and playing with more confidence and energy than we arguably ever saw from him. The relationship was soured before this season began.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I just don't get the insistence of giving Bennett a free pass for his play here. I am not saying the organization doesn't shoulder a heavy responsibility for his struggles and lack of development either (because they do), but it's a two way street. Bennett mailed it in at times. A player doesn't just "realize" his potential based purely on a change of scenery. A public trade demand was made regardless of whether it came from the player's mouth or his agents mouth (discussions obviously occurred). An unhappy employee is not a productive employee. It's unfortunate because I believe Sutter would have got more out of him. When Bennett played with pace, tenacity, physicality, and emotion he was lights out here as well regardless of who he played with.. the problem was that it rarely if ever happened for more than a few games at a time outside of the playoffs, which I am sure had the coaches (five of them) extremely frustrated. There are certain things a player can do to position himself better to move up the lineup. We saw Mangiapane work his way into more minutes playing on his off wing with the likes of Derek Ryan. I am not sure you can say the same for Sam (especially over the past two seasons)

It's a shame it didn't work out here, but it happened for a number of reasons. It sucks, but at some point you have to cut ties and Treliving did well in terms of getting value on a player that had shown very little. I wish nothing but success for Bennett, and he's currently enjoying a ton of it and playing with more confidence and energy than we arguably ever saw from him. The relationship was soured before this season began.

Bennett's game is impossibly ill suited for the wing. He's a center and expecting him to succeed as a winger was not only stupid, it was unfair to the player.

It's absolutely lunacy that he was never given a chance centering Gaudreau. Unfortunately they were wrongly convinced that Monahan was the answer there.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I just don't get the insistence of giving Bennett a free pass for his play here.

He played well here, though.

The only people who don't think so

- overrate his penalties, most of which are bad calls
- overrate counting stats
- think all left shot centers should be perfectly comfortable as right wingers

The vast majority of the time as a Flame, Bennett would have great games that we WISH Sean Monahan could have, but not rewarded for it in icetime or on the stat sheet

 

[Mazatt]

He played well here, though.

The only people who don't think so

- overrate his penalties, most of which are bad calls
- overrate counting stats
- think all left shot centers should be perfectly comfortable as right wingers

The vast majority of the time as a Flame, Bennett would have great games that we WISH Sean Monahan could have, but not rewarded for it in icetime or on the stat sheet

He genuinely didn't. Watching his last few years here he very rarely stood out for having great games on a consisent basis. If you lower the bar down to only when he played centre that cuts out most of his tenure and is mostly just playoffs (where no one is surprised to see him do well).

The fact of the matter is there are very, very few people who are actively happy with what Bennett was able to accomplish here and acting as though he had consistent great performances is trying to re-write history. He was hit or miss with a lot more misses than hits. There were some points throughout the last few years where his deployment was headscratching (2 goal game vs Chicago as a centre, moved down to the 4th line for a still-sick Ryan comes to mind) but most of the time he did not warrant playing up in the lineup.

He is able to put it together somewhere else. That does not mean that the onus is on the Flames organization for Bennett's inability to come in and play with consistency when given opportunities up in the lineup.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

He genuinely didn't. Watching his last few years here he very rarely stood out for having great games on a consisent basis. If you lower the bar down to only when he played centre that cuts out most of his tenure and is mostly just playoffs (where no one is surprised to see him do well).

The fact of the matter is there are very, very few people who are actively happy with what Bennett was able to accomplish here and acting as though he had consistent great performances is trying to re-write history. He was hit or miss with a lot more misses than hits. There were some points throughout the last few years where his deployment was headscratching (2 goal game vs Chicago as a centre, moved down to the 4th line for a still-sick Ryan comes to mind) but most of the time he did not warrant playing up in the lineup.

He is able to put it together somewhere else. That does not mean that the onus is on the Flames organization for Bennett's inability to come in and play with consistency when given opportunities up in the lineup.

You're unable to remove your bias from your evaluation.

Here are some facts. From 2017-20 (three year stretch of REGULAR SEASON) ten Flames logged 1300 minutes. Of those ten Flames Sam Bennett ranks:

1st in iXG/60 at 0.8
3rd in penalties drawn/60 at 0.93
6th in individual points percentage
4th in on-ice xGF% at 52.61%

Guess what... the only thing that wasn't in his favour was shooting percentages and save percentages,. Because he can't will his goalie to make a save and he can't will Tobias reider or Garnet Hathaway to put the puck in the net on a sweet feed.

Your subjective assessment is WRONG. A player who is not playing well will not be top six in these categories.

You might not have been impressed, but that says more about your hockey evaluation skills than anything else. You were evaluating the wrong things.

Why is he successful in Florida?

Not because he's doing anything different. But because the people he's on the ice with and who control his ice time are letting the value of the things he did well as a Flame, actually show.

 

[HighLifeMan]

Bennett's game is impossibly ill suited for the wing. He's a center and expecting him to succeed as a winger was not only stupid, it was unfair to the player.

It's absolutely lunacy that he was never given a chance centering Gaudreau. Unfortunately they were wrongly convinced that Monahan was the answer there.

I don't disagree at all but I think that further illustrates that as a player he lacks high end skill and IQ if he struggled so heavily with that transition. He needs to play a certain way to be successful and center is absolutely the position that caters to that style without a doubt.

That fact that he didn't get a legitimate shot to center Gaudreau or Tkachuk is really kind of ridiculous in hindsight, I agree.

 

[Some Other Flame]

He is able to put it together somewhere else. That does not mean that the onus is on the Flames organization for Bennett's inability to come in and play with consistency when given opportunities up in the lineup.

Of course it is. You don't seem to understand what opportunity means exactly. It does not for example, mean simply being placed on the Flames roster. That's an antiquated dinosaur mentality that competent well run teams have long since moved past. It does not mean being played in the wrong position because frankly, few organizations are that stupid anymore.

It does mean however being placed in a position to succeed, something Bennett was never granted by this dismally mediocre organization. And it's honestly bizarre how difficult apparently the concept of positions is to some Flames fans. Wing is not the same center. Playing a natural center on the wing with lousy linemates and few minutes is not an opportunity for success, it's a recipe for failure. An oil company won't hire an electrical engineer when looking for someone to design an oil field because, hey, engineers are engineers. Someone who's only ever learned how to drive auto won't exactly have a smooth transition to manual just because cars are cars. And no reasonable fan would tell a newcomer to the sport to cheer for the Oilers, because hockey teams and hockey teams. Similarly, a center won't automatically be able to thrive playing on the wing, especially when it's the other side.

The onus in this particular situation is entirely on the Flames organization for continuing to hire shit coach after shit coach along with their entrenched risk adverse mentality but if all they do is make excuses like the Bennett Haters are doing, then they'll learn nothing and continue to be the same dismally mediocre franchise forever.

 

[Mobiandi]

Does anyone remember when we claimed Anthony Stewart off waivers and he got put with Gaudreau in his very first game before heading off to England to play next season

 

[Some Other Flame]

Bennett's ice time has increased to 17:42 per game for Florida, up from 13:28 per game with Calgary.

"I've always known that I want to take on a bigger role and play a bigger role," Bennett said. "Now that I'm getting that opportunity, I feel like I've been taking advantage of it a little bit. Just proves that I could have been doing this all along. I'm happy. I'm not going to get comfortable. I'm not going to get complacent. I know it's only been a couple games. I have a lot more to prove and a lot more to give. I'm going to keep going out there and playing my game every chance I get."

Bennett also discussed his time in Calgary, including his request to be traded and his relationship with Flames coach Darryl Sutter, who replaced Geoff Ward on March 4.

"One of the first things [Sutter] said to me (after he was traded) was I wish I had you longer," Bennett said. "Me and him had a really good relationship. I really liked playing for him. I believe he liked me as a player. Didn't really have him for too long but we had a good relationship.

"It was no secret that my time in Calgary had not gone the way that I expected or everyone else probably expected. It was a little frustrating this year with my opportunity and my role and where it looked like my career was going in Calgary. Once Darryl came in, I felt like a new player again. It was refreshing. I was happy there. I was happy playing. That's how it went. You don't really have any control over if you get traded or not. It's completely up to the team. I'm grateful now that I got picked up by Florida."

loltreliving what a disaster of a hire

 

[Half Clapper]

When is Treliving going to get fired?

 

[CraigsList]

When is Treliving going to get fired?

Never

He keeps slippin’ the Boston Pizza coupons to ownership on a monthly basis

 

[DFF]

When is Treliving going to get fired?

Should be yesterday

incompetent with a bad ego

 

[DFF]

Of course it is. You don't seem to understand what opportunity means exactly. It does not for example, mean simply being placed on the Flames roster. That's an antiquated dinosaur mentality that competent well run teams have long since moved past. It does not mean being played in the wrong position because frankly, few organizations are that stupid anymore.

It does mean however being placed in a position to succeed, something Bennett was never granted by this dismally mediocre organization. And it's honestly bizarre how difficult apparently the concept of positions is to some Flames fans. Wing is not the same center. Playing a natural center on the wing with lousy linemates and few minutes is not an opportunity for success, it's a recipe for failure. An oil company won't hire an electrical engineer when looking for someone to design an oil field because, hey, engineers are engineers. Someone who's only ever learned how to drive auto won't exactly have a smooth transition to manual just because cars are cars. And no reasonable fan would tell a newcomer to the sport to cheer for the Oilers, because hockey teams and hockey teams. Similarly, a center won't automatically be able to thrive playing on the wing, especially when it's the other side.

The onus in this particular situation is entirely on the Flames organization for continuing to hire shit coach after shit coach along with their entrenched risk adverse mentality but if all they do is make excuses like the Bennett Haters are doing, then they'll learn nothing and continue to be the same dismally mediocre franchise forever.

Well said….they read wrong on Bennett. He is now showing what a clown organization they run

 

[DFF]

He played well here, though.

The only people who don't think so

- overrate his penalties, most of which are bad calls
- overrate counting stats
- think all left shot centers should be perfectly comfortable as right wingers

The vast majority of the time as a Flame, Bennett would have great games that we WISH Sean Monahan could have, but not rewarded for it in icetime or on the stat sheet

He played well enough to show he can be special. Not well enough to overcome the shit they put on him

 

[Bounces R Way]

I'm happy Bennett is doing well. Been a Sam Bennett fan since day one. A real hockey player's hockey player. One of the few guys who wouldn't ever hesitate to stand up for a teammate. I don't think there's ever been another player I wanted to work out so badly with the Flames.

I do think the Flames deserve the lion's share of blame when it comes to butchering his development. Like our top 6 center position was ever so stacked we couldn't afford Sam a bit of wiggle room Gulutzan especially just seemed to want to neuter Bennett for whatever reason.

I don't however think that absolves him of any culpability in the manner. He had multiple long stretches of being invisible and detrimental to this hockey team's success. Consistency was always his problem, but with the Flames yanking his chain around so much that is kind of understandable. A fresh start was exactly what he needed and I'm happy he has got one with the Panthers.

 

[lightstorm]

loltreliving what a disaster of a hire

Hilarious that we expected anything different from a Brian "Blowhard" Burke hire.

 

[TheHudlinator]

Hilarious that we expected anything different from a Brian "Blowhard" Burke hire.

This team's rebuild failed the second we brought burke in. His handling of Cammalleri was hilariously bad, the draft he helped over see was terrible, his GM he hired couldn't improve the team at all. Honestly would have preferred Feaster over Treliving atleast Feaster had proven the ability to find a coach.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I think the point where this became the bad place was when Hartley was fired.

"Sorry Bob, but your overachieving team didn't duplicate its miracle from the previous season, we have to let you go."

 

[DFF]

Pretty sure Treliving is still wondering why Brouwer, Jankowski, Lucic, Nordstrom and companies didn’t work with Bennett

he went out of his way to sign all those beauties

 

[23Monahan]

Well there we go he tied this years and last years point totals (52 and 38 games) in 9 games with Florida, still can't believe a 4th overall center pick us playing that well when used at center with other good linemates.... Craaaaaazy

 

[DomBarr]

Well there we go he tied this years and last years point totals (52 and 38 games) in 9 games with Florida, still can't believe a 4th overall center pick us playing that well when used at center with other good linemates.... Craaaaaazy

And he is now averaging 0.5 pts/g which he hasn’t done before in the regular season

 

[Siignal]

Pretty sure Treliving is still wondering why Brouwer, Jankowski, Lucic, Nordstrom and companies didn’t work with Bennett

he went out of his way to sign all those beauties

This reminded me of this

 

[TheHudlinator]

Where are those Oilers fans that said he wasn't worth his qualifying offer?

 

[lightstorm]

Sam collecting those garbage primary assists tonight.

Wonder if Treliving is watching, and if someone's watching Treliving.