yave1964 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 My favorite title for something I wrote, lol. No actually this is in reference to the Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter and his absolutely being loathe to play the kids if at all possible. Matthew Phillips is 24, the sucker can flat out score, he is a former 6th round pick expected to be AHL filler and has indeed been in the AHL for five years. He is small, listed at 5 foot 7 but he is over a point a game in the AHL with The Wranglers, he leads the AHL in goals scored and is fifth in scoring. His height works against him but he can flat out play. For all of that he has been recalled twice, gottin into two games with about a a dozen shifts and nine minutes a gameand sent back down. Another is former first round pick Connor Zary who is scoring at a point a game pace, 10th in the league and developing a rep as one of the leagues best faceoff men. He is only 20 but is looking NHL ready. Another former first rounder Jakob Pelletier is 2nd on the Wranglers in goals and is a very good defensive forward, his numbers simply scream third liner. He has been recalled twice, given four games and ten minutes and sent back down and forgotten as well. Most AHL teams are filled with older bodies playing out the string with a few prospects mixed in, the Wranglers are an exception to that, the top six scorers are between the ages of 20 and 24, Emillio Pettersson is another skilled forward who is a fine two way forward, defenseman Jeremie Pourier is an AHL rookie who is running the power play like a five year vet. Cole Schwindt, the 'other guy' they got in the Tkachuk/Huberdeau deal is having a solid year as well as a two way forward. Calgary has the best record in the AHL at 30-10-2 good for 62 points and unlike most of the clubs close to them they are led by a talented bunch of kids chomping at the bit looking for a chance to impress coach Sutter if only given a chance. Problem is, he dont like having kids clutter his NHL roster. The Flames are fighting for their playoff lives and a lot of the vets have underperformed but you simply cannot cut them or send them down, they have contracts and you gotta pay and play them. Still when you see veterans such as Trevor Lewis, Lucic, Zadorov, Brett ritchie, Michael Stone and Kevin Rooney slogging and stumbling up and down the ice contributing little if anything, abetween them playing 224 games and scoring between them 30 goals and 64 points. Not saying they are stealing paychecks, all are servicable, I guess but there is serious NHL ready talent dying on the vine in the AHL just begging for a chance, and Coach Sutter who is at odds with management and his own team refuses to call any of them up and give them a fair shot. The only kid with any ice time is hulking center Adam Ruzicka who is having a fine year, he is bumped down to centering the 4th line behind Michael Backlund in spite of having a better year than Backlund statistically. You know what you are gonna get with Backlund, 45 points, good faceoff numbers, steady but Ruzicka has shown flashes that he can do better than that Backlund is 3rd among forwards in ice time, Ruzicka is 11th. Backlund has 29 points in 50 games, a decent amount, Ruzicka has 20 in 37 a slightly higher scoring ratio in spite of playing six minutes a night less with absolutely no power paly time.Ruzicka is 3rd among regulars in defensive zone time, and 18th in offensivve zone time. Poor Matthew Phillips never really got a chance to impress Sutter at all with his true offensive zone ability because is barely getting any ice time in two games, nine measly minutes a night 80 percent of the time was defensive zone work. for a small player trying desperately to earn an NHL job that is not the way to do it. That is a cycle of failure. Ruzicka is a center potentially a damn good middle six center but almost all faceoffs are handled by Lindhollm, Backlund and Kadri with only scraps left over and then he has to fight for those scraps with Trevor Lewis and Kevin Rooney. He is absolutely being mismanaged. Period. The kid can play. Look, I am gonna wrap this up, it is way to long when nobody in her really gives much of a damn about the Flames including me but I hae been watching this mismanagement of AHL assets for the season as the Flames are stumbling about trying to figure out if they are a playoff team or net their AHL club led by the kids is the best team in the AHL. I used Matthew Phillips as an example, truth is he is small and might not have much of an NHL career but he hustles his rear off and at the least is better than Brett Ritchie or Trevor Lewis. Pelletier and Zary have first round pedigree and cannot buy a chance. Schwindt has a bit of a scoring touch and loves to hit, he has bottom six right now written all over him. Poirier is young but AHL coaches are raving about his running the power play. He is young and will make mistakes but are you telling me you would rather watch Michael Stone erode and do his best pylon imitation? Not all these kids will make it, but in a different organization they would be given a chance to show their stuff. instead the Flames are looking to add a veteran or two for the stretch run possibly even giving up one or two of these kids as the trade piece, rather than see what they can do. Coach Sutter has buried the kids and truthfully it is a damn shame. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 (edited) A quick note and i am gonna get the hell outta here, Calgary is next to last in their Division in scoring ahead of only the god awful Ducks. Keep playing those vets Sutter and add more burying the kids. Thats the way. Edited February 1, 2023 by yave1964 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 As Columbo used to say, ONE MORE THING. Missed a damn fine rookie. 21 year old goalie Dustin Wolf is developing very nice, he is a 2nd year full time starter sitting at 25-5-1 with a microscopic 2.16 goals against and a great .928 save percentage. With the way Vlader is playing i understand why he has not been recalled but the kid looks great. Last year he went 33-9-4 when they were still in Stockton. He was a 7th rounder but has quietly snuck into the conversation as far as NHL near ready goalies. Needs to eat a few more big macs and put on some weight but the kid blocks everything thrown at him, you dont start your career 58-14-5 if you dont have something going for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 @yave1964After Jakub Pelletier played his first game, I was taken aback by Sutter's comments, when asked about him after the game. Sutter put on his glasses, took out the scoresheet, pretended not to know his name, and then went to say that he's 21 years old and has a long way to go. That's it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 1 hour ago, JR Ewing said: @yave1964After Jakub Pelletier played his first game, I was taken aback by Sutter's comments, when asked about him after the game. Sutter put on his glasses, took out the scoresheet, pretended not to know his name, and then went to say that he's 21 years old and has a long way to go. That's it. The flames today would miss the playoffs, all the while the top six scorers in the AHL are 24 or under, talented and dying for a shot. Babcock hated kids in Detroit, you had to force your way onto the roster but if you did he would play you. Sutter won't even give them a chance. Yeah I forgot about the Pelletier comments. Good catch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaucyJack Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 On 2/1/2023 at 7:49 AM, yave1964 said: As Columbo used to say, ONE MORE THING We really must stop showing our age { ; ^ / 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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