Confirmed with Link: Flames Recall MATTHEW PHILLIPS

[CamPopplestone]

I'm just happy he got a few weeks of NHL pay rate tbh. Even players who are never gonna make it, I'm always happy to see get a recall to get that NHL rate

 

[Bounces R Way]

Guess that 18 minutes over two games told us all we needed to know.

 

[BRobMint]

3 points so far in his first game back on the Wranglers

 

[DFF]

Guess that 18 minutes over two games told us all we needed to know.

Maybe not but I don’t even remember a second of quality out of the 18 mins

Maybe he is just another Dustin Boyd/Aus Czarnik

Great minor leaguer and no more

Darryl seems to think so and that’s all that matters right now

 

[Haatley]

Maybe not but I don’t even remember a second of quality out of the 18 mins

Maybe he is just another Dustin Boyd/Aus Czarnik

Great minor leaguer and no more

Darryl seems to think so and that’s all that matters right now

All I saw was him easily getting knocked off the puck. He was out on the 2nd Powerplay unit and didn't create anything.

I was rooting for him. But he did not look like he belongs out there.

 

[23Monahan]

Maybe not but I don’t even remember a second of quality out of the 18 mins

Maybe he is just another Dustin Boyd/Aus Czarnik

Great minor leaguer and no more

Darryl seems to think so and that’s all that matters right now

All I saw was him easily getting knocked off the puck. He was out on the 2nd Powerplay unit and didn't create anything.

I was rooting for him. But he did not look like he belongs out there.

Lol what games were you watching? He set up mang on the pp and he rung a post. He hit a post himself on a shot, could have easily had 2 points in 18mins of play (which is close to what lucic is getting per game). He definirely is small but he was playing with hunger and actually won a couple puck battles despite that.

And that was in 18 minutes of play time, guy didnt even get a proper look, I would not be surprised if he ends up in a top 9 role on another nhl team next season and starts thriving like many other players we didn't give a proper chance to.

 

[DFF]

Lol what games were you watching? He set up mang on the pp and he rung a post. He hit a post himself on a shot, could have easily had 2 points in 18mins of play (which is close to what lucic is getting per game). He definirely is small but he was playing with hunger and actually won a couple puck battles despite that.

And that was in 18 minutes of play time, guy didnt even get a proper look, I would not be surprised if he ends up in a top 9 role on another nhl team next season and starts thriving like many other players we didn't give a proper chance to.

At his size, he is going to have to be better than average top 6. Nobody is going to carry a mediocre midget.

That’s how the NHL works. Ask Darryl.

Guys like Ruzicka and Bennett get the chance because they are bigger and as long as they hustle they’ll get opportunities

 

[Volica]

At his size, he is going to have to be better than average top 6. Nobody is going to carry a mediocre midget.

That’s how the NHL works. Ask Darryl.

Guys like Ruzicka and Bennett get the chance because they are bigger and as long as they hustle they’ll get opportunities

This is unfortunately the truth in this sport.
Vanilla and small is not going to be enough to stay in the NHL regardless of how head-and-shoulders above the competition a player is in the AHL.

I keep circling back to it, but Dillon Dube was a much better AHL player age-comparable to Phillips. And half you posters want to shoot the guy into the sun (I imagine prior to him picking it up recently). Unfortunately for Matthew, this team is starting to click and we're seeing production increase from a number of different players. Unless injuries happen, I don't think there will be a role. That said, I think Phillips played a role in getting some guys going; his joining the team coincides with some nice production increases from some of the guys.

 

[Haatley]

Lol what games were you watching? He set up mang on the pp and he rung a post. He hit a post himself on a shot, could have easily had 2 points in 18mins of play (which is close to what lucic is getting per game). He definirely is small but he was playing with hunger and actually won a couple puck battles despite that.

And that was in 18 minutes of play time, guy didnt even get a proper look, I would not be surprised if he ends up in a top 9 role on another nhl team next season and starts thriving like many other players we didn't give a proper chance to.

Try watching objectively.

I was at the game in Montreal. He was brutal.

 

[DFF]

This is unfortunately the truth in this sport.
Vanilla and small is not going to be enough to stay in the NHL regardless of how head-and-shoulders above the competition a player is in the AHL.

I keep circling back to it, but Dillon Dube was a much better AHL player age-comparable to Phillips. And half you posters want to shoot the guy into the sun (I imagine prior to him picking it up recently). Unfortunately for Matthew, this team is starting to click and we're seeing production increase from a number of different players. Unless injuries happen, I don't think there will be a role. That said, I think Phillips played a role in getting some guys going; his joining the team coincides with some nice production increases from some of the guys.

Great point. Competition matters. That’s when a good farm helps

 

[super6646]

Try watching objectively.

I was at the game in Montreal. He was brutal.

Ironic when this is a subjective opinion.

 

[Haatley]

Ironic when this is a subjective opinion.

Is it?

Do you think he played well?

All season you have been making threads here and on the main boards about how terrible everyone is. If any of our roster players had played like Phillips throughout the season you would have been all over it.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Vanilla is the best way to describe his 18 minutes. Nothing stood out in his game to raise him above noted goal scorer Brett Ritchie, and Ritchie has his size going for him when he's not scoring. At the same time, he wasn't brutal either.

If his skating was like 10-15% better, he'd be a regular NHL player.

Of course, this is all based on me seeing him in the NHL for about 20 minutes of ice time during his career.

 

[HighLifeMan]

Everyone knows what Phillips can and can't do well. Giving him two 9 minute "auditions" in the bottom six seemed more so like a move to appease the fanbase at the time, and it rewarded Phillips with an NHL payday for a few weeks. It was not a fair - or meaningful opportunity for him to show what he is capable of - but that's just how the NHL works - especially when Darryl is the head coach. You knew immediately from the coaches comments that he was not going to get a viable shot during the previous call up. Unless there is an injury to a top six guy there isn't a hope in hell he will get an opportunity for this club which suggests to me his time with the organization is done at the end of the year.

He may be one of those guys that may just never get an honest chance to prove he is an NHL player. I don't agree with it, but that's the world we live in. I am not even one of those guys that thinks he has what it takes to overcome his diminutive stature but I think he earned the opportunity to at the very least prove otherwise.

 

[super6646]

Is it?

Do you think he played well?

All season you have been making threads here and on the main boards about how terrible everyone is. If any of our roster players had played like Phillips throughout the season you would have been all over it.

I think he played alright all around, all things considered. Then again, with 18 minutes of ice time it’s hard to prove either way and any basis of his play is going to be very subjective given the incredibly small sample size.

I saw an nhl player who could carry the puck effectively and almost had 2 pts if not for posts. You saw a brutal player. Maybe he wasn’t that great against Montreal, I honestly can’t remember when he barely got a shot to begin with. I thought he stood out well in Toronto though.

Who knows, maybe it’s a case of seeing what I want to see, or vice versa. Judging a player off 2 game sample sizes is absolutely stretching it, you simply cannot judge a player effectively in that time. He had one brutal game and that’s good enough to say it ain’t it? Mangiapane for example went something like 20 games without a point, yet the team stuck it out.

Then again, sutter was never interested in giving him a shot. Now he can point to this and say size matters and he was right, but it was never really about actually giving the kid a reasonable ability to play. It was a token gesture. For any prospect on this team, it won’t just be about playing well, but having to see vets fail as well to secure spots, and that’s what happened with kylington and ruzicka. The latter in fact is still toiling on our 4th line while we try to resurrect Milan lucic for… reasons.

I don’t like the direction of this club. Simple as that.

 

[Volica]

Great point. Competition matters. That’s when a good farm helps

Absolutely.

It’s not about what he’s going to do on the ice, it’s that sitting becomes a reality for someone like Lucic if he’s brutal… which wasn’t the case at the start of the season. This team has no issues sitting someone, bringing Rosey into the middle 6 and having some AHL guy like Big Z or Phillips in to play 10 minutes.

I honestly do think Phillips help out in that regard. Want to coast? Well there’s a kid this fanbase won’t stop drooling over on social media who’s more than happy to take over for you.

Seeing Dube and Lucic get going I think correlates directly to Phillips and Zahorna coming into the big squad

 

[Yepthatsme]

Vanilla is the best way to describe his 18 minutes. Nothing stood out in his game to raise him above noted goal scorer Brett Ritchie, and Ritchie has his size going for him when he's not scoring. At the same time, he wasn't brutal either.

If his skating was like 10-15% better, he'd be a regular NHL player.

Of course, this is all based on me seeing him in the NHL for about 20 minutes of ice time during his career.

This is my biggest thing. His skating doesn’t match his size. Plenty of small players can thrive in the NHL, but they need upper echelon speed, edgework, and ‘elusiveness’ by NHL standards to be able to separate from players. Phillips skating just isn’t where it needs to be, and at 24 it’s probably not getting better. Time and time again he couldn’t separate from his man in the offensive zone, was pushed off the puck, and we lost possession. It even happened multiple times on the powerplay where time and space are at an abundance. The AHL and NHL are two completely different worlds for pace of play and speed of players, what works for him in the AHL won’t necessarily work in the NHL.

 

[Yepthatsme]

I think he played alright all around, all things considered. Then again, with 18 minutes of ice time it’s hard to prove either way and any basis of his play is going to be very subjective given the incredibly small sample size.

I saw an nhl player who could carry the puck effectively and almost had 2 pts if not for posts. You saw a brutal player. Maybe he wasn’t that great against Montreal, I honestly can’t remember when he barely got a shot to begin with. I thought he stood out well in Toronto though.

Who knows, maybe it’s a case of seeing what I want to see, or vice versa. Judging a player off 2 game sample sizes is absolutely stretching it, you simply cannot judge a player effectively in that time. He had one brutal game and that’s good enough to say it ain’t it? Mangiapane for example went something like 20 games without a point, yet the team stuck it out.

Then again, sutter was never interested in giving him a shot. Now he can point to this and say size matters and he was right, but it was never really about actually giving the kid a reasonable ability to play. It was a token gesture. For any prospect on this team, it won’t just be about playing well, but having to see vets fail as well to secure spots, and that’s what happened with kylington and ruzicka. The latter in fact is still toiling on our 4th line while we try to resurrect Milan lucic for… reasons.

I don’t like the direction of this club. Simple as that.

The problem was he had 18 minutes of playing time, 5:40 of powerplay time, and he generated two chances for almost points. Almost scoring goals is a thing our team still has an abundance of currently. He could carry the puck up the middle with time and space. In the zone, when he got the puck with someone near him, he didn’t have the speed to create separation, and he definitely didn’t look like he was winning a 50/50 puck battle (which caused him to take a brutal O-zone penalty on a powerplay). For a player who balances out his negatives by creating plenty of offense, he didn’t create much offense on the powerplay, and as much as he didn’t get much 5v5 time it seemed like he got a lot less because he was fairly invisible.

That last paragraph seems like you’re projecting a lot. Who does Sutter have to appease with a token gesture? I don’t think he logs onto HF boards and thinks “the fans are getting grumpy, better give him a game” or sees a negative article on TSN and wants more positive attention. A player had earned an NHL pay cheque and a shot on the big club, what he did with it wasn’t much to write home about.

The latter isn’t toiling on our 4th line ‘for reasons’. Ruzicka is on our 4th line because Kadri and Huberdeau are looking the most effective together they have been all season with Lucic as a winger. Lucic’s strengths seem to compliment them very well so far, even without him being in the same stratosphere as them offensively. Ruzicka is also making our 4th line look fantastic currently as well.

 

[super6646]

The problem was he had 18 minutes of playing time, 5:40 of powerplay time, and he generated two chances for almost points. Almost scoring goals is a thing our team still has an abundance of currently. He could carry the puck up the middle with time and space. In the zone, when he got the puck with someone near him, he didn’t have the speed to create separation, and he definitely didn’t look like he was winning a 50/50 puck battle (which caused him to take a brutal O-zone penalty on a powerplay). For a player who balances out his negatives by creating plenty of offense, he didn’t create much offense on the powerplay, and as much as he didn’t get much 5v5 time it seemed like he got a lot less because he was fairly invisible.

That last paragraph seems like you’re projecting a lot. Who does Sutter have to appease with a token gesture? I don’t think he logs onto HF boards and thinks “the fans are getting grumpy, better give him a game” or sees a negative article on TSN and wants more positive attention. A player had earned an NHL pay cheque and a shot on the big club, what he did with it wasn’t much to write home about.

The latter isn’t toiling on our 4th line ‘for reasons’. Ruzicka is on our 4th line because Kadri and Huberdeau are looking the most effective together they have been all season with Lucic as a winger. Lucic’s strengths seem to compliment them very well so far, even without him being in the same stratosphere as them offensively. Ruzicka is also making our 4th line look fantastic currently as well.

The uproar amongst flames fans was pretty loud to give him a shot. He technically did that, though frankly 18 minutes to prove oneself is just that, token. If you disagree we just fundamentally see prospect development as something else.

I keep going back to mangiapane who took what… 15-20 games just to get a point. He was totally invisible in his first nhl stint. If the flames had the same mindset then as they do now he never gets an opportunity to prove himself, and then was pushed up the line up gradually instead of being yo-yoed.

You could argue Phillips didn’t show much… but what player is going to show much when they don’t get the opportunity? Chicken and egg situation there. I thought he showed well given the opportunity he was afforded, but imo it’s abundantly clear he wasn’t sticking around.

 

[Yepthatsme]

The uproar amongst flames fans was pretty loud to give him a shot. He technically did that, though frankly 18 minutes to prove oneself is just that, token. If you disagree we just fundamentally see prospect development as something else.

I keep going back to mangiapane who took what… 15-20 games just to get a point. He was totally invisible in his first nhl stint. If the flames had the same mindset then as they do now he never gets an opportunity to prove himself, and then was pushed up the line up gradually instead of being yo-yoed.

You could argue Phillips didn’t show much… but what player is going to show much when they don’t get the opportunity? Chicken and egg situation there. I thought he showed well given the opportunity he was afforded, but imo it’s abundantly clear he wasn’t sticking around.

Their isn’t an organization in the NHL that makes decisions based on fan uproar, let alone a coach. Penalty troubles definitely limited how much time we could get him on the ice, but once again there’s on ice sessions, video room work. Our coaching staff very likely gave him details of his game to work on to get inserted again (my guess is the turnovers and the situations he put himself in that caused them), and weren’t happy enough with his work to get reinserted like Ruzicka repeatedly does. Mangiapane’s game isn’t based solely around offensive production, he is an absolute buzzsaw of a player and possessed forecheck/puck retrieval skills from the get go. Phillips didn’t really display any off puck skills in his time, and that’s probably never going to be his strength.

Like you said that, it’s just fundamental differences in how we think prospects should be handled. In the majority of times, prospects have to earn the opportunity to get that call up, then have to earn the right to stay in the line-up/with the club every day from that point forward. From game performance, work in practice, and off-ice things we will never hear about, every minute is earned, especially from prospects like a 6th rounder with no sunken cost value in an organizations eyes. This team and especially a team trying to win isn’t going to keep throwing ice time at someone hoping they start being effective eventually. And before you say it, there’s more ways to be effective than putting points on the board.

 

[super6646]

Their isn’t an organization in the NHL that makes decisions based on fan uproar, let alone a coach. Penalty troubles definitely limited how much time we could get him on the ice, but once again there’s on ice sessions, video room work. Our coaching staff very likely gave him details of his game to work on to get inserted again (my guess is the turnovers and the situations he put himself in that caused them), and weren’t happy enough with his work to get reinserted like Ruzicka repeatedly does. Mangiapane’s game isn’t based solely around offensive production, he is an absolute buzzsaw of a player and possessed forecheck/puck retrieval skills from the get go. Phillips didn’t really display any off puck skills in his time, and that’s probably never going to be his strength.

Like you said that, it’s just fundamental differences in how we think prospects should be handled. In the majority of times, prospects have to earn the opportunity to get that call up, then have to earn the right to stay in the line-up/with the club every day from that point forward. From game performance, work in practice, and off-ice things we will never hear about, every minute is earned, especially from prospects like a 6th rounder with no sunken cost value in an organizations eyes. This team and especially a team trying to win isn’t going to keep throwing ice time at someone hoping they start being effective eventually. And before you say it, there’s more ways to be effective than putting points on the board.

I disagree with the first part. He definitely showed an ability to be effective and tenacious on the forecheck and around the net. You just don't notice that much when he barely plays.

Did the team really give him a shot to be in an offensive role? Again, what else could Phillips have realistically done in his 16 minutes of ice time besides getting a couple of better bounces? You say his role is based on offensive production; was he placed in a role where we could see that on display, or did the team square peg him?

I also disagree with this second point too. This team gave Milan Lucic over 60 games of play while he did not score a goal, was an ineffective deterrent, saw degradation in his ability to break even in scoring chances, and was a minor penalty-taking machine. The second he showed even remotely NHL-caliber play for a single game, the team stuck him on the second line and I guarantee will continue to do so far after he wears out whatever bounce he had against San Jose. For a player who will probably be out of the league next year, its funny how that's the kind of player this organization wants to afford rope - the one with little upside in the short and long run.

For a team that is trying to win now, the results have not even shown in the standings. There is a very solid chance this team will not be able to reach a playoff spot, and frankly with how this team is set playoffs should be a given. I feel there is a disconnect all around this team. One final point about Ruzicka being re-inserted, he was only done so when Huberdeau was hurt. It took Ruzicka playing balls to the walls and producing well just to get a spot over Kevin Rooney who could muster 1 assist in his time here and isn't even good at the AHL level (a total bust). If that injury doesn't happen and Rooney doesn't completely suck ass, there is a good chance Ruzicka is still eating pine because he doesn't get the rope to build his confidence and play. It was the same thing with Kylington who had to not only blow the doors open, but then had to wait for a vet to absolutely fail in the meantime. That doesn't seem like an effectively way of being a contending club in the long run.

 

[herashak]

I hope he gets some more games, but he’s Uber small and so he’s gonna need to keep improving to get a spot. It’s not like he’s gonna have a bunch of offers from around the league, sign him to another 2 way deal next year, it’s a solid offer for him, I think he’ll be back

 

[Ace Rimmer]

This is my biggest thing. His skating doesn’t match his size. Plenty of small players can thrive in the NHL, but they need upper echelon speed, edgework, and ‘elusiveness’ by NHL standards to be able to separate from players. Phillips skating just isn’t where it needs to be, and at 24 it’s probably not getting better. Time and time again he couldn’t separate from his man in the offensive zone, was pushed off the puck, and we lost possession. It even happened multiple times on the powerplay where time and space are at an abundance. The AHL and NHL are two completely different worlds for pace of play and speed of players, what works for him in the AHL won’t necessarily work in the NHL.

Martin St. Louis also (initially) had this issue, leading to his buyout and subsequent PTO. He had hit the gym hard in consecutive off-seasons and not only improved his core strength but power as well. He was like 26 or 27 when he finally broke out?

 

[Kranix]

Martin St. Louis also (initially) had this issue, leading to his buyout and subsequent PTO. He had hit the gym hard in consecutive off-seasons and not only improved his core strength but power as well. He was like 26 or 27 when he finally broke out?

To be fair, St Louis established himself as a top 6 forward in the NHL by 25 with the lightning, but I get the parallels and concern this is history repeating for the Flames.

 

[DFF]

St Loius is short but he has massive legs and strength. Nobody can knock him off easily