Baertschi. No longer face of the future??

[Guido Sarducci]

I hope one of the things that Burke is doing is reviewing how the Flames develop players. I have always thought that too much emphasis is placed on the Flames poor drafting record while the real problem is the development aspect.

For the most part these players are great when they are drafted, great in their 19 year old junior season, and then when they turn pro the progress just stops.

Whatever it is that they are doing wrong, they have to fix it and fast because there is no more Iggy and Kipper to hide all of the warts that go along with not being able to develop from within.

 

[Anglesmith]

Bust, lazy, bad work ethic, cant score, no compete, ugly hair, bad knees, strange teeth, swiss, sings in shower, pre-apex, every game mattress, last name cant spell, etc.

Better trade him now.

You forgot about how no matter what angle you look at him, his nose is always in profile.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

He also shares a name with the worst bard in all of Skyrim.

 

[Lunatik]

Baertschi is still an amazing prospect, but people need to be honest Monahan is the face of the future and became that the second they announced his name in New Jersey.

 

[TylerSVT*]

Baertschi is still an amazing prospect, but people need to be honest Monahan is the face of the future and became that the second they announced his name in New Jersey.

I actually think whoever we draft this year will be our biggest impact player and likely the face.

Sven will be like Semin (scoring winger)
Monahan will be like Bergeron
Reinhart would be like Thornton
Ekblad would be like Weber

 

[Noori]

Sven will be like Semin (scoring winger)

Mhmm.

Monahan will be like Bergeron

Yeah.

Ekblad would be like Weber

Okay.

Reinhart would be like Thornton

 

[GetThePuckOut]

Reinhart is more like a more offensive Bergeron IMO. And Ekblad is nothing like Weber. Well maybe the beard but that's about it.

And you're counting your chickens way too early. Calgary might not finish in the bottom 2, or they might finish 2nd last and end up with the 3rd overall pick. You need to broaden your list of potential prospects, or you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

[Beats By CoRD]

Overreact much? Damn. And I don't think Baertschi was ever the new face of the franchise. Everyone needs to relax. Burke is sending a message loud and clear. Get used to it.

 

[Rangediddy]

If we're going to hope his development goes along the same path as anyone, it shouldn't be Kadri, I'd much prefer Stamkos.

 

[Mike Jones]

I hope one of the things that Burke is doing is reviewing how the Flames develop players. I have always thought that too much emphasis is placed on the Flames poor drafting record while the real problem is the development aspect.

For the most part these players are great when they are drafted, great in their 19 year old junior season, and then when they turn pro the progress just stops.

Whatever it is that they are doing wrong, they have to fix it and fast because there is no more Iggy and Kipper to hide all of the warts that go along with not being able to develop from within.

I agree. For me one of the biggest roadblocks this rebuild is going to face (With an average GM being a close second) is the development team in Abby and the coaching staff there. Get some coaches in there who understand development and prospects may have a chance of successfully making the transition from junior careers to the pro game.

I also agree with the notion of Bart spending more development time in the A although it's too bad it would have to be in Abby. The problem there, once again, is the coaching. Where is he going to get better coaching - the A or up in the show? My hunch is that he'll learn more from Hartley and his associates.

If he does remain in Calgary then he should be one player getting as many minutes and opportunities as possible. What's the worst that can happen - he helps the team gain another high first round pick?

 

[King In The North]

I wouldn't be so concerned as you guys if not for the fact that he didn't have a great prospects tourney either. He was vocally upset about being sent down last year, if he shows some good work ethic then anything before the regular season does not matter at all.

 

[King In The North]

I hope one of the things that Burke is doing is reviewing how the Flames develop players. I have always thought that too much emphasis is placed on the Flames poor drafting record while the real problem is the development aspect.

For the most part these players are great when they are drafted, great in their 19 year old junior season, and then when they turn pro the progress just stops.

Whatever it is that they are doing wrong, they have to fix it and fast because there is no more Iggy and Kipper to hide all of the warts that go along with not being able to develop from within.

Good post. Completely agree with this.

 

[TheDebaser]

It was way too early to call him the face of the future, it still is way too early to call him the face of the future and it also is way too early to say he's not the face of the future.

We call them prospects for a reason, all he needs is a shift in attitude. He could take his game up a peg or two really easily.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Baertschi's done in the AHL, he's not going to learn anything from being back there. I think people just want to send him there because they're frustrated with him.

Playing a full season in the NHL is what's going to teach him a night-in night-out work ethic and consistency in all three zones. Put him on the second line. He's not going to be great, but I'll wager he'll be solid and will be on pace for 40+ points, the NHL will teach him that.

As for being the face of the future, I'd say that maybe at one point that was Baertschi, yeah, but I'm banking on Gaudreau now. I think he can be a far more effective player than we ever dreamed when drafting him. Look at how he's managed to score at every level of hockey he's been in, even with his height "holding him back". I bet he could do 1.75ppg in the NCAA this year provided the right opportunities and assuming BC doesn't completely fall apart or anything. And he'll probably look fab in the callup that he's almost certain to get this year. If we're structuring the team around anyone, let's have it be him.

 

[tmurfin]

Gee.. He really has had a rough preseason.. We better trade him, his future looks bleak . Give the kid a ****in break, I know his preseason has left some to be desired but lets let the kid play. He never was the future face, he put that on himself, that he would someday hope to be that for us.. The kid has shown nothing but hard work and determination since his draft, but lets throw him under the bus at the first signs of struggle anyways.. Who knows, with his injury history maybe he's secretly nursing something or trying to stay healthy to actually play.

New toy syndrome I guess, Backs got fed to the wolves when Sven came along and now he just got drop kicked off the pedestal with Monahan in the fold..

Let the kid play, he needs to learn in the NHL, if he still has a lack of effort, sit him, I don't think he has anything else to learn in Abby

 

[Anglesmith]

As much as today's presser kind of dampened my spirits a little heading into the season, I'm not too worried about Sven. He's said that he wants to be the face of the franchise one day. If that's true, Burke's comments ought to be a valuable lesson to him. It's about more than being the prototypical nice guy. You have to put your best hockey on the ice at every opportunity.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

If we're going to hope his development goes along the same path as anyone, it shouldn't be Kadri, I'd much prefer Stamkos.

I'd rather he become Hossa 2.0, to be honest. Stamkos puts up gaudy goal totals, but there's something to be said for a guy who can put up numbers and play three zones.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

I'd rather he become Hossa 2.0, to be honest. Stamkos puts up gaudy goal totals, but there's something to be said for a guy who can put up numbers and play three zones.

Hossa is Baertschi's final form. Now let's see him get there.

 

[Anglesmith]

Hossa is Baertschi's final form. Now let's see him get there.

Those 2-3 extra inches are probably his biggest hurdle.

Good thing we have Kristin Hallett.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Jesus Christ. Remember how everyone was ready to give up on Brodie? Good lord, if preseason was all that mattered Denis Wideman might as well be given the Norris and Lance Bouma will win the Rocket Richard.

 

[MuffinMerc]

Those 2-3 extra inches are probably his biggest hurdle.

Good thing we have Kristin Hallett.

Hehehehehehe...

 

[TheDebaser]

It seems like a lot of you guys think he should be given a lesser role because of his lackluster preseason, but what do you guys think about putting him in a position to succeed? As it is he's probably our third best LW, hell, he has probably earned fourth line minutes with his play, but what is best for his development? As far as I'm concerned, I've only seen one thing from Sven, when you give him legitimate opportunity, he rises to the occasion. Call him up to the nhl, he scores three goals. Give him much more offensive responsibilities, he goes on a seven game tear. Unfortunately, if you tell him to earn it, he coasts.

I'd bet that if you give the guy second line minutes with talented players, he'll react much better than if you punish the guy with less minutes and less talented linemates. Sven is still our most talented prospect, he just needs to get focused. We should be doing whatever we can to help him.

Guys like Reinhart, Knight, Horak etc, while very necessary for any team, are all combined only a fraction as valuable as a Sven Baertschi with a good attitude. As a team, we need to be very careful with how we handle him and how we handle his attitude. Somethings wrong right now and the flames did this to him. This kid left his home country to play hockey, he won a championship in the whl, coaches raved about his work ethic and his attitude. All that only 2 or 3 years ago. The guy has an incredible attitude when he's in a good mental state, we need to take whatever steps necessary to get him there.

Mishandling Sven's development is not an option.

 

[Anglesmith]

One thing I've been meaning to look into was who Sven's linemates were during the preseason. I seem to remember that he usually lined up with players like Knight and Street. Did he ever once get to play with Backlund or Hudler or any other players of significant talent and experience?

I feel like the coaches could have split up the Stempniak-Stajan-Glencross trio a bit more than they did to boost other players. They know what they have in that line.

 

[TheDebaser]

One thing I've been meaning to look into was who Sven's linemates were during the preseason. I seem to remember that he usually lined up with players like Knight and Street. Did he ever once get to play with Backlund or Hudler or any other players of significant talent and experience?

I feel like the coaches could have split up the Stempniak-Stajan-Glencross trio a bit more than they did to boost other players. They know what they have in that line.

I remember he talked about having success with Galiardi and Hudler against Edmonton, I'm not sure about too many other games though.

 

[Demetric]

'no longer the face' is incorrect, it should be no longer the ONLY face as we now have a number of faces moving forward; sven, sean on the team at the moment and we will be seeing Jonny, Emile, Morgan, and Mark just to name a few. No worrying coming from this guy