Nov 15, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames left wing Sven Baertschi (27) and center Paul Byron (32) celebrate Byron
The highlight of Sven Baertschi’s career may have already come and gone. From his Wikipedia page:
"Due to a number of injuries in Calgary, the Flames recalled Bärtschi on an emergency basis on March 7. He made his NHL debut on March 9 in a 5–3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. He scored his first goal two nights later against Matt Hackett of the Minnesota Wild. Bärtschi added goals in his following two games and quickly became a fan favourite in Calgary. He appeared in a total of five NHL games and scored three goals before returning players necessitated his return to Portland. Bärtschi was the top scorer of the 2012 WHL playoffs, recording 34 points in 22 games, to lead Portland to their second consecutive appearance in the league championship series."
Sven Baertschi started the 2013-14 season with the Calgary Flames and played 26 games before being sent down to the AHL on December 12th. In his 26 games, the then 21 year old Baertschi registered only two goals and nine assists with a minus-4 rating. There was one MAJOR DIFFERENCE between last year’s Baertschi audition and this year’s Baertschi audition – – ICE TIME!
The age old conundrum goes something like “I need more ice time to show what I can do but the only way to get more ice time is by strutting out your abilities during limited ice time”.
In 2013-14, Baertschi averaged 14:07 per game. This season, Baertschi is averaging 9:00. Brandon freakin Bollig currently has a higher average of per game ice time than Sven Baertschi. Bollig is “suppose” to be a 4th line single digit minute type of guy, Baertschi is NOT.
I don’t have a fly on the wall of the Calgary Flames dresser room but something has happened between the start of the 2013-14 season and now that has knocked Baertschi off his once high pedestal and I’m here to say it’s time to end the cat and mouse game.
In 9 games, Baertschi has cracked the 10 minutes played mark 4 times. In comparison, Johnny Gaudreau has only played under 12 minutes ONCE! The Calder Trophy whispers surrounding Johnny Hockey also surrounded Baertschi going into the lockout shortened season of 2012-13 – – remember that??
Josh Jooris has come up from the AHL to play for our Flames in 15 games. Coach Hartley has put Jooris in every situation possible while Sven Baertschi can’t seem to play more than a couple shifts in any given third period (even the games when Sven has had strong opening frames).
For the sake of a 22 year old who has apparently lost his mojo, the Calgary Flames need to end his NHL tryout by either sending him back to the AHL or trading him. I am not a Sven “hater” but I do hate seeing the beating this kids confidence is taking.