Question 4: Who’s been the biggest disappointment for you so far?
Jonathan Boulanger
I would say Troy Brouwer but it’s not like we had high expectations for him anyways. Probably TJ Brodie. Nah, just kidding. It’s gotta be Travis Hamonic for me. He hasn’t been too bad but I guess I just had a bit higher expectations for him than that so far. That being said, it’s only been 5 games and I think he’ll get much better the more comfortable he gets.
Ian Gustafson
It is a tie between two people for me, Michael Ferland and Troy Brouwer. Simply because the way that Ferland played last year I was expecting him to improve and take the next step as a top line player but so far he hasn’t impressed me. He started off on the top line and has been moved around quite a bit so far. Troy Brouwer has disappointed me because I was expecting him to have a bounce-back year from his tough season but he hasn’t shown any signs of improvement. I know a lot of people are hard on him but I’m still hoping for him to flip a switch.
Calgary Flames
Tomas Oppolzer
I’m not really disappointed with anyone. I could say a player that’s been bad like Troy Brouwer, Tanner Glass, or Matt Bartkowski but I never expected them to be good. If forced to say, someone, I guess I’d say Michael Stone. I hoped last season with Arizona was just an aberration and he could be a useful bottom pair guy, but he’s been bad. Let’s all pray Brett Kulak gets in the lineup soon.
Ben Prokopy
The entire defence corps. A large part of the narrative around the acquisition of Mike Smith was that his workload would be reduced behind what many believed to be the best top 4 (or 5) defensemen in the league. Yet, as of this writing, the Flames are top 3 in the league with an average of 36.3 shots against per game.
Smith has obviously done a fine job managing those shots. But given the acquisition cost of Dougie Hamilton and Travis Hamonic, he certainly shouldn’t have to.
Offensively, the group has been great. However, if they don’t take care of business in their own zone, losses will accumulate.
Dan Raicevich
Too early to tell for me. Give it some time and I will have an answer for you.
Ramina Shlah
Like Tomas said, I wouldn’t say Brouwer, Glass, or Bartkowski, because I never had high hopes for them to begin with. I agree with Ian about it being Micheal Ferland. After he was put on that first line in February last season and excelled in that role, I somewhat expected him to pick off where he left off. But that’s not always the case.
I do think he still deserves a shot and opportunity at the top line, but other players may be beating him for that spot instead.