Ruzicka’s development is being ruined by both Sutter and Lucic
Saw the Ruzicka CGY hubub so ran a Looch WOWY.
I honestly feel for my friends who are CGY fans. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/glt84hgMyK
— Woodguy (@Woodguy55) March 13, 2023
by robochobo
@Calgary Flames
14 Comments
https://twitter.com/woodguy55/status/1635367422919335936?s=46&t=NAxq-0sN-ePwFNCQjg4HNA
And here’s Lucic and Lewis.
Lucic is single-handedly the worst player in the league when you factor both production and contract and Sutter can’t stop putting him in the lineup. Fun
I really don’t understand it myself. The kid was playing great and yes I know he fell off but I think the message has been received.
He can’t get any better if u don’t play him.
Fourth line should be:
Ruzicka-Lewis-Duehr
Maybe even:
Ritchie-Ruzicka-Duehr
Sutter is *very obviously* giving lucic (and Lewis to a lesser extent) a dignified retirement, it has nothing to do with his merit or lack thereof on the ice.
15 games left, we just have to deal with it
It’s so weird that when Dube found consistency and established his role it was a major success but when Valimaki and Ruzicka don’t, their lack of consistency is Sutter’s fault, and not their own.
At 23 Ruzicka is probably as developed as he’s going to get… And the knock against him is that he disappears for weeks. That’s not a development issue.
Personally I’d alternate games between Ritchie and Lucic while keeping Lewis and Duehr all the time.
Imagine thinking that GF% is an actual valid analysis of a players performance… That’s basically just taking a players +/- stat and saying someone with a high +/- is good and a low +/- is bad without looking into why that’s the case. He’s probably the type of person who wouldn’t want Draisaitl on his team since he’s a -3 and would claim that Thomas Tatar has been better for his team since he’s +38
I always find it funny that whenever you hear Sutter isn’t giving someone ice time or is sitting them in the pressbox, he’s ruining their development. Then the second the player does the behind the scenes work and improvement to earn a larger role, they play much better than before. Everyone who complained before then says this was obviously the player we have had all along, Sutter is ruining prospects by not realizing this earlier. Then either their play slips and they lose ice time so the process starts over, or their play continues to stay strong so then a new young player is who everyone focuses on. This cycle has already repeated itself with Kylington, Dube, Ruzicka once already, and Pelletier. Yet people still beat that drum that our organization has no clue what they’re doing and Sutter doesn’t trust youth every time a new player gets limited time.
Why Blame Looch? It’s not his fault the coach values outdated qualities. Also, his development has been partly thwarted by his own lack of engagement when he’s not in a top line role.
But Ruzicka’s has only scored goals when coached by Sutter.
Man how lucky are we, that there are fans so knowledgeable on what it takes to coach, scout, manage at the NHL level. Clearly you need to fire off an email to Flames head office, and alert them to Sutters mistakes.
Sutter has different expectations of his vets and his young guys. The leash for someone like Lucic is obviously incredibly long and the leash for Ruzicka doesn’t exist.
And that is why this season has gone the way it’s gone. Players aren’t stupid. They know who should be in the lineup and who shouldn’t.
Sigh. I remember being at the games in San Jose, dissing on Lucic here, and eating crow when he had probably his best two-game stretch this season, with 2 goals and an assist. He looked re-energized. Lewis got 2 points, and Ruzicka played well too. Flames put up 12 in two games.
That seems so long ago. And he doesn’t seem happy these days.
Looch deserves a dignified retirement, for sure. But I’ll point out that Lanny only played 51 games in his last season. There are better ways to do this.
Lucic may not be great on the ice anymore, but i honestly love that Edmonton still pays part of his contract and is also paying James Neal not to play. This trade is still a win in my books.
Maybe it’s cause He got too cocky after 9 games watch the interviews guy showed personality and that’s not cool man