Bennett and Gulutzan show no interest in centre-wing debate
Sam Bennett NASHVILLE, TENN. would prefer to be the centre of attention for an entirely different reason — not as the pointless pivot, or the wonder-how-he’d-do-onthe-wing(er).
“I’m playing in a Canadian market so there’s going to be a lot of people talking about you, whether you’re having success or not having success,” Bennett said before Tuesday’s clash between his Calgary Flames and the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
“It’s really just a matter of blocking all that outside noise out and worry about what happens inside that dressing room and what I can control.”
He can’t control the discussion about this hot topic, although Bennett would like nothing more than to change the narrative with an offensive outburst.
He arrived in Nashville without a goal or even an assist so far this season. While the Flames packed their carry-ons for a two-gamesin-two-nights trip that concludes with Wednesday’s battle with the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center (6 p.m., Sportsnet 360/News Talk 770), the debate back in Calgary continues, perhaps loud as ever: Can Bennett be a go-to guy as a centre, or is he best suited for big league work on the wing?
When the blue ring popped up near Deerfoot Trail, that public art project didn’t even generate this much banter.
“People can debate all they want, but the reality is we made the playoffs last year with Sam as a centre, as our third-line centre,” Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan bristled after the morning skate in Nashville. “You can debate and be an armchair quarterback as much as you want.”
This seemed to be a touchy subject Tuesday for Gulutzan, who shifted the 21-year-old Bennett to the left wing against the Predators to accommodate the muchanticipated arrival of call-up Mark Jankowski.
The bench boss said Bennett is comfortable at both positions, while Jankowski doesn’t have that same familiarity on the flank.
And although he conceded No. 93 is “not off to the start he wanted,” he also defended his play by pointing out “he’s done a lot of good things” despite failing to register a single scoresheet mention in his eight skates this fall as a middleman.
A few minutes before his coach addressed the media, Bennett was singing a similar tune, choosing his words oh-so-carefully so he wasn’t misunderstood as being satisfied with the zeros on his stat-line.
“I wouldn’t say I’m playing bad,” Bennett said. “It’s just a matter of sometimes, things don’t go your way. Obviously I can do a lot more. I can be a lot better. But I’m not going to get down on myself. I’m going to keep battling through.
“When the points aren’t going your way, there are still a lot of other things you can do to help the team win. That’s what I try to do.”
The debate isn’t necessarily whether Bennett can help the team win, simply where he can help. Centre? Or wing? “His battle and compete level has been high,” Gulutzan said of Bennett’s body of work this fall. “In a lot of games, I’m playing him against the second-line centres from other teams, and that’s not an easy job. It’s a tougher job. It frees up Johnny (Gaudreau) and Monny (Sean Monahan) and that line to get a better matchup.
“So you have to look at the whole picture of what he’s doing. He’s penalty-killed for us. He’s done a really good job in that area. Offensively, things haven’t come to him as easily. He’s had chances, he’s been close ... but they’re just not dropping. When they do, they usually drop in spurts, especially for Sam, if you look at the way he’s scored over the years.
“But this is a matchup league, and he’s getting a lot of second-pair matchups. That’s not an easy thing to just generate offence and check the (Jeff) Carters and those guys of the world.”
So what if he generates offence on the wing? That would leave a lot of folks saying: “I told ya so!”
You get the feeling this debate is far from over. Sorry, Sam. “Sometimes, the points aren’t going, and really, you just have to battle through it and keep telling yourself that if you do the right things, the points and everything? That’s all going to come,” Bennett said.
“It’s really just a matter of sticking with it and not getting down on yourself too much.”