Sven Baertschi on Calgary Flames scratch: “It pisses me off to be honest with you”
The Calgary Flames made Sven Baertschi a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game last night when they took on the St. Louis Blues yesterday, and the youngster was none to pleased about the occurrence. After watching the Flames drop a 5-1 game to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, Baertschi found himself on the sidelines once again against St. Louis.
He spoke to Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald about his feelings on getting benched for two games in a row:
"Of course, it rattles me. It pisses me off, to be honest with you. You want to be out there, you want to help the team. If you’re not out there, you just sit around and it sucks."
According to Odland, these were the first remarks that Baertschi has made since Tuesday, and he’s clearly unhappy with his current lot with the Flames. The scratching carries a particular amount of weight because Calgary isn’t really healthy at the moment. Baertschi is a left wing, and the Flames were down two regulars on that side against the Blues.
Both Curtis Glencross and Lee Stempniak are out with injuries, but the Flames decided to roll with the recently recalled Max Reinhart in the lineup instead of Baertschi.
The team has been looking for more from the second-year Swiss winger. While his offensive talents are obvious, he has yet to show a commitment to the details that turn talented players into good players. Head coach Bob Hartley spent 45 minutes with Baertschi prior to the Minnesota game according to the Herald, and went over some video with the youngster. The coach had this to say to the Herald:
"It’s a teaching tool for everyone. Whether you play or don’t play. You have to find a way to be in the lineup as an athlete. You know, we’re with him. The other day, I saw with him for probably 45 minutes before the Minnesota game with him. We told him what we need, showed him what he’s doing. We’re doing this with everyone."
Calgary has been one of the most surprising teams of this early season, but they appear to be coming down to earth after a hot start. They’ve lost four of their last five and have a tough stretch of matchups coming up. They’ll take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight, the San Jose Sharks next Tuesday and the red-hot Dallas Stars next Thursday.
It’ll be interesting to see if Baertschi can make it back into the lineup for any of those important, tough games.