Nobody's asking but my issue with Mantha is a) he's not as good as all the smart folks said he is, and b) he's boring as eff on the ice.
Judging a player by how interesting their style is is dumb, but the combo of "I'm not very good" + "I'm not fun to watch" is a really bad one. AA was a one-trick pony (maybe he's added tricks since then) but he was an explosively interesting one-trick pony. Lennox Lewis was one of the greatest heavyweights to enter the ring, but his style was, again, boring AF. Back when I used to watch a lot of boxing, I never got too upset if I missed a LL fight. He was going to win, and he was going to win boringly.
Mantha, whatever is going on between blades and helmet that I'll never notice nor understand, plays like a bread truck backing into the loading dock. Occasionally the puck will blast out of the truck and head toward the goal. Sometimes it goes in. Yay?
Again, no one asked. Sorry.
Judging a player by how interesting their style is is dumb, but the combo of "I'm not very good" + "I'm not fun to watch" is a really bad one. AA was a one-trick pony (maybe he's added tricks since then) but he was an explosively interesting one-trick pony. Lennox Lewis was one of the greatest heavyweights to enter the ring, but his style was, again, boring AF. Back when I used to watch a lot of boxing, I never got too upset if I missed a LL fight. He was going to win, and he was going to win boringly.
Mantha, whatever is going on between blades and helmet that I'll never notice nor understand, plays like a bread truck backing into the loading dock. Occasionally the puck will blast out of the truck and head toward the goal. Sometimes it goes in. Yay?
Again, no one asked. Sorry.
