I'm not excusing the penalties at all. I said in the game thread that penalty he took that lead to the goal was 100% him.
But you got guys like Glass playing for Lindberg because AV likes his "toughness" and McIlrath is thinking well if I'm tough maybe I'll play more. You can't blame him. It doesn't make any sense that someone like Lindberg is sitting for Glass. McIlrath was playing like and is a top 4 dman and he got benched.
The logic just isn't there
Why is toughness in quotes? Again, I'm playing Devil's Advocate - I firmly believe that Lindberg is a more valuable player than Glass, and that Lindberg in the lineup is more beneficial to our team than Glass in the lineup is.
But assuming that you have a player who's good on the forecheck, hits opposing defenders often throughout the game - causing bad passes, maybe even turnovers, or at the very least, wearing out those defensemen over the course of the game - isn't that a valuable thing that have? Even if his possession numbers aren't great, and he doesn't have a ton of skill with the puck?
There are a lot of factors I'm glossing over here - what kind of ice time and responsibility does that player get?
How bad is his possession game? Does he have games where he's not effective in forechecking? Etc.
But too many people on these boards are using "toughness" and "physicality" as proxies for "this guy sucks and has no value." Physicality is a very crucial element to the game. Even the best possession players only have the puck 60% of the time, what you do when your opponent has the puck is still crucial.
Again - Devil's Advocate, I'm not saying Glass should be in the lineup. I'm just saying, let's stop this thinking that physical play isn't important. Watch a team like Winnipeg to see how physicality can lead to better puck possession and chances, or at the very least, can improve you chances of dominating the game in the 3rd period as you wear out your opponent.
EDIT: Sorry, that was a long rant, and I just realized it really wasn't directed to you or anything you said in your post. Just wanted to get my non sequitur thoughts out there.