IIRC it was said that he bulked up a bit muscle mass wise this past offseason. I wonder if he might instead work more on his speed and quickness this offseason?
His quickness was definitely more of an asset his first season. Infact I think a lot of us compared him to Duncan Keith-lite (more a stylistic comparison). Smart decisions, short passes, great transition, able to read the play defensively.
I felt like his biggest issue this season (especially these playoffs) was his composure and panic level, absolutely bottomed out. Probably a complete lack of confidence. Also teams realized he could be overpowered more easily than Nurse, so the puck was often dumped into his corner, with more aggressive forechecking.
Unfortunately working that part of the game out just takes maturation and games played.
imagine giving up on Nurse after 2 years
OMG exactly!
Just like we gave up on Petry, and Schultz. For a team that desperately needed Right-shot Dmen for the past decade, it was pretty boneheaded that we gave these guys for no reason at all.
Looking back on his playoffs though, he's lambasted for giving the puck away for the game-tying goal.
But if you think throughout the season, he was doing that same pass.
A LOT was written about Dave Tippett's adjustment to pass the puck up the middle rather than down the boards. They were aware that mistakes WOULD be made, and passes would be picked off from time to time, but that was the best way for them to generate offense, and over time they would just get better at reading and executing that play.
Well.. the Jets caught on, and read that play perfectly.
As long as Tippett is coach, Bear is going to keep making that pass, and over time, we hope he gets better at reading the conditions at executing on it.