Let me preface what I’m about to say by making two things completely clear.
1) I’m a total Heinen fanboy.
2) Cassidy has done a fantastic job overall with the B’s since he was hired.
That said, I am not a fan of the way he’s been handling Heinen so far this year.
Inserts him on the second line for the first game and leaves him there for all of two periods, even though he wasn’t bad and Krejci was sleepwalking the entire game. Twice now, after Heinen has been called for a questionable stick infraction, Cassidy has benched him. I’m getting a Sobotka v2.0 vibe from the situation right now and that’s not good as it was completely botched by Clode.
All players make mistakes. Young ones sometimes make more of them. I thought that Heinen was excellent last night in the NZ. He made two/three strong defensive plays that resulted in turnovers, calmly gained possession, and dished the puck to an open guy. He had a body or a stick in passing lanes all game. When a player does that, you are bound to get the occasional stick infraction. I thought the call was questionable. McDavid tried to cut back at the last minute, basically skated into Heinen’s stick, and then clamped down and sold it.
My greater point is that it bugs the **** out of me when coaches employ a double standard when it comes to vets and rookies as far as sitting goes (and not just Heinen). Cassidy has no issue benching Heinen or having Donato on the 9th floor, which is fine if warranted, but do the same for the vets.
Krejci was not good in the first few games, but gets a pass. Backes has made some bad plays, but gets rolled out there every shift. Marchand was very lackadaisical throughout the preseason and in game 1. Chara has made some pretty bad plays this year, including bad pinches and not being able to cover McDavid last night (a common issue for D I guess).
I realize these guys are team leaders and veterans, but I have always felt that they should be held to the same standards as the rookies.
I know it won’t happen, but wanted to get that off my chest
I love Krug, but it does appear that he likely won't be here forever. I'm really curious how the D will shake out when he gets back, I hope Grizz doesn't sit but it will be a really tough decision for Cassidy. Krug could be used to address the one thing this team is really lacking which is center depth, I know we haven't got the RW situation with Krejci figured out but I am inclined to believe one of the young wingers we have in the system can win the spot at some point this year, I don't love Backes at 3C though and I'm not sure I want to rely solely on Krejci's line for secondary scoring.
Let me preface what I’m about to say by making two things completely clear.
1) I’m a total Heinen fanboy.
2) Cassidy has done a fantastic job overall with the B’s since he was hired.
That said, I am not a fan of the way he’s been handling Heinen so far this year.
Inserts him on the second line for the first game and leaves him there for all of two periods, even though he wasn’t bad and Krejci was sleepwalking the entire game. Twice now, after Heinen has been called for a questionable stick infraction, Cassidy has benched him. I’m getting a Sobotka v2.0 vibe from the situation right now and that’s not good as it was completely botched by Clode.
All players make mistakes. Young ones sometimes make more of them. I thought that Heinen was excellent last night in the NZ. He made two/three strong defensive plays that resulted in turnovers, calmly gained possession, and dished the puck to an open guy. He had a body or a stick in passing lanes all game. When a player does that, you are bound to get the occasional stick infraction. I thought the call was questionable. McDavid tried to cut back at the last minute, basically skated into Heinen’s stick, and then clamped down and sold it.
My greater point is that it bugs the **** out of me when coaches employ a double standard when it comes to vets and rookies as far as sitting goes (and not just Heinen). Cassidy has no issue benching Heinen or having Donato on the 9th floor, which is fine if warranted, but do the same for the vets.
Krejci was not good in the first few games, but gets a pass. Backes has made some bad plays, but gets rolled out there every shift. Marchand was very lackadaisical throughout the preseason and in game 1. Chara has made some pretty bad plays this year, including bad pinches and not being able to cover McDavid last night (a common issue for D I guess).
I realize these guys are team leaders and veterans, but I have always felt that they should be held to the same standards as the rookies.
I know it won’t happen, but wanted to get that off my chest
I think he is going to be a regular for us for a long time. Last season he got called up because of injury and made the most of it. This season going in he was not a lock for regular minutes with the signing of John Moore. Krug gets hurt and Grizz is making the most of the opportunity, again. It will certainly give the team some tough decisions when Torey is back healthy, but if Grizz keeps on rolling, I don't see him sitting.
He did a great job against the big guy all in all.
I did some, not the whole game(first period and 1/2 of third). I also watched play offs year after year after year. Regular season - Krug is your super star PP anchoring d-man, come play offs - he is coughing up pucks left and right.
The team would miss Krug, but I feel more comfortable with the D we have outside of him than the forward group as currently constructed. Krug is being talked about in trade not because we underrate him but because we see the value he holds. Krug is probably the only high value player that could be moved.
Completely agree on all this.. heinen is one of those guys that i root for each game... that being said.. hes not moving his feet .. all of his penalties have been reaching with the stick with his feet stuck in mud.. he needs a confidence boost, and thats where i have a problem with cassidy benching him.. dont just keep knocking him down trying to get him to change , boost him up butch! if hes going to give the third line this low of minutes then why not put heinen at center. i think him being more involved with the puck will only bring along his game that much faster.. such a smart playerLet me preface what I’m about to say by making two things completely clear.
1) I’m a total Heinen fanboy.
2) Cassidy has done a fantastic job overall with the B’s since he was hired.
That said, I am not a fan of the way he’s been handling Heinen so far this year.
Inserts him on the second line for the first game and leaves him there for all of two periods, even though he wasn’t bad and Krejci was sleepwalking the entire game. Twice now, after Heinen has been called for a questionable stick infraction, Cassidy has benched him. I’m getting a Sobotka v2.0 vibe from the situation right now and that’s not good as it was completely botched by Clode.
All players make mistakes. Young ones sometimes make more of them. I thought that Heinen was excellent last night in the NZ. He made two/three strong defensive plays that resulted in turnovers, calmly gained possession, and dished the puck to an open guy. He had a body or a stick in passing lanes all game. When a player does that, you are bound to get the occasional stick infraction. I thought the call was questionable. McDavid tried to cut back at the last minute, basically skated into Heinen’s stick, and then clamped down and sold it.
My greater point is that it bugs the **** out of me when coaches employ a double standard when it comes to vets and rookies as far as sitting goes (and not just Heinen). Cassidy has no issue benching Heinen or having Donato on the 9th floor, which is fine if warranted, but do the same for the vets.
Krejci was not good in the first few games, but gets a pass. Backes has made some bad plays, but gets rolled out there every shift. Marchand was very lackadaisical throughout the preseason and in game 1. Chara has made some pretty bad plays this year, including bad pinches and not being able to cover McDavid last night (a common issue for D I guess).
I realize these guys are team leaders and veterans, but I have always felt that they should be held to the same standards as the rookies.
I know it won’t happen, but wanted to get that off my chest
