He's really developed into a good player. We was brought up to the league a little bit too early and has just steadily improved on his game. I'm thinking Anthony Beuvillier is taking a similar trajectory but might have even higher upside.
Beau is twice the player bailey is -- especially as of late -- skating his balls off -- driving to the net... making offensive plays -- guy has passion & drive. Zeeker is too -- not the speed of Beau, but the guy moves the needle. Guy has character.
Bailey? 0 for 5 on all that. "Making a subtle play" -- that's what we want for the guy on the first line.. LOL.. I can't even type it without laughing.
Bailey is the definition of a valve. (football)
"What is Safety Valve? A term in football that describes a short pass from the quarterback to a receiver when all other passing options are covered downfield."
When you have no other option-- give it to Bailey -- and lets hope he doesn't shank the play or put it in his own net.
Lets just do this one more time, (cuz I love this shit):
Can he skate? Nope, Even Kenny Morrow points at him and laughs while on the phone with Oleg
Can he shoot? Sniper? -- Not sure, cuz all he does is pass, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say NO
Big Slapper? Make Ovi Jealous? - Hells no. Don't think I've ever seen Bailey take a one timer.
Hit? Physical? - LOL.. no -- he is a delicate flower. He has played so many games for the Isles -- well yeah -- when you blend into the boards and never actually have possession for more than 2 seconds, you rarely will get injured.
Passion/Intensity? - See the line above - Also google "floater" and "hockey perimeter player" -- doesn't stir up the team, quiet player who grabs a rebound or tip in every once in a while.
Well then he must be great on the Shootout, A Franzie kinds guy! -- Nope -- kinda avg there -- nothing special
Now I know you guys -- "he is sooo responsible defensively" -- lovely. That's exactly what you want from a guy you have pegged as a top 6'er -- "great defensively" - <yawn> - - Hes a forward, he's paid for his point production. If his best quality is only found in the f***ING DEFENSIVE ZONE, THEN HE SUCKS.
He is a third line nobody.
So I'm having fun with this -- but here is the idea I'm going to finish with .
When Bailey is out of the lineup, what exactly do we lose?
To accurately answer this, lets take a look at some other players. Sadly, we have seen what happens when the 4th line changes, that is bad. Barzy, Zeeker, Eberle, Lee, Boychuk, Pulock, couple of others -- when all these guys are out, there is an impact to the team which can be identified and has to be managed.
When Bailey is out? What exactly do we lose? What exactly is the void?
Trotz - "Well, I guess we gotta find someone to fill his minutes"
I've mentioned this before -- this isn't just an Isles thing -- the league is filled with "Baileys" -- one of the reasons that the game has changed. Non-impact guy who really doesn't have a special talent or skill -- just quietly plays the game, with no real energy, staying healthy and collecting a fat paycheck. Todays league requires far more coaching and strategy than decades ago -- so I guess that is the perfect storm for Bailey --play your role, stay healthy, get a double digit amount of points and play sound defensively.
Quite the league we have.
