Mantha being scratched again in NY tonight?

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Not defending Sheahan. I'm saying that Sheahan shouldn't be part of this discussion. He's the beneficiary of them benching Mantha for compete level questions. Him playing instead of Mantha has nothing to do with Riley Sheahan and everything to do with Anthony Mantha.

 

[Henkka]

Oh dear.

Young player being scrached. Oh dear.

Never happened in hockey before.

Before social media no one cared. Now it's at least some kind of Armageddon.

 

[Heaton]

Not defending Sheahan. I'm saying that Sheahan shouldn't be part of this discussion. He's the beneficiary of them benching Mantha for compete level questions. Him playing instead of Mantha has nothing to do with Riley Sheahan and everything to do with Anthony Mantha.

I'm not even that worried about Mantha being benched. I'm more disgusted that Blashill hasn't benched ANYONE else this season besides AA and Mantha. This entire team has regressed since he took over. We've had two of the worst offensive seasons in 50 years. I don't think Blashill is critiqued enough here or in the media for the terrible performance.

 

[jaster]

I'm really surprised people are giving Blashill the benefit of the doubt here, he's been beyond awful at almost everything since taking over.

My list of Blashill grievances is probably almost as long as most others here.

But benching Mantha? No real problem with it.

 

[jkutswings]

Benching Mantha, in a vacuum, is fine. But the problem is that it's not in a vacuum. Here's a short list, off the top of my head:

Green
Larkin
Nyquist
Tatar

Every name on that list has had at least a night or two where they looked like they played 3 periods with their brain in a different zip code. And yet none of them have been held to the fire anywhere near the degree of Mantha or AA.

I'm not saying everybody should have identical treatment. But there's a lot of happy medium in between that and the other extreme, and whether Blash realizes it or not, such a large disparity is sending a disappointing message.

 

[jaster]

Except that it's not true. There have been multiple players at an awful compete level that haven't been benched anywhere near the degree that Mantha and AA have.

Unless the organization just has the standard of, "If you still have a pulse, you're at a great compete level" for some players. In which case, some decision makers need to find a new job.

The only players on the roster with a top-notch compete level are Zetterberg and Glendening. So yeah, you can find examples of dipping compete level all over the roster. But Mantha and Athanasiou have had some of the lowest moments. Add to it that they are rookies who are still easily molded and, well, again, you get benched.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I'm not even that worried about Mantha being benched. I'm more disgusted that Blashill hasn't benched ANYONE else this season besides AA and Mantha. This entire team has regressed since he took over. We've had two of the worst offensive seasons in 50 years. I don't think Blashill is critiqued enough here or in the media for the terrible performance.

My only answer to that is maybe they only see real room for growth in AA and Mantha. That if you just bench everyone, it's rearranging the chairs on the Titanic, but if you bench the players who look like they have more to give than they are, you trigger their competitive side?

It's a weak excuse, but only way I can think of it.

 

[Heaton]

My only answer to that is maybe they only see real room for growth in AA and Mantha. That if you just bench everyone, it's rearranging the chairs on the Titanic, but if you bench the players who look like they have more to give than they are, you trigger their competitive side?

It's a weak excuse, but only way I can think of it.

A lot of these guys signed contracts because they are expected to produce. Since Holland runs a country club I'm not surprised these lifers can produce next to nothing and still see their full minutes, but on a good team, that **** wouldn't fly. I'd like to see a coach who shows more accountability and actually holds veterans responsible for their actions. Once Mantha signs his 4 year deal he can do whatever he wants and never will be benched.

 

[jaster]

And sorry to go a bit off topic here, but are people seriously defending Sheahan in this thread after this year? We're fine if Sheahan never scores another goal even though he's playing in the top 6 and getting PP IT?

Sorry, sometimes it's not about compete level, sometimes you're benched for lack of production. It happens all the time in all sports. If you think players never get benched for lack of production, you're out of your mind.

To be clear, I am not defending Sheahan, and I agree with the bold. I'm totally on board with benching Sheahan. I understand waiting a while because you want him to get going again, but at some point his role should have been reduced.

However, Sheahan's and Mantha's issues are completely different and, imo, the two have nothing to do with one another in terms of getting benched.

 

[Heaton]

To be clear, I am not defending Sheahan, and I agree with the bold. I'm totally on board with benching Sheahan. I understand waiting a while because you want him to get going again, but at some point his role should have been reduced.

Sheahan's and Mantha's issues are completely different and, imo, the two have nothing to do with one another in terms of getting benched.

I never said anything to contrary.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

On a team with so many players playing badly, I hate the clichéd "scratch the rookie" trope.

Such an easy cop out rather than doing something about say Dekeyser. How many puck battles did he lose against Boston?

 

[jaster]

I never said anything to contrary.

I'm just responding to the fact that Sheahan was brought up in this thread as a comparison to Mantha. No point in comparing them imo.

 

[Wood Stick]

I think Sheahan was a healthy scratch once this season tbh..

 

[jaster]

On a team with so many players playing badly, I hate the clichéd "scratch the rookie" trope.

Such an easy cop out rather than doing something about say Dekeyser. How many puck battles did he lose against Boston?

I'd place a hefty bet that benching Mantha is more about just Mantha himself, trying to make him a better player, than it is about trying to make the team as a whole win more games right now. The ship has sailed on the idea of this team being a winning one. This is more about making your rookies better for the future.

 

[HIFE]

I don't think the majority who are upset by Mantha being sat are overly emotional about the issue. It sucks because he's one of the few players we can look forward to watching with interest. The season was over in January, why pull a chicken-**** move like this in the last month? Little Blashcock throwing his weight around before his firing on April 10th, what a clown.

 

[HIFE]

I think Sheahan was a healthy scratch once this season tbh..

No he had a cold.

 

[Bench]

Oh yeah, now is the time to send a message. Wait until the closing of the worst Wings season in 3 decades to bench your rookie for effort.

Bold stuff.

 

[Hammettf2b]

I'd place a hefty bet that benching Mantha is more about just Mantha himself, trying to make him a better player, than it is about trying to make the team as a whole win more games right now. The ship has sailed on the idea of this team being a winning one. This is more about making your rookies better for the future.

Of course it is, but it doesn't work if the players don't respect you. Which I think they don't.


Again, this is just my tinfoil hat speaking, but its been my theory for a while.

 

[Martinez]

It's just benching a rookie to bench a rookie. Blashill has to act tough, pick the easiest targets to bench. Then maybe people will think he's a hard ass. Problem is, he's not tough like bowman, not even tough like babs, he's Jeff freakin blashill. His only goal is to play low scoring hockey and let zetterberg make him look good.
It's nothing personal mantha, blashill will be gone in about a month

 

[Frk It]

I am where the arrow is pointing. Disregard the financial bit.

 

[Ezekial]

Honestly I'm not happy with Mantha being benched but I'm not upset. It reminds me a lot of the AA stratch situation but to a lesser extent (cuz AA was dogging it more imo). If he'd have been scratched a few games ago I would've been pissed, but having watched the last few games I'm not mad at the decision.

I saw plenty of belly aching when AA was scratched and I saw plenty of belly aching that Jensen was playing over Sproul, I'll get to see in person how Ant responds on Sunday.

 

[Birko19]

Way to go, scratch the second best offensive guy on the team, yea, that Blashill is a real beauty...

 

[jolly roger]

Way to go, scratch the second best offensive guy on the team, yea, that Blashill is a real beauty...

Blashill is an idiot. Pick on the young guys.

Get him out of here faster please.

Why would the owners put up with this crap?

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Any player who is scratched for lack of effort should have to sit in the pressbox and watch an iso cam covering Zetterberg all night.

Watch and learn.

 

[njx9]

Ok? What the hell do you want Sheahan to do? They keep playing him. You want him to ask out so Mantha can play?

That's completely disingenuous non-sequitur.

I'm saying that if Sheahan is playing with effort (and it does look like he is) and the coaching staff looks at Mantha and sees that Mantha is slacking in game 63 after being good in games 58-62, they want to shock him back into knowing what he needs to do.

I'm not saying that the Wings are right by doing it this way... just trying to guess the reasoning for it. They're not benching a young kid and playing a veteran for S's and G's.

*shrug* They've done it for the last ten years, I have no idea why it would suddenly be surprising. I mean, I'm sure Dan Cleary tried really hard, but at some point that kind of crap needs to stop outweighing actual hockey ability.

Funny how it has never seemed like Mantha has taken it that way. He seems to relish the criticism and be driven to be better by it instead of sulking about it.

Ok? Do you think that, if they benched him every 4th game, for minor errors, he would continue to relish it indefinitely?

Maybe Mantha needs to be challenged to continue to grow?

Is benching him, while trotting out worse players who also don't compete (unless 'compete' is solely defined as moving your feet fast), actually challenging him, or is it just telling him that he hasn't earned the right to play like a plug, but as soon as he does, he can sit back and collect a paycheck until whenever he decides to retire.

And why would they? Because the Wings have shown that if you work your ass off they'll take care of you, talent or no? You buy into the Wings and they buy into you.

Which is a joke, in the land of sports.