Dipsy Doodle
Rent A Barn
- May 28, 2006
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Huh?
We were really good that year and had Sheary, Hagelin and Kunitz all returning on the LW as well as Wilson?
How many of those LWs was Guentzel definitively better than that year?
And he had to wait until the middle of the season for an injury, a 2 goal debut, and a demotion for it to happen anyway. This is my point.
But was Guentzel so good that he had nothing left to learn fine polishing details in the AHL?
Guentzel could probably still polish some things in the AHL if the coaching staff wanted to make that the defining characteristic for a call-up. I'm sure Kunitz has his details down better.
it's the NHL. No need to force a young guy over someone else when things are going well. He was always going to get a chance. Same will be true for Sprong to get his chance. You don't need to just demote someone else who is doing their job well to force the young guy into a better chance. As you said, points in October count for just as much as points in April. It's not a development league. Sully is playing the proven team. Sprong will get his chance when it comes up or when he forces their hand. As of now, those things haven't happened. If Simon keeps struggling, maybe we see Rust moved to LW. We'll see. But it's been 3 games, and Simon's looked really good in one of them. You wouldn't want Sprong demoted yet if he was in Simon's position.
In the meantime, light a candle for the kid and his < 10 minutes a night and 76% d-zone starts.