Blades of Steel
log off.
What if it back fires, what if he's sent down and he doesn't "dominate"?
Doesn't that make it worse?
I get the theory behind it.
Doesn't that make it worse?
I get the theory behind it.
I've never really understood how being sent down to the AHL is supposed to boost someone's confidence.
I love how Burakovsky is playing. He gains little advantages and creates offensive chances almost every shift. He makes brilliant little plays all the time. He still has a lot to learn (of course) but he's making the team better every game right now. If I thought his development was getting stifled I'd send him down but I don't see that at all. It's not like he is shrinking from the play. He is adding to what Ovie and Backstrom are doing. He creates open ice for everyone he plays with.
I agree with all of this. But I think Trotz is concerned with the fact that he's not the least bit hard on the puck, and the 1st line really needs that capability. Nor should he be expected to be, given his age, experience and size - and the fact that being hard on the puck in the NHL is a very difficult thing to do.
You can develop some of that in the AHL - in part because that league is full of guys for whom being hard on the puck may be their top skill asset. But you can also get the stuffing beaten out of yourself down there if you're a skill guy trying to develop a grittier game. It's a bit of a dilemma.
What if it back fires, what if he's sent down and he doesn't "dominate"?
What if it back fires, what if he's sent down and he doesn't "dominate"?
Doesn't that make it worse?
I get the theory behind it.
All the more reason. That would seem to prove 100% that he hasn't graduated beyond the A. If he can't consistently be a top player at that level, why would we think he can be a top player at the NHL level?
I wouldn't assume that Bura, Wilson or anyone else would dominate the AHL. That's a very different league, and I think it was Bura who said it was a very different game, and in some ways is more difficult to play.
Send him down for ice time, but don't assume he's going to dominate or even put up numbers.
Of all the games for me to miss...