Some of you guys make me shake my head enough to actually make me want to post. Let me say that Yak is one of my favorite players, he has been ever since he kissed the Oiler's crest. He has shown a ton of passion for not only just playing the game, but also in the way he trains and his dedication to getting better all the time. It has been printed over and over again on this guy trains like beast and doesn't want to get off the ice... in that aspect he reminds me of Jagr.
With that being said professional athletes, especially the ones that teams rely on to score goals, should know and understand that if they don't produce they will be under the gun. As young stars that were drafted in the top of their draft for their scoring prowess they have probably been the one or one of the few players that the team relies on to win (lots of pressure there). As you can imagine the defense/goalies that they play against are not always NHL quality (they could be later on but at that moment in time they are not there yet), or if they are, they are few and far between, which leads to better scoring chances, which then leads to more goals, which can boost ones confidence and get a "kick start" in getting out of a slump. To often in the NHL the younger offensive players don't have the luxury of getting a kick start or a boost in confidence against players that are so far below their skill level its not even funny. Which in turn can lead to a few game without a point, which then can turn into being in a slump and then a decrease in ones confidence.
Take a step back from your keyboard and think for a second. Is it going to do more harm to the young player's confidence/development to run around the ice and accomplish nothing, get sat for long periods of the game, and then chewed out by impatient fans because he isn't producing or sit in the pressbox for a few games and watch how other players play the game from a different angle and take mental or written notes on the system, or on how the vets on both teams play, or just how the game went in general. (someone posted that Stamkos was sat early in his career, did that hurt his play?) Sure they have video replays of all the games, and I am sure they go over them with a fine toothed comb, but it adds a different element to it, and allows the player to step back and think when they get to watch it from the PB.
Honestly you guys, you really think Yak should take the spot of Brown or Gadzic? If he did, the same people would be complaining that he is playing 4th line minutes and playing with goons and players that can't play the game on his level, and then people would say that they are killing his development. It would be nice if we could run 4 scoring lines and that they could all play equal minutes, but that doesn't even work in NHL 13. If he was on the top 2 lines, people would complain that he isn't scoring, and that he is ahead of Ebs and Hemsky on the depth chart and the puck is dying on his stick. He is adjusting to a new coach, a new system, a new way of the coach trying to deliver messages. HE IS YOUNG give the kid time to make his way onto a team that has a ton of young skilled forwards that are all older then him and have proven more and have put the time in to get to the place where they are today.
The coaches/management aren't looking to kill his passion or ruin the guys career, they are looking out for him and the team, both short term and long term.
