To me, leader of the Ted Nolan fan club, this point is totally legit. One of the very few things I dislike about his philosophy is his love for vets, and hesitance to use kids. In this case though, I'm hoping he is far more open to the idea later this season and especially next season. Unless we are fighting for a playoff spot or better, I'm thinking his bosses will force him to use the kids.
I hope he is willing to bend on that philosophy in the future, at some point I think his job will depend on it.
No its not at all a legit point. Why do posters buy into this nonsense?
Patty L has spoken at length in several interviews as to why those young players are not here. Patty is the director of hockey ops and HE IS WHY THEY ARE GONE. The team has reset things to where they are supposed to be at this point of a rebuild. The idiocy of what Regier was trying to do with the kids to start the season was obvious. I'm amazed some posters still don't grasp it. That was Patty's number #1 thing to reverse after he took over. The idea that Nolan is somehow running things and that they are gone because Nolan hates young players is absurd.
Patty's change in direction for the franchise has somehow turned into Nolan hates kids for a few because a few ill informed posters have been ranting about it since the kids were sent down. I chalk some of it up to them not wanting to go through a proper rebuild or understanding how they are done properly. Those posters have been whining about guys like Dags, Omark, Leino ,etc getting into the lineup over the youngsters. I also chalk some of it up to those same posters hating on their favorite whipping boys and not seeing the bigger picture. Dags, Leino or any other vet's play is utterly irrelevant to whether or not Grigs, Zads, Risto, etc belong in the NHL yet. The sooner posters understand this the sooner we can move past the complaining that the youngsters aren't here.
Placeholder vets filling roster spots has always been a corner stone of a proper rebuild. Thats because it gives the team bodies to put into the lineup so the kids don't have to play before they are ready. Thats the proper way to develop the youth. Not throwing them into the lineup and see what happens. Not to mention even without those youngsters here we still have a lot of youth/rookies on the roster who still need developing or getting their games on track. Guys like Hodgson, Myers, Foligno, Girgs, Flynn, Pysyk, Ennis, McNabb, etc.
The team under Patty L reset things to where they should have been with the youngsters. It had absolutely nothing to do with Nolan hating youth and everything to do with Patty/Nolan putting kids where they belong to continue to properly develop. Regier ****ed up big time not getting the filler vets we needed to keep these youngsters where they belonged to start the season.
Sorry for the rant.
