Is it due to WD's stubborn belief that "veteran presence" and "character guys" will make the team better despite being prove wrong countless times?
When will we know if our young guns are staying?
I actually like the Canucks having a strong blend of kids and vets in the line-up, but not if players are being mis-used.
The way WD has treated Sutter during this pre-season and training camp is embarrassing. Talk about completely miscasting a player.
It's ok to experiment with players in different roles, but at a certain point, you have to play them in roles that
1) They'll play in during the regular season
2) They are at their best at
If you want to experiment with Sutter as a playmaking center between Baertschi and Vrbata? Fine. Do it for a game. Sutter with Prust and Dorsett, or Sutter with the twins? Great - do it for 1-2 periods. After that however, you've got to get these guys into their familiar roles. Absolutely zero reason why Sutter shouldn't have been playing with Burrows and Hansen in a shut down role over the last 1-2 games, or even with Gaunce and Hansen.
Even a guy like Vrbata was getting clearly annoyed, due to the fact that they kept bumping him around from center to center. Last season, WD completely screwed Vrbata by not playing him with the twins in the post-season, and instead, had him playing with the mediocre Bonino.
WD just in general is starting to annoy me, and a lot of this anger is stemming from last year's playoffs. The Sedins' flat out dominated their shifts against Calgary, as did Horvat, and yet he kept playing 1-2-3-4. WD better step up this season, or I'm going to be riding his ass.
