Quote:
Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm
The heat have really struggled in the first 40 or so games this year to score goals. Struggle badly. And Backlund was struggling playing a 3/4th line grinding role. He played disinterested and had a tough time with it. The third and 4th line of Abby is often over matched by the more physical and larger 3rd and 4th lines of the other AHL teams (usually career AHL bruisers that are only out there to hit and hurt people).
It is no suprise to me that now that he is playing first line minutes (and by that, I mean the kid is on the ice every second shift, and is no longer skating around with 2 plugs on his line), he is producing, Abby is winning (8-1 on this road trip) and the kid is playing like he actually wants to be a great player.
Playfair IS a moron, his line combinations in the first 40 games and his decision making with both the goalies and strategically throughout a game only reinforces that fact that I think he is a moron.
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As Jiri said. It's more about developing players than winning. It'd be great if they won too, but if playing a depth role for a while makes for a better all around Backlund when he hits the NHL full time, I'm all for it.