Quote:
Originally Posted by sworkhard
I'm only going to comment on 2 and 3.
Horak is one of our best defensive players in the bottom 6. We were hemmed in our zone. Do you really want Sven out in that situation? I'd rather wait until we have some momentum back and the team as a whole is back on it's toes. The only thing putting him out in that situation will do is hurt his confidence as he gets scored on. Desbiens is a player that while not skilled, is probably still better at moving the puck north, dumping, and getting off than Sven at this point in time. I fully expect that to change, but Baertchi's not exactly a proven NHL, or even AHL performer yet. If the team as a whole kept their foot on the gas, Sven would be out there more often IMO.
Sven is not ready to be out there against the other teams best playesr, especially when they start in the defensive zone at 5v5 ES. With a neutral zone or offensive zone start, he can probably be trusted out there, but not in his own zone. That's why he was out there 4v4 and not 5v5. 4v4 it's a lot easier to move the puck down the ice as there is a lot more room to manoeuvre which suits his strengths really well, and minimizes his weaknesses. It's also harder to maintain pressure 4v4 so it's significantly less likely either team will be stuck in their own zone for extended periods of time. Instead, more goals are scored on the rush and again, Baertchi's speed and skill makes him ideally suited to this resulting in the coaches feeling he deserved 4 on 4 time, but didn't trust him to be good enough without the puck to be playing when the team is on it's heels. Of course, having one point already in the bad doesn't hurt either.
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I suppose we just have varying views on where we believe Sven stands at this point in time. My confusion specifically stems from the fact that Sutter did not trust Baertschi in the 2nd period (after scoring a goal) and yet had him out there in every key situation in the final period and into overtime.
Like I said, I could just be digging to far into something that really is not that big of an issue. (Which I tend to do from time to time
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