Quote:
Originally Posted by Five-hole
My only issue with this is why we're giving any sort of latitude to the management of this group in knowing how to push and prod and develop a guy like Baertschi. When's the last time we developed a skill forward? Long before this management group was here, at the very least.
I think it's a worthwhile question if this emphasis on 3-zone play at this stage in his development is the right thing to be asking from Sven right now. I don't know. I just don't know enough about hockey to know. But somebody pointed out that Pat Kane probably didn't have a lot of defensive responsibility when he first came into the league. Maybe still doesn't. And he's won a Conn Smythe.
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If not now, then when? I think now is the ideal time to have him better his defensive game. I don't think anyone is trying to convert him into a defensive specialist by any means, but right now he's only passingly aware there is a defensive zone. The times I've seen him coming back and becoming involved in his own end he's actually quite good at reading the plays on the ice and breaking them up. I think it's mostly a matter of getting him to commit to do that every shift/every game.