Quote:
Originally Posted by puckluck2
By a while you mean the couple pre season games? Or the final 7 games of last season where he had at least a point in every one and was playing out of this world?
The kid is talented enough and has always played with effort. So sick of hearing Burke motivated him to play better defensively when Baertschi has always been good defensively. It is a myth. Look at his praises early on when he joined the Flames. It was always about how well he played without the puck too which is why they compared him to Hossa.
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To answer your first question, I felt like even last season he wasn't doing as much as he should all over the ice, even when he was scoring his points. His effort and performance in the development camp, rookie tournament, and pre-season were all substandard for any player, let alone one of Baertschi's calibre. It is no coincidence that he started playing better all over the ice immediately after Burke's comments. He knew what he was saying and he knew how to push Sven's buttons. The guy isn't stupid, even if he does say too much sometimes.
I'm not saying it's the sole reason as Sven has quite the internal drive, but obviously Burke knew his comments would be taken to heart and Sven would give his all going forward because of what he said.