Quote:
Originally Posted by kehatch
I have watched both Hanowski and the Heat. Not routinely. But some.
Grinder is probably the wrong word. For Knight, Hanowski, and even Reinhart. Call them power forwards if you prefer.
But the point stands. There hasn't been a Ward graduate other then Bouma who has done well in the NHL. And every season the players with the highest expectations don't do all that well.
That might just be the hand Ward was dealt. Like I said, I am not anti-Ward. But I think it is a fair to question the lack of successful development under Ward, especially for certain player types. I also think it is fair to ask if the right priority has been put in development over winning.
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I don't know about anyone else, but I always throw Brodie under the "Ward's Graduate" heading. Playfair had a hand in his development in the first year a bit, but I always refer back to one moment:
Brodie would eff up on a shift and Playfair would scream and yell at him giving him little direction or reason as to why. Then Ward would come over and actually explain what went wrong on Brodie's shift and tell him how to fix it on the white board.
If we still had Playfair, there's no guarantee Brodie would be in the NHL.