Quote:
Originally Posted by Caged Great
I know, but this season is like an extended training camp where the coaches need to teach the right way of playing and for the management group to evaluate what they see. If guys like Sven and Backlund are pushed but do not respond with a more complete effort at both ends, that's perfectly fine, but you get to know more of exactly what you have.
Backlund is a decent defensive minded player, who has a hard time generating offense. Giving him a hard time might motivate him to find his scoring touch. If that's the case, then you have a solid 2nd/3rd line center that's fairly good defensively. If not, then you have a solid defensive minded 3rd/4th line center. Either is not a problem, it's just figuring out exactly what you have.
Similarly with Baertschi, is he going to be an inconsistent force out there in terms of effort, or is he going to be consistent. The difference between them is him becoming potential 1st line forward or a depth scorer.
That's what needs to be found out right now, so that moving forward you have a better idea of what your actual areas of need are and can they be addressed through the draft/trade or free agency.
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I think Sven and Mikael have responded just fine... I also think they've played just fine this year.
Sven had an off game against Chicago, and suddenly he's sitting for 2 straight games. That's what doesn't make sense to me.
Backlund was playing great in my opinion, and Hartley continued to reduce his ice time every game until he was no longer putting up points. And then Hartley suddenly has the audacity to say, "where did your offence go?".
Players respond differently. The same tactic does not work for all players. Sven played at a point per game after after the trade deadline because of increased opportunity... and it's not like any other Flames was playing close to this pace before.