Quote:
Originally Posted by macrov
If you watch Baertchi's 2-way play closely its obvious he's just going through the motions on the backcheck and forecheck. His game without the puck is quite uninspired.
He skates at a pace where its obvious he's not going to put any real pressure on anyone. And so the defenseman he's forechecking can make an easy pass. Or the foreward he's backchecking can look around and make plays with the puck.
He has to learn to play with a purpose when he doesn't have the puck.
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As much as the hand wringing because of his sitting out annoys some people, so does this type of rationalization. He backchecks just fine, but ok