Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashasx
He wasn't creating offence because he was too focused on his defensive game. ie., worried about making mistakes.
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Was that from Hartley though, or was that based on Sutter as the coach.
Since Hartley clearly benched Backlund because he was too focused on defense and was too worried about making mistakes it clearly looks like it wasn't something that Hartley was pushing on him.
It was Sutter that build that mindset into Backlund and Hartley was trying now to help correct that.
Lots of people have a hand in the turnaround. Backlund himself, his coach from Sweden, his Dad, the skills coach that he works with, etc but to give Hartley absolutely no credit like you are doing is what is wrong.
Did the benching and discussions with Hartley about what Backlund needed to work on instantly make Backlund the better player? No.
Did it possibly set off a chain of events that turned his game around? Sure as hell looks like it.