Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteMoss
All players are going to talk to family and friends about their game. Since these guys are athletes and spend a ton of time training, some of their friends are going to be coaches/trainers. These guys will offer tips or see things that a head coach doesn't see because they have less experience with the player than these friends/family have.
Its not like the Flames just threw their hands up in their air and said 'we give up... figure it out yourself'. I'm sure a lot of the messages from the coach and this guy were similar but sometimes a different voice can have more impact. Hartley flat out said that Backlund was playing too defensive and not aggressive or confident enough on the offensive end.... that is what has changed. Its not this guy came in there with some crazy idea that no one had thought about.
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I'm not saying you're wrong, but a lot of these young players don't have the support system that established vets do. There needs to be some hand holding for these guys.
There are different ways of providing feedback:
"you are bad at your job"
"you are doing X wrong, so you need to do Y to correct it".
One of these works, one is complete useless.
I mean look at Baertschi. The guy is 20 years old, brand new to the area, moved around a ton, doesn't have the support structure or family structure and is completely struggling. Is that a coincidence? I'm not sure.
Is it an issue of player development? I can't say for certainty, but I can say that you shouldn't expect to take the same approach you've taken for the last 20 years and expect better results.
I look at a guy like Joe Colbourne who is taking advice from Warrener (on the radio) of all people, telling him to stand in front of the net and work on tipping pucks.
That shouldn't come from radio personalities, that should come from the coaches. I'm not trying to dump on Hartley for it - his job is systems, not exactly player development. Other guys need to be involved in that aspect.