I think Baertschi's comments area part of the reason he was sent down. He really does appear to me mentally immature and fragile. He needs to toughen up quite a bit. His camp was mediocre and he didn't produce, even though he was given good line mates to work with. He needs to get his stuff together if he has any hope of a call up this season. This outburst probably puts him behind several players again, all because of attitude.
Having said that, management seems to have blown the duke too. If you say that you're going to go with those who earned their position, then hand positions to some of the veterans they did, well, they look just as weak as Mr. Baertschi. There are a few veterans who didn't carry the weight of their hockey equipment this training camp, and they made the opening day roster. Shame on management for not having the cojones to do the right thing.
To those who don't think this means much, you're sadly mistaken. Young players work their asses off all off season and come to camp prepared. Their livelihoods are on the line and their earning is based on which league they play in. There is also honor and bragging rights in making the opening day roster out of camp. When a player doesn't make it, especially when he out performs a player that does, it is hard on the player's psyche. Athletes don't like to fail, and some of these guys will see it as a personal failure. Some take it better than others and recover quickly. Some don't take it well and have a much greater emotional recovery period. This could really hurt the team short and long term, all because public comments were made that weren't followed through on. I'm not sure if Dave Paskevich is still on the payroll, but it might be worth a plane ticket to get him to Addy to talk to some of the young guys and help them get their heads straight.
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