Quote:
Originally Posted by northcrunk
Yeah. Sit out a couple game and work him in practice. Let him get his puck handling and decision making back to where it needs to be. His play right now shows he deserves to be benched. I hardly think that is dumb.
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His play right now suggests he's someone who hasn't been on the ice in a real game situation for weeks. You bench players because they aren't putting the effort in, or because they need a chance to "see the game from above", or to create competition for jobs and provide extra motivations.
You don't bench players when their play is suffering due to lack of playing time, that simply extrapolates the problem. Practice doesn't simulate a game, and Raymond has already done the skating in practice to get as close to game shape as he could get. Now he needs more time to get his skills back up to NHL speed, which can only occur by playing at the NHL level.
Suggesting a player who has been injured for weeks should be "benched" until he's back up to speed is literally one of the silliest suggestions I've ever heard.