Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Even if the physicality sees any reduction, there will still be no time or space out there tonight. In addition to being very physical, the other common characteristic in every game of this series has been the extremely high speed, and the relentless back checking.
I don't see how Baertschi fares very well under these circumstances. He's just not that fast, and his decision making requires something he will be short of: time and space.
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I said it early on this year - Sven has passing skills in junior and the AHL because the game is slower. When up here this year he didn't seem to have enough time to make good decisions, so he couldn't anticipate where the puck was going to be on the forecheck. He couldn't decide what do do when a checker came at him, so the puck got lost. It's the difference between him and Johnny, who doesn't have blazing straight ahead speed but thinks the game a million mph.
He couldn't do it in the regular season (in the first half too). The POs are a whole different breed of game speed. If he's replacing Burrows he's a downgrade for sure. Burrows is a POS but he's more suited to this game.
If I'm Hartley, I'm not changing any game plans but I would for sure not encourage headhunting him. More like being on him quick.
Funny though, Sven has seen Ferland more than most guys on the Flames, and he knows what Ferland can do to him (mind you, Ferland targets defencemen way more).