Quote:
Originally Posted by AcGold
My guess, if anything, is that he's too soft for the NHL. He's got tons of skill but he can't handle any contact really and he shies away from battles.
All of the things he says are just lack of confidence in his ability to survive the physical battle I think. A guy like Gaudreau took hits from behind, slashes and a stick to the face that looked like it broke his nose. And he got right back up after every one of them, Sven doesn't have that in him. Gaudreau leans into people and pushes his weight around making his presence felt, that's the difference between an NHL'er and a minor leaguer. Having the confidence to go into the gritty areas thinking about the play and not whether you're going to get hurt or not because in the NHL most of the rink is the gritty area.
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This. Look at the area where Johnny scored his goal last night. He's the smallest guy in the league but he goes to dirty areas in front of the crease and pots goals.
Sven is 3 inches taller than him (officially – probably more like 6 inches in reality) and 40 pounds heavier but he's nothing more than a perimeter player these days.
Baertschi is always just behind the play – I was noticing it when he was a Flame and last night I noticed it as well. He's one step behind where he needs to be in order to make a good play. I don't know if that is because he's a bit slower than he needs to be or if it's a mental thing. Leaning towards the latter. Either fear or uncertainty is slowing down his mental game, and it's crippled his abilities in the NHL. For a prospect who was praised for having a high hockey IQ he certainly isn't demonstrating it.