Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14
Also, why focus on just Hamiton when guys like Bennett have done nothing and Jooris' only contribution to the team so far has been a series of minor penalties?
We've got five guys out of a 23-man roster playing with any semblance of determination right now. Picking on one guy out of that group of 18 misses the forest for the trees.
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A huge part of it is just expectations. The hype and the cap hit that came with Hamilton put him under a microscope and magnify any shortcomings. That said, some of his errors so far are also quite blatant and have directly led to goals against. That makes it easier for the average fan to question him, as opposed to other players whose failings haven't had such obvious and direct consequences.
As for Bennett, he has been the subject of concern so far too, but he's younger, cheap, and his shortcomings haven't had such obvious negative effects on the team. Similar things could be said for Jooris.
All in all, the team is struggling as a whole, and I'd say offence and steady goaltending are it's biggest problems so far. But this is a team that relies on offence from its defence too, so our highly paid defencemen have to bring both points and sound defensive play. When they bring neither, that's a problem too.
That said, Hamilton will almost certainly get there. He simply cannot be as weak as he's appeared so far, and is no doubt struggling with confidence as well as adaptation right now. It'll be interesting to see what impact Brodie's return has on Hamilton's role and the confidence of the whole team.