Quote:
Originally Posted by JiriHrdina
that's really going out of your way to find an excuse for Johnny.
He is paid to be a front line player that produces. Period.
He is paid to drive the offense on that line.
He wasn't good enough. Not by a long shot.
No need to give him excuses. He just needs to be better.
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I'm just saying that the reality is he's 5'9 and 150lbs, and that reality needs to be accounted for.
You can say "be better" all you want, but against the Ducks, what you're really saying isn't "be better" it's "be bigger" and that's an impossibility. Like it or not, the Ducks are full of players who are fast enough to keep up with him, big enough to do a lot of damage and skilled enough be able to rush him without looking like a chump after. Not to mention good enough at getting away with all the slashing, facewashing, cross-checking extra stuff.
Our offensive catalyst is the smallest guy in the league. It just is what it is, and we can either leave him out there on his own against teams like the Ducks, and admonish him for not being big enough to fight through it, or we can make adjustments and find other ways to get him the room he needs.