I disagree that the D are being overly criticized. These are players that are fighting to be on the roster and playing against good NHL players when the games count next week. You can't hide players all game, especially on the road. I am certain that the coaching staff were looking for D to step up and play well so that they could be put in the line up without hoping that they would be alright or improve as the season goes along.
This isn't a development season and 23 year old players should be good to go after several years of playing at the professional level. I don't mean to say that they were terrible or that there is no hope for them as NHL players, but from the way that Treliving and Gulutzan were talking about camp battles I think they were anticipating saying "wow, who the heck are we going to cut?" and not "wow, who the heck are we going to keep?"
|