This is the Sam Bennett cycle:
- Plays on 4th line or with poor line mates
- Gets promoted to higher line, generally looks good at first but tries to do too much and takes bad penalties
- After taking the bad penalties he comes out more timid the next game and is a much less effective hockey player who's afraid to take a risk or make a mistake
- Gets demoted back to 4th line where he may look okay individually but won't achieve much since his linemates are usually subpar, hence restarting the cycle
And round and round we go.
Honestly the biggest mistake is that I don't think he's actually gotten a run of 10 consecutive games with the better players on this team since his rookie season playing with Backlund.
And I think that hurts him because then he either tries to do too much in order to make an impression (usually taking bad penalties in the process, example Game 2), or he tries to not take any risks in order to not make a mistake and plays too timid (the last three games)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Erned Nevergivn
I believe in the playoffs, his success has little to do with playing center or which line mates he plays with. I believe it can mostly be attributed to the refs calling less penalties in the playoffs, him understanding this and he can just relax and play his style on instinct.
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I think it's a little bit linemates but I do think this is a big contributor to his lack of success as well. He's never figured out how to play a tenacious style that won't result in him taking penalties in the regular season, and it's limited his regular season effectiveness.