Quote:
Originally Posted by Burning Beard
Wouldn't a good coach also notice the repeated player mistakes and address them with the player, and if the player refuses to adjust then bench said player? It seemed like they had no accountability to Ward at all. I get it, he was the good cop to the Peters bad cop, but being a good cop did not work for him as head coach.
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IMO a good coach benches players if that's the best way to address that player's mistakes or bad habits. That same coach might show support for the player and let them work through it if that's what's best for that player. Right or wrong, Ward benched Bennett, Dube, and Kylington, and I assume they were for repeated defensive mistakes. He didn't bench Lucic for some bad passes, and I think it's because he figures Lucic is a guy who knows his mistakes and is better off working them out as opposed to being benched, and the same applies to guys like Backlund or Gio (who doesn't make mistakes so much as just is unable to do certain things at as high a level).
I think we also miss a lot of semi-benchings - just reductions in ice time, not taking the player out completely.