Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
Nobody doubts Sutter is a smart guy, I always hate the smartest guy in the room comments because these guys are paid to be smart, not avoid being the smartest guy in the room by taking the easy way, or the way that fans will be happy.
So with that you know he sees what we do ... a bottom half of the forward ranks that isn't really working right now. He knows Ritchie can't finish, and that Lewis is in the right spots but his hands are shot. He sees that Lucic has had a tough month, and that Toffoli is playing on a line that can't produce, potentially wasting him.
Would assume he makes decisions based on things we don't necessarily see ... like how his teams have behaved in the past when they go up against teams that are physical through their line up. How he loses say 30% of his bench on those nights.
Then you look at Ritchie and Lewis and Lucic a different way. Also why he took a chance on a 450 pound third pairing.
If I had a $1 for every time someone on twitter pointed out Ritchie had no points, or that he needs to be fired to the sun I'd be wealthy. Think maybe points just aren't the point.
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Smartest guy in the room was from the Enron affair and it was more that they’d tell you they were and that you were stupid for not understanding the brilliance of their plans. Sutter isn’t that way, really. He has a convention and sticks to it, but he’s also changed over time. Hell, Treliving isn’t even that way and he’s the guy people try to tag with it.
The fan base is obsessed with points, and Sutter knows that’s only half the battle. No doubt some of the prospects and AHLers that keep getting thrown into hypothetical lineups are better offensively. Sutter obviously just doesn’t trust their 200 foot game.
I thought it was a pretty good effort all over the ice, with all 4 lines. More scoring from the bottom nine would have been nice but with an offensive team like the Avs, you aren’t going to out-skill them, especially down the lineup so you need to outcheck them.