Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdonkey
This is where I think you're wrong. The league has moved away from big dumb gorillas who can't skate, because players simply don't engage with them. They leave that their own tough guy to mix it up and put on a show, and by and large it acts as a deterrent to nothing. The place for this kind of player has long since faded, except in Alberta it seems.
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He's not even that bad of a skater. Better than Neal, even though that doesn't mean anything. Player's don't have a choice to not engage with him when he just demolishes teammates over and over. If he wasn't an effective hitter then his hit count wouldn't be so high and youtube wouldn't be loaded with massive hits by him. The deterrent factor exists, albeit at a very slight level. By the sounds of things, I must be crazy because I see Lucic getting 30+ Points easily and moving up and down the lineup frequently. I'm sure he's more motivated now than ever before. On top of that, this is the first offseason he's actually used a skills trainer. Having never done that before the rewards might actually be relevant. I feel like I'm being reasonably optimistic here as well. If I'm wrong, oh well. Better off with a positive perspective until it has reason to change.