I'm not saying he should change his offensive game, but his gap control and reads when the puck gets turned over.
Never a bad thing to make a gifted offensive player sound defensively as well.
He needs the next Chris Tanev to take him under his wing - give him a chance to take some risks but also learn defensive responsibility, while being a tough SOB on the ice. Bahl with some snarl perhaps...else...go get the next Tanev/Engelland and overpay them on a 2-3 yr deal if you need to.
All this fretting about the Flames “being too mean” to Parekh is par for the course in Western society.
The reality is that I would be shocked if Huska coached beyond 3 more seasons for the Flames; and in the next few years, the “tough love” defensive upbringing will be really good for him. When Huska is gone, Flames will probably hire a more offensively inclined coach to complement hopefully a more offensively built roster and Parekh will be a better player for it in the long run.
I’d rather Parekh turn into Makar than Bouchard. Having Huska coaching him at the beginning of his career is probably the best thing for him.
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Calgary Flames, PLEASE GO TO THE NET! AND SHOOT THE PUCK! GENERATING OFFENSE IS NOT DIFFICULT! SKATE HARD, SHOOT HARD, CRASH THE NET HARD!
Quinn Hughes was also sketchy defensively for his first couple of seasons with the Canucks. It was also identified to him by his coaches and he put in the time and dedicated to improving it and he's now a very capable player defensively. Parekh will find his way in time.
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We're almost the westest of the westest here, so we might be even more hooped. I wonder what the math is on that. Also where's the starting point for this discussion? If we're just talking about Alberta and BC, then we represent eastern society and they are very clearly the evil western world that is trying to overthrow our cultured, traditional values with their free-world nonsense. If it's Saskatchewan and Alberta, then the roles are reversed... I mean, there's really no end to the myriad of ways "western society" can be applied.
Of course his gap control, etc., should improve and it will. I just don’t want his offensive game to suffer.
I don't prescribe to the theory that by insisting and teaching good play in the other 150 feet of the ice you damage the offensive 50 feet.
Good 200 foot play means a special player can be on the ice more often, and in every situation creating more opportunity for the skill to come through.
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Pelletier and Zary both got rocked lots, and they both came back looking hesitant. Flames need to make sure that this doesn't happen to Parekh. I believe that this is actually the biggest obstacle facing him right now at the NHL level. We all know that he has what it takes offensively to do well here in Calgary, but I do believe he has 'enough' defensive ability to not be this big liability out there, and I am sure he will improve upon this base as he plays. I actually think it is his physical development + potentially his awareness on the ice at all times that need time to adjust more than anything else.
If anything, I thought he was better defensively than I expected him to be. Perfect and steady? Of course not, but for an offensive-minded defencemen with a long history of not being a 'great defender' in junior, he was much, much more reliable than I thought he would be. He has mostly been consistently good defensively in the WJCs, to the point that I don't think a guy like Aitchenson (defensive first) was much better, or Danford either. Just has to watch out for guys looking to hit him, that's all. Got caught a couple too many times for my liking.
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Pelletier and Zary both got rocked lots, and they both came back looking hesitant. Flames need to make sure that this doesn't happen to Parekh. I believe that this is actually the biggest obstacle facing him right now at the NHL level. We all know that he has what it takes offensively to do well here in Calgary, but I do believe he has 'enough' defensive ability to not be this big liability out there, and I am sure he will improve upon this base as he plays. I actually think it is his physical development + potentially his awareness on the ice at all times that need time to adjust more than anything else.
If anything, I thought he was better defensively than I expected him to be. Perfect and steady? Of course not, but for an offensive-minded defencemen with a long history of not being a 'great defender' in junior, he was much, much more reliable than I thought he would be. He has mostly been consistently good defensively in the WJCs, to the point that I don't think a guy like Aitchenson (defensive first) was much better, or Danford either. Just has to watch out for guys looking to hit him, that's all. Got caught a couple too many times for my liking.
Agreed. For him, I think it’s that he is always looking to make a play. That sometimes leads to him reaching for a pick or holding onto a puck so long that it puts him in a vulnerable position to get out hard. It’s admirable that he wants to make that play but, ultimately, he’ll have to pick his spots and be aware of how NHLers will be targeting him. If he turns into the NHLer we all hope he can be, teams will plan their games to disrupt him. That means putting pucks in tough spots so they can lay a hit on him as much as possible. He needs to adjust to that and I think he will.
