The 4th line had a rough night. Its 7 minutes, big deal, there are much larger concerns at hand.
Namely a $7 million dollar mummy who hasn't had a plus game in the last 10, is a -10 during that stretch, and is playing 2 and half times as many minutes.
of course, they're not mutually exclusive. BUT--it IS a big deal when that guy finds his way THAT POORLY on the scoresheet and is on ice for the only even strength goal against. "7 minutes big deal" it is when your 4th line helps you lose a game. I'd say it's not an issue if I had any belief they'd try to limit it. They won't.
both are symbolic of the same thought process unfortunately
I mean of course those guys can play with all the confidence int he world, trevor lewis could turn around and shoot it into his own f***ing net because he looks like he's trying hard and gosh darnit he's a good ol boy and wouldn't miss a shift much less a game, results be damned (jk he wouldn't hit his net if he was aiming for it)
Clarke and the other kids are playing gripping the everliving shit out of their sticks because one missed assignment or a visible mistake gets them sent back to guantanamo bay...of course he doesn't look like the confident cocky playmaker from earler in the year, they've beaten that out of him, and now 24 and under players are playing to not make a mistake likethe vets, instead of playing to
win.
Not making excuses for Clarke but when is he supposed to have his growing pains? What are the elderly players' excuses? These guys are never ready for their roles because the only way they get them is when someone else dies...and then the organization goes surprised pikachu that their high draft pick that's played fewer minutes in a month than other guys are playing in a night can't handle the opposition's best in one game?
Like above, it's just putting them back in the rinse cycle so we can have this conversation about 'not ready' next year. It's infuriating to me how quickly everyone is to jump on kids making exuberant mistakes but are totally comfortable with veterans playing like dog shit. Lewis should not be an 82 game player but they're going to force feed him every last game, Anze should not be getting 20 minutes but here we are.
