Attard is a good example not to take SSS heaters seriously
(Lesson to self).
He flashed his skills, he is a very good goal scorer for a defenseman, he's got size.
But the longer he played, the more his defensive and skating deficiencies were revealed.
And after three years, they probably have a good idea if he'll ever compensate for them.
Same applies to Andrae right now, he looks smooth out there, but the league will challenge him in the D-zone physically, hoping to panic him into mistakes. We'll see if he is exposed or rises to the challenge and keeps improving.
There's an interview with Middleton and he's got a great story that applies to any pro sport, about the need for players to adjust:
In 2010, we’re playing the
Rockies out in Denver. Roy Halladay is pitching one of those days. His father lives about an hour away. And his father and I are sitting there watching Doc mow them down. I turned to his father and say, “I understand that you were Doc’s first pitching coach.” He said, “That’s right.” I said, “How many of his pitches that he uses today did you teach him?” And he said, “None.” None? “None.” Not even a fastball? “No.” He said when (Roy) was sent back down to the low minors, he jettisoned every pitch and he learned five new pitches. He said, “I’m not going to be successful (in the majors) if I don’t change.” So I said, “Oh, he’s using those pitches?” No. Over time, he was afraid he was too predictable. People knew his pitches. He either completely changed or materially altered every single pitch.
So I’m kind of incredulous about this whole thing. Two weeks later, I’m sitting with Mike Schmidt at a game. I relate this story about Doc’s father. And Mike just looks at me and he goes, “Yeah, I can understand that.” I said, “Really? All that change?” He goes, “John, in my career, I had three completely different swings. Every one of those three swings, I made a significant adjustment to the swing about halfway through. People adjust to you. You have to adjust to them.”
