I have a Love/Hate for Kerf. He does so many things right on the defensive side of the game. If you watch him without the puck in our zone his head is constantly on a swivel and he's always scanning to make a play on the puck. I also like his tenacity for a smaller guy. A play that may have gone unnoticed last game prior to his OT goal was a 50/50 puck in OT where Kerf was covering the point for a pinching Jake McCabe. The puck squirt down ice, and a speedy Ross Colton and Kerf were in a race to the puck. Kerf is on the outside, and if he loses that battle, Colton goes in all alone on a break. Kerf angled the bigger Colton away from the puck, and eventually won the battle. What was even better about that play is that Kerf positioned his body in a way that if he lost that 50/50 battle, it would run enough of a subtle interference on Colton to delay him just enough for the trailing TJ Brodie to get back into the play. Kerf ended up out muscling the bigger Colton and pushed the puck into the corner for Brodie to collect.
It was just an incredibly smart read by Kerf and even better execution. Not exactly a routine play for a Forward. I can't count how many times I've seen our own defense lose that battle.
Where Kerf tends to lose me is his offense. He is typically a black hole. And shockingly for no apparent reason. He's got a good shot, he's got good speed, and he's got good enough IQ to get into the areas to receive grade-A looks. He just seems to fumble f*** every opportunity. What is worse, is it clearly got to his head this season as well. He would try and make passes that he cannot make instead of shooting as he had no confidence to put the puck in the net. So he began squandering even more opportunities. Kerf doesn't need to change anything away from the puck. He just needs to change his belief in between his ears offensively. Be a shoot first guy. He's not Mitch. Put the puck on net whenever you get the look.
Saltming!!!
