Linus Ullmark was reportedly dealing with a severe injury during Boston's crushing first-round exit against the Panthers.
www.boston.com
I find the Ullmark bashing, demands that he be run out of town on a rail, dumped for a bag of pucks, etc. nonsensical and hilarious.
IF you want to blame someone, blame Jim Montgomery and Bob Essensa.
Have you ever known a goaltender, any NHLer, or any professional athlete to decline an opportunity to play, however injured? (Well, MLB comes to mind. Gotta rest that hangnail.)
It is entirely -- entirely -- Montgomery's responsibility, and fault, for inexplicably starting Ullmark
in six games over 12 days. Anyone with eyes could see Linus was likely injured, spent, and playing poorly.
Remember, Ullmark now has a total of eight playoff games under his belt. Yes, he played more games than Swayman and against the better clubs. But he also split time with Jeremy.
I understand that in the playoffs, coaches predictably go with the goaltender most responsible for getting them there, the netminder with the hot hand, and as a reward for a successful season. I also understand that, traditionally, coaches select a goaltender to be "the guy" because, for one thing, they prefer not to disrupt the team's rhythm and habits by swapping goaltenders in and out.
So, Ullmark was injured. He has little playoff experience. He was not spelled at any point in the series by Swayman, and again, played six games in twelve nights. He was exhausted, and he was playing poorly.
Does this sound like a recipe for success?
Grave mishandling of the goaltending, bad swaps (Clifton in, Gryz out), second guessing and the baffling, ineffective line changes that resulted from it, playing soft, playing scared -- all of these are ultimately failures of coaching.
I've liked JIm Montgomery in many ways, but he has to take responsibility, and be held accountable for, what can only be described as very bad coaching when it mattered most.
Get off Linus.
