Michkov to be healthy scratched tonight
- Thread starter amnesiac
- Start date
For most of the preseason of 2017-2018 Canucks' rookie Brock Boeser was tremendous and had the production to go with it. Then in the last two preseason games he disappeared. He was in the lineup but literally was doing nothing to help his team.
The Canucks made Boeser a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season (from which they earned 3 points in the standings. Then Boeser, agreeing publicly that he'd slacked off, got back into the lineup and over the next 62 games (until injured) had 29 goals and 26 assists while generally also holding his own defensively.
Some will say it was coincidental, but in my opinion it is sometimes correct to sit a young player to deliver a message and keep his game on track. It becomes much harder after a player has several successful offensive seasons while often giving less effort defensively. If a coach wants to change a player's habits in the long term the best time to do it is when the player is young and bad habits haven't been treated as acceptable.
The Canucks made Boeser a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season (from which they earned 3 points in the standings. Then Boeser, agreeing publicly that he'd slacked off, got back into the lineup and over the next 62 games (until injured) had 29 goals and 26 assists while generally also holding his own defensively.
Some will say it was coincidental, but in my opinion it is sometimes correct to sit a young player to deliver a message and keep his game on track. It becomes much harder after a player has several successful offensive seasons while often giving less effort defensively. If a coach wants to change a player's habits in the long term the best time to do it is when the player is young and bad habits haven't been treated as acceptable.
Slaf has a higher PPG, is +1 and has almost double Michkov 5v5 production. I’m not sure if this was a troll post or not but knowing your history it might just be.
I don’t understand why people are shitting on Torts. Michkov is 19 & has been horrible at 5v5 for a while. Just because he has all the talent in the world doesn’t mean he’s a finished product right now. He has a lot of room to grow and a long way to go before reaching his ceiling. Seeing s game or two from the press box isn’t going to harm Michkov.
Ya’ll need to grow up. It’s not a life of death situation. They’re professional athletes and NHL coaches. If this hurt Michkov feelings then maybe he choose the wrong career.
What process? Michkov been awful at 5v5. He deserves to sit. FYI, yes Michkov’s game at 5v5 is an issue. Much like every 19 years old rookies. The fact that you can’t even see or admit he’s been struggling lately is pathetic at best.
I think the difference is that there was a prearranged plan between him and the team with regards to the load management plan they used. He was on-board with it ahead of time and it wasn't used as a means to punish the player.
Now maybe Torts/management and Micknov's camp have a similar agreement in place and this is a preearanged break that was expected. If not and this is being used as a wakeup call then it's different.
dirtydanglez
Registered User
- Oct 30, 2022
- 5,301
- 5,358
norrisnick
The best...
- Apr 14, 2005
- 31,162
- 16,473
Meh. Getting a junker up to 100 on the freeway and driving a few miles til the engine explodes and wheels come off doesn't make him a good driver.
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Okay, but most of those players you named suck and aren’t NHL players. Michkov is the most important player in the organization. Making sure he develops right is very important.
It’s not an issue for one game. It’s an issue if it becomes a habit of Torts. He has to realize that you can’t keep going back to this well. You use it once or twice and then you have to accept the results and try to instill your message another way.
If he does that, fair enough. Don’t think it’s an issue for one game. That happens to virtually every rookie, and almost a certainty when you’re dealing with an old school coach.
Tortorella already signaled that he was going to do this, a couple of days ago, so this is the least surprising move of Torts' career.
Golden_Jet
Registered User
- Sep 21, 2005
- 25,953
- 13,388
- May 22, 2008
- 10,006
- 2,439
Fair point. I really doubt that will happen though. They’ve been floundering all year even with Michkov and I think scratching a rookie will be received differently in the room than your newly named captain and longest tenured player.
Rich Nixon
No Prior Knowledge of "Flyers"
The Flyers have scored 19 goals at 5-on-5 this season. They have the second-worst 5-on-5 goal differential in the league. Second-fewest 5-on-5 shots for.
The team is terrible at even strength, because they play in a way that is not conducive to generating even strength offense. They do not establish or maintain offensive zone pressure based on the talent they have and the directives given to them by their coach. Michkov has been one of their better performers. Could he be better? Every single player on the team could be, but they aren't.
I personally think it's fine if they go "it's a long season and we're trying to keep him fresh and give him a break now and then." But setting it up as a "learning" experience re: 5 on 5 play is, to me, a coach pointing a finger at a player for what are really coaching and management issues.
Last edited:
