I haven’t had very much negative to say about Rod. As others say, he is who he is, sometimes to his own detriment.
This is one of the only times I’m bristling against it. I can appreciate how loyal he is to vets after how he was treated and how that endears him to the team. We can grumble about how the PP is run.
But in a game 5, on home ice, up 3-1, against a Devils team that might be down another 2 dmen depending on game time decisions, there is zero better time to introduce Nikishin to the lineup if you want to see what he has in the least pressure situation that could harm the team if you are interested in him playing for you later on in the playoffs…
Give a bonus perk to a new dad who is likely sleep deprived… give Robinson the night off and play 11-7…Robinson has been effective. It’s not a negative against him. Frame it as a positive and the perk is you get to see Nikishin on the ice with our team before the games really start to mean more in round 2 and beyond. There is no reason to not play 11-7 as a further reduction in risk to allow him to get in a game a d still ice a series closing roster...
If he doesn’t play tonight it’s a mistake on the coach’s part. Brindy has made them in the regular season and in the playoffs in recent years. We can love him as our coach and acknowledge he isn’t perfect. I believe this is his latest mistake if Nikishin doesn’t play tonight. Our media are super nice to our team. I would never want it to be like the viper pit the crazy idiots are in big markets. But anywhere else and there would have been many of the same essential questions posed with slightly different wording about why he isn’t in tonight.
It only gets more difficult from here and higher risk to just throw him out there in case of an injury... let's see what the kid has...
This is one of the only times I’m bristling against it. I can appreciate how loyal he is to vets after how he was treated and how that endears him to the team. We can grumble about how the PP is run.
But in a game 5, on home ice, up 3-1, against a Devils team that might be down another 2 dmen depending on game time decisions, there is zero better time to introduce Nikishin to the lineup if you want to see what he has in the least pressure situation that could harm the team if you are interested in him playing for you later on in the playoffs…
Give a bonus perk to a new dad who is likely sleep deprived… give Robinson the night off and play 11-7…Robinson has been effective. It’s not a negative against him. Frame it as a positive and the perk is you get to see Nikishin on the ice with our team before the games really start to mean more in round 2 and beyond. There is no reason to not play 11-7 as a further reduction in risk to allow him to get in a game a d still ice a series closing roster...
If he doesn’t play tonight it’s a mistake on the coach’s part. Brindy has made them in the regular season and in the playoffs in recent years. We can love him as our coach and acknowledge he isn’t perfect. I believe this is his latest mistake if Nikishin doesn’t play tonight. Our media are super nice to our team. I would never want it to be like the viper pit the crazy idiots are in big markets. But anywhere else and there would have been many of the same essential questions posed with slightly different wording about why he isn’t in tonight.
It only gets more difficult from here and higher risk to just throw him out there in case of an injury... let's see what the kid has...
