We had three good centers so, frankly speaking, I could only expect to play on the fourth line. I don’t have anything against it, but the game is a bit different there. It has been excellently explained by my coach: I needed to play hard, trying to get under the opposition’s skin with my energy. The most important thing was not to allow any goal, and scoring myself would have been a bonus, it wasn’t required.
I certainly understand that every team needs such players, but those aren’t my strong points. Let’s start with one consideration: I’m not that fast, therefore I have to try and do something unusual. But this isn’t welcome on the fourth line. I tried to play the way the coach wanted, but it didn’t work. I tried playing as I wanted, and I showed some flashes, but then if there was a mistake, then I would be benched.
I was simply punished for not playing the way the coach wanted. If that’s not enough, I constantly played until the New Year, but then the coaches decided to give more trust to the most experienced players.
