WJC: The Curious Case Of Cale Makar

[PAZ]

While it’s strange that Makar was a top 3 player and didn’t get more ice time, it can make sense. Just because a guy was a top 3 player this tournament for the team doesn’t always mean he deserves to play more minutes. I’m surprised he didn’t but I can see how the team picked him as a top 3 player but wouldn’t commit to more ice time. A lot of it comes down to have comfortable the team is with the player and how much they trust him in all situations. Obviously Coach Ducharme and his staff didn’t trust him in all situations but it doesn’t change that he couldn’t be a top 3 player for the team. He played the role he was asked and played it exceptionally, deserving of a top 3 player? Most likely. Deserving of more ice time? Most likely as well but if you envision a player in a role and don’t think he can handle a different role competently, then it’s no use in asking him to play it. Play a guy to his strengths, not to his weaknesses and I think the staff did a good job of this all tournament.

What exactly was his role?

The obvious answer is PP specialist, but how can he be seen as a top 3 player this tournament in that role when he wasn't even on the 1st PP unit?

It would similar if McDavid was on the 4th line of the Olympic team, playing 8 minutes a game running the 2nd PP unit. Sure, he might look damn good in those 8 minutes, but how can he ever be called a top 3 player given his limited role and utilization?

 

[Statsy]

While it’s strange that Makar was a top 3 player and didn’t get more ice time, it can make sense. Just because a guy was a top 3 player this tournament for the team doesn’t always mean he deserves to play more minutes. I’m surprised he didn’t but I can see how the team picked him as a top 3 player but wouldn’t commit to more ice time. A lot of it comes down to have comfortable the team is with the player and how much they trust him in all situations. Obviously Coach Ducharme and his staff didn’t trust him in all situations but it doesn’t change that he couldn’t be a top 3 player for the team. He played the role he was asked and played it exceptionally, deserving of a top 3 player? Most likely. Deserving of more ice time? Most likely as well but if you envision a player in a role and don’t think he can handle a different role competently, then it’s no use in asking him to play it. Play a guy to his strengths, not to his weaknesses and I think the staff did a good job of this all tournament.

I'll give you points for at least trying to answer the question. Not sure I'm buying what you're selling, but at least it's a hypothesis with some logic to it.

 

[Bounces R Way]

One of the standouts for Canada. Might be the most talented player on the team.

The whole blue line I thought played well. Played the entire time other than a short spurt against the Czechs from ahead. Makar not on the PP was really my only issue. Dynamic talent on the blue line is hard to find, I think he's going to be a nice pick for the Avs.

 

[604]

I think the gold medal game says it all.

He was good offensively but in the few shift he took, he looked terrible defensively on the only Swedish goal.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Katchouk going for the big hit was thw mistake on that play(the shg that is).
Makar took away the pass. The swede just made a nice shot and beat Hart.

He got backed in way to deep and let the Swede carrying the puck just walk in. I mean the Canadians got mixed up pretty bad on coverage in general on that goal so it wasn't just Makar that made a mistake but he definitely didn't play it well.

 

[CB Joe]

I think the gold medal game says it all.

He was good offensively but in the few shift he took, he looked terrible defensively on the only Swedish goal.

The rest of the team burned him by giving up the 3 on 1.

 

[Alberta Yote]

I think the gold medal game says it all.

He was good offensively but in the few shift he took, he looked terrible defensively on the only Swedish goal.

He took away the pass on what ended up a 2 on 1 just like they teach you. If any of the other players would have hustled and picked up the third Swede coming in he could have played Soderlund instead. He made the right play, it was just a fantastic shot.

He played just fine defensively and showed his skill. The most talented player on Team Canada.

 

[Mrb1p]

Mete Timmins and Fabbro were all rock solid so they got the bulk of ES plus PK duties.

Makar got the whole PP and he didnt do extremely well there IMO.

At ES you dont want a quick mistake costing you a goal with all these high flying offensw out there. Ducharme played a good game with the Swedes coach, sending Mete or Timmins anytime Pettersson, Andersson or Nylander stepped over the bench.

Should he have sent Makar instead?

Bean and Clague were bad, but was Makar any better defensively? He was tested twice in this tourney and failed.

 

[Mrb1p]

He took away the pass on what ended up a 2 on 1 just like they teach you. If any of the other players would have hustled and picked up the third Swede coming in he could have played Soderlund instead. He made the right play, it was just a fantastic shot.

He played just fine defensively and showed his skill. The most talented player on Team Canada.

He didnt commit to anything, he was playing in between the pass and the shooter.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Clague and Fabbro especially were running around in their own end last night. I'm not sure how anyone can say that was rock solid other than Hart bailing them out a few times.

Part of the issue was that Ducharme likes his set pairs and when Fabbro went down then Makar got paired with Clague, so he ended up being the odd one out when Fabbro returned. Maybe if things had been set from the beginning and Makar stayed paired with Bean then things would be different. Makar also took Mete's spot when he was out. I don't know if they intended Makar as the 7th the whole time or that's just how it worked out because he moved around so much.

I get that guys have different roles in the tourney. They defaulted to the returning players a bit too much, by the elimination rounds everyone on that team had experience. It's disappointing they didn't give Makar the opportunity to show he can defend and it happens when everyone is watching him like a hawk to see if there's any mistake. He was excellent and getting the puck out of his own end and he did have very few mistakes. Obviously they won gold so it's all going to be hindsight anyway.

 

[Goulet17]

Mete Timmins and Fabbro were all rock solid so they got the bulk of ES plus PK duties.

Makar got the whole PP and he didnt do extremely well there IMO.

At ES you dont want a quick mistake costing you a goal with all these high flying offensw out there. Ducharme played a good game with the Swedes coach, sending Mete or Timmins anytime Pettersson, Andersson or Nylander stepped over the bench.

Should he have sent Makar instead?

Bean and Clague were bad, but was Makar any better defensively? He was tested twice in this tourney and failed.

I am not sure that I am following the bolded segments of your post, or at the very least, I am not sure that they are factually accurate. First of all, I am not sure that I witnessed Makar play a "whole PP" for the entire tournament. I don't believe that any Canadian player was on for a "whole PP". On this note, I am not sure that any Canadian defenseman in the tournament played close to the level that Makar did throughout on the PP. Secondly, I only witnessed Makar being on the ice for two goals against in the tournament, once against Finland and once against Sweden in a shorthanded situation. Against Sweden, the shorthanded goal was essentially a three on one situation down low. Makar could have played it more aggressively, but I think it was a difficult situation. Placing a large blame on Makar for that goal absolves the other four Canadian players that were no where to be found, despite a 5-4 man advantage. Against Finland, Makar was also faced with a two on one situation down low. In both cases, it appeared that Canada had large breakdowns defensively.

 

[Freudian]

He didnt commit to anything, he was playing in between the pass and the shooter.

He committed to the guy with the puck and then the other Canadian backchecker decided, for no reason, to step up and leave Makar in a 1 vs 2 situation instead of a 2 vs 2 situation. Then Makar played the pass and left the shooter to the goalie, as he is supposed to.

That goal isn't on Makar. It's on Katchouk for making a completely bone headed defensive play.

 

[Mrb1p]

He committed to the guy with the puck and then the other Canadian backchecker decided, for no reason, to step up and leave Makar in a 1 vs 2 situation instead of a 2 vs 2 situation. Then Makar played the pass and left the shooter to the goalie, as he is supposed to.

That goal isn't on Makar. It's on Katchouk for making a completely bone headed defensive play.

Thats the thing, he didnt play the pass, he was positioned oddly, way too deep and leaning on one side, Hart had to be super deep in his net and he had to cheat for the pass at the same time because of Makars poor coverage.

 

[Mrb1p]

I am not sure that I am following the bolded segments of your post, or at the very least, I am not sure that they are factually accurate.

He was on the ice for every PP. First wave or second wave he was there. Mind you, Bean and Clague didnt look good too IMO.

 

[Goulet17]

Thats the thing, he didnt play the pass, he was positioned oddly, way too deep and leaning on one side, Hart had to be super deep in his net and he had to cheat for the pass at the same time because of Makars poor coverage.

Again, it was a three on one situation at the end, I am not sure how much blame you put on Makar in that situation given that a three on one situation with your team on the PP should NEVER happen. By placing blame on Makar, I think you absolving the other four Canadian players for the initial turnover and the lack of backchecking.

I never place much blame on a player or defenseman trying to defend an odd man rush in that situation, I personally think it is a strange perspective to do so. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

[Freudian]

Thats the thing, he didnt play the pass, he was positioned oddly, way too deep and leaning on one side, Hart had to be super deep in his net and he had to cheat for the pass at the same time because of Makars poor coverage.

Of course Makar wasn't in perfect position to cover the pass. He had to scramble from playing the shooter to playing the pass because Katchouk lost his guy. It was a very standard 2 vs 2 until Katchouk made a terrible play.

 

[Mrb1p]

Again, it was a three on one situation at the end, I am not sure how much blame you put on Makar in that situation given that a three on one situation with your team on the PP should NEVER happen. By placing blame on Makar, I think you absolving the other four Canadian players for the initial turnover and the lack of backchecking.

I never place much blame on a player or defenseman trying to defend an odd man rush in that situation, I personally think it is a strange perspective to do so. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

The mistakes were made, doesnt mean he should be absolved himself... he played that bad, no matter what happened after before or the next day, it was badly played.

 

[hooverdam]

The mistakes were made, doesnt mean he should be absolved himself... he played that bad, no matter what happened after before or the next day, it was badly played.

You can say this until you're blue in the face, it doesn't make it true. Why shouldn't he be absolved if the mistakes weren't made by him?

Also, he missed several powerplay shifts last night to the point where Ray Ferraro pointed it out and put Ducharme on blast for it. That happened. I can't decide if you have an agenda or if you just want to be contrary against the majority in here, but it's tiring.

I have a fundamental problem with a coach who coaches not to get to scored on over scoring. You don't get scored on when you have the puck in the other team's zone for the majority of the game. That's why Makar was only ever "tested" twice defensively; the puck was always in the other team's end for 98% of his ice time.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

I thought Clague struggled a lot at times, but was rewarded with ice time regardless. Timmins was absolutely fantastic. Clague-Fabbro pair really wasn't as good as the ice time they got, but it worked out in the end, so whatever. Makar, for sure, should have gotten more ice time. Bean was meh. I didn't really notice Foote, which is a good thing for him.

 

[Mrb1p]

You can say this until you're blue in the face, it doesn't make it true. Why shouldn't he be absolved if the mistakes weren't made by him?

Also, he missed several powerplay shifts last night to the point where Ray Ferraro pointed it out and put Ducharme on blast for it. That happened. I can't decide if you have an agenda or if you just want to be contrary against the majority in here, but it's tiring.

I have a fundamental problem with a coach who coaches not to get to scored on over scoring. You don't get scored on when you have the puck in the other team's zone for the majority of the game. That's why Makar was only ever "tested" twice defensively; the puck was always in the other team's end for 98% of his ice time.

Everybody was at fault on the ice, nobody made the right play. Defending him beccause others made bigger mistakes is asinine.

Also, literally every coaches ever coach like that. Makar was great at what he did, and he should've played more for sure, over Clague/Bean/Foote but I don't see him having success against Zadina/Necas/Svechnikov/Mittelstatd/Pettersson/Andersson/Nylander/Kostin.. They relied on Fabbro/Mete/Timmins for that. Were they wrong ? Timmins and Mete were better than Makar, thats it, nothing else to it.

I have a fundamental problem with fan of teams that get really hurt emotionally because their shiny new toy didn't get every single opportunity to shine.

 

[tucker3434]

Everybody was at fault on the ice, nobody made the right play. Defending him beccause others made bigger mistakes is asinine.

Also, literally every coaches ever coach like that. Makar was great at what he did, and he should've played more for sure, over Clague/Bean/Foote but I don't see him having success against Zadina/Necas/Svechnikov/Mittelstatd/Pettersson/Andersson/Nylander/Kostin.. They relied on Fabbro/Mete/Timmins for that. Were they wrong ? Timmins and Mete were better than Makar, thats it, nothing else to it.

I have a fundamental problem with fan of teams that get really hurt emotionally because their shiny new toy didn't get every single opportunity to shine.

So then why was Makar the only one punished? Why does he get benched for being the only guy who was in any position to make a play? It’s ridiculous.

As far as Mete being better, I disagree. But if the coaches felt that way, why was Makar named a top 3 player by the coaches? It’s like the recognized his talent, but just didn’t want to change their game plan.

And you can have a fundamental problem with whatever you want, but we aren’t the only ones questioning his ice time. Pretty much every respected Canadian analyst was questioning Makar’s usage. It made no sense. Other than, as people have said, Ducharme was going to use the guys he was used to no matter what.

 

[Balthazar]

As far as Mete being better, I disagree. But if the coaches felt that way, why was Makar named a top 3 player by the coaches? It’s like the recognized his talent, but just didn’t want to change their game plan.

That's really what it was and there's really nothing else to discuss. They had a plan and didn't want to change it.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

I don't think I've ever in my life seen so many people berate a defenseman (an offensive styled one at that) for the way he played an odd man rush that he didn't even cause...... and he played the pass!! LOL

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I don't think I've ever in my life seen so many people berate a defenseman (an offensive styled one at that) for the way he played an odd man rush that he didn't even cause...... and he played the pass!! LOL

What? Barely anyone is "berating" him. You really must not see many GDT on here saying he got to far backed in is not berating him it is saying....he got to far backed in. There were multiple mistakes on that play. I know it is sacrilege to say that about Makar right now but it is the truth and it really isn't the end of the world lol.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

What? Barely anyone is "berating" him. You really must not see many GDT on here saying he got to far backed in is not berating him it is saying....he got to far backed in. There were multiple mistakes on that play. I know it is sacrilege to say that about Makar right now but it is the truth and it really isn't the end of the world lol.

I mean, not in this 1.5 page thread, I figured it was obvious I was talking about yesterday's GDT