It would be if that was the only thing that had happened or the only reason I gave. As for the idea that Holl’s healthy scratching and Liljegren’s are equal that is untrue. Holl’s came with zero comments from the head coach to the media about how he has earned nothing despite his play.
But that is the only thing that happened. The only other thing that's happened is people wildly exaggerating some pretty normal comments by Keefe. Let's examine what was actually said:
"Just kinda how the other groups shake out, and that's really it. But Liljegren has played good for us all season, we've kinda pulled back on him in the last little bit to give Schenn and Gustaffsson a chance to get in and get comfortable with our group... ...He's an important guy for us for sure, but as I've talked to him about, our team is deeper on defense now than it was prior to the deadline, so with him and the rest of our defense, the standard is higher in terms of staying in and competing with that, and he was in a similar situation last season. And whether it's he or any of our other guys, when you're in you've got to do a really good job because other guys want to play too."
That doesn't sound like Keefe publicly blasting Liljegren to the media. Sounds pretty reasonable.
While we were integrating new people, he sat for the back-end of the back-to-back and one more game after a loss against Edmonton, where he didn't look great, was -2 with a 25 xGF%, and got roughed up. Liljegren himself admitted that he had a "little bit of a rough game in Edmonton", but said after the scratch that he "feels pretty good", so it doesn't sound like he felt his scratch was unwarranted or that his confidence was destroyed. The only other time he's sat out was this past game, after some really rough games that even people here have acknowledged.
Liljegren is a good player, and is going to be an even better one in the future, but it's okay to admit that he's a young defenseman that still has a lot to learn, on a good, deep defense. He had bad games before he was scratched at all, including the self-admitted bad game that led to his scratching. He's going to go through good stretches, and he's also going to go through rough stretches, and it's not because the coach is a big bad meanie.
And for the record, the coach did have comments when Holl came out, despite the fact that Holl is already unfairly and endlessly blasted by the media and fans. He actually had similar comments about competition and looking to get other people time, and then he talked about how his game had slipped in the last game, and made his don't give me a reason to take you out comment. People just didn't care, because it was Holl, not the golden child.
