Marner is great, ballzak and jvr can't keep up with him. Look how many times marner would pass perfectly to either of them and they would completely blow it. JVR is decent but bozak is just bad. They should put marner with kadri.
Bozak looked great tonight, and Marner's missed opportunities as well, as all players do. It's 5 games into the season, players are still learning things, shaking off rust, and gaining chemistry.
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With regards to Babcock's choices towards the end of the game, I think it's to shelter the kids a bit. For all the fear of developing a "losing culture", I'm surprised it's not more obvious that Babcock doesn't want his young, developing players to have to worry about carrying the burden of tough losses on a consistent basis.
Before the season started, the consensus seemed to be that we were a young team that was going to have talent, but would stumble based on inexperience, and would likely struggle to compete while we learned and grew. And if that were the case, then maybe people would be more accepting of the losses. But it's not. We're
very competitive. We're putting up points, and we're playing exciting hockey, and our kids are fitting in without missing a beat - dominating even. And so now hopes are high, at least on a game-to-game basis. Now that original expectation of being an inexperienced, stumbling team is almost forgotten, and we see what's possible, how good we can potentially be. And because of that, the losses hurt now. It's not about finding another Matthews this year, we want to see these guys succeed now that they're up in the show and looking good.
My point is that people accepted the first loss because Matthews was outstanding and blew peoples' minds with his performance, and it was the first time watching our exciting new team play together as a whole. But we all knew that the young players weren't going to be able to put up historical outings every night. And even despite his record-setting debut, Matthews still blamed himself for their loss, and took it really hard. And yes, it's a sign of maturity, and yes, I'm sure Babcock was thrilled to see him show that kind of leadership after such a remarkable game, but the whole focus throughout the entire Shanahan/Babcock era so far has been about protecting the kids and giving them a safe place to grow and develop.
Right now, people are pissed at Babcock, Andersen, and the vets. And, with the exception of Andersen, that's exactly how he wants it. He wants all of the pressure, all of the disappointment, all of the pain of this season, to be directed towards that group. Because they can handle it. Actually, now that I think about it, they're all kinda like Batman at the end of The Dark Knight
Seriously, though, that's part of their purpose. To be here to play the hardest minutes and shoulder the weight of the losses so that the kids can play their first games without having to deal with that.
Eventually, Babcock will let slip the dogs of war and play these guys in all situations. We'll possibly (probably) even win more once that happens. But in the very first game, he tried it, and Matthews showed exactly what Babcock wants to avoid - that burden of responsibility in a hockey market like ours - at least in the early days of these kids' careers. I think it was around the 40-to-50-game mark last year that Babcock took Rielly's training wheels off. I expect about the same with this year's rookies.
Holland, on the other hand, there isn't much excuse for, even with his past numbers. Not letting Nylander shoot was criminal.
sure man.
