Follow Colin on Twitter! Follow @ColinDJD As expressed throughout my Leafs blog and yesterday’s blog, today will be short as my finger is still buggered up which makes typing a chore.
There has been a lot of talk around Sven Baertschi of late given his performance, or lack thereof. The main discussion seems to be that the Flames appear to be giving up on the young forward or not providing him with the same opportunities as others may have been awarded.
Here’s the thing; the player simply isn’t doing what the coaching staff wants out of him and he’s not ready. I don’t personally understand the argument that he should be given more ice time with the big club because frankly, what has he really done to earn it?
Right now the team has been playing very well and they have guys working their butts off every night to earn a role on the roster. Granted a lot of these guys were drafted much lower than was Baertschi, but these guys have outplayed him so far and have earned themselves ice time. Sven is still very young and has a lot of time to grow and develop into the player everyone hopes he would become, and that may or may not be with the Calgary Flames.
It really comes down to whether the Flames continue their tough love approach with this player and he, as a result, learns the hard way. This team and the organization is not handing out freebies to anyone. They are not making excuses and they are not accepting defeat at any expense. To develop a player who may not be ready or may not be learning the systems or style of play which the coaches want at the NHL level would go against everything that we have been cheering for of late.
We cannot make excuses for Sven or sulk with him. He is clearly not doing the little things that he’s being asked to do or he may have an attitude toward the coaching staff when it comes to giving 110% every night.
Whether it’s the former or the latter, Sven is simply not ready in the eyes of Bob Hartley and given what we’ve seen from the coach so far, I’ll take his opinion or choice over what we can see from our couches. Fact is folks, there’s zero reason to rush this player or try and trade him unless the coaching and management staff have good reason.
So for the time being, I think it would be prudent to sit back, enjoy the team as they stand, and find comfort in knowing that Hartley & company likely know what they’re doing.
Thanks for reading!