With all respect the fact you refer to selling a player means you’re a bit new in this parish. No players get sold in this league.
Batchy didn’t have his best game last night along with the majority of the team so there is no reason to single him out either. Batchy has been having a really good season so far. Positionally on the money and has massively reduced his turnovers. Has stepped up for the team physically when needed and more impressively has been very good with identifying when to pinch into the offensive zone and maintain pressure. He has also been logging decent minutes but has also been the D man who has had the most changes in partner. He’s played with Ritchie, Chad, Crandall and now Mosey so that takes adaptation to understand partner instincts and patterns.
I’m not wording this to incite but I think your opinion is built on and expectation of Batchy that isn’t quite built on reality. He isn’t the player you think he is but he is a good player and I’ve had zero issue with him this year intact have been impressed by his bounce back from last season.
I would draw zero conclusions from that game last night and def not be dishing out any critique. That will have been the toughest game those players have ever participated in I’d guess and you could just tell they wanted it to end as soon as it started which is probably a big first for them. Not enjoying a game you love. They didn’t look energised, competitive and I do not blame them one bit. Hockey is a game of instinct but that was a game the players were thinking about there every move and it has a very negative effect on performance.
Well done to the team for just getting out there last night. Hopefully that is step one of the collective lifting of the cloud.
Also well done to Todd. Just getting those words out at the start of the game would have been tough and you did it very well. To the fans in attendance that was an exemplary display of respect and empathy. A terrible time for the sport in this country but Adam clearly loved this sport and it has to endure to maintain a legacy in his name.
Haha apologies - I’ve been watching the devils and playing ice hockey for about 15 years. I’m just saying sold/trade/drop as in I’d like to see him moved on. Thanks for the correction though.
Thank you for the insight and some great points there. Im not trying to incite either and I also loathe us fans when we think we need a complete rebuild after a loss! I concede I haven’t watched every game this season and I apologise if there’s been huge standout performances I’ve missed. But imo over the last 2-3 games I’ve seen I disagree with your assessment. Absolutely true that I might be expecting something different from a players natural ability - but I don’t feel that what he lacks for in physicality he makes up for in retention and awareness. Yes he hasn’t had much time to build with a consistent d pairing, but the sport will always have that element. I feel I’ve been watching Batch for season on season waiting for something to happen. If you’re going to say , ok, we don’t want a physical D man but someone who can work the puck, hold onto it and create offensive chances, there are far better players in the league and elsewhere. He doesn’t do that for me, and he doesn’t provide any physicality either.
But absolutely, the events of this week may have had a hand in that tonight. I’ve just seen it over other games is all. I really do hope I eat my words though, I’d be happy to!
Have a good Sunday all