Josh Batch,
- Thread starter Kristoff
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These recent posts aren’t to do with Batch though. The team isn’t on his shoulders and he’s not even in the leadership team.
We shouldn’t be judging him on his perceived role given his history. He’s obviously taken the decision (probably very sensibly, especially considering his family and career outside of hockey) to avoid being held physically responsible for his teammates and focus on a more stay at home D position. I think he’s doing better in that role.
Nobody criticised Stoney for not stepping up for his team, nobody expects Ritchie to either, why is Batch expected to continue to do this towards the end of his career?
We shouldn’t be judging him on his perceived role given his history. He’s obviously taken the decision (probably very sensibly, especially considering his family and career outside of hockey) to avoid being held physically responsible for his teammates and focus on a more stay at home D position. I think he’s doing better in that role.
Nobody criticised Stoney for not stepping up for his team, nobody expects Ritchie to either, why is Batch expected to continue to do this towards the end of his career?
I’m questioning whether or not Batch has had some sort of concussion, playing this season like he’s started his ice hockey career, he’s always out of position, passes the puck most of the time to the opposition, panics when he does have the puck, or miss hits the puck, these are not the mistakes a professional ice hockey player should be making where he’s played for numerous years.
Unfair. Batch's role is not as enforcer or policer this year. We lost that when the glorious Big Lou was sadly not re-signed this season.
Criticism can quite easily be levelled at the other big players on our team who do not use their size.
And we can probably name several forwards who regularly are out of position to receive the puck, or pass it to opposition without looking at the positioning of their team mates, or are thrown into panic at the prospect of approaching the goal and prefer to pass instead of having a go at shooting. That is seen regularly in games.
Criticism can quite easily be levelled at the other big players on our team who do not use their size.
And we can probably name several forwards who regularly are out of position to receive the puck, or pass it to opposition without looking at the positioning of their team mates, or are thrown into panic at the prospect of approaching the goal and prefer to pass instead of having a go at shooting. That is seen regularly in games.
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Thread starter
#30
I asked you a question about him in the other thread. Maybe answer here 
Copied and pasted from other thread:
What are your views since he was paired with Wilde? Interested as for me he has been superb in the last few games (missed Guildford so don’t know what he was like there?) He has adopted a completely different style which is ultra defensive, allowing Wilde to go forward (which works well as he doesn’t seem particularly keen on the defensive aspects of the game…)
Time and again he has dropped further back and not taken the opportunity to make a hit or pinch in. The Hollywood play would be to move up or hit but with Wilde playing as he does that would leave us exposed.
My call is he is playing some very intelligent hockey indeed recently and after last year, where he was not great, he is back to where he should be.
What are your views since he was paired with Wilde? Interested as for me he has been superb in the last few games (missed Guildford so don’t know what he was like there?) He has adopted a completely different style which is ultra defensive, allowing Wilde to go forward (which works well as he doesn’t seem particularly keen on the defensive aspects of the game…)
Time and again he has dropped further back and not taken the opportunity to make a hit or pinch in. The Hollywood play would be to move up or hit but with Wilde playing as he does that would leave us exposed.
My call is he is playing some very intelligent hockey indeed recently and after last year, where he was not great, he is back to where he should be.
I think some people see a big player and automatically think “Oh, they should hit and fight lots”.
Yes Batch used to hit a lot more, but we also used to play in the BBT with its smaller ice pad. If you threw a hit and got yourself out of position it didn’t take too much to get yourself back into it.
On the big ice we have now, throwing a hit out of position will almost certainly give up a Grade A chance to the opposition.
From what I’ve seen this season under PR, Batch is playing a more defensive, simpler game. KettDevil broke it down very well in another thread.
I think it’s pretty obvious that Batch was identified last season by the ‘armchair experts’ as someone they wanted to criticise and they wouldn’t let facts get in their way this season. If you watch someone looking for mistakes of course you’re going to see a couple at this level. But I don’t see Batch making more mistakes than anyone else.
in our last 8 games we’ve conceded 28 goals.
Batch was only on the ice for 8 of them. And 4 of them were on the PP.
4 EH goals conceded in 8 games doesn’t sound like a Dman with issues to me.
Yes Batch used to hit a lot more, but we also used to play in the BBT with its smaller ice pad. If you threw a hit and got yourself out of position it didn’t take too much to get yourself back into it.
On the big ice we have now, throwing a hit out of position will almost certainly give up a Grade A chance to the opposition.
From what I’ve seen this season under PR, Batch is playing a more defensive, simpler game. KettDevil broke it down very well in another thread.
I think it’s pretty obvious that Batch was identified last season by the ‘armchair experts’ as someone they wanted to criticise and they wouldn’t let facts get in their way this season. If you watch someone looking for mistakes of course you’re going to see a couple at this level. But I don’t see Batch making more mistakes than anyone else.
in our last 8 games we’ve conceded 28 goals.
Batch was only on the ice for 8 of them. And 4 of them were on the PP.
4 EH goals conceded in 8 games doesn’t sound like a Dman with issues to me.
I feel a bit sick inside but I agree with Finny....Even though I would love more physicality and that's something I've already asked for on this thread, there are so many more positives to Batch's game. I wanted his distribution to be better. It is. Other than Tait I haven't seen Batch get rounded easily but let's be honest Tait is rapid. No one can keep up with him. His stick is always in the lane. He's blocking shots and making it difficult to get a clear shot in. In Grenoble, the rink was dead so it was easy to watch each period from a different spot. I got a real appreciation for Batch's positioning. I can imagine he's a goalies best friend. He's probably our only D man who releases the shot at the blue. It's never a ripper of a shot but more throwing it on net and hoping for a tip. I quite like that. He doesn't give up on a play like Crawford would. I see a player skating around the net with Crawford in toe, next thing Crawford stops and expect his other D to pick up. That may be the preferred play but more often than not I see Batch cutting out the shot and forcing a player wide behind the net which he then ties them up, preventing a pass in the danger zone. Yes, I'd love him to smash them instead but that isn't his game.
Whilst I'm as frustrated as the next with not just his but everyone's lack of physicality, that just isn't how we play. If physicality was our game and the style PR wanted to play, he wouldn't have recruited Wilde. If we're going to compare Batch to the standards of an enforcer/fighter then he'll always fall short and to be honest, after what happened to Adam Johnson I'm loathed to shout at a player for not deciding to put their head in the way of someone's fist. If PR wanted physicality, you wouldn't sit Chad and we'd see a massive unit of a fella joining us. Bottom line, Alderson, Wilde, Batch and Barrow are all big bodies. Barrow aside, none of them are using those bodies. Surely that can't be because none of them want to. This must be how they are being encouraged to play. Even Brandt has reined in the hits. Bowns being taken out says it all. Nothing happened. No retribution. Nothing. They all skated off to the bench. This isn't a Batch issue. Alderson only hits when someone has hit him... Erhart as an example... he should be destroying this league. The guy can skate better than most big men I've seen. If people knew there was a hit at the end of that skating speed we'd be living off turnovers and creating chances galore but we don't. PR clearly doesn't want that game.
Batch is getting bullied as much as the next person. To see him crunched into the boards NYE was a sorry sight but when Locke laid a massive hit, Batch gave him a stick tap to offer him out, if Locke had dropped them, so would Batch. Ok so he didn't no choice him, but he was happy to go. That's clearly come from PR.
This is a new Devils brand of hockey. One that PR thinks will give us success. The jury is out for me. It's dull.
Whilst I'm as frustrated as the next with not just his but everyone's lack of physicality, that just isn't how we play. If physicality was our game and the style PR wanted to play, he wouldn't have recruited Wilde. If we're going to compare Batch to the standards of an enforcer/fighter then he'll always fall short and to be honest, after what happened to Adam Johnson I'm loathed to shout at a player for not deciding to put their head in the way of someone's fist. If PR wanted physicality, you wouldn't sit Chad and we'd see a massive unit of a fella joining us. Bottom line, Alderson, Wilde, Batch and Barrow are all big bodies. Barrow aside, none of them are using those bodies. Surely that can't be because none of them want to. This must be how they are being encouraged to play. Even Brandt has reined in the hits. Bowns being taken out says it all. Nothing happened. No retribution. Nothing. They all skated off to the bench. This isn't a Batch issue. Alderson only hits when someone has hit him... Erhart as an example... he should be destroying this league. The guy can skate better than most big men I've seen. If people knew there was a hit at the end of that skating speed we'd be living off turnovers and creating chances galore but we don't. PR clearly doesn't want that game.
Batch is getting bullied as much as the next person. To see him crunched into the boards NYE was a sorry sight but when Locke laid a massive hit, Batch gave him a stick tap to offer him out, if Locke had dropped them, so would Batch. Ok so he didn't no choice him, but he was happy to go. That's clearly come from PR.
This is a new Devils brand of hockey. One that PR thinks will give us success. The jury is out for me. It's dull.
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In fairness we have 8 players about the same size so why are they all not standing up, if toughness is about size we should be pretty flipping tough. Picking out individuals on a public forum aint the classiest move to make, especially detrimental comments, we don’t have an out and out scrapper, no team really has except maybe Clan & Stars. Avoiding being knocked about and bullied is the responsibility of the coach and the team in today’s age, unfortunately the players with the biggest hearts in our team are the smaller players. Except maybe Busch.