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.