In his article titled P.K. Subban: Should He Sit Again? , Rick Stephens set the table regarding the issue of Subban in the pressbox. Stevo has decided to take on the challenge of arguing why P.K. should be back in the line-up.
By Stevo, AllHabs.net
MONTREAL, QC.– After the Montreal Canadiens lost to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, in a game that saw the Habs blow a two goal lead, eventually losing 4-3 in overtime, the thought had never crossed my mind that Jacques Martin might decide to sit P.K. Subban the following game.
That’s exactly what happened, Subban was sat out last night as the Habs defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-1, and now Martin is silent about whether or not Subban will or will not sit for a second straight game.
Yes, I agree, P.K. Subban had a terrible game, his worst so far this year in my opinion. He took terrible decisions, did not play smart hockey, and took himself out of the play on two of the Oilers’ goals.
What I fail to understand is if he was not having a great game, why is it that Jacques Martin employed him that night for a total of 25:08 ice time, almost four minutes more then any other player on the Canadiens, and an increase of almost five minutes from the previous game against Buffalo? (four minutes more than his yearly average) Why is it that in his worst game, he was employed a lot more then he is on average?
That aside, has P.K. Subban been that bad this year? He has a goal and eight assists, that’s nine points tying him with Spacek for second in defencemen behind Hamrlik, that’s as much as Gomez. (Sorry Gomer, I think you’re funny)
He is regularly employed over twenty minutes per game (20:48) as a rookie, plays on the power play and the penalty kill, takes the body and has a laser beamer of a shot. He then combines this with blazing speed that allows him to make up for many (but not all) of his mistakes.
After saying all of this, I fail to understand how the Canadiens can possibly be a better team without a healthy P.K. Subban in the lineup.
I remember when it became obvious Subban would start the year with the Canadiens, everyone kept saying that he would not be perfect, and that he would make mistakes, and that Martin would best be served letting him play his style rather then trying to change him.
So here we are, and don’t get me wrong, I do agree that a message needed to be sent to Subban, you can’t let everything just go by, but was it really necessary to sit him out? One way I find useful for sending a message is using my mouth. Why not sit down with the guy, talk to him, explain to him positively what he can do to better his game? Why is sitting him out more effective then teaching him and sending him out again with a big show of confidence? I guess I see things differently.
Considering P.K. did have a very bad game, but also considering (as friend of AllHabs.net @Habswatch said on twitter) Subban has not put up consecutive bad games this season, I find it a little early to sit him. I also find it concerning that Martin has went on record as saying he’s still not certain whether Subban will sit out the next game as well.
What kind of message does this send to Subban? Let’s think here, doesn’t it send a message that he’s not allowed to have a really bad game? Isn’t this what happened? Doesn’t this happen to everyone in a season? Hasn’t this happened to almost everybody else so far this season? (Except for Price maybe).
I just hope that when Subban does come back on the ice, that he doesn’t hold back. That he continues to play his style of play, that he continues to take chances when he thinks there’s a chance worth taking. I wouldn’t want him to come back onto the ice nervous, and scared to make a mistake, with the fear that he might have to visit the press box again.
Am I worrying for nothing?
(Photo by Christinne Muschi, Reuters)
Nice write up Stevo!
The argument of the number of minutes is a good one. My only attempt at explaining (and I’m not sure I understand JMart) is that the two significant mistakes occurred on the tying goal late in the 3rd, and in OT.
I think benching PK had also a lot to do with leaving room for Weber who was a health scratch after being recalled from HAM. He now played so well that you have to wonder who sits out to make room for PK to come back. My vote is or Picard, who has been Ok, but nothing stellar…
I guess we will all find out a bit later.
When O’Byrne put the puck in his own net, Carbo let him sit on the bench for the remainder of the game. However the very next game the Habs played in Detroit and O’Byrne was there. I think he was even on the starting lineup. He had a great game until one shift in the 3rd period when Franzen made him look silly and ruined Price’s shutout bid, but that was a one-on-one battle with a highly skilled veteran so it was an understandable outcome. It wasn’t like he didn’t try to stop him from scoring either. I commended Carbo for not destroying O’Byrne there and then.
With Markov done for the season, the Habs NEED those kids to play because Spacek and Hamr aren’t getting any younger, and Picard’s +/- is mostly thanks to his partner or Price bailing out his terrible mistakes… (Sure he’s playing a bit better then how he played with the Sens but it’s nothing that can’t be replaced by someone more suited for the blueline). PK and Weber should be out there, with their young legs skating, on the blue line. You don’t take out the only guy who can take over from Markov’s minutes for Weber, you take out the guy who’s the very epitome of a spare part (ie. Picard). Or you give Gorges a break because he looks like he’s skating on one leg and the coach needs to tell him that he won’t be helping this team if he gets hurt worse… And if both PK or Weber don’t play today, then Martin is officially a fool. He’s basically confirming everything Pacioretty was talking about as well. Considering how honest PK was and knew exactly what he did wrong after the game, you’d think a coach would be happy to hear how mature this 21-year-old defenseman is. How many game-destroying errors did Bergeron have last season, including 2 that cost them Game 4 of the Caps series, yet he never saw the bench let alone the pressbox? And he (Bergeron) still thinks he’s a good defenseman… I think it’s the inconsistency of how Martin handles these things that pisses me off more than anything.
Thank you both for the great comments. It’s definitely a complicated situation and after the way Webber has played today and the last game, i definitely would not want him out of the lineup. P.K. has now missed 2 games, he needs to be back in the lineup. Although i think Picard takes more criticism then he should, i agree he will most likely be the odd man out. What i would like to see is Martin sitting out Gill/Spacek/Hamr in 1 of 2 back to back games (on a rotation basis) to make room for Picard to continue playing because i don’t feel he’s been all that bad so far. What Martin will do… no clue… as the world turns… :)
I agree with the sentiment that it is Gill, Spacek and Hammer that should rotate, not because of poor play but to keep them fresh for the spring, cause then are no spring chickens.
Exactly, They need to rest those legs of theirs to have some juice left at the end of the season.
As the world turns… according to Habs practice line-up this morning, all signs appear that P.K. might sit out a third consecutive game… DUN DUN DUNNNNNN…
Martin keeps comparing the benching of Subban to that of Price in the last season. Is the coach totally lacking in logical thought ? Last season, Price was performing very poorly compared to Halak.Subban, on the other hand, performed extremely well most of the time.It makes no sense to send a player to the press box because he made mistakes in one game.I am sure Martin has made many mistakes in his coaching at various times. Should he be sent to the press box perhaps ? I think Subban is a dazzling player and he makes hockey very excitng. My friends and family want to see him play all the games.Also, he speaks so eloquently, and never has anything negative to say about his team-mates, coach or opponents.What a great role model he is!! And I am so glad that he does not allow himself to be bullied by other players on the ice.
I agree with the Price/Halak comparison, it wasn’t a healthy situation and i’d rather see a 7 man competition on D, rather then one between Subban and Weber, and that’s exactly what it seems to be right now, a 2 man competition.
If Subban continues to play the way he did the last game, which was interesting because he only played around 15 minutes against Boston, but they were very good minutes, Martin will have no reason to remove him from the lineup! :)
Thanks for reading/comments,
Go Habs Go!
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