In my "seriously" post yesterday, I channeled Keenan and wrote some fawning faux-comments about Todd Bertuzzi. It seems that I was a day too early because Keenan himself has revealed his embarrassing 240 pound blind-spot today:
Keenan has showed the utmost faith in Bertuzzi, using him nearly 20 minutes a night despite the diminishing returns on ice-time investment. The reasons, he says, are obvious.
"He's a preoccupation for both defenceman. They can't stop him. I watched (the TV feed) again this morning and the commentator said exactly that. When he comes out of the corner with that force, that drive . . . When you're as big as Todd is, can skate like he can, accelerate like he can, with those soft hands, and shoot the way he can, like I said he's a preoccupation.
"Nobody writes about that."
This from a man who berated Alex Tanguay into requesting a trade last season and immeately threw Huselius under the bus when his ES stats started to falter.
This level of confirmation bias in a fan is a little embarassing, but it's expected. But from a professional coach?
"You talk about (Bertuzzi's) plus-minus and the fact that he hadn't scored in this-many games.''An emphatic shake of the head. "Doesn't matter to me.''
Translation: No evidence to the contrary can convince me that Bertuzzi isn't that good of a hockey player anymore. Not 4 years of relatively ineffective play, not the fact that the Ducks bought him out this summer and not his floating and mind-numbingly bad decision making at ES this year.
Bertuzzi can do whatever he wants and Keenan is going to continue to play him 20 minutes a night, with good players and in key situations. I wonder if Bertuzzi finds Keenan's eyes lingering on him in the shower after games?
Sheezus, this is bordering on the absurd. I wonder what happens when the percentages swing back a little and Bert starts getting a few pluses here and there? Will he play 25 minutes a game? 30? Will Keenan strip the Captaincy from Jarome and confer it upon Sore Thumb?
One thing is clear - Keenan is going to pursue this Bert thing to the Nth degree, no matter the damage it does to the club.
Ridiculous.
10 comments:
that is g$! d*%# depressing. it's almost to the point where things need to be thrown on the ice...
or perhaps boo'ing bootuzzi in his own rink is the way to go to voice fan displeasure....
*UGH...
It's not Bertuzzi's fault, that he's on the ice that is, it's Keenan's.
Maybe fans need to jump on that one a little bit by booing Keenan instead.
booing players is easy cause you can pinpoint who you're detesting whenever they touch the puck.
booing a coach is much harder....
As far as bang for the buck goes, I would list Aucoin and Sarich as larger disappointments than Bert. He gets a little too much grief here I think. Keenan's approach makes sense as a way of getting behind a guy who has all the tools but makes poor decisions several times a game. I suspect Keenan is trying to make him better rather than throw him under the bus. That's his job isn't it?
I suspect Keenan is trying to make him better rather than throw him under the bus. That's his job isn't it?
Except Keenan ONLY does this for Bertuzzi. Who else gets this kind of free ride from Iron Mike? This is the coach that criticized a rookie goaltender for not "closing a game out" against the Stanley Cup champions.
And it's not necessarily the words I have issues with - it's the fact he keeps employing Bertuzzi in a fashion that is clearly detrimental. Not to mention this shows that Keenan clearly doesn't see what I - or any number of people who dont share his infautation with Bert - see. A big, floating detriment at ES. The numbers back those observations up. But here Keenan is saying no amount of evidence will shake him of his conviction that Bert is a difference maker.
Coaches shouldn't be cheerleaders. In order for Keenan to be able to deploy his players effectively, he has to be able to rationally evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of his various pieces. This article is a red flag to me because he's admitting that he can't do that with Bert.
Bonesman: Compare the comments on Mcelhinney (in the "Seriously?" post) with the comments on Bertuzzi, and ask yourself why a promising young goaltender gets the nitpicking criticism while an aging vet on a one year deal gets hugs and kisses?
"He's a preoccupation for both defenceman. They can't stop him. I watched (the TV feed) again this morning and the commentator said exactly that. When he comes out of the corner with that force, that drive . . . When you're as big as Todd is, can skate like he can, accelerate like he can, with those soft hands, and shoot the way he can, like I said he's a preoccupation."
The words don't really concern me either, but let's say Keenan is 100% correct in the assessment above, all numerical and most subjective evidence to the contrary.
Why, pray tell, would this prompt him to put Bertuzzi out for own-zone faceoffs while leading in the 3rd period? WHYYYYYY????
Also, I caught the radio post-game on Wednesday for the first time this season, and Mike Rogers was talking to Kerr about Bert. He's in absolute agreement with you, and baffled by Keenan's use of him (albeit with the odd disclaimer thrown in). "Why does he keep getting 20 minutes a night? Why is he out there at the end of periods? Why is he playing with Iginla when that clearly doesn't work?" Etcetera.
The continued use of Bertuzzi by Keenan (and, by association, Sutter) is a result of their combined 1) Pride and 2) Arrogance. That's it. They'll admit after the season that it didn't work out despite what they said all along, but defend the signing as sound based on the "evidence they had in front of them at the time."
It's because they're not accountable to anyone.
who has emailed ken king about bertuzzi, showing empirical evidence that keenan (and by duncan's extrapolation, sutter) is blind to his faults ?? that's what i wanna know... cause ken king reportedly reads and responds to all queries.
Maybe I will ... but that isn't really going to do anything, because it's two guys with no hockey background talking about a hockey matter. King would, as he should, suggest that he trusts his hockey ops management, and there's a lot of season ahead.
I'd like to know who King trusts on hockey matters other than Sutter. Surely there's a sounding board out there somewhere.
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