OK, now after reading several times about how Fitzy "misplayed" a 3-on-1 a couple of weeks ago, and now Jensen "completely misplayed" a 2-on-1 last night ... norbie, are we asking enough questions about why these odd-man rushes are originating in the first place?? You seem to be giving the absent D-partners and/or covering forwards a pass for not being around to create these odd-man chances. Gagne fell "which was tough" ... well, him falling set up the 2-on-1 didn't it? Doesn't that put him higher in the blame pie chart than Jensen, who was unfortunately left (with the goalie) to clean up the mess that was dumped on them? I haven't seen the video yet (I will try later), but just on the surface of things, you seem to be inferring there is some fail-safe way of consistently breaking up 2-on-1's. Truth be told, short of improper spacing between the attacking skaters, it's usually a matter of "pick your poison" as the lone D, and hope for the best, isn't it?
The Fitzy stuff seems to have gotten to the next level of silly. So you say a young frosh playing his first season of D-1 hockey is the worst D on the team in terms of plus/minus?? Shocker. Maybe, just possibly, the coaching staff sees him as a future solution, and knowing some of their veterans won't be back next season, they want to have a succession plan that doesn't involve sitting him out, and ensuring he's going to be on the transfer list shortly?? Let's look at Babbage's plus/minus as a frosh ... -4, in less than half the games. Prorated, guess what?? -8. Wow.
I've seen the Fitzy "misplay" of the 3-on-1 that has led to lots of ridicule. Was he indecisive? Heck, yeah. Was it his fault that neither he nor Hellsten had support from the missing D AND a backchecking forward or two?? Uh, no. And 3-on-1 breaks should not be commonplace where any defender should be expected to routinely break it up (see earlier comments on 2-on-1's). Spacing of the attacking players again is always going to be the determining factor. Blaming the guy left behind to clean up the mess, as opposed to the guys who created it ... sorry, I'm not there with you. The fact that we normalize and tolerate the conditions that lead to these breaks, and not look to eliminate or minimize those shortcomings, well we're losing the plot right there.
I'm not ready to say that Fitzy is the next Gildon-in-training; Max took a lot of frosh heat too, while learning on the job. That he didn't handle what was probably his first-ever 3-on-1 counter in a live game at this level against guys with D-1 talent, shouldn't be his cross to bear. I hope he can handle the "tough love" approach, but if we want a program filled with more talented Fitzy's than with Joe Schmoe 3rd-pairing-for-life types like we've been watching for the better part of the last decade, this is the price you have to be prepared to pay. JMHO.
