saneopinion

"Keep the opinions sane and well thought out."

Canada, AB • Canada •

Penticton pt2.

So I wrote an abbreviated blog from my i-phone, it's difficult to navigate the world of Hockeybuzz, spell correctly and get all of thoughts across so I wanted to elaborate on the last blog.

This is a tournament. You come to win.

I keep hearing, why would they play their best players against Calgary, what if they got injured? It's a legitimate question. I guess then we wrap them in bubble wrap and hyperbaric chambers until the NHL develops a no hit policy. If they can't handle keeping their heads up in a rookie tourny then the N.H.L. is going to eat them alive my friends.

Secondly, if hitting was such a concern then sitting them after the game got chippy would be acceptable. What isn't acceptable, and quite honestly shows a lack of character is sitting them. Those are three really good young players, I know they wanted to play, I don't doubt that for a second. This was a coaching decision to sit ALL THREE. It was a move that was calculated for the reason I mentioned before, most notably making sure their fan base had some hope left. Could you imagine if the Flames prospects beat theirs? The crappy Flames Prospects?? Better sit all three and have a ready excuse.

This brings me to me next point, the guys who say it doesn't matter. It doesn't count for two points but go ask those kids if it matters to them, ask people who have played for nothing more than pride or the guys who play street hockey until it's last goal win and see if they don't care. It does matter. The reason it matters is something called "pride", if you play for the guy next to you, and you play for the team then the pride of winning is a hallmark of who you are. You may lose that game but if you are a true player then you at least played the game. If you're a team, you give your team the best chance of winning, not cruising to a first overall selection and sitting him when you can. It reeks.

I'm allowed to call teams out for character moves, I'm not an Oiler fan, I'm a Flames fan. Having said that I can point to several Ex-Oilers who say they were treated poorly, most recently Souray, and now I can clearly see what they are talking about. An organization that gave up on winning and is more interested in providing fuel for the season ticket holders. Looking good as it were.

Having said all of that I have to congratulate the Oiler young stars for their tourny excluding the aforementioned sitting, they did really well and there is a lot for them to look forward to,

S>O>

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