I don't have a problem with players resting, but if I was managing a team I would bring them on the road trip and sit them in the press box. Keep their minds on hockey/the team
There is enough rest after the Stanley Cup is awarded. It's best if the players don't rest.
It's like putting an alarm to get up at 6 am but getting up @ 6:15 am. You know that 15 mins isn't really going to do much.
Absurd.
First--what does resting after Stanley Cup have to do with anything? They aren't resting so that they hit the links fresh and rested, ya know?
Second--what is the relationship between getting rest prior to a tough stretch to disturbing your sleep by setting alarm early?
Third--care to back up your claim of "it's best if the players don't rest"--what are you basing that on?
Makes sense for the prior year's finalists to use this strategy more if they have the luxury of doing so. It's a short summer and a real grind if you've made it to the SCFs. As a fan (if I haven't paid for tickets) I'd fully support Vancouver doing this as well as long as it's not overboard as some posters have mentioned.
Boston doesn't need the points now so in that regard, I see nothing wrong with resting guys that you want as healthy as possible entering playoffs. But ideally, now is the time you want to start playing your best hockey to prepare and you can't really do that if you're playing without all of your best players.
Perfectly legit thing to do if your already locked in your playoff position. Kopitar was injured last year (or year before last, dont remember) just a week or two outside of the playoffs and i realize thats a ways out but it only takes one game to get injured, no sense losing a top player in a meaningless game.
Boston-Ottawa is a probably playoff matchup. It would be wise for both teams to rest top guys, since it could be a message-sending game.
With one Ottawa fan saying "run Thomas, we don't care because if they decide to run Anderson we'll just play Bishop", keeping Thomas back home and safe from delusional Senators fans might not be such a bad idea hahaha
If you have played well enough to lock up a playoff spot with games to go, I think you have earned the right to rest players and not worry how it effects other teams. If you're doing it to tank, then I have a problem with it.
With one Ottawa fan saying "run Thomas, we don't care because if they decide to run Anderson we'll just play Bishop", keeping Thomas back home and safe from delusional Senators fans might not be such a bad idea hahaha
From one to many in one run on sentence.
Let them not bring Thomas, now he won't get a chance to see firsthand how the new lighting is at Scotiabank Place
Boston is already locked into that #2 seed... the last two games are literally meaningless for them, so now all they need to do is get ready for the next stage. If they think some of their guys are sore/banged up then it's absolutely the right choice to let them get some extra rest so they can be 100% for the real show.
I'm for it. The #2 seed is locked up and they won the Cup last year playing an additional 25 games (not to mention the short offseason that really began in late June / early July due to all the appearances, the parade etc). The Bruins have dealt with key injuries (like any other team) for seemingly the entire year but have stayed in their current position thanks to amazing stretches and team depth. There is no reason for another Boychuk-esque injury to take out another impact player (Bergeron, Chara, or Thomas) right before the playoffs. Resting the aforementioned is the right call.
Last edited by The Leviathan: 04-04-2012 at 07:41 PM.
I can understand from a ticket buying fan perspective why they wouldn't like showing up for the game and watching several AHLers instead of the "A" team, but from a team and playoff perspective, if you are locked in and don't need the points, then resting players is wise.
I think it is wise just as much to reduce possible injury as the actual rest. Boychuk (2nd pairing for playoffs, 1st pairing regular season) was injured in the meaningless Pens game last night and may end up missing the playoffs. This hurts the team and takes Boychuk out of the playoffs-something no player wants to miss due to injury.
So I think there are good reasons and I am for it, but I do think from a fan perspective it may be irritating. That said, the guys who are resting are skipping an away game in Ottawa-not sure the paying Ottawa fans care if Chara and Bergeron aren't there.
