Guess what happened today in Ivan Demidov’s match.
No, he didn’t score… And he didn’t darken the score sheet either.
If you said he was punished again by his trainer, that’s the correct answer. Well yes, again…
However, after the first period, everything was normal.
Demidov still spent a total of 4 minutes and 35 seconds on the ice during the first engagement.
It’s not exceptional, but it’s not atrocious either.
But the problem is this: from the start of the second period until the end of the match, Demidov made… Three appearances on the ice. Two in second, and one in third.
Result: a playing time of 6:46 (eight appearances) against the formation of Bogdan Konyushkov (Torpedo), which is not necessarily seen as being a power in the KHL.
Roman Rotenberg decided to bench Demidov after seeing his trio allow a goal at the start of the second period:
At this point, it starts to get a bit confusing.
After all, Demidov can spend two weeks playing over 13 minutes per game and it’s usually in those moments that he’s able to produce offensively… But he can also spend a full week being one of the forwards least used by his coach.
This is not logical. Imagine if Martin St-Louis had this strategy with one of his young people…
The Canadian’s hopeful must therefore find a way to get back into the good graces of his head coach because it has been since November 11 that he has not been able to play more than 10 minutes during a a match.
Note also that the youngster is in a slump: he has collected one point in his last eight games in the KHL.
I wonder if this also plays a role in Rotenberg’s decisions…
In burst
– He seems to be doing well.
– A first game for Askarov with the Sharks.
– To read:
