#CBJ head coach Pascal Vincent confirmed Kent Johnson was an extra skater today, and had a great practice. “I’m still not sure he’s not going to play (Thursday),” Vincent said, but he can only dress so many guys.
One potential area for improvement? Pace of KJ’s game right now. But, “he’s going to be a great player. One game is not going to define his career.”
https://x.com/jacketsinsider/status/1711792098280624270?s=46&t=BngDkvBSvPliAH61G3kEzg
by jakeyeah111
19 Comments
Huge mistake not to dress KJ….way too talented…
Is bro trying to get out of here quicker than Babcock or something?
I would rather play Johnson than Danforth or Bemstrom.
What the fuck are we doing
What the fuck
I completely understand from the coaches perspective. Remember we don’t see a lot of the training and off screentime. While as fans this seems like a crazy thing to do, there might be a legit reason why.
Makes sense. Not something fans won’t like but it’s a good reminder for him that he needs to kill his habits of slowing the game
This might say more about Jarmo than anything else. Kent Johnson being drafted at 5 overall a few years ago and not making the opening night lineup on a team with no expectations is a really bad look
Is Sillinger in the opening lineup?
My optimism for him as a coach will go right out the window if he benches the 50+ point rookie season forward over Bemstrom or Danforth.
Bemstrom earn his start in preseason, KJ has some work to work on with speeding up his game. It is what it is.
Well at least no one on social media will think they know how to better run a hockey team than our own coaching staff
Dudes, relax. Worst case, he sits him for a game in hopes of motivating him to step up his game. Being a healthy scratch isn’t an indictment on his career prospects.
Lots of zany overreactions in here. Oof.
If we dress Foudy or Bemstrom over Johnson I swear to god man
You have to let the coaches coach. Maybe he is just not getting everything he expects out of him and knows there is a lot more there. Maybe he wants to make sure Johnson understands that by sitting him out of the main team for a practice or even a game.
He said earlier this week he wants players worried about their position on the team and working harder. This would be one way to send that message not just to Johnson but to the entire team.
I won’t worry about this unless KJ is actually scratched for multiple consecutive games to start the season. This just comes off as coachspeak about “earning your spot” to me and it’s noncommittal. We’ll see though.
Whatever this means, I hope KJ is feeling extra motivated now.
Maybe his off-season strategy of playing roller hockey wasn’t the most conducive to competing with elite athletes in the NHL.
Not saying he didn’t do what needed to be done, but certainly seeing him playing roller hockey didn’t inspire faith that he was prioritizing his off-season the way that people who hoist the cup do.
Ahh the tried and true tradition of coaches who won’t be there in 3 years ostracizing our best players.