Paul Gackle at the San Jose Mercury News wrote an article this evening regarding quasi enforcer Michael Haley and his role on the Sharks, especially given the team’s trip to the Stanley Cup Final last year, and the fact that he keeps ending up in the lineup while the likes of Joel Ward and Joonas Doonskoi are given the evening off. Head Coach Pete DeBoer makes his case for Haley, highlighting his “hockey IQ” his responsibility on defense, and his willingness to get his hands dirty to protect his teammates. He is frustrated by stat minded analysts who fail to appreciate the positive effect he has on the locker room, because of his smarts, effort and personality. All that said, given his reputation as an enforcer (though only with 6 fights so far!), this might have come out wrong…
“I think it’s ridiculous,” DeBoer said when asked about the criticism of Haley. “I’d like to give whoever those people are a couple minutes alone with him in a room. I mean, give me a break.
It’s not difficult to interpret this as DeBoer wanting Haley to beat up a few nerds, right?
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