Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Yakupov must shut up and play better

From where I sit it looks like a petulant young man needs to keep his mouth shut...

via edmontonsun.com

I can empathize with Yakupov. He's off to a terrible start. His team stinks. And he's not getting the ice time he wants. I can even see his logic. After all, how is he supposed to fix his game, if he's not on the ice to fix it? In spite of all that, he had no reason to start moaning publicly about it. Guess, what...that tactic doesn't work. The question that Yakupov didn't address is who should get less time, in order for him to get more. Right now he's 12th on the team in points (4), but tied for 2nd in games played (17). Which of the players above him should be told to sit down so he can play more? Eberle? Nugent-Hopkins? Hall? Gagner hasn't done much. But he's only played 6 games. It's easy to find Nail Yakupov's name on the plus/minus charts. It's at the bottom. He's a liability in his own end and inconsistent on offence. Yet, there's an easy way for Yakupov to get more ice time. Play better. Stop bitching about how you deserve to be out there and make it impossible to take you off the ice.

At least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.

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