Ryan Reaves' role in Toronto is clear: firing up the team with speeches, hits, or fights. When the team is down, he needs to bring them right back up. He gets $1.35M a year to do exactly that.
For Steve Dangle, unfortunately, he's not doing a good job.
It started with the Leafs' game against the Panthers last week.
Fans expected emotions and aggressiveness from the Leafs after their elimination at the hands of Florida in last year's playoffs.
Instead of retribution, they got nothing. Players played without emotion, and they ended up losing the game.
A particular sequence puts Ryan Reaves in a bad light.
In the game's second period, Dimitri Kulikov sent William Nylander head-first onto the boards.
Nylander stayed on the ice, and no penalty was called on the play.
At this moment, according to Dangle, Reaves needed to tell himself, "OK, I have to get one on the next shift."
But he did nothing.
Listen to Dangle's opinion here:
The Maple Leafs have a star-packed roster. Why give Ryan Reaves ice time if he's not going to do the only thing he's asked to do?
Are you satisfied with Ryan Reaves' performances since the season started?
As seen on Daily Hockey Dose - Insider Calls Out Reaves For a Very Good Reason
POLL | ||
Are you satisfied with Ryan Reaves' performances since the season started? | ||
Yes | 219 | 50.2 % |
No | 217 | 49.8 % |
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