Last night, Juraj Slafkovsky ( once more) was hit hard by one of his opponents.
This time it was Shayne Gostisbehere who had a field day. However, on the sequence, we see that Slaf had his head held high and that the hit de Gostisbehere was “timid” to perfection:
Shayne Gostisbehere cranks Juraj Slafkovsky with a big hit in the neutral zone#Yotes pic.twitter.com/YK3TgsL4Rk
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 20, 2022
You know as well as I do that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the first overall pick in the last draft get knocked around like this. The difference, however, is that he got up straight following the check and he didn’t seem shaken at all on the streak.
But still, lucky that the Coyotes defenseman is only 5’11 and weighs 180 pounds. Because the contact might have been much, much harsher than it was.
Even though Slaf had his head held high, he was at a disadvantage. And that is what he will have to work on.
Passing through Jeff Marek Show (Sportsnet), Elliotte Friedman commented on the sequence and he went there with a rather interesting commentary. He explains that word is starting to get around the league, wanting Slafkovsky to be a guy who’s “easy to hit.”
It’s flat, but it’s true if we take into account the hits he has received since the start of the season.
Elliotte Friedman: “He (Gostisbehere) recognizes who’s on the ice, that this is a guy (Slafkovsky) who puts himself into situations where he can get hit, and he goes for it. And that’s not something he (Gostisbehere) does a lot, but he goes for it.”
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 20, 2022
We know that this is an element of the game that Slaf is currently working on. He notably trained alone last week with Adam Nicholas before regular team practice and the latter encouraged him to keep his head held high at all times.
In order to avoid getting hit… But also to help his vision of the game.
And, it had worked because in the next match, Slaf had gone all out, preparing for a goal from Josh Anderson.
Oh baby, what a play by Juraj Slafkovsky to set up Josh Anderson for the goal. pic.twitter.com/ySTBAoWWhC
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) December 13, 2022
Juraj Slafkosvky is still getting to grips with NHL play, and that’s to be expected. It might take a while for him to get used to NHL standards, like it might be quick.
Because we know that the development of players is different for each of them.
It might take two years, it might take four. Let’s not forget that he is only 18 years old…
A lot of
– There are so many good answer choices to this question…
Melnick in the Afternoon Question of the Day: pic.twitter.com/JEhX5IBlNa
— TSN 690 Radio (@TSN690) December 20, 2022
– Not crazy, as a strategy.
Georges has never fought once morest a Bob team… And that’s no coincidence! ???? pic.twitter.com/KqR2egMYpb
— BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) December 20, 2022
– A beautiful moment.
The sons of Alex Ovechkin meet the sons of Gordie Howe. ????
????️: @RealSmokinAl pic.twitter.com/OqhVSQHquu
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 20, 2022
– Could OG leave the Raptors by trade?
According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the entire league is interested in the 25-year-old winger. https://t.co/Gy3tvEDVlt
— AlleyOop360 (@AlleyOop360) December 20, 2022
– All the same!
The thrilling FIFA World Cup Final Qatar 2022 reached over 10 million unique viewers in Canada on RDS, TSN, Noovo and CTV. Audience peak at 7.7 million at 12:54 p.m.
Details : https://t.co/kb0R8CUiCg pic.twitter.com/cz7qon4Z5M
— RDS RP (@RDS_RP) December 20, 2022