And where did I say that? I never said rookies shouldn't be held accountable. People ought to give a rookie some leeway in evaluating play as they are learning the game whereas the veterans are not. There is such a thing as more accountable especially when it comes to experience. For some experienced players a mistake really is inexcusable (the Hansen lack of back check, Bieksa constantly getting beat 1-on-1). Also that the Hodgson mistake, as mentioned by others, wasn't the most egregious defensive error on the play let alone on the evening. Hodgson gets some leeway in my evaluation and in the coaches evaluation BUT he is also held accountable by the coaching staff through decreased ice time and line demotions when he isn't playing as well as he can. There isn't going to be a tangible punishment for each and every mistake but in the end he likely gets away with less than a veteran. I think people forget just how bad a guy like Hansen was 5-on-5 when he started...there was a reason he was in the doghouse.Topper wrote: The one that rookies don't should not be held accountable, yeah, right.
The kid is a plus player. He isn't hurting the team at all. The numbers Pot put up on another board concerning chances for and against also show Hodgson in the positive. Essentially every stat shows him ahead of the remaining bottom 6 regulars and bottom 6 wannabes on BOTH sides of the puck. The only stat that doesn't say that is the Topper stat, and I'm not sure anyone knows what the criteria is for that stat other than "i said he would never be an NHLer so damn it all I'm going to nit pick and explode inconsequential things up as if they matter in the grand scheme of things".