Michael Griffiths said:
Bwahaha! Yes, but we would all miss his "art" on some level I'm sure. Chizip - you're always entertaining. Good times, good times.
Why do they bash Martin Skoula? I don't know enough about the Avs, as you can see. See, I shoudn't have admitted that. Now it looks like I know nothing about hockey. See, you shouldn't have admitted Jacques was the only thing you knew about either. It's all part of the game within a game, you see.
I DO see. Actually, don't feel bad. No one outside of Colorado bashes Skoula. I've actually seen hockey magazines making fun of how much Denver does.
I don't know why they bash him.
I mean, the guy makes mistakes--but he's only 23! And one defensive mistake does *not* a game make. (I love that Granato pointed that out, Hartley never would.) I think bashing Skoula is just a cheap way for many Colorado fans to look like they know something about hockey.
First it was that he was making too many mistakes, then it was that he wasn't physical enough for his size. (He's Czech and probably never will be.) He picked a bad time to start playing physical, because the obstruction crackdown started and he got too many penalties, which made everyone hate him again.
They say "Well, he played with Bourque and Blake so he should be much better." Or "deVries was a lower draft pick, so it's ok that he makes huge mistakes, but it's not ok for Skoula."
Led by Bob Hartley, the fans and press have just latched on to him as a scapegoat. It's terrible, he's blamed for everything. Even when he was benched, they blamed him for not being out there to relieve a tired Bourque!