Sharks Bench Top Young Player Against Wild
Will Smith was benched late in the second period during the San Jose Sharks 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images - Sharks Bench Top Young Player Against WildWill Smith was benched late in the second period during the San Jose Sharks 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Smith finished the game with 9:15 of ice time. He had a tough night, working 12 shifts, taking one shot, and giving away two pucks. The 19-year-old rushed a breakout pass late in the second period, leading to a high-quality chance against.
He also had a turnover at the offensive blueline that led to the Wild's second goal of the game.
"[I] just went with the guys that were going," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said about Smith's benching. "He's just a kid that's going through a part of his development, and has got some low confidence. We got to work with him, and we got to help him."
Warsofsky wasn't overly harsh to the young forward, saying his struggles were different than anything Smith had ever experienced in his hockey life.
"He's gotten points his whole life, and this is probably the first time he's going through a little stretch where he's not getting points. For a guy that's like him and is dynamic like him, it could eat at you and pick at your game a little bit," Warsofsky said. "On the flip side of it, this is a kid that's played center most of his career, and he's playing wing. There's going to be some details that go with that in the National Hockey League. Going up against the Nick Folignos and some big guys on the walls, and the details with that position. There comes a lot, and he's just not used to it, so we've got to work with him and get him back."
Warsofksy continued into a more technical part of the game that Smith struggled with.
"There's a lot more to it. There's a lot more, setting yourself up body positionally wise for pucks when they come up the wall, whether that puck is rims [or] that puck [is] direct, or that puck is in your feet, how do you protect it from the middle of the ice? There's a lot of details that go into it, but yeah, you got to kind of start over and simplify his game," Warsofsky said.
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