Mike Sullivan spoke on Josh Getzoff's team radio show Thursday of Drew O'Connor snapping a 32-game goal drought, and whether there'd been thought to scratching him.
"That's the art of coaching, right?" Sullivan said. "It's our responsibility as a staff to help players be at their best, and we take that very seriously. Sometimes it's tough love and having hard conversations, and sometimes there's an accountability aspect associated with that."
Sullivan said that, with O'Connor, his "intentions were in the right place."
"We felt like his effort and his energy, the things he could control, he was certainly doing his very best. That's why we stayed with him through that process. We moved him all around the lineup to try to help him capture his best game. Most recently, we chose to put him on one of the power-play units, hoping that if we put him at the net-front, maybe he can bang a goal in, maybe that will help his confidence. ... I don't know too many players that haven't been through some of the challenges that OC has just gone through. It's never easy."
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
1:45 am - 01.03.2025Sunrise, Fla.Sullivan: 'We stayed with' O'Connor
Mike Sullivan spoke on Josh Getzoff's team radio show Thursday of Drew O'Connor snapping a 32-game goal drought, and whether there'd been thought to scratching him.
"That's the art of coaching, right?" Sullivan said. "It's our responsibility as a staff to help players be at their best, and we take that very seriously. Sometimes it's tough love and having hard conversations, and sometimes there's an accountability aspect associated with that."
Sullivan said that, with O'Connor, his "intentions were in the right place."
"We felt like his effort and his energy, the things he could control, he was certainly doing his very best. That's why we stayed with him through that process. We moved him all around the lineup to try to help him capture his best game. Most recently, we chose to put him on one of the power-play units, hoping that if we put him at the net-front, maybe he can bang a goal in, maybe that will help his confidence. ... I don't know too many players that haven't been through some of the challenges that OC has just gone through. It's never easy."
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