The head coach of Ivan Demidov refuses to compliment him.

Dose
Crédit:

Ivan Demidov is doing everything he can to impress his head coach with SKA Saint Petersburg, Roman Rotenberg, but to no avail.

After spending the beginning of the season in the depths of the lineup with around 10 minutes of playing time per game, Demidov finally got his chance on the top line on Friday.

He seized this opportunity in fine fashion with an impressive haul of three points.

Even after scoring a goal in his fourth consecutive game, Demidov could not garner praise from his coach. Rotenberg simply refused to praise his young player in an interview with the Russian media outlet Match TV.

In fact, Rotenberg does not want to compliment Demidov because he believes that if he does, the young forward will “wear the crown.” In summary, Rotenberg thinks that Demidov will get a swelled head if he receives compliments.

This is somewhat absurd, as thousands of Canadiens fans praise him every day on social media.

The craziest part is that Rotenberg claimed Demidov can play better. It is always possible to play better, but after a three-point performance, a minimum amount of credit should be given to the player.

It is normal to see a player become overconfident when they are told they are amazing, but in this situation, Rotenberg rarely has good words for Demidov.

A little recognition once in a while wouldn’t hurt.

The good news in this story is that Rotenberg did acknowledge that Demidov works hard and that he is impressed by his work ethic. He is happy to see that Demidov listens to him and does everything he asks him to do.

It’s not such a big deal if Rotenberg doesn’t want to laud Demidov because he at least gave him playing time on the top line on Friday. Let’s hope he stays there for the upcoming games.

Demidov was even the most utilized player on the power play on Friday. He recorded an assist with the man advantage.

In Brief

– Lane Hutson saw his brother dominate with Team USA.

– The Dodgers are having a wild winter.

– He has good players on hand to do it.

– An easy match for Arsenal.