To Sit, or Not to Sit ...

To sit or not to sit, that is the question.

It seems that Ron Wilson has a decision of Shakespearean proportions. That decision is in regards to his young sophomore defenseman, Luke Schenn. To sit, or not to sit is the question he must certainly be entertaining as Schenn is having a tough time adjusting to his second season in the NHL.

I can almost see Ron sitting in his office after the games in which Luke makes a serious blunder. He's at his desk staring at a tiny Luke Schenn bobblehead that is perched on his palm and then he begins talking to it, "Alas, poor Luke. I thought I knew you, a player destined for greatness" and then continuing. "All the world's a stage and one man, in his time, will play many parts." "Greatness is nothing to be afraid of. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some just have greatness thrust upon them." "But today, today of all days is the day that I have to ask myself, to sit you or not to sit you?"

Big decision to make regarding his No.1 Draft pick Luke Schenn.

Poor Ron must be going nuts trying to make this decision. On one hand, you continue to play him, show confidence that he will turn his game around and hope that he eventually does. On the other hand, you sit him for a game or three and hope that he returns to play with a hunger to not be sat again. The fear though is that sitting a young player will dent his confidence and that he doesn't recover to ever play well until he is ultimately moved on to another team.

When it comes to Luke, I don't think anyone is harder on criticizing him than he is himself. So you have to know that he has already beat himself up for his give-away against Chicago. To his credit, he responded really well against Calgary even though the team lost the game. But Schenn could likely still benefit from a session of press box viewing. Being benched, as has occurred this season already, only short-hands the team by having to play with five defensemen. An all out scratch is what is needed to send a firm message. That message to Luke would be that Ron still believes in him, but he wants him to sit in the press box and watch the game and see the mistakes that his teammates are making.

Carl Gunnarsson takes a break during opening day of the 2008 Toronto Maple Leafs Prospects Camp. (DAVE ABEL, SUN MEDIA)

From that, he can learn how he would avoid making the same ones and possibly pass that information along to his mates. Healthy scratches for the point of sending a message always has the hope that the player, while observing the game has an epiphany moment and realizes what is missing from his game.

I believe that Luke will be able to learn a great deal from sitting in the box for a few games, especially with Carl Gunnarsson entering the picture and playing so well against Calgary. In my mind, now is the perfect opportunity to give the young Schenn his time in the press box before Komisarek returns to action as well.

Now, as long as Ron Wilson doesn't start looking for a Capulet he should be able to successfully find the answer to this hot topic question.