Trettioåtta

So could I have a yes and no to the following questions: Next year we are in game 7 of the Stanley cup finals. Eichel appears 5 minutes late for the morning stretch. 1) Should he be benched? 2) Do you think the Sabres do bench him? He isn't a dog. He won't think he has got away with it and then be confused when he is in the press box on Sunday. It would show that the team comes above any one player at all times, but that doesn't mean you will avoid doing penance for your crime.

You're arguing a straw man. No one is saying Sam should have not been punished. We are saying the punishment should have been delayed for a game so a) the team/chance of winning are not largely impacted, b) it is not as humiliating for him. You may believe that overly punishing someone for small infractions encourages them to never make them again, but human psychology shows it makes them resentful and less engaged.

I like the fact Doughty is being bullied by a 19 year old. Its hilarious how much Tkachuck is in the guys head

Personally I think focusing on the off ice product whilst the on ice one goes off the rails is a misguided attempt at success. A team of soldiers may beat any NHL roster for professionalism and punctuality, but I don't think they'll be wearing too many rings on their fingers.

I agree. There should be accountability both on the ice and off it. Is Gionta unhappy with Moulson because he is earning $5 million a year to play 4th line minutes? There is something rotten in the vets if they need the culture to change off the ice, but are quite satisfied with the standard they are setting on it.

Or they think the organisation has bigger issues than a player being 5 minutes late to a stretch and see the bizarre attitude of severely punishing small mistakes in the name of bettering the team whilst wilfully ignoring larger ones such as a better coach and an NHL calibre defence.

I assume he didn't misread 10:30 but misremembered it? Seems more logical and if I was explaining what happened I would describe it as misreading a text.

From what of seen of their fans opinions, they seem quite happy with him. He is a physical D, not an offensive one. But he is regularly getting 20+ minutes a night - albeit on an awful team.

Oh yeah, i'd make that trade 10/10. I love ROR and think he is a great player and great for the team. That said, of the players in that trade. Zadorov has missed a few games because he was late to meetings. ROR drove drunk and crashed into a building. ROR has made the worse life choices. Worse than Sam too and no-one has questioned his attitude, despite the fact his choices made him a bad person, not a bad teammate.

Yes, so let him play that game and then bench him the next game.

Agreed. It also doesn't punish the team as much.

He is 21, just got knocked out of the playoff race and has played nearly two seasons for an incompetent coach. He is probably just frustrated.

He turned into a young top 4 defenceman?

Got a few spare million? :p No I don't like it at all. I just struggle to rationalise why they shouldn't get to play with the toy they own. In reality the GM should be able to stand up to the owner in a tactful way. If they are suggesting a poor decision then the GM or scouts should be able to show them tape and point out the parts of the players games that they think are worries and will hold them back and hopefully show evidence of other players from other drafts who had similar flaws and didn't pan out. Waste of resources? Yup, but it shouldn't take too long if the owner is reasonable and their head is not stuck too far up their ass.

I agree with TP. If I say both guys are good, maybe player a has the slight edge and the guy next to me says no, player B has the x factor that I saw in other late round picks we have to go for player B. Then yeah, the strong opinion of player B probably means you pick him. People like to have this idea TP meddles and take all quotes to mean that. I'm sure he does a bit - more than other owners? Probably not. He is also the owner, so really in my mind he can do what he wants with the team. After all, he is the one who has to pay for poor business decisions.

What are the chances another team swoops in and signs him? Probably Toronto, they seem to get all the breaks.

The guy misread a text and got publicly humiliated for 60 minutes and a possible win was thrown away. Now people are suggesting he has an attitude problem, despite not complaining about playing out of position for two years and putting in extra practice with ROR. I bet he double reads every text in future. Quite frankly ROR drunk driving is a far worse 'crime' to me and I would be more worried about him. However, I am not remotely worried about him and think he is a good leader who made a stupid mistake. Frankly, our future is the young guys. Eichel and to a lesser extent Samson are 'untouchable' if push comes to shove no vet or coach will stay if they don't want them to.

Didn't Gionta say it wasn't a big deal? The EF said there was a disconnect between vets and young guys

I want Iginla to sign a one year contract with Calgary and then retire.

Normally teams promise the players ice time in the NHL to get them to sign. McCabe basically counts. He wasn't a free agent, but we convinced him to forgo his college education to sign with us and promised him ice time in the NHL for the remainder of the season.

Linked to this. How do they spit like that? There is never a band of saliva attaching the ejected bundle to their lip.

Who are our vets? Okoposo Gionta Moulson Franson Kulikov Gorges ROR? Bogo? Of the for-sure vets there is one player who is really an asset to this team (Oko) and one player who is alright (Gio). Otherwise, i'm not sure what the vets have to say about accountability to the younger guys. They signed large contracts and none have lived up to them.

When Hainsey plays for the Pens in the playoffs. Bogo and Kane will be the two players who have played the most games never having reached the playoffs. Skinner is third and Hall is fourth.

This is the NHL. Why play a shortened bench on the second night of a back to back? Funny that this move was basically the thing that eliminated us from the playoffs Also are the teams punishments the same? If you're trying to build a culture, you have to treat everyone the same. No other player was dressed and benched for being late to a meeting. If I'm Samson Ingo to GMTM and say either Dan isn't in Buffalo next year or I'm not.

Why dress him?