pi2000

Yes. He hates losing, it eats at him and he speaks the truth... so yeah If you call that a "self-loathing emo bitch", then we need more of them. A 60 point player, best face-off man in the league, kills penalties, 1st power play unit, great defensively.... yeah I'd say he's worth every penny.

The 77'-78' unis are the best IMO....

For the record, trading ROR would be a colossal mistake. He's everything you want in a 3rd line center... Eichel, Mittlestadt, ROR down the middle is how you build a Cup contender. That could be the best center combination in the league in the not too distant future.... you don't sacrifice that just because ROR has a hard time playing in a losing environment.

I played center, we had a handful of set plays off the draw and most of the time we knew which play based on game situation and where the draw was taking place, so all it would take was a nod, a look, a point of the stick and we'd all be on the same page. Sometimes we'd get creative and draw something up in the dirt real quick depending on the other team's tendencies. D-zone you always try to win it back to the corner, maybe once in a blue moon you try to go forward with it towards the half-wall and catch them off guard for a quick break. In the o-zone you're typically trying to win it back too, but sometimes I'd try to just win it back a couple feet or push my guy off the dot allowing our wing to cut across off the half-wall, picking up the puck on this forehand for a quick shot. My wingers would need to switch sides in some cases. Other times if I really felt like I could beat the other guy I'd tell the strong side winger to beat his man to the far post, I'd push it forward and if I could get to the puck first I knew where to go with it without looking. In general yes, C's have much more defensive zone responsibility. Some coaches prefer man-to-man in the d-zone, but mostly you're supporting your defensemen, picking up the extra guy, collapsing, locking up, etc.. C's need to be quick, anticipating when your defensemen are about to win a battle and be there to support the puck. The most import aspect however, is communication.... handing guys off, chasing behind the net, who has puck, how much time they have, calling reverses, how fast is the pressure coming, etc.. it's such a fast chaotic game you're just reacting out there, it's very rare that you execute a play exactly as it's drawn up... it's more important to understand the concepts and communicate effectively than knowing exactly where on the ice you should be at all times.

He was noticeable in the NCAA playoffs, very fast, his game is speed.

I'm getting tired of saying this, but... It's always darkest before the dawn. It's been dark for a long long time now.

Hamilton: "Jason, it's been a tough tough season. How much of that do you attribute to the players learning a new system which resulted in a slow start, that they just never seemed to recover from which seemed to snowball into December and January before they had a chance to really grasp the details of what Phil was asking them to do on the ice which was a significant departure from what they were asked to do under the previous coaching staff of Dan Bylsma and blah blah blah blah..." JBOTS: "Yes" </presser>

My experience as a player. I've never been paid very much to play, but it's very very difficult to have the same drive and determination in everything you do when you have zero chance of reaching your goal (playoffs). It's not a conscious decision, it's a natural reaction to dealing with a painful experience. The first step in dealing with loss is acceptance.... you can't move on from it until you accept it. When you're forced to accept it over and over and over and over again, then suddenly the 20th loss of the season becomes just a bit easier to stomach than the 1st loss, and it snowballs from there. The only cure is winning, which breeds confidence and re-affirms that all the hard work and attention to detail is being rewarded. When you work and work and work and work you ass off, do all the right things off the ice, but never get rewarded for it, the fire inside will dim just a bit... and that's all it takes to derail your season. I don't care who you are, that's just human nature.

After all the he's been through, I don't think losing really bothers him that much anymore. It's unavoidable given the environment he's been in. Maybe I'm completely wrong and he's the hardest working most diligent player on the team, in the gym, at practice, during film study, etc...

Can't be any worse than this past Sabres season.

I have a feeling Zemgus is broken. It sucks, but would happily replace him with somebody like Wilson.

Eventually there will be a team owned entirely by fans. Decisions will be made through online polls, number of votes proportional to the percentage of the team you won. We have the technology, it's just a matter of time before it happens.

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." - GW

Everybody needs Dahlin. Fact is, they aren't getting him... less than 1 in 5 chance.

Listening to his interview, it didn't sound like he knows what needs to be done to get this team moving in the right direction. Didn't get many answers. OTOH, listening to guys like Wilson and Pominville shed some light on what ails this team, and what needs to change.

I agree with this?

These are humans, they're not robots..... they have emotions and losing hurts. At least losing *should* hurt... maybe if more players hated to lose as much as ROR does, they wouldn't be in this spot. Coming off one of their worst seasons in franchise history you want them to trade their top PP point producer, second leading scorer, and the greatest face-off artist in the history of the game? My goodness.

I liked Scott Wilson's interview. Playing in a winning program in PIT, he knows what it takes. He talked a lot about intensity and focus every time you're at the rink, not just on the ice.. but working out in the gym, going over film, pre-scouting. There needs to be more intensity, focus and commitment from the first rep in the gym to the last pass in the gameday skate. My hunch on who hasn't shown this level of commitment: Girgensons Larsson Ristolainen Eichel Reinhart Pouliot McCabe Beaulieu ...basically the young guys and the guys who have been infected by the losing environment the past 5 seasons. It's just a guess, but would make sense IMO based on what I've heard in these exit interviews and from Housley. That said, if this has been problem all year why wasn't it addressed earlier on in the season?

they should have

shut your mouth goalie and do your job

That is a conversation for October, November... The season is over. They're the worst team in the league, there's nothing they can do to change that. He's simply reflecting on the season, which was the question he was asked. Part of leading is being honest, don't sugar coat things or just recite cliches for a sound bite. I appreciate his honesty. He's not the reason this team sucked. They need more guys like him who hate to lose as much as he does.

Eichel

Yeah, they all need to be called out in the media... and that's the media's job, not ROR's.

So he's officially blaming the players now? Sounds like a desperate man who's career is on the ropes.