pi2000

Lalalalalala...

So if this team is playing well and in a playoff spot for the first half of the season we can put this thread to bed.

It will, it's part of the maturation process. Wasn't Bylsma's rule.

fixed :P

That would be fun. Currently, in the East, out of the 8 teams in playoff spots you would have the #2 and #3 teams by points (PIT/CBJ) playing eachother in the first round. That's idiotic. That means 1 of the top 4 teams in the entire NHL will be out in the first round. Just dumb.

So any time a player on this plays well and produces it's all because of his own doing, but when a player/line plays poorly it's the head coaches fault? That's a double standard. You have to give some credit for Eichel's success to Dan, in the same way you can't blame him entirely for lack of production from the 3rd/4th lines. My point is that he's coaching to the strength of the core, and forcing everyone to get onboard. Guys like Bailey, Carrier, Rodrigues, Fasching, all look very good in this system because they can get up and down the ice and have a nose for the puck and dirty areas. Guys like Girgensons, Larsson, Foligno, Gionta, Moulson, D-Lo, can't get up and down the ice fast enough, but instead of setting everybody back to accommodate them, he's stick with the long term plan. Bylsma is not the same coach he was in PIT. 3rd/4th line players are typically your best defensive forwards so they play the PK. In BUF you have top 6 guys like ROR and Kane on the PK (and now Eichel), that's obviously taken a toll on ROR, he leads the league in min/game because he's asked to do so much. If there were better defensive players in the bottom 6, ROR wouldn't be completely spent by game 60. Get 1 or 2 d-men, but more importantly IMO, fix the bottom six, get some guys who know how to defend and can skate and this will be a top team in the Conference... with Bylsma!

That's not going to happen because of the lesson learned from Samson's incident. That said, since you're talking hypotheticals... consider there are infinite parallel universes (there are) and in at least one of those universes Eichel shows up late for the morning stretch on game day before game 7 of the Cup Finals. 1) Yes, he should be benched. 2) Yes, well, in atleast one of those universes he's benched (and I'm not sure which of those universes you and I live in, so I can't say for sure)

Like Gio said, it's good for the team. It sets the bar and is a lesson for everyone. Sure maybe it was a harsh punishment for Samson and that sucks for him. But I guarantee you other players took notice and nobody will make that mistake again.... which is a good thing.

Yeah, he was such a good player the first two seasons registering a +12 and +18, and now he's a -23... that's a huge step back and likely related to the concussion issues. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

Being professional/punctual and winning hockey games are not mutually exclusive. That said, show me a successful hockey franchise that cuts players slack for showing up late to team events... you can't.

A system that maximizes the limited amount of talent on the roster to secure a playoff spot and get throttled in the first round? No thanks, been there, done that. A system that fits your core and that can be successful in the playoffs? Sign me up. And before everybody chimes in about Eichel/DB conflict, etc... just look at how production Eichel and Kane have been the past few months. That's not by accident. You want Dan to slow them down by teaching a more controlled, slow pace game?

yep, you're right. It's an interesting rule, because Gio can touch the puck well above his shoulders and score a goal, but if directs it to teammate above his shoulder, then the play is blown dead.

you forgot one... 8) we got Ekblad instead of Reinhart

The system is designed for fast large athletes. No. Show me a team other than BUF that has such a stark contrast in skills/abilities between their top and bottom lines. It's why they have the best PP in the league, and worst PK. Their 3rd and 4th lines are the most unproductive lines in the league, and they can't defend either. It's a joke.

If I'm a head coach and I'm hell bent on winning a Cup, I don't give out any hall passes, sorry charlie... this isn't grade school where kids are learning about responsibilities. This is the highest level of the profession. That being late one time, etc.. crap needs to get taught in juniors, minor league, etc.. if you're in the NHL I'm not giving you any slack.

from https://www.capfriendly.com/expansion-draft: Teams must expose a minimum number of players that meet the exposure requirements: Forwards 2 under contract in 2017-18, AND played in 40 or more NHL games last season, OR played in 70 or more NHL games in the last two seasons Defense 1 under contract in 2017-18, AND played in 40 or more NHL games last season, OR played in 70 or more NHL games in the last two seasons Goalies 1 under contract in 2017-18, OR who’s contract is expiring & is an RFA in 2017-18 This does NOT mean that only players who meet the above requirements can be selected. It just means that each TEAM must expose a minimum number of players who meet those requirements. In BUF's case they have 11 forwards, 7 D, and 3 G that met the requirement. So they're all set... if they protect 7/3/1 that exposes 4/4/2 that met the requirement, but Vegas can pick anybody unprotected not just from that group.

What do you expect him to do, teach two systems? One for the fast offensively gifted young guns, and another for the slow aging vets? I like that the system is designed around what type of team they want to be, not just to accommodate their current roster.

McCabe called him as it was starting so probably a minute or two before 10:30. If you're ready to go, does it take 7-8 minutes to get to a different area of a hotel? No. Is there any legit reason to being late? For a professional person who's profession is to be punctual... then no. If there is some extenuating circumstance that is out of your control then you call ahead/communicate before the scheduled time and inform whoever that you need to re-schedule and you won't make the appointment. Like I tell my kids.. ignorance is not an excuse. You know Samson personally? I only know him from interviews and I think he's a good kid, afterall he was team captain of his junior squad in Kootenay so his tardiness comes as a surprise to me... which makes me think we're not being told the whole truth. You said it yourself, you know what time you're supposed to be there and you communicate clearly if there is some uncontrollable circumstance (in this case traffic) that will prevent from being there on time. Samson used ignorance as an excuse, which is, inexcusable IMO. He has no other job other than to be there on time, no traffic in the way, no previous obligations that would prevent him from being there at 10 for an event at 10:30. Next time I hope he plans on being there 30 minutes ahead of time, and verifies the schedule. That's the lesson here. These guys all stay at the same hotel, they don't have to commute, they don't need to shower get dressed, get the kids off to school, make breakfast, put gas in the car, etc..... the only thing is be in a certain area of the hotel at a certain time, that's it, there's no excuse in that case other than a fire in your hotel room, or the elevator gets stuck, or something out of your control. This is why you plan on being there at least 15-30 min early to assure that only an act of God could stop you from being there on time because as Gio said, they're trying to build a culture. I said it from day one of the season... there's too much of a losing culture on this team where one thing doesn't go right and they collapse mentally because they're expectations are so low. The only way to change that is to set higher expectations and that starts off the ice.

Favorite professional teams include the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins ... Favorite sports figure is Ryan Callahan.

Get rid of the instigator penalty and the problem works itself out.

The fact that he was laying in bed waiting to go down for breakfast less than 30min before a scheduled team event tells me he doesn't respect the rules. Being a pro is all about preparation. Hus excuse is the same as blaming traffic for being late to work. Lame.

Yeah, I put proper in quotes because thats how they teach it at a young age, but it's ultimately your own preference of what feels most comfortable. In my case I did most things with my left hand as a baby, then my parents put a sock on my left hand to force me to be right handed, weird right? Anyway my Dad tried to make me hold the stick lefty but I kept going back to righty which is where I ended up even tho my dexterity hand is my right. That said, both my boys are right handed but one shoots left (and bats/golfs left), and the other shoots/bats righty. The dexterity hand tends to be the stronger hand, and if you're shooting with the correct technique, the top hand is where you create the leverage to flex the stick.

Great post LTS, I couldn't agree more.

The "proper" way to hold the stick is with your dexterity hand at the top. When stick handling, the top hand does all the work, rolling the wrist, while the bottom hand very lightly grips the stick. Shooting is similar, such that your top hand initially pushes away and then pulls in while the bottom hand pushes. I'd say 80-90% of rec league players shoot incorrectly, using mostly the bottom hand only. Shooting the puck hard is 90% technique. Watch how Eichel presses hus top hand towards the target and then yanks it back to flex the stick. Also, the buttend should just about be in your palm which allows slightly more leverage. Equipment nowadays is so much better that everybody on the team is expected to block shots. Back when I played competitively, we didn't have things like shot blockers (the plastic skate covers), so there was alot of technique that webt into, eg puttibg your stck blade over your laces, squaring up to the shot,etc or making custom padding to cover the tops of your feet and ankles. remember Chris Prongers skate flaps? You don't see that stuff anymore, in fact some junior and college teams require all their players to wear shot blockers.

No worries. I played college in the ECAC in the early 90s and then half a season in what was then called the Sunshine Hockey League in Florida which I believe is now part of the ECHL? It was a league and so I decided to go back to school and finish up my degrees.