pi2000

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.

No. A high stick is relative to the height of the crossbar... 4ft. If you kick the puck towards the net annd a teammate deflects it in with his stick... is it a goal? If you swat at a puck in the air and make contact with puck below the height of the crossbar and the puck goes in the net but you also clip a guy in the face with your follow through after the puck goes in, does the goal count and do you get a penalty for high sticking?

He was insubordinate. Rules are rules, they're trying to build a winning culture and it starts off the ice. This isn't junior hockey where you get a slap on the wrist, this is PRO hockey where it's your sole purpose in life, to be on time and act like a professional.

Yes, anytime a shot hits the goalie it's counted as a save. There is. The signal is index finger pointing up moving in a circular motion.

Because they weren't highly rated in their draft year. CJ Smith is a 22 year old JUNIOR in college. At 17, 18 he was still playing junior A instead of major junior or NCAA. He's 5'11, 185lbs as a 22 year old, so at 17-18 during his draft years he was maybe 5'7 or 5'8, 150lbs... that's not going to get you looks from major junior or any NHL club. So he did the smart thing and kept his college eligibility by playing junior A instead major junior (assuming that was an option). He continued to grow and improve his game to where he was offered a scholarship at a Div I school... and improved enough to get a pro-contract AND get an education. Or you could be Auston Matthews and not give two shits about education and chase the $$$$ in Europe.... haha.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/03/30/sabres-reinhart-says-benching-tough-one-swallow/

I know a couple of active players, and regularly talk to a few who played in the last 10 years, but the details are from my own experience in college and the brief time I played professionally. The team was aware of the new rules in place. It's the captain's job to hold everyone accountable.. I've gained respect for Gio, assuming that's how it went down. Samson's story is full of holes. Here's what we know. The team stretch started at 10:30. As the stretch was starting, Jake McCabe called Samson who (according to his own words) was sitting in bed waiting to go down for breakfast. That said, according to Samson he thought the team stretch was at 11. So let me get this straight... it's less than 30 minutes before the team stretch and you're sitting in bed waiting to go downstairs for breakfast? What? Let's assume the team stretch is at 11, you better have you're ass down there ready to go at 10:45. How the hell do you find time to fit in a breakfast, a pro-athlete breakfast nonetheless, in between?

I'm not buying his "misread a text" excuse... there is a lot more communication going on (especially on road trips) than just texting. Typically each player gets an itinerary on the bus/plane/whatever with the entire schedule, etc.... Roommates are in constant communication just about the entire road trip. Schedules are posted... and it's not his first road trip. There should be absolutely zero excuse for being late for a team function. I think he just felt that it wasn't important to him because the team stretch doesn't really help him prepare and BUF is out of playoff contention, etc. etc.. It was a poor decision on his part, and he paid the price for it. One other thing... coaches normally don't attend team stretches. The coaches are usually in meetings going over video, planning strategy, etc... while the team captains run the organized team activities. What I think happened is that Samson was late, Gio called him out on it and reported him to the authorities.

Understood, but it seems most folks here are ready to pass this off as a mis-communication thing, absolving Samson of any wrongdoing, while being critical of severity of the punishment. To me it's very unprofessional of Samson to voice his opinion that a team stretch the morning of a game isn't going to make him play better. A team stretch isn't about individual physical preparation, it's about team building... and Samson just doesn't seem to understand that for whatever reason. Maybe he'll get the message now.

Who's his roommate on the road and why wasn't the time communicated via word of mouth between those two? It's not his first road trip, I'd imagine the event (meeting, team stretch, etc..) happens at the exact same time every single road game. Doesn't matter if it's the Cup finals or pre-season, arriving on time (and by on-time I mean at least 15min before the event starts) is part of being a pro.

What? So they send out their meeting schedule via text? What if he doesn't have service... what if his phone's dead? And his excuse is that he mis-read it? Sounds extremely lame. If it was a confusing text, then others would be late. That's the type of excuse a chronically late person makes. You're a pro Samson, arrive no later than 15 minutes before every meeting. When I played college, on the road we we're always with another team member just about every waking second... so I find it unusual that he was by himself and just mis-read something. Who's his roommate on the road, and why weren't they both late? I can't imagine any situation where the meeting time wouldn't have been communicated by word of mouth between teammates, etc...

I'm not buying it. Pegula stated that when he bought the team he was going to stay out of the day-to-day personnel decisions. That said, every owner in every sport has a say when offering big long term contracts.

They currently sit at 76 points with 3 games to play (MTL, @FLA, @TBL). A record of 2-0-1 gets them to 81 points.

We don't know how many times he's been late in the past. Maybe he's one of those chronic late people and they warned/fined/disciplined half-a-dozen times or so already and they finally had enough of it. I like the punishment. It's very Belichickian... and sends a message to the rest of the team.

Forwards coming off the ice sit on the end of bench closest to the door, so they leave the ice over the door, or through the door. They then slide down towards the middle of the bench as each line changes eventually landing in the middle at which point you're up next unless the coach calls out some other line or line combination. This helps to eliminate congestion as you don't want guys coming off and jumping onto the ice at the same spot. Defensemen typically do the same as the forwards in the first and third periods, with the exception being the second period where you have the "long" change... so the rotation on the bench will be reversed such that the next d-pair up sits closest to the door so they're joinig the play closer to center ice rather than the near the offensive blue line. A stickless player can still block a shot, throw a check, bat the puck with his hand, block a passing lane, etc... It's much better than losing that player even for 15s which opens up the ice for the offense.

Elevated respiratory rate in a cold environment exacerbates post nasal drip. A few guys on my mens league team dipped while playing. However, the practice was eventually banned because of brown spots accumulating on the ice. Nobody on my college team dipped during games/practice.

What the hell has Samson ever done in this league? He's not an All-Star, he's a 20 goal scorer trying to find his way. He has no say at this point of his career, Murray would laugh in his face if he demanded Bylsma be fired. I agree. He just looks good when compared to everyone else on the worst bottom 6 in the league.

How do we know he was late to a meeting? I like the old school dress-and-bench. Good to see he's being held accountable.