Berglund suspended, failure to report

[Neo]

I think he read the Sam Reinhart contract thread and concluded HE should be getting more ice time. 

[Doohickie]

I'm not sure how this applies to an indefinite suspension, especially if it turns into a termination.

CBA Article 50.10 says:

(c) For Players that are suspended, either by a Club or by the League, the Player Salary and Bonuses that are not paid to such Players shall not count against a Club's Upper Limit or against the Players' Share for the duration of the suspension, but the Club must have Payroll Room for such Player's Player Salary and Bonuses in order for such Player to be able to return to Play for the Club.

 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Doohickie

[bunomatic]

I suppose maybe he doesn't like winning. Send him back to St. Louis.

[dudacek]

Gotta go back and listen again, but in that podcast @Brawndo posted a thread about, I’m pretty sure Botterill talks a lot about players that want to be here. Oblique reference to this situation?

@Taro T assuming this is not something that can be resolved internally, and no one wants him in trade, what are our options under the CBA? The dude is owed more than $12 million. He’s not giving that up, and we aren’t going to want to pay it.

[Doohickie]

One theory from a poster at HF Boards:  "Berglund probably looked at Buffalo’s organizational depth after the trade and saw himself as the current 2C. Now he finds himself stapled to the fourth line behind Sobotka when he isn’t a healthy scratch."

This could be the answer. He's looking at Mitts and thinking that he's still too green and he should have that spot. It's a reasonable argument, but not a professional response from Bergie, especially when the team is winning.  If he thinks he's forcing management's hand to try to get a shot at 2C, I think he miscalculated.  It's hard to picture a resolution that brings Berglund back to the team.

 

[dudacek]

Reading between the lines, he was also a no-show for the Arizona game.

They initially gave him slack to try and resolve it, but when he failed to show for the flight to Washington, they took this step.

Looks like the trade coupled with his fit thus far with the Sabres added up to “I don’t want to be here.”

Its the opposite of calculated.

Edited December 15, 2018 by dudacek

[darksabre]

Huh. Weird. 

[...]

56 minutes ago, WildCard said:

So much for the culture change

55 minutes ago, inkman said:

I actually think suspending him is in line with culture change. Rather than letting that attitude fester on the team, he gone. 

Agreed.  I can't see how Berglund being suspended is indicative of a "culture" problem within the group.  An individual problem, totally, but a culture problem, no.  Of course, I'm willing to read brief explanations on how this could be a group-wide culture problem.

[Samson's Flow]

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Reading between the lines, he was also a no-show for the Arizona game.

They initially gave him slack to try and resolve it, but when he failed to show for the flight to Washington, they took this step.

Looks like the trade coupled with his fit thus far with the Sabres added up to “I don’t want to be here.”

Its the opposite of calculated.

Yeah I think the organization have him all the cover they could with the illness thing, but their patience has run out. To be fair I think we were all expecting him to be the 2C coming into this year, but that just didn't end up working out

[kas23]

Dump him on some horrible team for a 5th or a bag of pucks. This guy shouldn’t be around the team. If this was a mental health or substance abuse problem, I doubt they would’ve suspended him, which would undoubtedly magnify the problems. 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

High school kids I coached were always complaining about lines and ice time.  They even told their mommies.

[irregularly irregular]

Bump in the road. 

Give it a week to shake out and when/if Berglund returns to the lineup, he better be playing his A+ game for the rest of the season. I agree that this would not have happened if there was a reasonable underlying cause. This might be the "wake up call" and a message to not only Berglund, but the team. Do your job to the best of your abilities, don't be a whiney brat and help us win games, or we will find someone else to fill that position.

[matter2003]

37 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

One theory from a poster at HF Boards:  "Berglund probably looked at Buffalo’s organizational depth after the trade and saw himself as the current 2C. Now he finds himself stapled to the fourth line behind Sobotka when he isn’t a healthy scratch."

This could be the answer. He's looking at Mitts and thinking that he's still too green and he should have that spot. It's a reasonable argument, but not a professional response from Bergie, especially when the team is winning.  If he thinks he's forcing management's hand to try to get a shot at 2C, I think he miscalculated.  It's hard to picture a resolution that brings Berglund back to the team.

 

Mittlestadt might be green but he has more talent in the toe of his right skate blade than Berglund has ever had...

Really bad look by a guy on a team that is winning and playing relatively well.

 

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

41 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

One theory from a poster at HF Boards:  "Berglund probably looked at Buffalo’s organizational depth after the trade and saw himself as the current 2C. Now he finds himself stapled to the fourth line behind Sobotka when he isn’t a healthy scratch."

This could be the answer. He's looking at Mitts and thinking that he's still too green and he should have that spot. It's a reasonable argument, but not a professional response from Bergie, especially when the team is winning.  If he thinks he's forcing management's hand to try to get a shot at 2C, I think he miscalculated.  It's hard to picture a resolution that brings Berglund back to the team.

 

He is being paid millions of $s to play a game that he loves.  I have had to do jobs that I have hated and not for anywhere near the pay.  He should just shut the hell up and report for duty, whatever and wherever that is.

EDIT TO ADD:  Assuming no underlying health, or other, issues.  As others have said, that seems unlikely.

36 minutes ago, ... said:

Agreed.  I can't see how Berglund being suspended is indicative of a "culture" problem within the group.  An individual problem, totally, but a culture problem, no.  Of course, I'm willing to read brief explanations on how this could be a group-wide culture problem.

Me too.  I agree with you and Inky that this is a good indication of a good team culture, but I am interested in short briefings, as well, from the other takers.

Edited December 15, 2018 by New Scotland (NS)

[Sabres Fan in NS]

This is distracting SabreSpace members from the game today.

I hope that it does not distract the remaining players.  Maybe it will act as a motivator ... I better play my best , or this could be me next?

Edited December 15, 2018 by New Scotland (NS)
I do not type very well, but I think I need a new keyboard ...

[Doohickie]

5 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Mittlestadt might be green but he has more talent in the toe of his right skate blade than Berglund has ever had...

I won't disagree with you, but I'm not sure Berglund sees it the same way.

[Doohickie]

Just now, New Scotland (NS) said:

I hope that it does not distract the remaining players.  Maybe it will act as a motivator ... I better play my best , or this could be me next?

HCPH seemed to be focusing on carrots more than sticks as motivators, but this would be a big stick if he thinks he's using this as motivation.  More likely I think this is a situation unique to Bergie and his usage this year versus what he expected.  We saw him as 4C being a good soldier but He probably thought he'd be at 2C right now.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

HCPH seemed to be focusing on carrots more than sticks as motivators, but this would be a big stick if he thinks he's using this as motivation.  More likely I think this is a situation unique to Bergie and his usage this year versus what he expected.  We saw him as 4C being a good soldier but He probably thought he'd be at 2C right now.

Yeah.  I don't think the Sabres are planning on using it a motivation tool.  I don't think they have too.

[PASabreFan]

The "sick" angle is interesting. Did Berglund tell the team he was sick and the team believed it but they're no longer buying it? Or was he never sick and it was a cover story for the media? The latter doesn't look good for the team (but did the team report this or is this just Vogl's reporting?). The former raises a slight possibility it could be something in the Robin Lehner realm. Eleven's caveat about depression deserves to be considered.

[Beer]

Strange, that 4th line was really good at shutting the other team down.  Next man up!

[IKnowPhysics]

Can't help but think this is usage related.  He's got the toughest minutes among forwards with the highest quality of competition and an 18% offensive zone start percentage.  When he's playing, he's getting worked, and he's getting worked a position where he's not going to be successful offensively.

I could easily see early season promises made by the coaching staff to elevate his role from checker to a two-way forward, but maybe the checking line was working too well to stop doing that.  Meanwhile, because you can't really break up the top six during the streak and you can break up a checking line, he's rotating in and out with the 13th and 14th forwards just so they can get fair time.

All that said, having a tantrum is no way to fix your station.

[Cheektorado]

Does anyone have some past examples of something like this happening?

I can't find any.

[Eleven]

3 minutes ago, Cheektorado said:

Does anyone have some past examples of something like this happening?

I can't find any.

Drouin, but that was AHL

Edited December 15, 2018 by Eleven

[Doohickie]

6 minutes ago, Beer said:

Next man up!

Which would be ERod.... Not ironically, he has a goal in his last game.  Maybe that played into the Bergie situation:  He saw his role on the team slipping away.

[shrader]

He’ll retire Kovalchuk style.