Lol.....what a dick

[SDS]

16 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

After The Whistle just dropped:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-64-return-of-the-jack-with-brian-gionta/id1590573108?i=1000553725764

this should be a new topic

[msw2112]

I'm not going to lose sleep over what a 25 year old kid (or so) said in an interview.  I don't live in Buffalo anymore, but was visiting a few years ago and got tickets to a game against Montreal during the 10 game winning streak.  If my memory serves me correctly, the Sabres mounted a furious comeback and won it late in the game (either end of regulation or early in OT).  The house was packed and the place was electric.  It reminded me of years past.  Eichel was a part of it and had a ton of fan support.  His comments last night were inaccurate and petty.

I agree with those that said that Eichel was the biggest problem in his tenure with the Sabres.  In my opinion, he is one of the top 10, possibly top 5 most skilled and talented players in the NHL.  That said, he lacks the intangibles that make a talented player great.  He doesn't have the grit, determination, motivation and leadership skills to truly be one of the best.  He's an immature person, and even though he's much older than when he came into the league, he's still immature.  He's been pampered and told how great he was since he was a little kid, and nothing has changed.  The contrast with Josh Allen above is a good one.  For those who follow the NFL, Eichel is more like Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals.  When things are going well, Murray is a great teammate.  When things go badly, he sits by himself on the bench and pouts.  Murray is now creating a stir in the media, because he wants a new contract and had his agent post a long rant on social media.  Sound familiar?  Eichel and Murray are "me" guys and guys like Josh Allen (and Alex Tuch) are about the team.  Having high individual goals and belief in onesself and being a team player are not mutually exclusive, but guys like Eichel and Murray just don't get it and probably never will.

[Hawerchuk]

10 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I agree that Jack can be a very spoiled brat and I’m not sorry he’s gone.  I’m thrilled with the play and emotion Tuch and Krebs bring each night.  Tuch especially hates to lose and it’s evident each game but unlike Jack he doesn’t sulk.

However, I didn’t take his comments so negatively.  I thought it was an emotional lament from a guy who played hard here and never succeeded.  He never was fully embraced by the fans or his teammates (thanks ROR and Kane).  I think for a guy who has succeeded at ever level of hockey he played at and then failing here weighs on him terribly.  I truly believe he wanted to succeed in Buffalo and the organization really never gave him a legit opportunity to succeed.

Sadly Jack’s failures here belong to one person and that is Terry Pegula.  He and his incompetent organization dropped this kid in the deep end with weights tied to his legs.  I believe that if management had done a proper rebuild around Jack and Sam, we would be a playoff team today.  That would have meant bringing in good role models like KO and Pominville and not ROR, Kane, Bogo and Lehner.  

The Sabres today are a unified lockerroom pulling in the same direction as Anderson said tonight post game.  In Jack’s era it was a fractured locker room lead by a-holes.  Sadly Jack took his cues from the wrong vets.

Excellent post. I agree with all you stated. Especially about Tuch. He gets mad, I'm sure, but the key is he doesn't whine about it publicly or on the ice.

[Eleven]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

This is the best meme on Twitter...

I will say that he is looking and sounding more like Beavis every day.

[Indabuff]

3 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I will say that he is looking and sounding more like Beavis every day.

I don't know why but I cannot stop watching this. 

[SwampD]

4 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I will say that he is looking and sounding more like Beavis every day.

It’s just nice to see everyone accusing him of being petty and childish, not acting petty or childish themselves.

I’m with you, ink. Think I’m done with the internet today,

[Norcal]

[Cascade Youth]

I didn’t have a strong opinion about it until I watched the actual clip of him saying it - and now I’ve concluded that he’s just a bitchass.

[Stoner]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

Im bored. I still cant drive and am filling time.

ftr, i believe Jack is, in fact, most likely, a dick.

I also stand by every statement i’ve made in this thread. I enjoyed his comment. Thought it was funny.

The whole “like a grownup” comment from you made me laugh, as well, considering he isn’t, unlike most of the people booing him and mad today.

I really can’t wait for the day until we care more about the players on our own team.

Jack's not a grownup?

[LGR4GM]

15 minutes ago, Norcal said:

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I really don't care what this guy has to say.

Maybe he is just happy that the good fans are back into the game.

The fans stayed away when he was playing for Buffalo, so there you go.  He had to leave for the fans to come back.

[Marvin]

5 hours ago, Eleven said:

You're right.  There are two scapegoats.  Botterill and Housley.  Because if they had just made O'Reilly captain, we wouldn't have had four more years of this stuff.

You forgot Murray, Bylsma, and Pegula.  A distal cause is the belief that the biggest talent on the team is automatically captain material.

[Marvin]

5 hours ago, RangerDave said:

In my opinion, there is a difference.  The fans in the crowd pay good money to watch the game.  The players, on the other hand, are paid (handsomely) to do their jobs.  Part of their job is to act as good ambassadors for their sport, at least it should be in an ideal world.  Many players do.

I also don't condone booing players, unless they do something awful during the game.

Bolded: that's my attitude.  I don't have the time and energy to waste on booing for other reasons.  YMMV.

[Doohicksie]

6 hours ago, Weave said:

Except this team responded appropriately.

It's a new era.

[Marvin]

4 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

People compare Eichel to Josh Allen. The difference between the two is Allen was doubted his entire life and had to fight to get to where he is now. Jack Eichel was the golden child, the special case, always on elite teams, surrounded with the best cast.

So being the guy with the pressure to lift a moribund franchise was too much for him. He didn't know how to respond because he was never in that situation. And maybe his character didn't lend itself to being the guy to lead. And that's not a knock. That's just being human. 

Thank you for this comparison.  IMHO, this is the proper perspective on his time here.

[Eleven]

50 minutes ago, SwampD said:

It’s just nice to see everyone accusing him of being petty and childish, not acting petty or childish themselves.

I’m with you, ink. Think I’m done with the internet today,

I didn't say he was petty or childish.  But the Beavis resemblance is undeniable.

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, LouBrawls said:

Fixed it for ya.

In seven years as a professional athlete he's not matured or attempted to be a better person or leader in the locker room. This is all about quality of character, not about what the organization did or didn't do.  The real Jack was on full display for everyone to see, the selfish petulant child who didn't get his way.

As a partial defence, I ran into Jack a few times outside.  One time, he was visiting kids in the hospital when my niece and nephew were there.  He seemed to care about their plights and was glad that he could help brighten their lives.  He might be like that about hockey, but outside of hockey, he seemed really nice.

[SwampD]

1 minute ago, Eleven said:

I didn't say he was petty or childish.  But the Beavis resemblance is undeniable.

I agree. I just happened to respond to you.

[Eleven]

29 minutes ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

You forgot Murray, Bylsma, and Pegula.  A distal cause is the belief that the biggest talent on the team is automatically captain material.

The vacancy occurred during the Housley-Botterill era, and if you want me to believe that Pegula chooses captains, then show me some hard evidence of that.

[Marvin]

1 minute ago, Eleven said:

The vacancy occurred during the Housley-Botterill era, and if you want me to believe that Pegula chooses captains, then show me some hard evidence of that.

I am saying that the vacant captaincy was just one in a colossal list of organisational gaffes.  Murray gets trying to lose for 2 seasons, hiring Bylsma, not getting Eichel an NHL-quality defence, bringing in Kane and Bogosian, and overpaying in every trade for acquisition.  Bylsma gets his handling of the team, the system he played, and not naming O'Reilly captain either.  Botterill and Housley get what you said -- and Botterill also gets failing to ice an NHL-quality bottom 6, mind-numbing inertia when the team had positive vibes, trading O'Reilly, and hiring Ralph Krueger.  The Pegulas get it for hiring all these guys.

If you are arguing that trading O'Reilly and not making him Captain instead was where the relationship was irreparably harmed, then I will agree with you.

[K-9]

3 hours ago, SwampD said:

Im bored. I still cant drive and am filling time.

ftr, i believe Jack is, in fact, most likely, a dick.

I also stand by every statement i’ve made in this thread. I enjoyed his comment. Thought it was funny.

The whole “like a grownup” comment from you made me laugh, as well, considering he isn’t, unlike most of the people booing him and mad today.

I really can’t wait for the day until we care more about the players on our own team.

Per the bold, speak for yourself. 

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

1 hour ago, Hawerchuk said:

Excellent post. I agree with all you stated. Especially about Tuch. He gets mad, I'm sure, but the key is he doesn't whine about it publicly or on the ice.

Tuch came over to Hayden with a pissed off but composed look after that bad penalty he took in the Florida game and said: "you can't do that.  you can't take that penalty there."  Not sure if it was picked up on the broadcast but they were both less than 15 feet from me when the interaction happened.  This to me is exactly how to handle ***** when you are mad about something.  Not slamming/breaking a stick, throwing your head back, or rolling your eyes.  This is the type of thing that someone does to earn his C, where Eichel was simply given the C.  I'm really glad they didn't name a C to start this season, even if it was Tuch, because I felt it would've been another C getting handed out.  

[Doohicksie]

3 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

[woods-racer]

46 minutes ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Tuch came over to Hayden with a pissed off but composed look after that bad penalty he took in the Florida game and said: "you can't do that.  you can't take that penalty there."  Not sure if it was picked up on the broadcast but they were both less than 15 feet from me when the interaction happened.  This to me is exactly how to handle ***** when you are mad about something.  Not slamming/breaking a stick, throwing your head back, or rolling your eyes.  This is the type of thing that someone does to earn his C, where Eichel was simply given the C.  I'm really glad they didn't name a C to start this season, even if it was Tuch, because I felt it would've been another C getting handed out.  

Excellent observation. 

[msw2112]

I agree.  Tuch is so obviously team captain material, particuarly for THIS team, but he's only been with the team a couple of months.  The proper thing to do is award it to him at the beginning of next season after he's proven himself and earned it.  Naming Eichel captain was a tough situation.  McDavid was named captain and many other "best players on the team" have been named captain, even at a young age.  I think that Sid Crosby was named captain at a young age.  The Sabres saw Eichel as that type of player.  Skill-wise, he is knocking on the door of being that type of player, but he lacks the intangibles that those other guys have.  There's also the thought that he could have grown into the role, but it didn't happen and likely never will.

An apt comparison is Patrick Kane.  Great talent.  #1 overall pick.  Top scorer, multi-year all star, MVP candidate, etc.  Not captain material.  The "C" went, appropriately, to his teammate Jonathan Toews, who displayed captain-like intangibles (while also being a very good player) at a young age.  Tuch is the right guy for next year's Sabres, although Couzens has those qualities too and may be a future "A" or "C" depending on what happens down the line.

Edited March 11, 2022 by msw2112