Ryan O’Reilly nominated for Lady Byng Award

[Stoner]

ROR was up for it before if memory serves when he was with the Avalanche... he nearly completed a season without a single penalty, and right at the end he got 2 minutes for puck over the glass. I don't remember who got it that year, but I believe Datsyuk was a contender as well. 

Must have been the year he won (13/14) unless there's a THIRD season where ROR had only two PIM.

[Weave]

*raises hand* it's me, guy who doesn't want players on his team to win the Lady Byng

I think Lady Byng isnt what you think it is. The guys that win it are all fiercely competitive. It’s kind of a consolation prize.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I think Lady Byng isnt what you think it is. The guys that win it are all fiercely competitive. It’s kind of a consolation prize.

 

Skimming the list of past winners I think you nailed it.  Not everybody can win the Hart.

 

Bossy (a few), The Wayne (several), Francis (several), Sakic, Datsyuk (several in a row), St Louis ...

[darksabre]

I think Lady Byng isnt what you think it is. The guys that win it are all fiercely competitive. It’s kind of a consolation prize.

All about them consolation prizes

[Weave]

All about them consolation prizes

Look at the list of past winners and tell me with a straight face that those aren’t the kind of players you want on your team.

[Randall Flagg]

When a guy who flat out admits to you that he lost his passion for the game this year is nominated for this award I have to question if it's a good award for someone who is supposed to be a solid offensive and a lock down defensive center to win.  I'd rather have RoR in the running for the Selke every year than the Lady Byng and there aren't too many players who have won both.  The Lady Byng is generally a trophy that is won by offensive minded players.  Think players like Gretzky, Bossy, Marty St. Louis, Ron Francis, Joe Sakic, Paul Kariya, Brett Hull etc.  The Selke tends to be won by a gritter forward who excels defensively but also scores his share of goals e.g Patrice Bergeron, Mike Peca, Jere Lehtinen, Guy Charbonneau, Doug Gilmour, Rod Brind'amour.  There are not many players who truly excel defensively who also are able to play gentlemanly hockey.  The list is comprised of Pavel Datsyuk and Anze Kopitar.  That's it.  Kopitar won both in 2015-16, Datsyuk won the Selke in 07-08, 08-09, and 09-10 and the Byng in 05-06, 06-07, 07-08, and 08-09.  In the nearly 40 years both awards have been handed out those are the only two guys to have won both at any point and they won both in the same year 3 times.  Is it safe to call Datsyuk a unique player to be able to do both things so well so many times?  Probably.  Given that's it's a rare player who does both and the role that ROR is supposed to play with his defense I think it's more than fair to say I'd rather have him more like the Charbonneau, Bergeron, Brind'amour model because he doesn't score enough to be the Turgeon, Sakic, Francis model.  I hated all 3 of Charbonneau, Bergeron and Brind'Amour but only because we had to play against them.  None of them were goons but all of them were edgy when it was appropriate to be.  I don't think anyone hates playing against Ryan O'Reilly.

They are, but to fill a different role than RoR is supposed to fill.  When he scores like those guys did he can win as many Byngs as he wants.

But he WAS a solid offensive and lockdown defensive center all season. And he came to work every single game, even when things weren't going his way early, it wasn't because he wasn't working. Just because the dreck that was our team brought him down like it did all of us doesn't make his impressive season any less impressive. 

 

He nailed the general criteria for the award, and it's as simple as that.

Also, you're completely wrong about the "playing against ROR" thing. I read a player poll somewhere in the last couple of seasons, and he was in the top 5 players that other players like to play against the least.

[Randall Flagg]

Like I said, I'd rather have him win the Selke with what he's supposed to do.  In my eye the Lady Byng is a trophy that should be won by players who not expected to go into dirty areas or do ugly things. Not to put too fine an edge on it but it's generally a trophy for pretty boys.  Pretty boys need to score a lot.  A whole lot.

Nonsense. 

 

The dude is always tops in the league in takeaways and plays the most minutes in the league, while scoring a good amount and taking TWO penalty minutes all season. That is the literal epitome of the award. 

 

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by Randall Flagg

[dudacek]

Ryan O’Reilly has suddenly become radically unappreciated around here.

Dude is a player.

[Weave]

Ryan O’Reilly has suddenly become radically unappreciated around here.

Dude is a player.

 

I guess being brutally honest has that effect on folks.

[TrueBlueGED]

Ryan O’Reilly has suddenly become radically unappreciated around here.

Dude is a player.

 

 

I guess being brutally honest has that effect on folks.

 

Also, being one of the best players on a bad team is a good way to get real unpopular real quick. 

[Darryl Shannon's +/-]

I'm not sure it works that way. The pitchfork mob may not be brilliant, but being good at your job doesn't lead to being unpopular.

 

Sleepwalking through the start of the year and being dim enough to verbalize that you are mentally weak does it though.

 

Also, being one of the best players on a bad team is a good way to get real unpopular real quick.

[Taro T]

Ryan O’Reilly has suddenly become radically unappreciated around here.

Dude is a player.

  

I guess being brutally honest has that effect on folks.

Seems about right.

 

Hoping (& expecting) that Botterill isn't quite as fickle.

[TrueBlueGED]

I'm not sure it works that way. The pitchfork mob may not be brilliant, but being good at your job doesn't lead to being unpopular.

 

Sleepwalking through the start of the year and being dim enough to verbalize that you are mentally weak does it though.

 

 

He didn't verbalize being mentally weak, you just interpreted it that way.

 

Going no farther than our own Sabres, there is a long history of our best players being disliked when the team is bad or disappointing. Derek "not a #1C" Roy and Thomas "should have taken the picks" Vanek are two relatively recent examples. Elsewhere, a mere few seasons ago Toronto fans wanted to run Kadri out of town when the team was bad. Now he's scoring 30 goals for a playoff team.

Edited April 23, 2018 by TrueBlueGED

[WildCard]

He didn't verbalize being mentally weak, you just interpreted it that way.

 

Going no farther than our own Sabres, there is a long history of our best players being disliked when the team is bad or disappointing. Derek "not a #1C" Roy and Thomas "should have taken the picks" Vanek are two relatively recent examples. Elsewhere, a mere few seasons ago Toronto fans wanted to run Kadri out of town when the team was bad. Now he's scoring 30 goals for a playoff team.

I like the Kessel comparison more. RoR is what he is, which is a great piece to have. But just like Kessel, you can't have him be your savior; but RoR in positions to succeed and he will

 

That said, I really want Hamilton now

Edited April 23, 2018 by Jokertecken

[SwampD]

Not saying he's not a good player. I'm saying that when Crosby spears him in the ballbag that my preferred response would not be the Christ-like turning of the other cheek. That he only had 2 PIMs also means he didn't respond when anyone did anything to his teammates either. That's top line scorer behavior. He's not that hence I want a little more filth on my 2 way centerman. My bad.

This is not unreasonable.

[PerreaultForever]

Nonsense. 

 

The dude is always tops in the league in takeaways and plays the most minutes in the league, while scoring a good amount and taking TWO penalty minutes all season. That is the literal epitome of the award. 

 

 

It's not that you don't want Lady Byng guys on the team, but I think it's not what you want from your leaders. If ROR can step out of the expectation and is allowed to be a quiet reliable face off winning second line guy he's what you want. If you want a leader you want someone with a little more grit, will and competitiveness. 

 

Like Risto, the expectation is too high, because the roster as a whole is too thin. Risto could flourish on a lot of teams as a 2nd pairing guy getting less minutes than here and the same for ROR.  

[Thorner]

Ryan O’Reilly has suddenly become radically unappreciated around here.

Dude is a player.

It’s the opposite of “the concept of”.