Great Article in The Athletic About Eichel

[WildCard]

Just now, pi2000 said:

Eichel on having his own house, living on his own...

"No one else is there to stray you in a certain direction. The only direction you’re going is the one you want to go in. And I think that’s really good for me right now." 

...hasn't he been living with Reinhart that last 2 years?   Hmmm.

 

Yeah I caught that too, that was a rather odd comment to make

[Marions Piazza]

3 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Eichel on having his own house, living on his own...

"No one else is there to stray you in a certain direction. The only direction you’re going is the one you want to go in. And I think that’s really good for me right now." 

...hasn't he been living with Reinhart that last 2 years?   Hmmm.

 

I heard that the biggest issue is that Reinhart always wanted Jack to play Battlefront, but, Jack is a Call of Duty kinda guy.  

[pi2000]

3 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Yeah I caught that too, that was a rather odd comment to make

...and coincidentally Reinhart is not around, but it doesn't seem to be bother Jack one bit.     Would like to hear his response if pressed on the Reinhart contract issue and him not being around.

[Randall Flagg]

3 hours ago, darksabre said:

I'm not buying it. I believe what I've heard about O'Reilly being frustrated with Jack but Jack not having a problem with Ryan. 

I trust what Jack said (by the way - he wasn't asked about it. He specifically brought up those rumors out of nowhere and addressed them with that explanation) more than I trust most of Paul Hamilton's locker room waffling. 

[darksabre]

16 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Eichel on having his own house, living on his own...

"No one else is there to stray you in a certain direction. The only direction you’re going is the one you want to go in. And I think that’s really good for me right now." 

...hasn't he been living with Reinhart that last 2 years?   Hmmm.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if Reinhart was a problem for Jack. I know Sam, at the very least, loves himself some video games. So does McCabe. Maybe Jack is his best when on a certain schedule and Sam (and others) was disruptive to that. I also wonder if part of Sam's turnaround was Jack putting his foot down? 

Could Sam regress without Jack's daily influence? Maybe something Botterill is worried about...

8 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I trust what Jack said (by the way - he wasn't asked about it. He specifically brought up those rumors out of nowhere and addressed them with that explanation) more than I trust most of Paul Hamilton's locker room waffling. 

Paul Hamilton is irrelevant to me.

I'd love to believe that what Jack and Ryan were up to was a joke, but that's not what I've heard. 

edit: I should clarify that I think the fistbump thing was overplayed by sports twitter. But the idea that there was no friction between them doesn't square. 

Edited September 17, 2018 by darksabre

[Randall Flagg]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

Biron's quote is in line with what that national (was he from Colorado?) NHL reporter had related a while back (sorry no link) about how just about all the veterans on the team (primarily ROR, but excepting Kane (which in and of itself probably says something about Kane)) had a genuine problem with Eichel and his 'tude when/soon after he arrived.

My inference: He acted like a cocky pr1ck from Boston, Mass.

But people grow up. I'm ready to be over it, or, at least, I'll be over it provided Eichel's team shows real progress this season. If this team continues to be less than the sum of its parts, then that will presumably fall on Eichel.

I took Biron's quote encompass not veteran players but the entirety of the city of buffalo - the team, the fanbase etc. FWIW. 

As for the bold. Still not biting on this at all. Jack's on ice play, both to the eye, and to any particular metric, has improved steadily each season. Last year was his best even strength offensive and defensive season ever. Both in terms of raw production and underlying fancystats. The fact remains that he was given trash to play with while doing that, the depth scoring of the team plummeted, and the goaltending fell off a cliff (which we now have real insight into). Those things tanked us last year despite every top six member having their best season as Sabres as far as underlying numbers goes.

Unless the claim is that Benoit Pouliot and Jacob Josefson were just sick of Jack and his 'tude, and THAT'S why they weren't as good depth as a demonstrably and obviously better third line of, say, Foligno - Larsson (pre-injury) - Gionta which was arguably our best ES line in the previous seasons. And not that they were worse hockey players doing worse things on the ice. And even IF that was the case, well, what kind of professional lets being grumpy about a teammate's leadership affect their on-ice production (which actually is in line with what their career arcs would expect)? That would be straight trash and not anyone's fault but theirs. 

 

13 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Yeah I caught that too, that was a rather odd comment to make

I pictured the Moulson ice cream freezer during that part of the article ?

[Randall Flagg]

6 minutes ago, darksabre said:

 

Paul Hamilton is irrelevant to me.

I'd love to believe that what Jack and Ryan were up to was a joke, but that's not what I've heard. 

Paul Hamilton is the only known source of the particular "Jack likes ROR, but not vice versa" rumor. 

They might not have liked each other, but there is zero chance that fistbumpgate was anything but an incidental thing that was turned into a joke. Especially because after like, twice, they went back to celebrating together like they had for two years. 

[darksabre]

Just now, Randall Flagg said:

Paul Hamilton is the only known source of the particular "Jack likes ROR, but not vice versa" rumor. 

They might not have liked each other, but there is zero chance that fistbumpgate was anything but an incidental thing that was turned into a joke. Especially because after like, twice, they went back to celebrating together like they had for two years. 

You beat me to my correction. I don't think fistbumpgate was anything either. But I do believe what I've heard about the one way street of frustration between Ryan and Jack, and my source isn't Hammy. 

I also don't think it would be fair to say that Ryan didn't like Jack, just that he was at times frustrated with Jack. I think both guys liked each other just fine. 

[Randall Flagg]

1 minute ago, darksabre said:

You beat me to my correction. I don't think fistbumpgate was anything either. But I do believe what I've heard about the one way street of frustration between Ryan and Jack, and my source isn't Hammy. 

I also don't think it would be fair to say that Ryan didn't like Jack, just that he was at times frustrated with Jack. I think both guys liked each other just fine. 

Gotcha. This particular conversation closed nicely then. 

[TheAud]

17 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Eichel on having his own house, living on his own...

"No one else is there to stray you in a certain direction. The only direction you’re going is the one you want to go in. And I think that’s really good for me right now." 

...hasn't he been living with Reinhart that last 2 years?   Hmmm.

 

I 100% felt this way when I got divorced.    

Maybe Jack and Sam were secretly married?  If so, at least there are no kids in the picture to complicate things, not counting Dahlin. 
 

[That Aud Smell]

58 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I took Biron's quote encompass not veteran players but the entirety of the city of buffalo - the team, the fanbase etc. FWIW. 

Unless the claim is that Benoit Pouliot and Jacob Josefson were just sick of Jack and his 'tude, and THAT'S why they weren't as good depth as a demonstrably and obviously better third line of, say, Foligno - Larsson (pre-injury) - Gionta which was arguably our best ES line in the previous seasons. 

Alright - that made me laugh. I know Biron's Fran-glish can be a bit idiosyncratic -- but he sure seemed to be echoing what that reporter had related in reporting on ROR in St. Louis.

1 hour ago, darksabre said:

It wouldn't surprise me if Reinhart was a problem for Jack. I know Sam, at the very least, loves himself some video games. So does McCabe. Maybe Jack is his best when on a certain schedule and Sam (and others) was disruptive to that. I also wonder if part of Sam's turnaround was Jack putting his foot down? 

Could Sam regress without Jack's daily influence? Maybe something Botterill is worried about. 

I missed that quote from pi about the benefits of living alone. That is interesting.

[...]

I'm not buying the narrative that Eichel came in here with a Boston chip on his shoulder.  It's obviously possible, but's also quite possible he came here amped up and wanting to win.  ROR and Kane responded with a "grow up kid, just play and get paid" attitude and weren't interested in giving more than what's required to earn the big bucks - and THEN the Boston attitude kicked in with that as the foundation.

Maybe Eichel wanted to know why certain people aren't as focused and/or disciplined - maybe Eichel was shocked by what it's really like behind the curtain - and THEN the Boston thing kicked in and he was an ass to those people who he thought were slackers.

Just some thoughts, I know nothing about what was happening. 

[Thorner]

Whether Eichel gets the C before the season starts will I believe be very telling. 

[carpandean]

8 hours ago, Eleven said:

But what happens to Samson?  Does he ride the tandem bike alone now?

(Please, there is no need for the meme with the guy holding hands with his girlfriend and looking backward at another gal.)

[Stoner]

New entry on urbandictionary.com: The Dahlin Sidecar.

[bunomatic]

33 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

New entry on urbandictionary.com: The Dahlin Sidecar.

Or sloppy seconds ?

[Stoner]

I read the headline and that's all. It sounds like a puff piece that the writer could have mailed in, and an editor could have inserted quotes Jack or his agent provided. Maybe I'm wrong. Does The Athletic do sports "journalism"? I guess I'm looking for something fresh and different. Ready to be a leader? OK. Did the writer come to this conclusion or did he have it at the ready before starting his work?

[matter2003]

17 hours ago, Marions Piazza said:

I heard that the biggest issue is that Reinhart always wanted Jack to play Battlefront, but, Jack is a Call of Duty kinda guy.  

Biggest issue is that Jack took his hot GF to the bedroom and Rheinhart kept knocking on the door asking questions like "Hey did you go out and get any beer?",  "Hey man, where's the ice?", "Hey did you pay that cable bill?"

[Stoner]

I read the free portion. I might not be able to get past the lack of proofreading.

[Marions Piazza]

1 minute ago, PASabreFan said:

I read the free portion. I might not be able to get past the lack of proofreading.

Is it as bad as Garth from Hockeybuzz?

[jsb]

There has been several great articles in The Athletic concerning the Sabres, I'm with PA, this wasn't one of them although if this is one of there PPoor one's, that does say a lot for their other ones. Anytime you put Marty Beeron in an article, you lose me almost immediately. 

[Stoner]

59 minutes ago, Marions Piazza said:

Is it as bad as Garth from Hockeybuzz?

No. There's just one doozy that they missed early on. More typographical than anything.

[SwampD]

12 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

No. There's just one doozy that they missed early on. More typographical than anything.

Pretty sure you don't need the word "like" there.

[Winston]

On 9/17/2018 at 10:27 AM, Eleven said:

But what happens to Samson?  Does he ride the tandem bike alone now?

(Please, there is no need for the meme with the guy holding hands with his girlfriend and looking backward at another gal.)

 

On 9/17/2018 at 10:33 AM, Randall Flagg said:

That meme is legendary

As is any meme that comes from stock images 

 

[Andrew Amerk]

On 9/17/2018 at 10:27 AM, Eleven said:

But what happens to Samson?  Does he ride the tandem bike alone now?

(Please, there is no need for the meme with the guy holding hands with his girlfriend and looking backward at another gal.)

You mean this?