Berglund on Waivers with Purpose to Terminate His Contract

[StuckinFL]

I think it's a case of he doesn't wanna play right now, period. I can't imagine JBot saying no if he asked for a trade. 

[Taro T]

17 minutes ago, StuckinFL said:

I think it's a case of he doesn't wanna play right now, period. I can't imagine JBot saying no if he asked for a trade. 

Assuming any other team out there would have taken on his contract AND he would've been willing to play for that team.

[SwampD]

6 hours ago, Cascade Youth said:

Or they get emotional during a tough game and think ok, at least it’s safe to vent about it on a fan message board, and weren’t expecting a sanctimonious beat-down in response...

If you don't get emotional while watching, then what's the point.

 

 

And Berglund can still suck it,… quitter.

[Thorner]

On 1/5/2019 at 4:16 PM, TrueBlueGED said:

So we traded O'Reilly for a guy who actually lost his love for the game? ???

THIS is the kind of thing Alanis Morissette should have been made aware of when she was writing that song.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Thorny

[Doohicksie]

I've been thinking with Eichel out and some of the other injuries, it would have been good to have Bergie to steady the ship, and that really, the team might be in trouble without his veteran presence.  After tonight's win against NJ, I think the team has moved on.  I think they're learning to win with the players they've got, a sign of a team with a good system.

[Thorner]

51 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I've been thinking with Eichel out and some of the other injuries, it would have been good to have Bergie to steady the ship, and that really, the team might be in trouble without his veteran presence.  After tonight's win against NJ, I think the team has moved on.  I think they're learning to win with the players they've got, a sign of a team with a good system.

The bolded may be true and referencing your other recent post to me I'm not trying to be a stick in the mud, but we have far too little data to go off to suggest this yet, IMO. 

The competition is the variable screaming out to me here. They beat the two terrible teams and got whooped by the one good team they played, in the stretch Eichel has been out. 

That screams "Roster", to me. But not system, which does serve your italicized point. 

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by Thorny

[Doohicksie]

All I'll say is:  This is what we've been waiting for, for years.  Are we there yet?  Maybe not, but it's just up the next hill and around the bend.

[Thorner]

18 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

All I'll say is:  This is what we've been waiting for, for years.  Are we there yet?  Maybe not, but it's just up the next hill and around the bend.

Spoken like a true Gamgee. 

[woods-racer]

11 hours ago, Thorny said:

Spoken like a true Gamgee. 

I had to *Google*.

Lord of the Rings character.

What a let down. That I was going to learn a new *cool* word.

[Thorner]

11 hours ago, woods-racer said:

I had to *Google*.

Lord of the Rings character.

What a let down. That I was going to learn a new *cool* word.

Phhffff. Lord of the Rings is cool.

[Brawndo]

 

[Eleven]

The hockey bomb burst before Christmas when the NHL club Buffalo Sabers announced its intention to break the contract with the 30-year-old center Patrik Berglund.

Then the Sabers lid was applied.

And the western sower Patrik Berglund disappeared under the radar.

But now "Bulan" breaks the silence in an exclusive interview at his home in Västerås.

It is clear early in the interview that Patrik Berglund broke his NHL contract because he simply lost the joy and energy, that he needed to come home to find his right self, find his harmony and his mental balance.

 

First, how are you?

- I feel much better today. My goal was to come home. This is my start of finding myself again - by seeing friends and family. I've taken help from elsewhere too. Now that I am at home I feel safer, I can breathe out and have more peace in my body, says a relaxed Patrik Berglund while sipping a cup of coffee in his kitchen.

Can you tell us the reason why Buffalo shut you down before Christmas?

- I was suspended for disciplinary reasons because I did not appear on training and match. It was a completely correct shutdown. I knew no other way to act. I needed to come home, get away from the hockey and get help.

- Those who represented me and Buffalo got the talk about what happened. I just knew I had to go home to find myself again.

- The league (NHL) and the players' union (NHLPA) were incredibly good at providing help, but I needed to decide for myself what I needed to do to find the joy again.

- I do not regret the decision I made.

This is really a cliché, but money makes no one happy. I can give up that amount at any time to feel good inside.

What can you say about your broken contract, which was valued at approximately SEK 110 million, with Buffalo?

- My contract and all the money I gave up means nothing. This is really a cliché, but money makes no one happy. I can give up that amount at any time to feel good inside. If I feel as bad as I did and feel like I do today ... then I really think I have made the right decision. The money is the last thing that means anything at the moment.

- Why should I go around and do something that I do not like in the same way anymore and on it show off a facade that I feel good ... when I say, really, *****.

- Hockey has been my whole life. For me, hockey is not just a job, but it is something I have loved. If you lose it and feel incredibly bad, I do not see at all why you should do it.

- I want to say that I am very sorry that I left and betrayed Buffalo as a law. The players there were absolutely wonderful and I love every player and the organization all the luck in the future. They have definitely not done anything wrong to me.

What can you tell us about the surprising third in the summer of 2018, when after ten years St Louis Blues suddenly switched you to Buffalo Sabers?

- Yes, I was beaten to Buffalo ... and it was a very big thing for me of course. Outwardly, one tried to be a proud guy and said that it will be a new and fun adventure. I am professional and that was how I aimed myself at it… but inside it was a bit like holding up a facade that makes you feel good.

It was thus the unexpected third from Blues to Sabers as Berglund's driving force so slowly began to drain.

- This is nothing against Buffalo as an organization ... but I had created a home in St. Louis, so I was sad and down. I wasn't angry about where I was going, nothing like that ... it was just tough trying to handle the change.

- I had just played in two clubs in my life - here in Västerås and in St. Louis… so…

- I still kept myself on the professional side and prepared myself for any season anyway ... but there was something that didn't really fit in the back of the head.

How influenced was the third during the summer, when you really should have switched off?

- I was very stressed by it. I flew back very early in late July, it's the earliest I've ever flown back to the states in a summer for a very long time. One had to start working with a move and the whole bit.

How early did you feel that it didn't feel right in Buffalo?

- I felt very fast… even though I showed a positive and fun facade outwards, because that is the person I am. But when I got home and was myself, I was completely exhausted. I tried to be someone else and did not show how I really felt and felt.

- The time went by. I said nothing and tried to get through that day by day all the time.

- So as I felt, you should not feel when you really live your dream. So it was already at the beginning of the season - if not even before. In the end I came to a point where I just felt that this was the last day.

Patrik Berglund continues:

- I have the world's best family, I have the world's best friends who care, I have lived a dream life and had to do what I really love ... and then I sit there ... and feel nothing. So I was just completely exhausted in my head.

- One day when I went out of a training, it was probably the 11th or 12th December, then I had decided that it will be exactly what it will be ... but this must be the drop. I get stuck with what I know ... and from there it took off.

How do you think about your future?

- I think of the future every day ... and that stresses me too. I need time, I need to know and see what I want.

Today I can't tell if I will play more or not. I'm in the middle of the process of healing.

Is there still a hockey career left in your mind?

- I don't want to see that this is the end for me, I hope I can find back to the joy of playing again. Today I can't tell if I will play more or not. I'm in the middle of the process of healing.

- It is clear that this season is completely closed. There will be no more game for me this season. Right now I have to get a lot of help and get away from the hockey.

The feeling, where is it most likely that you play if you find the hockey game again - NHL, Europe, SHL or VIK?

- I can't answer that today, I haven't thought about it. Clearly you now have a bigger plan to choose from, that you can choose where you want to be.

I have a big heart for my mother club VIK. I can't comment more on those paths now.

How do you look at VIK and Västerås?

- I have a big heart for my mother club. I can't comment more on those paths now.

How does your life look at the moment?

- It is very different. Right now I'm just trying to surround myself with family and friends. I'm just trying to be ... and it may take the time it takes.

You were a movie fan before, are you still?

- Yes, it will be quite a lot. I can't sleep without having a movie on my computer.

Finally, is there anything you want to add?

- I want to thank all the friends, family, loved ones who heard about them and checked the situation with me during the toughest period. I am very grateful that so many were there for one, ”says Patrik" Bulan "Berglund.

 

 

 

[darksabre]

Man. That's a bummer.

It's not surprising though. I know a lot of guys who played college or juniors who basically stopped playing and really don't have any interest in picking it up again. I think it can happen with anyone that if you do something long enough you kinda get tired of it.

[Brawndo]

I’m glad he did what was best for him and his piece of mind. 

On a less important note, glad to see he harbors no bad feelings towards the Sabres Organization 

[North Buffalo]

Gotta be tough thinking you are with one team all your adult life and then boom... sounds like ST Louis stood him up... Ive had a boss lose an election unexpectedly and its a shock.  Felt lost for a while... after 18 years in the turmoil and grind of politics and terrorist stuff id had enough... took me 2 years to decompress and switch gears.  I can feel his pain.

[Doohicksie]

Trying to understand what he's going through.... I think when you grow up as a hockey player in Canada (or the US) with an eye on going professional, you understand that it's a business and that there's only so much you can control; the team has a lot of control over your life and you understand you might have to move around.  You also have a feel for how big North America is geographically.

I could see where someone coming from a much smaller country such as Sweden, where you don't get that same exposure to the business of North American hockey, could be overwhelmed by it all.  He made the first step okay, settling into St. Louis, but that next one was just a step too far and he felt lost.  I feel bad for the guy.  He can try to explain it, but I'm sure that most people can't put themselves in his shoes; only a handful of guys have a life journey like his.

[Weave]

Good for him.

 

I don’t understand how his revelation that he lost his love for the game is being responded to here so differently from RORs revelation.

[Sabel79]

Just now, Weave said:

Good for him.

 

I don’t understand how his revelation that he lost his love for the game is being responded to here so differently from RORs revelation.

Bergy put his money where his mouth is, innit?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

9 minutes ago, Sabel79 said:

Bergy put his money where his mouth is, innit?

That's it, I think.  Bergy lost his love for the game really and he was sick over it.  He walked away from a lot of $.  He walked away gladly.

That means, at least to me, that Bergy really did loose his love of the game, where ROR really didn't.  ROR lost his love for the Sabres.

[woods-racer]

8 minutes ago, Weave said:

Good for him.

 

I don’t understand how his revelation that he lost his love for the game is being responded to here so differently from RORs revelation.

I took ROR's comment as *lost the love* was because of losing and wanted to go on to a winning team.

Patriks seems  to have had/having true heart felt *lost the love of North American hockey* and wanted to go home. No blame on the Sabres or players.

The fact he let go of 10-12 million to be happy again is admirable to most and is the biggest distinction.

[nfreeman]

It seems pretty clear that Bergy's issues went well beyond hockey -- that sounds to me like he was suffering from pretty severe depression.  That wasn't the impression that I got from ROR, FWIW.

[woods-racer]

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 7:51 PM, woods-racer said:

I think he was unhappy with the  way the whole thing played out.

The trade with a no trade clause.

*Demoted* to the line he was on.

His stats as a Sabre.

 

He wanted a change of scenery and money wasn't making him happy (thinking he would get similar on the open market anyway) so he took a chance and has hit the free market. He is now finding out his services will be had for a lot less on the few teams that he is willing to play, and that even fewer teams even want him.

I wish him the best, but I believe this is more ego or a form of *make the ego happy* than for any other reason.

 

If he winds up somewhere in the world playing for the love of the game for a lot less and is very happy, I will greatly admire him for that. I doubt this happens   I would like to see this happen.

 

I got it half wrong.

Money seems to having nothing to do with it, his happiness and piece of mind was the *everything* of it.

Fixed my last line.

[Doohicksie]

34 minutes ago, Weave said:

I don’t understand how his revelation that he lost his love for the game is being responded to here so differently from RORs revelation.

ROR was a leader on the team and a key piece.  Berglund didn't say anything to anyone to drag the team down; he simply left.

[darksabre]

I just want to thank pi for continuing to be super duper wrong about many things

[Eleven]

12 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

It seems pretty clear that Bergy's issues went well beyond hockey -- that sounds to me like he was suffering from pretty severe depression.  That wasn't the impression that I got from ROR, FWIW.

I agree.  We knew we would hear his story, whatever it would turn out to be, when he was ready to tell it.