Tidbits: Around the League: NHL News - Part 2

[DeagleJenkins]

Sillinger, 12th 2021, is Columbus’ 1C and first powerplay guy this year.

wanted to draft him.... is he quality or is it just columbus has nothing else?

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

wanted to draft him.... is he quality or is it just columbus has nothing else?

I don’t know I haven’t watched Columbus this year. I liked him at last years draft, but wouldn’t have imagined he could be this productive this soon.

 

[BagHead]

wanted to draft him.... is he quality or is it just columbus has nothing else?

I also haven't watched him, but from what I've read from Columbus fans, it's a little of both. I was not high on Sillinger before the draft as my viewings of him left me with mixed feelings, but he's clearly doing well this year, and I'm happy to say that it appears I was wrong about him.

 

[BagHead]

Because the NHL has made it easy to access these drugs. Have you guys forgotten already the story of Boogaard? Have you heard about Fedoruk? Or hell Jimmy Hayes?

This is a great article, because it highlights the issues the NHL is having with substance abuse (Addiction & Substance Abuse in the NHL - It's Bigger Than the Game (thehockeywriters.com):





The NHL has been dragging their feet on this for a decade. The leaks here and there paint a totally different picture than what the NHL wants fan to think and the newest issue with Price should be sounding the alarm bells.

Addiction is a two-way road, but if the NHL isn't doing their part to help and clean up the locker rooms and implement stricter policies on drugs than it's a losing battle.

The question the NHL needs to pose to themselves is how did these players get addicted? And how can we help them and the next group?

Do you know the percent of the US population as a whole with a drug or alcohol problem?
-In 2015 the NIH (The National Institutes of Health) had at just under 1 in 10 people for drugs (at some point in their lives).
-A 2017 JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) article/study had 1 in 8 people for alcohol (currently).

Just using those numbers as a baseline: 2 players on every NHL team will have a drug problem at some point. Almost 3 guys on every team have a current alcohol problem. For the entire 50 man roster, it's 5 guys who will have drug problems, and over 6 with current alcohol problems. Now multiply those numbers by 32 now to account for every team. 1600 players total. 160 players will have a drug problem at some point. 200 of them currently have an alcohol problem.

I have no clue on the numbers of current/former players in the NHL with any of these issues. So I can't make any type of comparison to US baseline numbers. Everyone gets hooked on things for different reasons. To blame the NHL for all of it is disingenuous.

I think it's clear that there's a middle ground here, where it's not the NHL's fault that people get addicted to substances, but also where they aren't doing everything in their power to help with it, and may in some ways be contributing to it. For instance, allowing teams to give players prescription drugs is useful most of the time, but incredibly enabling when you've got someone on the team who is addicted to those drugs. And it's not always easy for a team to know who is or is not addicted. Addicts are good at hiding it even from their own families.

The NHL is certainly not to blame for all addiction in the playerbase, but it does appear to have a hand in enabling it from time to time. I'm sure that all the time on the road, the frequently frantic schedule, and the sheer pain from playing with injuries (and being encouraged to by your team) doesn't help.

On the other side of the coin, the NHL can only take so many measures. It is true that an addict who doesn't want help won't get helped. My father was an alcoholic, and he had admitted that it was a problem. Still, multiple trips (both willing and unwilling) through rehab weren't enough to break his addiction. It's a sad truth, but some people can't be saved from their addictions via our current methods of assistance.

My view on it is that the NHL is definitely not doing enough to help, and may be even doing some things that actively hurt addicts in their playerbase. Once they have taken the measures necessary to help these players, though, they shouldn't be blamed for the player failing to break their addiction.

 

[GuerinUp]

Did I ask for that?

More so, Boogaard worked with an abuse program - all that good did for him.

you do know he died from combining alcohol and a drug that he was prescribed for pain.... Hard to blame the abuse program for a person not abiding by warning labels.

 

[Ban Hammered]

Isn't that what an investigation the NHL should look into? Maybe I'm used to other leagues actually interviewing and reviewing situations like this without prompting from the public or trying to cover it up. More so, wouldn't it be in the best interest to know why Price was abusing a substance?

None of this is any of your damn business.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Buffalo should have gone Beniers over Power. That will be another miss for them.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Buffalo should have gone Beniers over Power. That will be another miss for them.

Disagree

 

[guitarhunterdude]

Buffalo should have gone Beniers over Power. That will be another miss for them.

Agree, but only because I think Power needs more development than Beniers and I think they'll screw it up, not because Beniers has the higher ceiling.

 

[57special]

Agree, but only because I think Power needs more development than Beniers and I think they'll screw it up, not because Beniers has the higher ceiling.

I am confident in the sabres ability to screw up a Center, also.

 

[guitarhunterdude]

I am confident in the sabres ability to screw up a Center, also.

I just don't think there's much you can screw up with Beniers, even if he'll never be more than a 2C. Power could be a 1D but I think it's a long shot and his game I think has more work than Beniers' to be NHL ready.

 

[57special]

I just don't think there's much you can screw up with Beniers, even if he'll never be more than a 2C. Power could be a 1D but I think it's a long shot and his game I think has more work than Beniers' to be NHL ready.

Hey, i love Beniers, but i can't see how taking Powers is a mistake, either.

 

[guitarhunterdude]

Hey, i love Beniers, but i can't see how taking Powers is a mistake, either.

If I think a team can competently develop prospects, I agree. Given what we've seen with Dahlin, I don't think Buffalo is one of those teams.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I am confident in the sabres ability to screw up a Center, also.

Who is worse at developing? Rangers or Sabres?

 

[Wild11MN]

Islanders playing their home opener tonight.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Hey, i love Beniers, but i can't see how taking Powers is a mistake, either.

Power reminds me Jay Bouwmeester. I do not see the mentality of a #1D, and he will get defensively targeted in the NHL.

Berniers is a lock to be a top-6 center. Just a question of whether he has the playmaking to be a #1C.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Berniers is a lock to be a top-6 center. Just a question of whether he has the playmaking to be a #1C.

What makes you think Berniers is a lock to be a top-6 center?

 

[Mickey the mouse]

Power reminds me Jay Bouwmeester. I do not see the mentality of a #1D, and he will get defensively targeted in the NHL.

Berniers is a lock to be a top-6 center. Just a question of whether he has the playmaking to be a #1C.

I watched him for 2 years before his draft and he definitely has the mentality.

Plays ultra aggresive in O zone and needs to reel that in at Pro level and he'll be fine

 

[NHL1674]

After 17 games, Parise only has 3 assists and is a minus-3. Ouch!

 

[thestonedkoala]

After 17 games, Parise only has 3 assists and is a minus-3. Ouch!

Also the Islanders no longer look elite. Locker room dysfunction following Parise?

 

[Minnewildsota]

After 17 games, Parise only has 3 assists and is a minus-3. Ouch!

He just needs time to get acclimated to the new environment!

I asked a question on the Stars board as I didn't see anything related to Suter since the signing, "What have your thoughts on him been?"

There weren't too many happy campers. Most thought they would get a good year, an ok year, and 2 bad years out of him. They're concerned there not even going to get an ok year out of him, and now are stuck with him for 3 more years. Bullet dodged by Bill Guerin IMHO.

The Isles board was a bit more up to date. Most think Parise is useless except for his "intangibles" but those really don't matter when you're not winning. At least, they didn't sign him for 4x4.

 

[57special]

Suter is on pace for 50 pts., and is playing 23 minutes per night. He is the least of the Stars worries. Klingberg, and the lack of production from large AAV players Radulov, Benn, and Seguin, are what's killing them. Those guys used to be great, but just haven't aged well.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

What does a guy like McDavid have to do to get into the conversation for the GOAT? Multiple 2ppg seasons and a few cups? I never watched Gretzky. This McDavid guy is the most dynamic player I've ever watched.

 

[TaLoN]

What does a guy like McDavid have to do to get into the conversation for the GOAT? Multiple 2ppg seasons and a few cups? I never watched Gretzky. This McDavid guy is the most dynamic player I've ever watched.

A lot more than he's doing. People who didn't watch Wayne don't understand just how much better he was than literally all of his peers. Gretzky broke the game so much, they made rule changes to curtail him personally.

Rule changes they have later phased back out of the game because nobody is breaking the game anymore.

 

[2Pair]

What does a guy like McDavid have to do to get into the conversation for the GOAT? Multiple 2ppg seasons and a few cups? I never watched Gretzky. This McDavid guy is the most dynamic player I've ever watched.

He will never be in a conversation with Gretzky, Lemieux. Didn't see Orr or Howe, can't offer much of an opinion, The debate about McDavid being better than Crosby is already valid though.