I didn't say he was the reason calm down. It would of sounded senile to say Duchene was the reason Colorado was historically bad (and I know he wasn't, but the fact they go from 40 something pts to 96 MAINLY only from subtrating him and Ottawa goes from a goal from the cup finals to one of there worst seasons in years and the turning point was when they got him says something) Sometimes teams can add by subtraction. You won't believe in junior hockey alone how many times I hear GM's, Coaches, Players, Owners say "this guy is a cancer" and when he's moved the team flourishes. Now this isn't fair to Duchene of course as there were so many factores like the Sweden trip, losing Methot, the Hoffman thing Karlssons contract questions, Anderson playing bad, Ownership talking about moving team, etc, etc. so don't quote me thinking that I'm blaming DUchene alone but when he was at the podium for the press conference and stated he couldnm't be apart of another re-build that kind of attitude just struck me the wrong way and he goes from losing to losing. ROR who coincidentally and convieniently was a teammate of Duchene struck me as a spoiled I deserve better type of guy too. Just think if he said what he did publically, imagine what he said privately. I don't care what year your in those comments effect you, your the team, the coach, the fans, the owner, the coach, the gm and most importantly his teammates who are young and impressionable and look up to someone older like ROR (Relatively older then the kids anyway) ..it's a proven fact attitude rub off on others, I can only hope Reinhart, Eichel and the younger ones didn't pick up too many habits from Kane, ROR's attitude, and Lehner claiming it was a conspiracy Buffalo lost games. It's funny how we got rid of all three. This subtraction COULD BE HUGE for Buffalo from a dressing room perspective. I don't care if your 1-80-1 in a season you don't say what he did when you play a game for a living and have one of the most lucrative contracts in the show. He's already getting spoiled by a billionaire owner who goes above and beyond what an owner should for his guys and he expects him to give him millions more on July first. Botterill said no thanks and couldn't find the phone fast enough. The fact we got 5 pieces for him and two are depth guys, one is still a respectable third line center (maybe 4th on an elite team) and two draft picks who are likely going to be MHL players , maybe we luk out on one or both. I don't understand how people judge trades so quick without seeing what it was first. But that's human nature I suppose. All I'm saying is with ROR we could of added by just losing him alone. (Although not likely, it's also a possibility after seeing the Duchene thing.) I understand his talent and all and how players like him are hard to find but we have Mittlestadt ready to go and if just that, with SOME negativity is gone (We finished 31st with ROR healthy all year we had to do SOMETHING....) I know it sounds like I'm pinning it all on him, like I am Duchene but I'm not trying too, I'm merely trying to explain my other post with these reasons. But what I was saying was if we just get Mittlestadt who gets three quarters the pts he did and our dressing room is more positive (Skinner looks like he has a great attitude) then we could be better for it. Those two things don't even count the 5 NHL pieces we got for him so I do have to laugh at the people who thought the trade was so one sided. I think if our hands weren't tied we may of gotten two first rounders and a similar package with it as well. But HF just loves to go OMG so and so got fleeced because that's a thing. here. Everything is dramatic. As far as attitudes go I know Jack Eichel is no angel and he could be part of the negativity too but I watch his interviews and he seems to never throw his team under the bus or say he's lost his love for the game. Eichels answered honestly and said after a season like this everyone needs to be better and that starts with me. Think about the fact he's just a kid in a way and was in on 32 percent of the offense despite missing 18 percent of the yea and he took the high road. So all in all I'm not blaming Duchene or O'Reilly as much as it sounds like I am I' just stating the reasons for my claim above. I could be over-reacting, I could be biased, I could be wrong, I'm just stating the reasons I feel things could happen the way they could.
I felt I had to clear those last things up at the end so there's no misunderstandings.
