Speculation: Buff Too Big?

[SensibleGuy]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/op...uglien-in-no-shape-for-a-trade-210963161.html

The other thread about this seems to be broken?

Anyway, this is disconcerting. I'm a Buff fan. I think the guy is great fun to watch and has the potential to be a dominant player, but he really needs to be in shape. If he actually did get heavier as the shortened season went on (and lets be honest, that would somewhat explain his disappointing performance arc over the season) that's a very discouraging thing.

C'mon man! Step away from the buffet!

Click to read more...

 

[Potrzebie]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/op...uglien-in-no-shape-for-a-trade-210963161.html

The other thread about this seems to be broken?

Anyway, this is disconcerting. I'm a Buff fan. I think the guy is great fun to watch and has the potential to be a dominant player, but he really needs to be in shape. If he actually did get heavier as the shortened season went on (and lets be honest, that would somewhat explain his disappointing performance arc over the season) that's a very discouraging thing.

C'mon man! Step away from the buffet!

I could barely get through Lawless' latest "article". Does he really think a blogger from H****yB**z is "accredited" and "not known for rumor mongering" ? I would have laughed if it wasn't such an unfunny joke.

Does he even know what that site is and who runs it?

 

[Huffer]

My post from the other thread:

So this whole article is based on Tessier? The same Tessier who says that a Buff and Burmi for the Schenns is a possibility and says he wouldn't do it cause Buff is worth more?

So Lawless wants to believe Tessier on Buff being 302 (because why wouldn't he, now he can write a negative article), but he also opines that because of that, Buff is unmovable? Pretty selective belief in Tessier eh Lawless? Believe him when it helps a negative agenda, but ignore him when he says there is a possible Buff and Burmi deal (for a good return).

We're to believe that a guy could pack on 30-40 lbs over a shortened season playing every second night?

 

[Potrzebie]

My post from the other thread:

So this whole article is based on Tessier? The same Tessier who says that a Buff and Burmi for the Schenns is a possibility and says he wouldn't do it cause Buff is worth more?

So Lawless wants to believe Tessier on Buff being 302 (because why wouldn't he, now he can write a negative article), but he also opines that because of that, Buff is unmovable? Pretty selective belief in Tessier eh Lawless? Believe him when it helps a negative agenda, but ignore him when he says there is a possible Buff and Burmi deal (for a good return).

We're to believe that a guy could pack on 30-40 lbs over a shortened season playing every second night?

Don't forget, a blogger from H****yB**z would never print an outright lie. They would be too afraid of "having their press credentials yanked".

 

[King Woodballs]

Stupid other broken thread
Every ****ing time I make one they are broken.

Anyways, I don't know what to believe here.
It wouldn't shock me, but I really have a tough time thinking a hockey player put on that much weight playing pretty much 3 games a week for 4 months.

However, if it is true. This would be quite disheartening.

 

[SensibleGuy]

Whatever your feelings about Lawless and his "sources" may be, Buff did sorta look heavier (and played like he was heavier) by the end of the season...of course there were rumours about him playing injured (again - didn't that happen near the end of last season too?) which may have kept him from training properly and so forth between games.

 

[Huffer]

The last 5 games of the year Buff didn't play less than 24 minutes. In the 5th last game (at home against the Hurricanes, which I was at), he was all over the ice, layed out 2 or 3 huge hits (one to Eric Staal), and sprinted down the ice to create a 2 on 1 and bury Ladd's rebound in OT for the winner.

And he did all that at 300lbs? If so, than 95% percent of defenseman in the NHL should be ashamed of themselves, because they are all worse than a guy at 300lbs.

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hlp=8470834&lang=en

 

[Hawker14]

Seems like in Lawless' mind, every Jet either wants to be, or has to be, traded.

Interesting thought process that says more about Lawless than any player he writes about.

 

[Jets4Life]

Not Lawless again. I'm so sick of reading hie columns about the Jets. He never has anything good to say about any player.

 

[LowEnd88]

Lol 302 pounds at the end of the season?!?!?! That's so ridiculous it is hilarious. Perhaps Lawless put his weight down instead?

 

[sipowicz]

Before most of you get off track and start in on how Lawless should mind his own business in regards to Buff's lack of conditioning lets remember Buff played like crap most of the shortened season aside from a few good games at the start.

 

[Huffer]

Yeah, really crappy.

He was #1 on our team for minutes by a defenseman, and tied for 9th in the league for points by a defenseman.

 

[sipowicz]

Yeah, really crappy.

He was #1 on our team for minutes by a defenseman, and tied for 9th in the league for points by a defenseman.

And Enstrom played what, 20 games, Bogo missed the first ?, so even after Buff what did you really have on D, lot of guys who would be hard pressed to even play as a #6 on a good team.

 

[Potrzebie]

Before most of you get off track and start in on how Lawless should mind his own business in regards to Buff's lack of conditioning lets remember Buff played like crap most of the shortened season aside from a few good games at the start.

That's right. He was playing like a man on fire until he missed that handful of games due to injury. When he came back he wasn't the same leading to lots of speculation that whatever injury he had (groin?) was not entirely healed. My guess is that had more to do with his ineffectiveness in the latter part of the season than somehow gaining 40 pounds in 3 months.

My issue with Lawless isn't that he should mind his own business. It's his lazy writing "skills" and "fact checking". Really? He quotes a blogger from a rumor site known to make things up solely to drive hits and ad revenue... and the fact that he then throws this out there like it's confirmed. People who aren't on HF Boards and get most of their news from MSM (I think of people like my dad) think it's somehow from a legitimate source. Seriously? His fact checking is emailing the blogger and asking if it's true?

I wonder if Lawless is aware that the same blogger's impeccable source once upon a time told him that the Coyotes had been sold to TNSE and was a "done deal". About a week after the rest of the interweb had been churning out the same rumor.

 

[truck]

Before most of you get off track and start in on how Lawless should mind his own business in regards to Buff's lack of conditioning lets remember Buff played like crap most of the shortened season aside from a few good games at the start.

Crappy Buff was still 9th in defensive scoring and 3rd at even strength scoring despite missing 10% of the season.

 

[sipowicz]

That's right. He was playing like a man on fire until he missed that handful of games due to injury. When he came back he wasn't the same leading to lots of speculation that whatever injury he had (groin?) was not entirely healed. My guess is that had more to do with his ineffectiveness in the latter part of the season than somehow gaining 40 pounds in 3 months.

To be fair to Buff losing his grandfather ( his father figure) was tough on Buff and probably affected his play more than anything.

 

[Gump Hasek]

Many of you need to get some thicker skin - to coin a phrase. I can remember way back when Pat Doyle used to write about the Jets for the Sun, and when Taylor wrote for the Free Press. Not a week passed by when they weren't reporting on the various players partying it up at a certain club on Rorie Street, or that Hawerchuk was regularly seen smoking on the loading dock at the old arena, or that certain GMs', coaches, and players needed to either be fired or traded. Lawless' stuff is actually quite tame by comparison.

All Lawless is saying is that IF what someone else claims is true, then it is such a big problem that the player can't even be traded unless it comes at a massive cost to the team. He isn't calling for him to be traded but rather is suggesting that IF those claims are true, then our GM will need to somehow figure out a way to whip this guy into shape.

Not really sure how a random fan blogger (an insurance agent IIRC) would have gained access to Byfuglien's exit weight, so I view the report with a jaundiced eye. That said, I also recall noticing Buff's moobs during the "shirts off their backs" ceremony at season end. Nice rack. It isn't at all a stretch to suggest he was possibly overweight at season end.

 

[Brian Cadle Fan]

My problem with Lawless is not whether he likes or dislikes any of the players. It's that he is very frequently wrong. He is almost always wrong when sharing "inside information". Sports journalists in Winnipeg used to be of a much higher calibre.

 

[Potrzebie]

Many of you need to get some thicker skin - to coin a phrase. I can remember way back when Pat Doyle used to write about the Jets for the Sun, and when Taylor wrote for the Free Press.

I remember Pat Doyle well. He used to lash out in his column as a way of dealing with being transgendered.

All Lawless is saying is that IF what someone else claims is true, then it is such a big problem that the player can't even be traded unless it comes at a massive cost to the team. He isn't calling for him to be traded but rather is suggesting that IF those claims are true, then our GM will need to somehow figure out a way to whip this guy into shape.

Actually, that's not what Lawless is saying. He seems to be implying that it somehow must be true, as the blogger wouldn't lie.

"Tessier isn't known for being a rumour-monger and printing an outright lie is a quick way to get one's press credentials yanked. Tessier would have to have a good source and be in strong position to defend his story. I checked with Tessier Monday night and he stood by his story and his source."

 

[Gm0ney]

I'm getting tired of waking up every few weeks to a Lawless hit piece in the WFP.

Full disclosure: I've put on about 40 lbs since I got married in 2001.

 

[sipowicz]

My problem with Lawless is not whether he likes or dislikes any of the players. It's that he is very frequently wrong. He is almost always wrong when sharing "inside information". Sports journalists in Winnipeg used to be of a much higher calibre.

Like writing articles that were lifted word for word from other sources and calling them your own a'la Scott Taylor.

 

[Gump Hasek]

Actually, that's not what Lawless is saying. He seems to be implying that it somehow must be true, as the blogger wouldn't lie.

Wrong. It is exactly what he is saying.

If there's any truth to this number, Byfuglien is virtually untradeable.

You conveniently left that part out.

 

[Potrzebie]

Wrong. It is exactly what he is saying.

You conveniently left that part out.

It was evident Byfuglien grew heavier this season as the games moved on and according to accredited Jets blogger Pete Tessier, the player's weight rose to 302 pounds by season's end.

He's not just reporting it as a rumor. He is trying really hard to convince the reader by implying that the blogger somehow writes in some sort of official capacity. Accredited blogger?

 

[Gump Hasek]

No offense intended, but he most certainly is reporting it as a rumour when he credits the report to someone else and follows with...

If there's any truth to this number, Byfuglien is virtually untradeable.

 

[truck]

No offense intended, but he most certainly is reporting it as a rumour when he credits the report to someone else and follows with...

Yay for rumour mongering!