TBN: Sullivan: Sabres' Myers leaves you wanting more

[jBuds]

www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130322/SPORTS/130329743/1004

Sabres fans will be thrilled to know that Tyler Myers is happy with his game these days. Granted, the standard is low. Myers was horrible and out of shape when the NHL lockout ended in January. He was benched for two games in February.

Now, at the start of spring, one month after Lindy Ruff’s firing, the 23-year-old defenseman has finally reached the point where you can characterize his play as somewhere around average.

“The last 10 games have been really good,” Myers said before Thursday’s game against Toronto at First Niagara Center. “There’s definitely still more there, but I’ve been focusing on my defensive end. There’s always room for improvement, but it’s right where I want it to be.”

“Ron [Rolston] has told me he doesn’t care if I get another point the rest of the year,” Myers said. “So my main focus has been the D-zone, and that’s been really good for the most part. I’ll find my offensive game again. I’m not worried about that.”

You’d think we were discussing some rookie, instead of a fourth-year man who got a seven-year, $38.5 million contract extension last July. The Sabres are one of the worst teams in the NHL, a defensive wreck. They got their coach fired. And their 6-foot-8 franchise defenseman is taking baby steps.

Myers has been better under Ron Rolston. Is he more comfortable with Ruff gone?

Myers laughed. “I mean, it’s different for sure. But I can’t take anything away from Lindy. He helped me tremendously when he was here, and helped me improve a lot. In saying that, Ron’s been really good with me as well. He’s been really supportive and positive with me. It’s been good.”

Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnd then, this gem:

But do you build a team around a defenseman who isn’t tough to play against, who comes out mentally soft after a great rookie year or a lucrative new contract, who leaves his goalie out to dry on far too many occasions, and who played his worst with his coach under fire?

What do you say, I asked Myers, to the idea that it’s not enough to be good, that you need to be great?

“I just feel like you’re putting more pressure on me,” he said. “No, I’m satisfied with good. No, I’m not. I think any player would want to move up with how they’re playing. It’s only natural if you want to get better, so I’m not worried about finding it again. I know it’ll come.”

What??????

Click to read more...

 

[McCauleyChirps]

Get the man some speaking classes. Good lord. Just goes to show that he really does deserve the big bird nick I gave him.

Also, it shows that Lindy was kind of ruining Myers. He obviously was asking too much of him and it showed on the ice. It looks like Myers and a lot of the other guys respond to positive remarks on his game and not to dwell on the negative as Lindy tended to do.

 

[Afino]

1) **** Sully
2) I agree with TTT, Lindy was on his way to ruining Myers, wasn't he?

 

[HiddenInLight]

Not sure if mis-spoken or mis-quoted. Especially the way TBN has been with this team recently.....also Sully's a ****ing moron.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Funny, Sullivan always left me wanting more. Until I stopped giving a crap what he or anyone else at TBN has to say.

 

[Myllz]

Sounds like some misquotes to me.

 

[HiddenInLight]

Sounds like some misquotes to me.

Ott when speaking to Sullivan next: "You gonna quote me right?"

 

[Takeo]

Sullivan's articles are a breath of fresh air. I can't recall the last one I didn't appreciate.

 

[Imagining Defeat]

 

[HiddenInLight]

Sullivan's articles are a breath of fresh air. I can't recall the last one I didn't appreciate.

You forgot the

 

[Crazy Tasty]

reading the excerpts. not sure what the problem with the article is?

Myers for sure has left me wanting and considering how much he is paid and his "potential", I sure am not pleased with average play from him...

 

[ManuelCalavera]

The kid is fragile, as are a lot of players at his age. The nice thing about Rolston is that his experience base is with coaching kids - the hard-ass mind **** of Ruff fails with the new generation of players.

Let Myers do what he has to to get his confidence back. Teach him to read and react, and let him flourish into what we saw a few years ago.

 

[Afino]

You forgot the

No he didn't. Both make their lives off of being cynical and negative.

 

[CrankyJay]

Sullivan's not wrong about Myers...

ROY award, and that contract...time to step up.

I think part of that issue is he still needs mentoring and I don't think who we have now is really helping him. Letting Tallinder go was a mistake.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

Does anyone with seasons and a decent collection of programs wanna post Myers' weights from opening day from the past four years? I've read reports about him bulking up in every offseason since his rookie year, and it's always taken him half a season to drop the weight and get his conditioning and explosiveness up to where they should be. This organization needs to stop being idiots and develop him into a huge Scott Niedermayer, not Chara with skating.

Also "not hard to play against" is ****ing stupid. In his rookie year, the Bruins were *****ing about him hitting Boychuk in the head. Myers has never gotten credit for raising his intensity in both of Buffalo's playoff appearances, even though he has.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Not sure if this interview provides actual insight into what makes Tyler Myers click. I
hope he has a sufficiently "driven" enough personality that all the great ones seem to possess. Never satisfied, always wanting to be better and the best.

I can't figure that out from this article but it doesn't leave me feeling very positive about that.

I hope my suspicions are misplaced because Myers is blessed with the physical assets to be very, very good. Maybe even elite.

Then again, maybe all he is saying is that he's glad he's got his game back to an acceptable level. And doesn't know how to express himself well.

Another point........Rolston sounds like a really smart coach. Tells Myers to focus on getting his D game back first. Small steps. Then we'll worry about the other stuff.

I'm liking this guy's approach and technique to coaching.

 

[pigpen65]

Sabres Fans: Buffalo News Sabres writers leave you wanting much much much much much much much much more.

Ruff had this guy tangled up like a 20 spool string of christmas lights. Game by game RR has been straightening him out, along with the rest of the team. Everything is on the upswing. It's disingenuous to pretend the beginning of this season didn't happen. Coaching was a disaster, Ruff basically had every player on the team outside of Vanek playing to their least possible ability. RR walked into a **** storm. Not a 24 hour fix.

 

[joshjull]

Get the man some speaking classes. Good lord. Just goes to show that he really does deserve the big bird nick I gave him.

Also, it shows that Lindy was kind of ruining Myers. He obviously was asking too much of him and it showed on the ice. It looks like Myers and a lot of the other guys respond to positive remarks on his game and not to dwell on the negative as Lindy tended to do.

Myers admits he messed up showing up out of shape and that it won't happen again. Hard to put that on Ruff.

It didn’t help matters when Myers showed up for the shortened season in poor shape. Ruff, who was coaching for his job, surely wanted more than his star defenseman had to offer in the first month.

“Yeah,†Myers said. “I wanted more. It’s something that had to be addressed. It has been addressed. But you know, I won’t be making that mistake again.â€

That’s small consolation for Ruff, or for fans who watched Myers stagger through the first half of the season after getting a $10 million signing bonus from Terry Pegula.

 

[joshjull]

The kid is fragile, as are a lot of players at his age. The nice thing about Rolston is that his experience base is with coaching kids - the hard-ass mind **** of Ruff fails with the new generation of players.

Let Myers do what he has to to get his confidence back. Teach him to read and react, and let him flourish into what we saw a few years ago.

I don't buy this at all.

Ruff may not have been working here anymore but look around the league. The Kings won the Cup with Sutter, Hitch is having success in St.Louis, the Habs with Theirren. None of those guys are the touchy feeling types and there are other examples as well.


Sometimes teams just need a break from a certain style of coaching (hard ass/player's coach/ teacher) to reset themselves. Or they need a different style to take the next step as a team. This has been something thats gone on for years. We just forgot about it with Ruff here forever.

 

[Duddy]

I blame the good Austrian kitchen for Myers showing up out of shape.

 

[Karate Johnson*]

Does anyone think Myers problem is between his ears?

Not psychologically.. Like he's just not really bright?

When he talks he sounds a little thick.

Maybe they need to really simplify the game to him.

 

[sabresandcanucks]

I don't buy this at all.

Ruff may not have been working here anymore but look around the league. The Kings won the Cup with Sutter, Hitch is having success in St.Louis, the Habs with Theirren. None of those guys are the touchy feeling types and there are other examples as well.


Sometimes teams just need a break from a certain style of coaching (hard ass/player's coach/ teacher) to reset themselves. Or they need a different style to take the next step as a team. This has been something thats gone on for years. We just forgot about it with Ruff here forever.

Agreed,

I have a buddy I work with who lives in Kelowna and actually golfs with Myers, Schenn and company in the summer as that is where they spend a lot of their offseason. He said Myers personality is that of the gentle giant, he is a quiet, polite and rarely says anything inappropriate. Now that could be because he knows it could be posted on the web instantly should he have a melt down, but watching him play seems to mirror those personality traits.

The pressure on him due to his previous success and the large contract he signed has been too much for him to handle. It's great that Rolston is asking him to keep it simple. He needs to focus on the basics and build out from there. If he doesn't score 10 goals a season the next two years that is fine. If, at 25, he is still struggling then I think we can safely say it is something he just cannot mentally overcome. I am willing to bet that he will eventually snap out of his funk as he matures.

 

[sabresandcanucks]

Does anyone think Myers problem is between his ears?

Not psychologically.. Like he's just not really bright?

When he talks he sounds a little thick.

Maybe they need to really simplify the game to him.

He is nervous and doesn't like the spotlight...When I do big presentations/defend my research I sometimes say stupid things or stutter.

 

[Karate Johnson*]

He is nervous and doesn't like the spotlight...When I do big presentations/defend my research I sometimes say stupid things or stutter.

That could be.... But I'm saying that in conjunction with his on I've decision making.

 

[McCauleyChirps]

The whole team leaves me wanting more.