TBN: Sullivan: Sabres' Myers leaves you wanting more

[McCauleyChirps]

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.

I don't call him big bird for nothing.

 

[sabresandcanucks]

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

I also say stupid things on certain message boards...but that is another story.

I think his poor decision making is a result of him over thinking every little detail of the game. He needs to simplify and trust his instincts more. That is what made him so successful early on...He was care free, the expectations were not there for him to be a number 1 D man.

 

[Moskau]

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.

I think on the contrary to most CHL players Myers is a fairly street smart guy. He may not be the most book smart person but he's been living on his own since he was 15 and if IIRC he's been supporting himself and his girlfriend since he was 16. He's a pretty grounded person from what people have said about him, he's not out of touch with reality like many players who come out of the CHL are.

 

[Chainshot]

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.

The team dubbed him "The Big Easy" due to his laid back personality a few seasons ago. Seems to fit.

Yes, Myers has not been good. Yes, he's been better and is trending slowly upward. And it doesn't seem out of the realm of typical sports psychobabble for him to not be dwelling on being stink-o early in the season and instead is focusing on what he's done lately.

I also find it a bit amuzing that he's talking about focusing on his d-play and yet in the last few weeks, he's been up the ice with authority a few more times than he was earlier in the year. Perhaps he's getting back to playing, using his instincts rather than over-thinking every little thing.

 

[tsujimoto74]

The team dubbed him "The Big Easy" due to his laid back personality a few seasons ago. Seems to fit.

Yes, Myers has not been good. Yes, he's been better and is trending slowly upward. And it doesn't seem out of the realm of typical sports psychobabble for him to not be dwelling on being stink-o early in the season and instead is focusing on what he's done lately.

I also find it a bit amuzing that he's talking about focusing on his d-play and yet in the last few weeks, he's been up the ice with authority a few more times than he was earlier in the year. Perhaps he's getting back to playing, using his instincts rather than over-thinking every little thing.

Well, to be fair, a big problem in his D play this year has been giveaways in the zone. By just skating the puck up the ice himself, he eliminates a lot of his passing problems. While doing one of the things that made him a huge success his rookie year. A 6'8" defenseman that can lead a rush is a heckuva thing to have.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

Thumbing through the Richards/Carter trade thread on the mainboard, somebody made an interesting point about Schenn dropping weight since joining the Flyers and playing much better.

There've been quotes about Myers "playing himself into shape" like every season since his rookie year after various stories about him putting on weight in those offseasons. I'm willing to stake my internet rep that there's more than just correlation at play here.

 

[Myllz]

Thumbing through the Richards/Carter trade thread on the mainboard, somebody made an interesting point about Schenn dropping weight since joining the Flyers and playing much better.

There've been quotes about Myers "playing himself into shape" like every season since his rookie year after various stories about him putting on weight in those offseasons. I'm willing to stake my internet rep that there's more than just correlation at play here.

His movement up the ice in the past couples weeks has been MUCH better than in the beginning of the season, so I wouldn't doubt it's a factor.

 

[RazielMoshman]

Sully is a moron. I'm not even going to dignify that idiot by reading the article.

Myers isn't a good speaker and has suffered from being expected to carry the defense for 3 seasons. Ruff didn't realise that so Myers development will have to start again under Rolston.

 

[tsujimoto74]

His movement up the ice in the past couples weeks has been MUCH better than in the beginning of the season, so I wouldn't doubt it's a factor.

He also had that ankle injury in Europe that may have been affecting his skating earlier in the season. Who knows? He does seem to get off to a slow start every year though, so it wouldn't surprise me if something's off with his off-season conditioning.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Poor Tyler Myers is gonna suffer from Mike Green media syndrome.

Green can play like a #2, do everything right defensively but until he puts up points, the consensus from anyone other than Caps fans will be that he sucks.

I'd say the same for Tyler Myers. Someone ruined his offensive development and he doesn't look like he's putting up 48 pts though he easily has the potential to. He's shown flashes of great defence though it hasn't been consistent but even when it is, he gets criticized. He needs to be better for sure considering the salary but he'll get a lot of strife due to not putting up those offensive numbers.

 

[AirBriere48]

Thumbing through the Richards/Carter trade thread on the mainboard, somebody made an interesting point about Schenn dropping weight since joining the Flyers and playing much better.

There've been quotes about Myers "playing himself into shape" like every season since his rookie year after various stories about him putting on weight in those offseasons. I'm willing to stake my internet rep that there's more than just correlation at play here.

I remember an article from the beginning of this year saying that Ruff wanted Myers to bulk up a bit, and that Myers was working hard at it in off season workouts, but still struggling a bit due to his lanky frame. It's certainly possible that the weight he put on was a net negative - slowing him down and not adding much in the physicality department. Maybe he was at his ideal weight his rookie year. Maybe he's still growing into his body. In any event, I'd like to see him with a different strength/conditioning program this summer.

 

[French Connection]

I remember an article from the beginning of this year saying that Ruff wanted Myers to bulk up a bit, and that Myers was working hard at it in off season workouts, but still struggling a bit due to his lanky frame. It's certainly possible that the weight he put on was a net negative - slowing him down and not adding much in the physically department. Maybe he was at his ideal weight his rookie year. Maybe he's still growing into his body. In any event, I'd like to see him with a different strength/conditioning program this summer.

It doesn't matter what weight he plays at due to his mental make up. If a given player just doesn't have the characteristics of being mean like Pronger or Chara they will never be. Myers is such one player who is to big and just to soft and this will never change. So being 6.8 has zero physical advantage.

 

[Karate Johnson*]

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.

Why are kids so fragile? You'ed think a lifetime of early practices and living away from home and driving across the country for tournaments would have put some hair on thier chests.

Or maybe just the mentally weak players are fragile, and they are never going to be that good anyway?

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

So why wasn't he fragile in his rookie year? Just shut up with the same garbage in every thread.

 

[ZZamboni]

Sullivan, TBN sports reporter leaves you wanting more ...

 

[AirBriere48]

It doesn't matter what weight he plays at due to his mental make up. If a given player just doesn't have the characteristics of being mean like Pronger or Chara they will never be. Myers is such one player who is to big and just to soft and this will never change. So being 6.8 has zero physical advantage.

Well, considering many are speculating that he is/was out of shape, weight has very much to do with it. This growing contingent of Sabres fans who are convinced that Myers is doomed to 3rd pairing irrelevancy for the remainder of his career is bizarre. He's young. He's figuring his **** out.

On the conditioning point - put him through Gary Roberts' program this summer. If he comes back next year with another year like the first half of this one, then we'll talk about his mental make up.