Player Discussion: The Official Jonathan Drouin Thread: Part 5

[Volodya Krutov]

[MOD]The Drouin saga continues

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

[/MOD]

Very good news.

Click to read more...

 

[golgoXIII]

WTF!! He is coming back to play?!? So he didn't get traded, lost a bunch of money, stunted his development, ruined his reputation, not gonna get NHL minutes, will get booo'd by every fan in every arena, gave up on his teammates, will get GIFs made out of this situation for the next 10 years, and .....and now he decides to come back and play??

/insert what and idiot GIF with Drouin's face on it.

I can't even describe what I feel right now...its like a mixture of facepalm combined with a solid urge to just slap him upside the head and choke out his parents. Kid is a total trainwreck of a human being for doing this to himself.

Hang him!!!! your putting a little bit to much of mustard ... he is a kid
for god sake everyone is making mistake ... let the kid play and SY will get a good trade for him.

 

[Sky04]

Hang him!!!! your putting a little bit to much of mustard ... he is a kid
for god sake everyone is making mistake ... let the kid play and SY will get a good trade for him.

Jesus when are 20 year olds considered "kids", this goes far beyond a simple "mistake".

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Great move by the captain

http://www.syracuse.com/crunch/inde...67ee58e6a99f769bbcd414d500#incart_river_index

"He's doing what he should be doing. He's playing hockey,'' Zettler said. "I think it (his reception) will be fine. I think players could potentially understand where he could be coming from. I think they see him as someone who can come in and help us win hockey games.''

Zettler said he's spoken with Drouin and the player said he's been skating regularly. Whether that has kept him in AHL-caliber shape will be determined in the team's three practices this week.

"What I need to see is where he's at physically and mentally, as far as how much he can help us,'' Zettler said. "I will be watching him very closely over the next two or three days. Let's see where he's at condition-wise. The bottom line is, this team needs to win hockey games.''

Angelidis said he texted Drouin last week to offer his support. Angelidis said Drouin was weighing his decisions and didn't indicate which way he was leaning.

"He's a friend of mine. I just said, 'Hey, I'm here for you.' That was it,'' Angelidis said. "It's obviously a unique situation. It's one of those things we'll deal with in a professional manner. I think he's going to put in an effort.

"He obviously wants to show people what he can do on the ice. He wants to prove himself. The only way he can do that is work on the ice. He needs to play, obviously. It's a smart decision on his part. If he was a bad guy and wasn't going to come back and work hard, it (his welcome) would be a different situation.''

 

[FinnLightning26]

Seems like he has some sense in him after all. Don't know if he'll play for us as one would think the bridges have been burned but stranger things have happened.

 

[ArmaHedman]

Interesting.

Sounds like he was getting a lot of advice from a large number of Hockey players to return both publicly and privately.

I would think Stevie not ruling out a recall to TBL but also not promising it. I would think it would take an injury and him playing well + good attitude + working hard in the AHL etc.

 

[DFC]

This is a good day.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/drouin-returning-to-ahl-syracuse/2268268

But could Drouin earn a callup to the Lightning down the stretch in its playoff push?

"Yes," Yzerman said. "I will do what's best for the team and if Jonathan is playing well and is the right fit, I certainly wouldn't exclude that possibility."

Good to see Yzerman's "best for the team" schtick works both ways.

Life lesson for Drouin: There are people in this world with whom you should never enter a staring contest.

 

[More 2004]

This is a good day.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/drouin-returning-to-ahl-syracuse/2268268



Good to see Yzerman's "best for the team" schtick works both ways.

Life lesson for Drouin: There are people in this world with whom you should never enter a staring contest.

SY all bidness no feels.

 

[The Gongshow]

Smart move by Drouin

 

[CupsOverCash]

I don't expect him to come back to TB but this is a good move for him. Good for us too because he can showcase himself a bit more and gain some trade value before the draft.

 

[Jacko95]

Somehow I feel that everybody gets over it and he has a career here. Maybe he needed that embarrassment to become a real pro athlete. We would certainly have a spot for him if Stammer leaves.

 

[Sky04]

Somehow I feel that everybody gets over it and he has a career here. Maybe he needed that embarrassment to become a real pro athlete. We would certainly have a spot for him if Stammer leaves.

This, I feel like it'd be easier for him to move on here than in another organization where he'll be judged from the start.

 

[Hoek]

I really hope so. Not going to hold my breath, but I am going to hope.

 

[dechire]

I really hope so. Not going to hold my breath, but I am going to hope.

Same here. He did something stupid but the only person he really hurt was himself. He has an opportunity to salvage his relationship with the Lightning or to increase his trade value. I'm happy with either outcome. If he's learned from this and is committed to improving then I'm glad to welcome him back.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

I think the ship has sailed for Drouin and the Lightning, but I wouldn't mind being wrong on that. As long as he's willing to put in the work and cut the attitude.

 

[Felonious Python]

I'm personally probably more sympathetic to Drouin if the advice to skip out came from his parents and not his agent, although the modus operandi is very Allan Walsh.

I figure I'll never know though.

 

[CarpeNoctem]

I'm personally probably more sympathetic to Drouin if the advice to skip out came from his parents and not his agent, although the modus operandi is very Allan Walsh.

I figure I'll never know though.

If you trust Phil Esposito, that was apparently the case.

 

[PaulGG]

I don't blame Drouin. He certainly did not hurt the team and we are doing fine without him. If he can help us down the stretch I would welcome him back as I think all the players and fans would. A few goals and who knows what happens next. It is not our team's intention to hurt Drouin and his career. I know he probably felt that and certainly his folks may have but is not true.

 

[These Are The Days]

I'm personally probably more sympathetic to Drouin if the advice to skip out came from his parents and not his agent, although the modus operandi is very Allan Walsh.

I figure I'll never know though.

In light of Espo's claims and the fact that Lightning speak so highly of him and that Mike Angelidis even sent out a text of good will, I'm willing to accept the fact that we as fans will probably never know the whole story. If Drouin's own locker room does not despise him after what happened then we as fans should probably do our best to get over it. It really, REALLY sounds like they are in his corner and they all genuinely want him back. I hope Drouin takes his chance at the open door.


All I want in the world is for Drouin to play about 10 games or so with the Crunch, kick some tail and earn a call up and participate in a potential Stanley Cup playoff run and it would be like acquiring a stud prospect. Assume he kicks some tail in a playoff run, fans will forget all about this dispute.

 

[LightningStrikes]

What else should the players tell the media other than "I'm happy he's back", "smart move", etc. Pretty sure they were told to either say generic supportive stuff like that or nothing at all.

 

[Felonious Python]

What else should the players tell the media other than "I'm happy he's back", "smart move", etc. Pretty sure they were told to either say generic supportive stuff like that or nothing at all.

if they said nothing, that would say something.

 

[DFC]

What else should the players tell the media other than "I'm happy he's back", "smart move", etc. Pretty sure they were told to either say generic supportive stuff like that or nothing at all.

That's the thing though. It's not that generic. And they came out with it early. Brian Boyle, in particular, seems genuine.

 

[dechire]

What else should the players tell the media other than "I'm happy he's back", "smart move", etc. Pretty sure they were told to either say generic supportive stuff like that or nothing at all.

I doubt it's just "media support" when they wanted to hang out with him last time they were up in Québec and several of them have kept in touch with him including Stamkos. They've been saying this kind of stuff from the beginning.

 

[DFC]

Dreger, on TH, says he believes Yzerman and Drouin met in Ottawa, and Yzerman "extended an olive branch."

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Dreger, on TH, says he believes Yzerman and Drouin met in Ottawa, and Yzerman "extended an olive branch."

Typical Yzerman letting his ego get in the way again