Zadorov sitting for violating team rules.

[littletonhockeycoach]

If you are over 30, then think back to when you were 19 years old. I'm positive none of us were under the type of pressure this kid is (nor did we see the types of rewards).

Heck my college room mates could barely get out of bed to get there classes. I could barely stay awake during my afternoon ones. Not to mention all the other distractions that occur at that age. Can't imagine the swam of young, attractive girls trying to get his attention.

Zaradov is young and he's gonna screw up. As long as the screw ups are not serious, we should all try to understand. He has to mature but he's still so young. In the end patents will pay off and we should end up with a huge monster on the Sabres back end for the next decade.

As an "over 30 something" (way over 30 that is!) I understand your response… And remember (barely) being 19. Esp. since I still hate getting up early and still have poor time management skills.

But my point was really about how the report of this violation (not even known at the start of the thread) "begat" so many different views, opinions, sentiments, angers, complaints, defenses, etc.. I am amazed how these topics/issues manage to bring out so many perspectives on barely relevant linkages.

I guess some folks will use any excuse to sound off about their Sabre pet peeves…..

Anyways, I agree that somebody from the Sabres (Nolan) could of/should of just dealt with it internally but apparently a public message needed to be sent.

 

[Moncton man]

I guess some folks will use any excuse to sound off about their Sabre pet peeves…..

Well it isn't like there's playoff hockey to talk about and we already have so many tank/McEichel threads, so yeah pet peeves it is.

 

[joshjull]

Another thing to think about that we won't know because we aren't with the team.... maybe Zadarov has had issues with being late that we don't know about. Was being late back from the All-Star break his first offense? Has he been late to practice or team meetings before? Are there other issues that he's been talked to about and hasn't made the effort to get it together? And these two public incidents are the ones we know about.

He doesn't have the greatest work ethic and thats been an issue from the get go. If you recall he was benched for being lazy in Traverse City. He was then held out at the start of the season while coaches and vet players worked with him, outside the normal practice hours, to get him up to where he needed to be. Then he got into the lineup and was fantastic for a month or so. He's struggled badly the last several weeks. Nolan and others (I think Gionta) have hinted recently he's not putting the work in. This was an issue in London as well. More than a few London posters have brought it up.

We saw when he came into the lineup after that month of prep work how great he can been. That he has incredible potential. The issue is not his talent its his mentality. Is he going to start taking being a professional athlete seriously and put the work in to be the best he can be? Is he going to be self motivated enough to come into camp to be that physically prepared player and maintain it throughout the season? Because if he is then we could have a potential monster on the blue line. If he's not going to be self motivated and improve his work ethic. Then we could end up with the team always having to be on him. He then turns into a headache that never reaches his potential.

I think posters that dismiss his issues as simply being immature is missing the bigger problem. Other players that have been brought up; Pat Kane, E.Kane, Seguin, etc. I can't recall any of those players being called lazy or having work ethic issues that impacted their ability to be ready to play. Or having to have their team work them hard for a month to get them into the kind of shape needed to play in the NHL. They had to do that because Zads obviously didn't do the work needed over the offseason. Work thats only going to happen when he is self motivated to do it himself.

 

[Beerz]

Yeah. I think you cling too hard to the work ethic / lazy Russian thing.

I also think you're overplaying the whole how badly he's been playing for weeks and attributing his struggles to not working hard or being prepared to play instead of it being a part of your typical NHL rookie struggles.

I mean you got the shtick down..hammering your narrative down every chance you get.

Traverse City for the win.

 

[joshjull]

Yeah. I think you cling too hard to the work ethic / lazy Russian thing.

At no point have I ever asserted this has anything to do with him being Russian. Nor, generally speaking, have I EVER expressed having an issue with Russian players. Its kind of insulting that you resorted to a baseless and ntellectually lazy pot shot to dismiss my points.

Just so there is no more confusion for you, I feel his laziness has do to being an immature, entitled youngster. One thats gotten by on his raw talent and hasn't had to work hard to be a dominate player up to this point.

I also think you're overplaying the whole how badly he's been playing for weeks and attributing his struggles to not working hard or being prepared to play instead of it being a part of your typical NHL rookie struggles.

Its a combo of both. As I mentioned in my previous post Nolan has hinted at him needing to put in more work recently. Hamilton has mentioned it as well and that folks in the organization have mentioned it. Not out of fear or being crazy concerned yet but stating as an issue right now. Something thats needs to be addressed. Murray's comments hinted at him feeling entitled when he said Zads is talented but we aren't going to just hand him the keys to the kingdom here. The subtext being he needs to work for it.

I mean you got the shtick down..hammering your narrative down every chance you get.

Traverse City for the win.

My entire point is based on Traverse City and hating lazy Russian? Thats what you took from my post?


My point was he doesn't take being a pro athlete seriously yet for the reason I gave above. Traverse City was one example. The biggest one being he wasn't ready to play at the start of the season. The coaching staff and vet players worked with him on and off the ice outside the normal practice/training schedule to get him prepared to play. We weren't told what the off the ice stuff was that they worked on. But we do know his on ice issue was his conditioning. Once he came into the lineup he was ready to go and played great. That brings up two things. 1) When he is mentally and physically prepared to play he shows us the raw potential he possesses and its exciting. 2) But he had to be sat and needed the enter coaching staff and vets working with him outside the normal practice/training regime for a month to get him prepared. Something that should have been done over the summer.

My point with that is thats where my biggest concern lies. He isn't going to have the entire coaching staff and vet players pushing him to put the work it during the offseason. He needs to become self motivated and willing to drive himself to that level of work. He is an incredibly raw talent that needs a lot of work on his actual game to become the player we all want to see. Put he first needs to start working on his preparation for a season.

I'm not panicking nor arguing he should be traded. But I think its definitely something to worry about until its corrected. He will never be the player we are hoping for until his drive matches his talent or at least starts heading in that direction. It can be corrected but its not going to go away simply because he gets older and more mature. Its going to also require an attitude adjustment on his part. One that makes being a professional athlete and meeting the obligations that go with it a priority. Some of that will come with maturity but not all of it.

EDIT: I like the idea a few posters put forth of Zads living with an older vet and his family. Its worked as a great mentoring model for a lot of youngsters over the years.

 

[joshjull]

All evidence points towards Zadorov being immature relative to most young pros, but not a malicious problem child. He just seems to be pretty careless with his responsibilities. That's not even close to enough to give up on him. To me the first thing I want to see is what shape he comes into camp next season. If he's in poor shape then the red flags can start waiving, otherwise it'll take more than a couple new bumps in the road for me to become concerned.

Thats where I'm at

Could be a blessing in disguise with him not going back to Juniors. He's under your thumb and you can mash these issues out early.

Very true.

 

[SatanwasaSlovak]

No matter how young i would be, i would get fired eventually if i show up late to work or is lazy during work. If Zadorov can't obey the rules and start to behave like a grown-up, then i have no problem with him being benched. You're getting payed, it's a job, take some responsibility.