I've been loving training camp so far and specifically watching Robbie Schremp. With all the hype surrounding him it got me wondering if we put too much pressure on our young players. When Comrie first came here he was playing great, the fans fell in love with him and he had a solid beginning with the team. After a bit, fans expected him to be a performer and didn't like when he made any mistakes at all. You could start to hear a few boos at Skyreach everytime his drag didn't work. Fast forward a bit and Ales Hemsky was now the hotshot rookie, same thing happened, the fans fell in love with him and he had a solid season as a rookie. Last year with more pressure things didn't go as planned and fans weren't so kind to him. This year the hotshot is Schremp and it seems like the same thing all over again. If he makes the team and has a decent year, what's going to happen next year when he struggles a bit? Imagine if we had Spezza a couple of years ago, while the Sens were sending him down to the AHL, for sure we'd have played him because we lack the top end talent they do. Would he be as good of a player today without the extra years maturing? It seems to me that the youngsters have a difficult time handling the pressure once a bit of negativity seeps in. On hand I want Schremp to run our powerplay, and on the other hand I want him to mature a bit so he can handle the pressure so we don't ruin him later on. What are your thoughts, do we rush our youngsters because of our lack of top end talent? Should we be sending them back anyway? Even after saying all that, I'm still hoping Schremp stays and has a calder type year with the Oilers. I guess I never learn, after I all got a Comrie jersey in great shape, which I then replaced with a Hemsky jersey that I wore to games the he barely played in last year. Maybe I should wait a bit before getting Schremp's...
Last edited by amazing_oilers: 09-18-2005 at 01:51 AM.
Reason: spelling
So you want to be special, exceptional, a standout you say? There is always a price to be paid. The stress of dangling in the NHL's kitchen where the fire & ice collides can be as exhilarating as it is possibly harmful to a young man's wellbeing. That is why a strong sense of self-esteem, an egocentric focus, and a fearless will to succeed are the required character traits for the youngsters who wish to play in the same arena where hardened men battle and the weak are targets is mandatory.
Very few younger players thrive in an environment where every mistake eats away at one's confidence and cagey veterans supply more then enough physical hurt to make the accompanying head games all too real. What with your new coaches speaking in tongues and the fickle fans lovin' to hate your best mistakes and/or luckiest flukes - life can become a tad Daliesque (surreal).
But if the dream is tempered by hard work, focus, and an unselfish commitment to team success the rewards are ample. Management and coaches, along with the support staff must help ensure a young player's dream doesn't fracture into a nightmare of injury and mental overload. The fans need to give all the players a break, who all will, over the course of the season, suffer from performance anxiety and low-ebb motivation. However, remember Hockey's eleventh commandment: Thou shalt not deliverer too much special treatment, because the best love offered where the fire meets the live ice is tough love.
So if you can't take the heat, get out of the Kitchen. Because tough as it might get dealing with the pressure of being an elite puck professional, it pales in comparison to those plain folk struggling just to get back to living, working, crying and loving, coping and trying to rebuild what's left of their lives in the Big Easy! Sometimes as hockey players and fans we win, and sometimes we lose, but really, it's all just a game.
So you want to be special, exceptional, a standout you say? There is always a price to be paid. The stress of dangling in the NHL's kitchen where the fire & ice collides can be as exhilarating as it is possibly harmful to a young man's wellbeing. That is why a strong sense of self-esteem, an egocentric focus, and a fearless will to succeed are the required character traits for the youngsters who wish to play in the same arena where hardened men battle and the weak are targets is mandatory.
Very few younger players thrive in an environment where every mistake eats away at one's confidence and cagey veterans supply more then enough physical hurt to make the accompanying head games all too real. What with your new coaches speaking in tongues and the fickle fans lovin' to hate your best mistakes and/or luckiest flukes - life can become a tad Daliesque (surreal).
But if the dream is tempered by hard work, focus, and an unselfish commitment to team success the rewards are ample. The management and coaches, along with the support staff must help ensure a young player's dream doesn't fracture into a nightmare of injury and mental overload. The fans need to give all the players a break, who all will, over the course of the season, suffer from performance anxiety and low-ebb motivation. However, remember Hockey's eleventh commandment: Thou shalt not deliverer too much special treatment, because the best love offered where the fire meets the live ice is tough love.
So if you can't take the heat, get out of the Kitchen. Because tough as it might get dealing with the pressure of being an elite puck professional, it pales in comparison to those plain folk struggling just get back to living, working, crying and loving, coping and trying to rebuild what's left of their lives in the Big Easy! Sometimes as hockey players and fans we win, and sometimes we lose, but really, it's all just a game.
Hey OYler don't you write basically this same comment every year at this same time. I don't post much but I do read regularly. So your still spouting that tough love spiel - dam - and I sitll agree with you. Does that g2k dude still frequent around here?
In the past few years, I think Oiler fans were dying to have a dynamic offensive force to watch. Unfortunately, with the "small market" problem we had, the only way we could get that type of player was via the entry draft. This ultimately lead to extremely high expectations on Comrie and Hemsky.
Now, with the new economic landscape, we have the opportunity to obtain this type of player through Free Agency, trade, etc.. Chris Pronger is an unbelievable pickup, but he still doesn't give us that Offensive Dynamo, thus the pressure on Schremp.
If Lowe is able to somehow deliver that high end #1 Centre with excellent offensive skills, I see that pressure on Schremp subsiding in a hurry. If we had already obtained #1 Centre, all this talk about Scremp making the team or not making the team wouldn't exist.
Having said all that... I'm hoping to see Schremp in the Opening Night Lineup.
No I don't think we, ( as in fans/media ) put to much pressure on young players. Although the person who has the biggest and unquestionable the highest amount of pressure to succeed is Sydney Crosby. But before I get to Sid the kid, I just wanted to add something about Robbie Schremp.
Robbie Schremp is no fool. He is a smart young man who knows what he wants, that is to succeed in the NHL. His first biggest obstacle was to get noticed among many talented young guys during the NHL draft. Finally getting drafted by the Oilers, there's the pressure of making the team, added to the fact that the lock-out has many guys who are eager to get back and play, are competing for limited roster spots. These two examples of pressure of making to the NHL are extremely high for a person. When, not if, but when Robbie makes the roster he will have the same amount of pressure as Hemsky, or anybody else, to do their job on the team.
However, you have Sydney Crosby. The number one draft pick. The guy that has the media buzzing around him and his family for a number of years. With the moniker of "The Next One" , in reference to Wayne Gretzky's "The Great One". Simple put WOW! Now there's pressure to succeed. Added to the fact that the owner/line-mate/landlord is Mario Lemieux: "Le Magnifique", "The Magnificent One" and "Super Mario". Sid the Kid, will need all of his maturity, self esteem to compete,learn and grow-up to be the "Next One". There's no doubt in my mind he will succeed in the NHL. But there's a level of success that can be measured for a young rookie, it's whether or not he can maintain that level to strive forward to become a better player/person over the course of his career while the whole hockey world is looking down at him.
