He's a talented player. He'll get his game back. I have no reason to think he won't. But for now, Adam needs to get his head straight and make it impossible for the Sabres to ignore him.
It was a heady summer for the kid where he got some breaks to end up centering our top line. He earned his breaks to be sure but he seems to have gotten complacent with his success. A kick in the ass will hopefully get him going again. He is only 21 and still has much to learn.
Exactly. Adam was very far from developed, but our lack at center thought we could use him after the Traverse Tournament where he was MVP. He needed to go to Rochester after that and work on some flaws. He doesn't have the hands to create on his own, he's a big body that doesn't hit.
Long overdue.
agreed thanks for agreeing with me, and like we know his flaws were covered by playing with two of the teams best players in Vanek and Pominville
His demotion was well deserved, Id rather see any number of amerks up including chewy and turnbull who both at least play hard every shift...
This is tough cuz on one hand he wasnt performing and/or learning
but
that is because of lindy's system of slowly shuffling you down the lines from #1C to #4line winger...hard to grow as a player when you get worse and worse players put around you and less and less minutes as well.
His demotion was well deserved, Id rather see any number of amerks up including chewy and turnbull who both at least play hard every shift...
This is tough cuz on one hand he wasnt performing and/or learning
but that is because of lindy's system of slowly shuffling you down the lines from #1C to #4line winger...hard to grow as a player when you get worse and worse players put around you and less and less minutes as well.
Thats Lindy's system? Really?
Adam dropped down because of his play. You act is if this was done randomly or came out of nowhere.
going from an ahl all star to centering the likes of ellis,boyes,mccormick etc doesnt exactly do the psyche or stat sheet justice...though one could certainly argue that good players would battle through that and work their way back up the lineup...
whether or not vanek and poms were simply hiding his flaws or not im still suprised this line was never reunited even though all the injuries...
while he definitely deserved to be sent down... it's still surprising he was never given another shot with vanek and pommer, where he did most of his scoring, and we looked like a decent team...
Right on Jame.
It's easy to conclude that it's better for him to be playing somewhere than riding the pine. But I think the situation is lot more complex than that.
I've been wondering for a while what Luke's role is supposed to be on this team. Is he supposed to be a sniper or a plumber? A garbage collector or loaded gun? The guy has a wicked release and shot yet he was relegated to playing 4th line at the end. I thought his skating improved greatly this year and while he doesn't use his size to play a physical game, neither did Peter McNabb. Overall, I see him as someone you play with better linemates and try to get the puck to rather than expect him to dig and carry it out of the corner.
I realize that you have to play a total game in the NHL. However the defensive part of the game is so hard to learn... It took Sakic, Yzerman, etc. years to get good defensively. That said, I think he needed more rather than less TOI. And better line mates to help him develop his game. After all, the whole team was in the toilet most the season (Luke along with the rest) and pretty much lost most any reasonable chance of getting into the playoffs. Which to my mind, created a good situation where the coaches could develop a rookie and help him develop his game at the NHL level of play. (Suffer the consequences, you're team's already blown the season....)
So while he does get playing time in the AHL with this move, it's a place where he's already conquered the level of play. Other than TOI, I'm not sure how this helps him. Does him now scoring AHL goals really help restore lost confidence? Or help him recover his game?
Or is this simply designed to make him hungrier?
Finally, if he indeed recovers his touch and game, what's the plan for how he will be used next go around?
I mean, surely there's a player development plan for Luke..... The hockey dept. isn't just making this up as they go along?
Well, that's part of the problem. When he's not scoring, he doesn't really have a role on the team. Roy hasn't played particularly well all season, even with Vanek/Pominville, so flipping them is bad and Vanek-Ennis-Leino-Gerbe means that his alternate spot as a top 6 LW is permanently filled.
In retrospect, they should have had him on a tighter leash, and this is a move that should've happened his first month away from Vanek and Pominville, not 50 games into the season.
Is there a coach out there that handles young players worse than Ruff? Seriously, this is exactly what i WOULDN'T do as a coach. Sure, it's easy for me to say because I'm not there, but come on, you gotta explain to the young guys what they aren't doing right, why things are happening, how else will they know they need to make adjustments? so stupid. Ruff needs to go.
Well, that's part of the problem. When he's not scoring, he doesn't really have a role on the team. Roy hasn't played particularly well all season, even with Vanek/Pominville, so flipping them is bad and Vanek-Ennis-Leino-Gerbe means that his alternate spot as a top 6 LW is permanently filled.
In retrospect, they should have had him on a tighter leash, and this is a move that should've happened his first month away from Vanek and Pominville, not 50 games into the season.
Funny that two players we have been expecting the most from who have been demoted to Rochester recently have taken it so poorly. (Kassian and now Adam.)
Not that they didn't deserve it but we can all see there are others who are just as well qualified for a demotion who apparently are untouchable (helps when you own a fat contract I guess....).
Is there a coach out there that handles young players worse than Ruff? Seriously, this is exactly what i WOULDN'T do as a coach. Sure, it's easy for me to say because I'm not there, but come on, you gotta explain to the young guys what they aren't doing right, why things are happening, how else will they know they need to make adjustments? so stupid. Ruff needs to go.
You really don't think the coaches don't specifically work with each player?
You really don't think the coaches don't specifically work with each player?
Not each player individually, but ones who are having trouble. That's part of the assistant coaches job.
(The head coach is too busy dealing with the media, being the face of the organization, et al .....(at least that's what Tony Granato bemoaned to us at an association coaches meeting once)).
Adam's demotion was needed and likely won't be in Rochester for long.
I do agree about being frustrated that he wasn't given another shot with Vanek and Pominville. He's still a guy I believe will develop into a second/third line center (in somewhat of a Dave Bolland/like mold), but sending him to the farm and allowing him to play eighteen to twenty minutes a night will help his game for now.
I'd like to blame Ruff, but it's not like Adam did anything notable even with the limited playing time.
Luke Adam is insane if he honestly believes the reason he was demoted wasn't communicated to him.
Sure, maybe he wasn't pulled aside and said - "Luke, you've been demoted because (laundry list of reasons he has sucked)," but I guarantee assistant coaches put the work in during practice to go over Luke's issues. Guaranteed.
You guys are just as insane if you fault Ruff for this. Adam was demoted because he started showing that he was a defensive liability playing the pivot for Vanek and Poms.
He couldn't score when he was moved to the other scoring lines.
He didn't use his size when he was put on the banger lines.
Now he's in the AHL.
It's not like Ruff moved him from the first line to the fourth line over night. He gradually lost his minutes as he gradually became more and more useless to the current squad.
I still believe Adam will be a good player in this league. Nothing spectacular, but a solid complementary scorer. Hopefully he'll get some confidence back in the AHL, Rolston continues to work on the issues that I'm sure the Buffalo coaching staff were working on with him, and become a better player in the long run.
And seriously, this isn't uncommon league-wide. Adam will be back. This was a great move by Ruff and company (albeit a fairly obvious move that many of us have wanted to see).
The issue people are having with this move is the fact that A) it took so damn long, and B) he never got rewarded for the couple of times he looked like he had a pulse.
Chewy, Hecht and Roy got multiple chances with Vanek and Pominville since VAP got broken up while Adam never got another shot with those linemates despite having the most individual, line and team success with that combination in place.
Another opportunity to baby a player? Yea, that's what we need. Suck it the hell up and go play Adam. As said, there's 20 other players ready to take his spot who have the mental toughness necessary to succeed.
Another opportunity to baby a player? Yea, that's what we need. Suck it the hell up and go play Adam. As said, there's 20 other players ready to take his spot who have the mental toughness necessary to succeed.
Considering there's only 2-3 guys on the main roster with any kind of mental toughness, I think you may be exaggerating slightly.
