why do you think he was stripped? is this walker character just a born leader, or was the C too much for duncan?
Many reasons. I've talked to Duncan about it alot. He's obviously not pleased and is more embarrassed than anything.
Do I think giving him the C as a very young 18 year old last year was too much responsibility? Maybe a little bit.
But there were other things that went with it last season. He was late for team meetings and stuff on more than one occasion. That's a tough way to gain respect. He knows he ****ed up in those situations and hopefully learned from it.
He also butted heads with a few teammates, no just him against them all, there just was never a great team atmosphere in the room last year.
In the end I'm not shocked at all this change happened. I'm sure Duncan will still wear an A, but if I had to choose anyone as captain, it would be Brenden Walker. He's a hard working veteran with Memorial Cup experience.
Many reasons. I've talked to Duncan about it alot. He's obviously not pleased and is more embarrassed than anything.
Do I think giving him the C as a very young 18 year old last year was too much responsibility? Maybe a little bit.
But there were other things that went with it last season. He was late for team meetings and stuff on more than one occasion. That's a tough way to gain respect. He knows he ****ed up in those situations and hopefully learned from it.
He also butted heads with a few teammates, no just him against them all, there just was never a great team atmosphere in the room last year.
In the end I'm not shocked at all this change happened. I'm sure Duncan will still wear an A, but if I had to choose anyone as captain, it would be Brenden Walker. He's a hard working veteran with Memorial Cup experience.
Pretty stupid thing to say, if you ask me. I would 100% respect that opinion if you had any type of valid reasoning for it or had many viewings of him to back it up.
HAven' seen Nigel play for a while but Colby, for an ofensive dman, hasn't really put up the points as expected. His defensive game still has to improve a lot before he is NHL ready. He needs at least one more year in the minors. Kind of reminds me of Matt Gilroy, from BU also. Were offensive dynamos in college but haven't made a great transition to the pro game.
My friend just won the John Fogerty tickets from that game haha.
Thats awesome! I have a buddy going to that concert. Needless to say I'm a little jealous.
For what I saw of Smith today, the kid has wheels! other than that it wasn't a spectacular game for him, although he had a nice assist if I saw correctly
Pretty stupid thing to say, if you ask me. I would 100% respect that opinion if you had any type of valid reasoning for it or had many viewings of him to back it up.
Don't worry about hek, he is the most pessimistic poster on these boards.
Have had the chance to watch Avs prospect Troy Bourke the last two nights. Kid looks good. Very smart, excellent hockey sense. Good on draws, looks like skating has improved too.
I was watching the Blades today and I must say that Siemens had a really solid game. His biggest improvement so far has been his decision making with the puck. But there was more, his first pass was very good and his poke checking was superb. Only knock I saw in the game was his body position and hesitation to go after the puck or not n certain situations.
Also Sutter had a fantastic game, probably was the best player on the ice. I would love to know what the difference between him and Heard is, because if Heard is anything like him then we got a good player.
I was watching the Blades today and I must say that Siemens had a really solid game. His biggest improvement so far has been his decision making with the puck. But there was more, his first pass was very good and his poke checking was superb. Only knock I saw in the game was his body position and hesitation to go after the puck or not n certain situations.
Also Sutter had a fantastic game, probably was the best player on the ice. I would love to know what the difference between him and Heard is, because if Heard is anything like him then we got a good player.
I agree, Sutter was fantastic last night. Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was here for the game, too.
It seems like Siemens needs to grow up a bit. The pressure last year of taking over the team was probably too much too soon for him, and he made some mistakes. From the sounds of that article he is still making some of them. It is hard to imagine that there isn't some animosity from Siemens directed at the Blades' management. Even if he wouldn't say it publicly. He won't get traded, but I am not sure that that wouldn't be the best thing for him long term. Hopefully he has learned some lessons and will mature over the season.
If he ends up busting, it will only because of his actions, not his talent IMO. From the little I have seen of him (~15 games total) he looks like he is destined to be a shut down top 4 guy at the very least, and he posses the talent to be much more than that.
I completely agree. I just don't want one of our top prospects playing in a poor environment, even if he was the one who created the problems with his immaturity. It can't be good for his development if he has some hard feelings towards the coach, management, and organization he plays for.
The part about wanting them to fail miserably was just to piss RS off.
Very disappointing. I hope they trade him to another team and then fail miserably.
Quote:
Originally Posted by electricjib
Sounds to me like he lost it on his own accord.
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Originally Posted by Avs_19
I completely agree. I just don't want one of our top prospects playing in a poor environment, even if he was the one who created the problems with his immaturity. It can't be good for his development if he has some hard feelings towards the coach, management, and organization he plays for.
The part about wanting them to fail miserably was just to piss RS off.
Ok, I need to address a few things here.
First of all that 'article' was an opinion piece by our local beat writer. It's off base and he's simply wrong with how things have gone with the change in captains on the team.
Stuff like this:
Quote:
Walker taking the “C” away from Siemens seemed like a big problem initially. But with Siemens not being an alternate captain, that problem potentially just got bigger.
..is totally unfounded and not true.
The author of the article has taken a ton of heat from people around the team. The morning it came out, our trainer (who is a father figure to the players) called out the writer to his face and said he was WAY off base with his piece...which he is.
Not only that, but several of the players have ZERO interest in speaking to the reporter anymore, including Siemens. And that's fine, that's his opinion on the matter. He feels as if it's a personal attack and that the author is basically making the problem worse by simply posting what he "thinks" is going on inside the room.
Not only is Siemens not getting a letter NOT a distraction, it could be seen as a good thing. Duncan has been great in the last few games since this all happened and has seemed much happier just to be at the rink and around the guys without the added pressure.
He took the decision hard, but anyone would, and he's not letting it affect him or the team. Is it a tough lesson to learn? Absolutely, but it might just be the thing he needed after a pretty mediocre season as a whole last year.
As for Siemens 'losing it on his own accord', that is definitely not true. Yes, he did things like be late for team meetings a few times and that fueled the fire in the lockerroom, but there was a butting of heads between several of the 'leaders' on the team last year and Siemens ended up falling on the sword for it this season. Like I said, some of that was his fault and he's the first to admit it.
There are ZERO hard feelings from Duncan towards management or his teammates. There are ZERO hard feelings from his teammates toward Duncan. There are ZERO hard feelings from management toward Duncan. This decision isn't going to hurt the Blades now, in 2 months or hurt Duncan's development. Like I've said, it might end up being the best thing for him...it definitely has been so far.
Thanks for the follow-up. People need to understand that they could be reading the junior hockey version of Mark Kiszla sometimes. They also need some understanding of Duncan's situation. We are talking about a just turned 18 year old who signs his first multi million dollar NHL contract right after being drafted being asked to captain his team. That is a lot of change to a person's environment all in a short period of time. When you have a lot going on, it's always best to get back to basics whether you are a 19 year old hockey player or not.
