Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Nikita Zadorov was said to be "contrite" in his apology at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta yesterday. "I shouldn't do that. I should make the trip a day early and have a safe day, an extra day," Zadorov said. "It's kind of my mistake. I shouldn't do that. Next time I have to be safer."
Zadorov did not report back to the team on time after the All-Star break as he was bumped from his return flight to Buffalo. He and his girlfriend were stranded in the Dominican Republic for another day and it caused him to miss practice as well as the Sabres flight to Calgary. His agent, Rolland Hedges, told Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that “everything” was tried to get him back on time. "He’s upset,” Hedges was quoted as saying.
The team took a measured approach to the incident with head coach Ted Nolan taking the lead. Zadorov's a 19 yr. old kid who used an eight-day break to bask in the warmth of the Caribbean. Although it's not too far-fetched to think that he wasn't in the Dominican Republic on a Buddhist monk retreat, it's probably best to believe that this was nothing more than a matter of a young player who needs to leave himself more wiggle room when it comes to planning his flights.
“When you’re a 19-year-old kid, sometimes if you’re not instructed to do things, you know how kids can be sometimes,” Nolan said on Tuesday. “But this will be a big, big learning curve for him. But we’ll deal with it when he gets back.”
They did deal with it. Zadorov is no longer suspended and according to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, "[he] was one of the first players on the ice and one of the last ones off in his first workout (in Edmonton yesterday) following the All-Star break."
Even with "time served" and a workout under his belt, Nolan will not be inserting him in the lineup tonight. "Somebody does that, you don't just say 'sorry' and put him right back in," Nolan said. "I think it's the hierarchy of his situation. He just hopped on the ice one day for practice, off the ice eight days and I don't think it's fair to put anybody in that situation. At least we give him a couple days and put him back in."
"I shouldn't do that," said Zadorov about his miscalculation. "I should make the trip a day early and have a safe day, an extra day. It's kind of my mistake. I shouldn't do that. Next time I have to be safer."
It's another "next time" in the ongoing saga of Zadorov and how he wants to play in the NHL, otherwise known as "Big Z and his long learning curve." When he came into camp this summer in less than top shape, we were left with the impression that he'll know better next time. When he was benched at Traverse City versus Dallas, it was a part of his maturation process. When he was caught up in the tug-of-war between the KHL and the CHL while following his agent's lead in letting the KHL dictate where he would play, Zadorov was thought of as a player making a sound career decision for himself.
As mature as he is physically and as gifted as he is as a hockey player, and with as many lessons as he's learned the past eight months, he still has a lot of maturing to do.
That being said, if the Sabres are fine with it all, fine by me. Although I am puzzled as to why Zadorov, who had said "he didn't even know what [the suspension] means," would ask his GM, Tim Murray, if "it had to be done. If it was part of the rules, part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that it was automatic" (according to Murray on WGR.)
Who am to think that there seems to be a lot of red flags popping up in a short period of time? Or to question the advice and guidance this impressionable young player has been getting from his agent?
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Tim Murray's appearance on WGR's Hockey Hotline yesterday is a must listen.
From his short take on Zadorov and Mike Richards, to his understanding of the job that the media must do, to the World Cup of Hockey, to living in Buffalo, to his uncle Bryan Murray's bout with cancer, it was a command performance by the Sabres GM.
As bad as it is for the Sabres right now, it's something that doesn't hit home like it does when a loved one's stricken with cancer. When asked how Bryan Murray was doing, Tim said, "It's a tough one."
It took him a few seconds to gather himself after that, but he went on talking about Bryan Murray being "a man" as well as an inspiration as he continues to go to work every day despite having Stage 4 colon cancer. But Tim Murray didn't imply that his was a special anguish because of the Murray family's prominence in the National Hockey League or that theirs was a challenge on a grander scale than the many families that are faced with this on a daily basis.
"When it hits home you think of it as 'our family,'" he said. "But we all know there are so many families. If not every family, 95% of families are going through something like that so, I understand that. He gave me my first job when I was 22 yrs. old so I'm being a little bit selfish thinking about him, but we all know it affects everybody. And I get that, greatly."
Murray "gets" a lot of things and at the age of 51 with nearly 30 years in the business, he's seen a lot, heard a lot, learned a lot and is comfortable enough with himself and who he is to approach each question with as much honesty as his job will allow. The interview with Kevin Sylvester and Andrew Peters lasted over 30 minutes and anyone listenting wanted it to go longer as Murray respectfully answered many questions on a variety of topics.
Sometimes he was straightforward. When he was asked if it was "an easy decision" to suspend Zadorov, his answer was an unequivocal, "Yes. Very easy." Or when they asked him if they considered claiming Mike Richards. "Off waivers? No," was Murray's response. No wavering or coach/general manager-speak, just straight to the point.
Murray would eventually elaborate on both of those, but the audience knew where he stood from the get-go.
As frustrating as it can be answering questions from "inquiring minds," having grown up in a small, "redneck" town and coming up through the hockey ranks helps keep the media side of the business in perspective for Murray. In his interviews he shows respect for the person and their job by answering a question as honestly as possible no matter how incredulous his initial reaction might be. He fully understands that there is a lot of time to fill in the media and that, unfortunately, rumors and innuendo are great filler.
"Everybody has a job to do, and I get that," he said. But he also reminds us of the effect the rumor mill has on the players. "There are a lot of rumors out there and I don't think they're fair to players and the players families. There's been a lot of speculation in the press about which player I'm gonna trade and not trade. It's easy to talk about trading players, but these guys are men. These guys have families. It's hard on them."
This is not to say that Murray is going to let emotion sway him from doing what's best for the Buffalo Sabres. Everybody knows this is a business and especially at this time of year a seller like Buffalo will be moving players to the buyers of the league. And Murray is intent upon getting something in return.
"We have to get better and our better is not today, it's in the future," he said. "I'm ready to be a trade partner. We have quite a few guys that will be unrestricted free agents, potentially, at the end of the year and I've said all along that I'm not going to lose a guy for nothing if I can help it.
"Even if [I get] a 5th or 6th round pick. It doesn't sound like much but that 5th or 6th round pick, and it's [something] that might only happen once every 11 years, but you could hit on that."
It's the belief system of a GM, one that's been on the scouting side of the business a long time, who is intent upon leaving no stone unturned and never dismissing anything, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. His job is to make the Sabres better and now it encompasses much more than simply scouting or being an assistant to the one ultimately making the calls and dealing with the media.
Murray's been on the job just over a year and he's heading towards the March 2nd trade deadline with a much better understanding of what this organization is all about. It's too early to tell how this will all end up, but he has the hockey background and seems to have a solid enough character to set this team on the right track at this stage of the game.
"It takes time," he said of the eventual slow climb up the ladder. "I don't know what's going to happen over the summer. I know with the first pick (in the 2015 draft) we'll get a big-time player. We know we have to be patient and do [the] work, but it takes time to get better.
"We have to be very productive in this draft. We have to get it right. With what's already here, if we get it right this year, it's not the end of the rebuild, but I want to be competitive, I want to make the playoffs and pick 18-overall or 14-overall and continue this. But we don't have to pick #1 or 2 and I don't want to pick #1 or 2."
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The 14-31-3 Buffalo Sabres take on the 12-27-9 Edmonton Oilers with precious points to be given away in the race for the McEichel Cup. Right now the Oilers are ahead of the 30th place Sabres by two points in the standings while the next grouping of two teams (Arizona and Carolina) are seven and eight points ahead of Buffalo respectively.
The talk of the league dating back to last season was "tanking" for a shot at a legitimate, Sidney Crosby-type, franchise player--Connor McDavid or "consolation prize," Jack Eichel.
No one should blame any organization presently in the rebuilding process or beginning the rebuilding process for coveting a player like that to help right the franchise. That the Sabres are down at the bottom was to be somewhat expected. The Oilers being down near the bottom, again, was not.
The word "tank" is offensive to players and any player worth his salt would want to punch you in the face if you suggest they're throwing games to get a higher pick. Just ask Oilers netminder, Ben Scrivens.
"If anyone insinuated to me that I was trying not to win or said, ‘Hey, you should take tonight off,’ I think we’d have a fight," said Scrivens after practice yesterday. "That’s the most unbelievable thing you could say to a professional: that you should try not to win a game,”
Some have called tonight's matchup, "Tankapalooza" or worse yet, the "Toilet Bowl" which is really an affront to the players playing the game. At least those with a competitive spirit. “It’s mind-blowing that people even think that we’re not trying to win,” Scrivens said. "It’s head-shaking, really. Then we have to answer questions about a stupid comment because people keep bringing it up, people who have no idea what they’re talking about.”
The people Scrivens was talking about are members of the media most of whom, probably, have never competed meaningfully their entire lives. “Maybe I’ll label some people, but it’s people who have never played competitively, people who don’t know what the hell they’re talking about."
Buffalo is on a franchise worst 12-game losing streak heading into tonight's game and have already lost to the Oilers once this season.
For those who've never played competitively they'll be looking at this like a four point game.
For me, "I'm just a lawn mower, you can tell me by the way I walk."
For a link to Murray's interview on WGR, click here.
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