Gainey said on NHL network...

AB Habman · Guru

Gainey said on NHL network...

Ando · Guru

...tonight has to be the night for Saku to step-it-up!

Power · Veteran Member

AB Habman wrote:

Well guys, maybe he's reallizing that he is part of the problem.

I think that he realize that, he´s not stupid just playing poorly.

plouf · Guru

AB Habman wrote:

Gainey said on NHL network..."Saks has to play with more effort and concentration to break out of his slump and the sooner, the better". But on the flip side, Saks actually faced the music and stated to the media that he's trying passes too much because he has no confidence with his shot. He said he'll try to shoot more. Well guys, maybe he's reallizing that he is part of the problem. This is a good start and may help turn his game around!

I have heard or read 3 or 4 interviews with or statements by Saku over the past month. You have called him a hypocrite AB, but every single time he comes out and states it like it is, including mentioning his own failings. I don't really know what more you want. He's not an idiot. He knows he's in a slump. He also probably knows that when you're in a slump you can't overthink it, you just have to keep playing and hope it ends. With the exception of the time when Julien was fired, which seemed a bit classless, this is just typical Saku. He's fairly low key, no doubt, and maybe that is not to everyone's taste in a captain (although Sakic and Yzerman were both pretty low key themselves, and they've been the most successful captains of the last decade), but he isn't a fool or a hypocrite.

AB Habman · Guru

plouf wrote:

AB Habman wrote: Gainey said on NHL network..."Saks has to play with more effort and concentration to break out of his slump and the sooner, the better". But on the flip side, Saks actually faced the music and stated to the media that he's trying passes too much because he has no confidence with his shot. He said he'll try to shoot more. Well guys, maybe he's reallizing that he is part of the problem. This is a good start and may help turn his game around! I have heard or read 3 or 4 interviews with or statements by Saku over the past month. You have called him a hypocrite AB, but every single time he comes out and states it like it is, including mentioning his own failings. I don't really know what more you want. He's not an idiot. He knows he's in a slump. He also probably knows that when you're in a slump you can't overthink it, you just have to keep playing and hope it ends. With the exception of the time when Julien was fired, which seemed a bit classless, this is just typical Saku. He's fairly low key, no doubt, and maybe that is not to everyone's taste in a captain (although Sakic and Yzerman were both pretty low key themselves, and they've been the most successful captains of the last decade), but he isn't a fool or a hypocrite.

Actually Plouf, this is the first time I see an interview of him actually speaking to the media about himself this season.

Has anyone else seen or heard him come out this season and say anything about himself needing to step it up?

plouf · Guru

AB, I'll admit I'm not sure how often he has addressed his own slump per se. You might be totally right. I can't even remember for sure. More often he's talked about the team, as in "we gotta do this, or we're not doing this well" etc...it's all just hockeyspeak to me. Usually I find Saku pretty forthright though, as forthright as you're usually gonna get in this context. Anyway, it's just a bunch of cliches these guys memorize. Did anyone hear what Komisarek had to say after his goal? He could barely put a sentence together. It was funny, because it was incoherent, but you could hear him trying to put the stuff together: "well you gotta (LONG pause), like, keep workin' (LONG pause) um...hard, um every night and aaaaaaaaaaah play as a team (LONG pause),,,," ETc....

Who REALLY cares about Saku's public statements? Are we totally in thrall to the media spin on this team? Ask Barry about the difference between what people say in public and what they're really thinking. It's not like Saku just goes up there and speaks from the heart or something. Every once in a while people make dumb slip-ups (cf. Kovalev, Ribeiro, and I might include Koivu's comments after CJ's firings) that represent emotions in the heat of the moment. But for the most part these interviews are pretty much spin.