Edmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins benched his former first overall draft choice Nail Yakupov on Hockey Night In Canada. The young star was not happy about his benching. Asked about his decision on after Oilers practice on Sunday, Eakins reiterated his core value that no one player is bigger than than the team.
Yakupov failed to produce offense, so the head coach parked him in the press box. Eakins spoke with Oilers.com after practice on Sunday. The Oilers lost 6-5 to Toronto on OT.
"We just thought that he had gotten to a spot of frustration where the kid's passion is the score and he was just going to take it all on himself," said Eakins. "You can't do that. I don't care how good you are. You can't produce by yourself in this league. You have to use your line mates.
"It was more of a reset button for him and he can come back in fresh with a new perspective and we just started going through how we're going to go about this and how we're going to build this player. The guy's a young kid and he's got so much to learn about the game, the proper way to play the game. Once he grasps that, he's going to be a danger every time he steps on that ice."
Thanks, Oilers.com
The Oilers play in Washington and Pittsburgh this week. Eakins said Sunday that he'll reinstate Yakupov soon. Perhaps Eakins benched Yakupov for one more game against the king of all Russian hockey stars, Ovechkin and his Capitals, then allows him to play against Malkin and the Penguins.
Yakupov made a living by torching OHL forwards and D with his sick skills and his deceiving speed. He made it look easy skating 1 on 3 on OHL talent. That game doesn't translate to the NHL. Eakins has been preaching a chip-chase-recovery game, while Yakupov has opted to skate 1 on 4 and do things his way. Yakupov has been stubborn and shown an unwillingness to change his game to agree with his head coach's requests.
Eakins had seen enough of the Sarnia Sting silliness.
"I think nobody is happy when they're not playing," said Yakupov. "It was frustrating but it's not my choice. It was coach's choice. That's a question for coach but I'm just getting ready for the next game and working hard. That's what I have to do, just work. It's all good."
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The Oilers are sinking like a sunset with Devan Dubnyk in their net as the starting goalie.
Dubnyk suffered another humiliating loss on Hockey Night In Canada for the second straight Saturday night when the Leafs stormed back from a third period deficit to force OT.
Thanks, edmontonoilers.com
Dubnyk has been a sieve in his first four games. He's 0-3-1 with a 5.43 GAA and .829 save %%. He's allowed 19 goals on just 111 shots faced.
The Oilers will sink like a sunset if Craig MacTavish doesn't make a trade for a real, winning starting goaltender. Dubnyk is a back-up goalie, not a starter.
In my opinion, MacT would be crazy to make a play for UFA Ilya Bryzgalov. Sure, he'd win some games, but he'd also be a huge distraction on a young team that frankly has had enough distractions this season.
MacT would be wise to make a sincere run at UFA-to-be Ryan Miller.
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It won't surprise me at all if I learn tomorrow at the game day skate that Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek had dinner together in Buffalo on Sunday night.
The Vaneks and Pominvilles are as close as two young families can be. Thomas and Jason are great friends and confidantes. Their wives and kids are just as close.
The best friends have likely had October 13th and 14th set to alarm on their iPhone calendars since the NHL league office released the season schedule in August. Vanek isn't going to let his bro eat at Salsarita's on Chippewa tonight. No. Vanek will do it right. A nice dinner in a quiet spot, off the beaten track. The buds have some catching up to do. Texting back and forth is one thing. face time is entirely another.
Pominville knows the streets of Buffalo very well, having spend driven up and down The Chip Strip, Delaware Ave., Elmwood, Hertel, Franklin, and the rest of the thoroughfares that have made Buffalo famous. Pominville grew up on Buffalo. He spent nine years navigating the highways and by-ways of Western New York. He came of age here. He was a leader of men here. He was waived from Buffalo, left unclaimed, and then sent to Rochester. Against all odds, Pommer proved that he belonged in Buffalo.
He became such a beloved player that he belonged to Sabres fans. He belonged to them. They belonged to him. It was a special bond, to say the least.
When he killed Ottawa Senators by scoring the playoff series ending OT shorthanded GWG against them in 2006, Buffalo had been known as "Pominville". The sign on the inbound "33" says so.
For two nights only, Pominville is coming home. Its Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, and Pominville will celebrate with family and friends in Buffalo. He recently signed a new 5 year, $28 million contract extension with the Wild. Knowing Pommer the day that I do, it wouldn't surprise me if he has been selling his brother Vanek on the many positive attributes of living in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Vanek knows more about the twin Cities than Pommer does. Pommer's preaching to the choir. Vanek knows Minneapolis-St. Paul like the back of his hockey glove, having led his University of Minnesota Golden Gophers to an NCAA college ice hockey championship in 2003. Vanek is a dual citizen. He lives in the Minneapolis burbs during the offseason. He works in Buffalo. For now. The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent will have many options. There are as many as ten NHL teams who are keeping tabs on Vanek these days. The Wild are at the top of the list. The salary cap will be rising to $71-$72 million next season. The Wild will bid adieu to Dany Heatley's $7.5 million annual cap hit.
Right now, the Wild have the defacto first-position negotiating rights on Thomas Vanek. Their ace in the hole is Jason Pominville. Having Vanek's best friend under contract for the next 6 seasons certainly doesn't hurt Chuck Fletcher's chances of landing Vanek either via trade or UFA signing. The Phoenix Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers are all said to be interested in trading for Vanek before he becomes a UFA next July. To know vanek is to know that its not about the money. Its about the quality of his family's life. Vanek is a family man. So is Pominville. Minnesota is the best of both worlds in that they will have the prerequisite $7.1-$7.5 million per year (for 6-7 years) and the quality of life aesthetics that will speak directly to Vanek. No other NHL team can offer Vanek the same financial and lifestyle comforts.
When Pominville was traded to Minnesota from Buffalo on April 3rd, it was Vanek who walked next door to Pominville's house to help his buddy process the enormity of it all. Pommer had never been traded in his nine year NHL career. He needed someone to help him sort through all of the emotions. He called on his best friend, Thomas Vanek. As vanek said last April, both men sat and talked about the trade. Then, Vanek drove Pominville to the airport so that he could get to Los Angeles to join his new team. Pominville was a UFA-to-be and his trade was a learning tool for not only he, but also Vanek, who is dealing with the same emotions and thoughts that Pommer was dealing with last season before his trade was made.
The NHL is a business.
Pominville told the Star Tribune that he's looking forward to his Buffalo homecoming. Now, he'll finally get to say 'goodbye' to all of his former teammates, the equipment managers, the security guys, and the Sabres employees with whom he interacted so closely for nearly a decade in Buffalo. He's never seen the inside of the Buffalo visitors' locker room. He'll get a whole new perspective on things on Monday morning.
“The only two people I got to say bye to were (Thomas) Vanek, because he was my neighbor and drove me to the airport, and our trainer, Dave Williams, who brought me my equipment,” Pominville said. “So it’ll be nice to go back, but it’ll be weird to go in the same door but a different locker room".
Pommer scored 185 of his 190 career goals and addded 271 of his 276 career assists in Buffalo. He played in a ton of high-pressure playoff games in Buffalo. He was a key contributor on two Eastern Conference Finals. He has vivid memories of the glory days.
“We’d have 18,000 in the building and another 15,000 outside the arena watching on a big screen,” Pominville said.
“The fan support was awesome. We were pretty fortunate. They love their hockey, they’re all about their team. We had some good years, we had some tougher years, but they always supported us.”
On Monday night, you have the opportunity to share your appreciation for Pominville, and I hope you do.
“I’ll see the ice from a different angle, I guess. It’ll be fun. Everything happens so fast and I just would really like to see the staff and play in front of those fans again.”
Get used to seeing Pominville and Vanek on the ice against one another. The best friends will get another opportunity to play on the same line together again. The Sabres have scored six goals in six games this season. They haven't scored first in any other their games. Fellow UFA-to-be Ryan Miller is 0-4 with a sterling silver .941 save % and a 2.29 goals against average. My guess is that Miller will be traded before Vanek is traded because his value is very high right now. There are several teams in the NHL who are actively looking to upgrade their goaltending. Vanek will become more valuable after the Christmas holidays when the "have nots" fall out of the playoff races. Vanek's value stays consistently high because 29 year old 40 goals scorers in today's NHL are rare commodities. Supply is low. Demand is high. There will be a ton of demand on Vanek as this season unfolds.
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Lindy Ruff and his Dallas Stars lost 5-1 in Minneapolis on Saturday night. Ruff and his former captain had a chance to get caught up.
Ruff told Michael Russo the Star Tribune that Pominville was a model player in Buffalo:
“We named him captain. I really felt [he was] our best all-around player,” said first-year Dallas Stars coach Lindy Ruff, who coached against Pominville for the first time in Saturday’s Wild-Stars game.
“He’s a guy that did all the right things, got to the right places, the type of player that played through anything, any situation,” Ruff said. “On top of that, he’s an even better person.
“Those players are hard to come by. You never have to challenge him to work. He’s an ultimate pro and he’s going to be consistent from year to year, which is really all you can ask.”
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I've been asked countless times this season what I think will happen to Sabres GM Darcy Regier if this dismal losing streak continues for his team.
I don't have a crystal ball. I can't read minds.
Only Terry Pegula knows for sure what he is think, and he isn't talking to the media.
The Rick Dudley-to-Buffalo rumors have resumed in many circles around in and around the Eastern Conference.
I'm told that there is substance to the "Duds" chatter.
More on this on Monday.
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