The future captain of the Buffalo Sabres is already taking control of the locker room.
If the Buffalo Sabres ever manage to do the near-impossible and win Lord Stanley’s Cup, make sure history remembers December 31, 2016.
Because that is when the rebuild REALLY began.
Allow me to refresh your memory for you.
Fresh off a road win against the Detroit Red Wings, Sabres players spoke about the importance of gaining some ground on the teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference, beginning with the Boston Bruins. The Sabres were getting ready to close 2016 with a home-and-home against the Bruins, who owned both third place in the Atlantic Division and a six-point lead on the Sabres. Coach Bylsma summed up the opportunity thusly:
We need to be excited about the opportunity we have. For everything that we’ve gone through [in] 34 games, you’re staring at a team that’s in the playoffs right now … You talk about big games, we’re at game 35 but these two games are as big as they’re going to get for us.
Of course, the Sabres went on to lose both games against the Bruins, getting outscored by a 7-3 margin in those two games and failing to pick up even a single point in what should have been the two biggest games of the Sabres’ season so far.
Despite scoring Buffalo’s lone goal in his team’s New Year’s Eve loss to Boston, Eichel was not pleased with what he saw from himself or his teammates that day, and his frustration was evident in the locker room. After abusing his equipment for a few moments and using some very NSFW language, Eichel stormed out without speaking to the media. . . and when he returned the next day to speak with John Vogel of The Buffalo News, he appeared to be reborn as the leader fans were hoping he would one day become:
As a whole team, everyone needs to look in the mirror and we all need to get a lot better. I think I speak for the team in saying that we’re all frustrated with where we’re at, and I don’t think I’m the only person in the locker room that’s not satisfied. . .
We’re just not executing well enough. I don’t think as a group that we should be blaming what’s going on on line changes and injuries because every team deals with it. Obviously with us we’ve had some key players injured at key times in the year and have not played 100 percent as a team in the two years that I’ve been here, which is frustrating.
This is also hockey, and injuries are going to happen. We need to find a way to get over that.
Since then, Eichel showed everyone that he was willing to do more than just talk the talk; he walked the walk, scoring a goal in Buffalo’s 4-1 win in Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers, and then extending his points streak to five games by potting another goal in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Chicago. (Eichel also dished out two hits and even blocked a shot, signs of his commitment to become more of a two-way player).
Better still, Eichel continues to show he is not afraid to continue using the media to challenge himself and his teammates to play better:
That’s kind of a tough one to swallow. You come into a building it’s not easy to win in, go into the third tied, find a way to get a lead, play with it and piss it away. It’s something we’ve done a lot of.
It’s that little extra. Too many overtime losses this year. It’s painful. You have a chance to steal four points on a road trip against two very, very good teams. We get three but the fourth is there. They add up. It’s definitely a tough one. . .
It’s just tough. We all really wanted that second point. It’s just been the tale of our season. We get to these situations and we’re not able to put a stamp on the game. It’s why we find ourselves out of the playoffs and far back.
The man calls a spade a spade, doesn’t he? I especially like the “piss it away” comment, which is exactly how you would describe a team that continually finds way to lose close games.
Brian Gionta may be the calming veteran presence in the locker room, and Ryan O’Reilly, warrior that he is, establishes the sort of work ethic that inspires everyone around him to step up their efforts – but let’s face it: whether he wants to accept the title of “saviour” or not, Jack Eichel has become the true leader of this team. Players were always going to be energized by his play-making abilities, but there is a difference between causing people’s mouths to drop, and causing your teammates to want to go to war with you. In not even a year and a half, Eichel has gone from the first, to both.
Turning point? You bet.
The Buffalo Sabres may wait a year or two to stitch a ‘C’ on the sweater of one Jack Eichel, but make no mistake about it: the Sabres are already his team, even if the coronation that makes it official has not yet been scheduled.
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