This is largely why the guaranteed contracts have to go...........

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

Right on. Big money requires full-time, year-round commitment, which many players understand. Yet, somehow, a few don't get it. Amazing.

Squanto - Come on, tell us what Ruff was screaming. And no censoring! I get all tingly when Ruff loses it.

it wasnt long ago this is how every player came to camp. back from the 50s to mid 80s, hockey players would spend their summers doing tours of canada and stuff to bars, drinking under the sponsorship of beer companies. beer and bar food for 4 months didnt do much to help your phsyique. hell, jeremy roenik and brett hull used to come to every camp fat as hell and out of shape. these are hall of famers. marty brodeur has a famed gut, hes not in top shape himself.

regardless, its one day. jochen is going to be a sabre through the season, because the sabres cap situation isnt going to be pretty as is without paying a player half his contract without even being on the team. jochen had one bad season. he is valuable when hes at his best as a depth production guy, and he can play very very solid two way hockey. everyone has off years, remember connollys 25 point clunker in 02-03? in a full season?

give the guy a few days at camp before this comes up.

is it disappointing he came to camp out of shape? yes, but as an athlete, his motabolism will get him in shape very quickly.

cut the guy a little slack.

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So I went and sat right near the glass. My buddy and I clocked the times and every single grinder on this team SMOKED Hecht. Even Cowan made Hecht look terrible. Took him on average 36 seconds to get through the drill while other players were hitting 22 seconds. That's bad.

Everyone else didn't really do much...but they all looked decent. Not going to say anything bad about anyone there (except the sloth), they looked pumped.

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

I also get a little warm in my pants when he flips shit.

Sounded to me like it was a lot of 'Come on!!' when he was nancying in towards the finish of one drill. I don't recall what our coach called it, but it sucked.

Start at your goal line, sprint to the far blue line, turn at a cone, back to the close blue line, turn there, head to the far corner. Dance in and out of a group of cones, then sprint back to the start. ALL the way to the start.

The Round Mound of Bratwurst was taking it from on 2 of his trips through, and I think Jim Corsi was yelling at him as well. I didn't hear or see those guys giving it to anyone else while I was there.

I would tend to agree with you, but in this day of age, it is a high tech market and every athlete must become high tech to survive. Very few can win without being in top collective condition all year around. This is why I have a problem with partying, commercials, and extra activities during the season when the team is losing. Focus on the team and being the absolute best. Then if they are the best, fuck around a bit. Until then, focus on the job.

But that is only my take...Hecht may prove different. Based on his performance....I think not, but maybe.

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I try to think, but nuttin happens.......Curley Howard
There is no past as it exists merely as a slippery bond tying the memories of the past to the dreams of the future.............Me
If we started life as an old person and lived until we were young, we would eventually finish off fucked as an orgasm.......George Carlin

No, in hockey you are never allowed to be out of shape. Hecht is coming off a year in which he was perhaps the worst starting forward in the NHL, so his slack is beyond gone. He is a cancer.

Let me put this diplomatically: Cut the cock sucking pussy before he infects the whole team with his lazy fucker attitude. Cut him slack? No, cut him period. Saving half of his salary is better than getting fucked with the whole mother fucking thing.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

the breakdown goes like this:

year 1 penalty: whole salary
year 2 penalty: 50%
year 3 peanlty: 25%

that all counts against the cap. im sorry, no where do i think hecht was an asset last year, but that was last year. im not ready to cut the cord on em yet because he was slow on the first day of training camp. its a bad time to start the cynicism already.

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I don't care if you like his dick up your ass, the douche is not good enough for the NHL and needs to be cut. You want to start a defend Tallinder thread next? Hecht is a fucking worthless pussy who is better as a cap hit than an on-ice hit. I want to win, not win the cap-hit battle, so buy the fucker out and send him packing. This is not an unusual practice for bad players with bloated contracts.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

i only disagreed with you. im not ready to write him off yet. im not a hect supporter, im just not ready to say "ok, time for him to go" just yet till i see the on ice product.

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Is it early to write him off? Yeah, probably.

But, look at the circumstances. Here's a guy who is supposed to be setting an example for the other players. He's worn a letter on his jersey. He's a veteran, coming off a career worst season.

Instead of coming in to camp ready to go, ready to wipe out what happened last year, and set a good example for the younger guys, what does he do?

Gets outskated by kids and 4th line grinders.

They had the heart rate monitors on the players, just like in other years. Mike Grier was going his trials, moving fast and clearly working. He never got much above 95bpm. Hecht was at 120bpm STANDING ON THE BOARDS WAITING FOR HIS TURN. Grier, Butler, Connoly, Gaustad, those guys were running their drill, standing there for a second and getting back on the line for the next one. Hecht was sucking wind HARD.

He might turn it around, I don't know. But it's still a piss poor showing for a guy who should be trying to turn his game around.

Squanto's posts really speak to me about Hecht, and it's pretty indicative of a guy who just doesn't seem to give a shit anymore. He's a guy who is expected to lead, to drive the younger players to succeed, and he's out there loafing on day one.

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mechaphil

Hecht needs to go. Shouldn't the first day of camp be the day you show up and bust your ass to show that you weren't slacking all summer?

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this place feels more like home, with one big happy family

I noticed the heart rate thing as well. Hecht wasn't even doing anything and his heart rate was going bezerk. Out of shape, much?

...the further information disappoints me terribly. He has chosen not to take his obligations to his team-mates seriously. That's just sad.

And to think he is getting paid millions when some high school kid could do his job better and for less cap space.

From what I saw yesterday, Gaustad, Ellis and Rivet should get the letters and we shouldn't look back...for now.

If Goose finally gets a letter, I'll be astounded. He's deserved one, yes, but he just can't seem to get a permanent vowel on his chest yet.

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mechaphil

He comes out a-bustin' and folks'll be howling to have him recognized. Just do it, Goose.

So what're you trying to say? I don't get what you're getting at.

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"...they came down into the stands and asked if I knew how to do play by play. I said...No. But. I'll take a shot at it if you want".- Rick Jeanneret