Edmonton Oilers assistant captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was recently in Chicago for the annual NHL Media Day and Rory Boylen from Sportsnet had a chance to catch up with him and ask him about a teammate of his, Jesse Puljujarvi.
Now, I’m not going to past the whole article here, you can head to Sportsnet and read it for yourself, but I am going to take the opportunity to briefly speak on one of the quotes that I find very interesting.
“It’s too bad to see it going down this path because I think he’d be a great guy for us and a guy we could use a lot.”
Well well well. This is the kind of thing a leader says about a teammate, whether that teammate is in camp or not. RNH puts himself in Jesse’s shoes in that interview and empathizes with the big Finn. If you click the link above and read everything, Nuge even compliments Jesse and speaks to his strengths and his challenges as a peer. You don’t get the feeling it’s an “us” versus “them” thing reading Nuge’s quotes whereas, with Leon, things are very different.
“I don’t think I’m the right guy to comment on it.”
And this is what I’m talking about when I criticize the team for not having enough veteran leaders on the roster. One on hand, you’ve got Nuge who confronts the topic head-on and speaks diplomatically about the subject, even going as far as to throw support Puljujarvi’s way unprompted. Then, on the other hand, you’ve got a young superstar trying to avoid the topic at all costs and speaking haphazardly about Puljujarvi and his situation.
There’s a clear reason that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wears an “A” on his chest and Leon Draisaitl does not.
Yesterday, during Oilers Now, host Bob Stauffer and the Cult of Hockey’s David Staples were talking about how and when the public perception of Puljujarvi changed over the summer. Stauffer had commented that there was a tweet that had mentioned something to the effect that those working for the Oilers must be so upset to see Pulju doing so well right now and Stauffer said in so many words that wasn’t the case. Those watching Jesse’s performances would be elated to see him dominating. But I have a problem with that, I think it’s a self-serving attitude. I don’t think they’re happy for Puljujarvi at all. They’re thinking that if he plays well, the return on a trade will be better. Quite selfish thinking if you ask me.
There was also conversation regarding when the tone surrounding Jesse changed. Stapes said that they did a poll in June I believe where the question was, “Would you welcome Jesse Puljujarvi back to the Oilers?” and over 70% of the ppl voting said yes. After Karpat started playing in the Champions Hockey League with Pulju in its roster, Staples ran the poll again and this time only around 53% voted yes. That’s a pretty significant drop-off, but what I’d like to know is if we didn’t have weekly comments on Puljujarvi’s English and whether or not he was attending his classes, poorly translated quotes from Finland, or snide comments about his work ethic and intelligence over the summer, would the second poll have looked that much different from the first? I don’t think it would’ve. But it’s a good thing we had that coverage, right? What better motivation for Jesse than that?
What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments below please!
