Paul Stewart: Drouin Is a Pawn in the Entitlement Game

Hi Stewy, I agree with all you say. Nothing should be handed to anybody, learn and earn respect from peers. The best advice you can get is "never stop learning". I just have to ask, how much of this situation is on Stevie Y and TB scouts for drafting him maybe higher than where he should have been slotted?

Great piece. So true in everyday life, not just hockey/sports. Having to work hard to accomplish something has been replaced by the need for instant gratification!

Question - if I recall correctly from a prior column, you do not particularly care for Steve Yzerman due to disrespect he showed towards you and fellow officials. Any possibility, that as Eklund suggested up front, that Yzerman told Walsh to find a fair deal, and Walsh did, but Yzerman backed out.

To me, unless you are willing to make whatever deal the agent thinks is fair, you should never allow that to happen, but it does.

So my question is, could all parties be equally at fault in this?

Great blog, tell this to James Tanner.

Great piece. So true in everyday life, not just hockey/sports. Having to work hard to accomplish something has been replaced by the need for instant gratification!
- Tim_George

Exactly the number 1 problem of NA society today. Big brother is responsible for looking after us and our every want. We are all victims and it is not our fault.

Welcome to the Millennials Generation. This attitude of entitlement and self-absorption is their motto!

Question - if I recall correctly from a prior column, you do not particularly care for Steve Yzerman due to disrespect he showed towards you and fellow officials. Any possibility, that as Eklund suggested up front, that Yzerman told Walsh to find a fair deal, and Walsh did, but Yzerman backed out.

To me, unless you are willing to make whatever deal the agent thinks is fair, you should never allow that to happen, but it does.

So my question is, could all parties be equally at fault in this?
- ChipArm

IMHO the kid should have gone to the minors and played his ass off and showed tampa that he belongs in the NHL and on one of the top 2 lines. He is pouting and demanding a trade because he isn't playing where/as much as he thinks he deserves? meh, work and earn it.

Question - if I recall correctly from a prior column, you do not particularly care for Steve Yzerman due to disrespect he showed towards you and fellow officials. Any possibility, that as Eklund suggested up front, that Yzerman told Walsh to find a fair deal, and Walsh did, but Yzerman backed out.

To me, unless you are willing to make whatever deal the agent thinks is fair, you should never allow that to happen, but it does.

So my question is, could all parties be equally at fault in this?

Agents don't make trades. They may facilitate finding a trade partner but this wasn't a case of Yzerman not finding a team that wanted Drouin, it was a problem getting adequate return for value of departing player, and even then it's hard to say it was a problem since they are forcing Yzerman's hand instead of letting the process play out

Welcome to the Millennials Generation. This attitude of entitlement and self-absorption is their motto!
- maaddmike

Are you from the Generalization Generation? Of course not, that would be unfair of me to judge your entire generation based on your unfair characterization of an entire generation...

"When people ask me about the biggest things that have changed in hockey over the years, one of the things that inevitably comes up is the entitlement culture that has taken hold among many of the younger players entering the NHL. It's not just a hockey problem. It's a societal problem. As such, combating it is a major uphill battle."

Mr. Stewart can back such a statement up with fact? It seems to me the same has been said about the younger generations every cycle. This is only a precedent in the current evolution of the NHL. Consider Eric Lindros telling Quebec not to draft him and then telling them he will never play for them. Or how about the numerous times Adam Oates would sit out demanding a new contract even though he already had signed one?

These are just two examples that we know of having occurred out in the open.

To be honest kids that make that kind of money ought to shut up and be grateful. They could be a real athelete and say go fight in a war for what some of them make in a shift. That said they are humans that agree to be treated like chattel. There are players because of coaches and being on the wrong teams that miss their chance.

I agree though that at the bottom of this fault lies with the agent most likely. This is not the first stunt by Walsh who cares only about himself.

Perhaps there should be a better agreement between team control over a player versus what the team invests in the player to reach a more equitable dealing.

Welcome to the Millennials Generation. This attitude of entitlement and self-absorption is their motto!
- maaddmike

meet the new generation same as the old generation.

Hi Stewy, I agree with all you say. Nothing should be handed to anybody, learn and earn respect from peers. The best advice you can get is "never stop learning". I just have to ask, how much of this situation is on Stevie Y and TB scouts for drafting him maybe higher than where he should have been slotted?
- powerenforcer

so if your parents save up a lot of money and upon dying leave bequeath it to you, you then should not get it? Or did you earn it by the birth lottery?

Well put Stew!

so if your parents save up a lot of money and upon dying leave bequeath it to you, you then should not get it? Or did you earn it by the birth lottery?
- BluemanGuruu

Separate issue. What I am saying is, just because you are a son of a hockey player does not mean you should automatically be on an NHL team. You still have to prove you are worth the roster spot. You always have to learn, get better. Right now, Drouin is not proving that (yes, I know he is not a son of a hockey player).

Great piece!

Paul, this is totally off-topic, but I'm curious about the interference call against Patrick Kane in last night's game against the Lightning. I can understand with touch-up offsides why a player must touch a foot to the ice in the neutral zone in order to get back onside, but I don't see the logic in having to have both feet on the ice when leaving the penalty box in order to play the puck. I would think that the door to the penalty box opens as soon as the penalty time hits zero, at which point the penalty is over and the player can return to the ice.

Is the rule the same with a line change? Does a player have to have both skates on the ice before playing the puck, provided there isn't a too many men violation occurring? I'd like to see a blog examining the technicalities behind various rules that involve feet on the ice (or certain parts of the ice) in a game where feet (and bodies) are leaving the surface of the ice regularly for many different reasons.

I've been playing organized amateur hockey for 20 years and I've never seen or heard of this rule before. Maybe it's just never come up, or maybe the officials at my admittedly mediocre level either don't know or don't care about these finer points of the game, but I'm curious.

I actually saw a game earlier this season where same call was made.
Oh and if you want to see how to behave when you need to be traded, all you have to do is look at Travis Hamonic. Pure Class.

Yzerman mishandled Drouin from day 1.

Shouldn't have been sent down in 13-14.
Should have been a top 6 forward in 14-15, instead played fourth line minutes and was benched in the playoff.
Still being bench this year and even sent down.

Cooper doesn't want him on his squad, Yzerman thinks he's not a top 6 player, then why the (frank) don't you trade him if he isn't that good? You think he's gonna go burn the AHL at a 2-3 pts/game to help Stevie Y get the biggest return for his services? No (frank)in way...

Ask Blake Wheeler if he owes anything to Phoenix. Guy hadn't prove himself either.

Imagine if you only had one skill that could make you a decent living.

Now imagine that you and your boss just couldn't get along and you were forced to take a massive pay cut and sent to work for a different division within the company.

Even though there are other companies that would love to have you work for them, your current employer was your only option to get paid for your skills (and ultimately out of your control). It's not like you had an interview that allowed you to meet your future boss and decide if you wanted to work for him.

Kind of sucks not having any control.

Don't get me wrong, I don't sympathize with professional athletes or anyone else in the entertainment industry. They are massively overpaid for their contribution to society. But face it, they aren't given any control from any of the parties involved.

Imagine if you only had one skill that could make you a decent living.

Now imagine that you and your boss just couldn't get along and you were forced to take a massive pay cut and sent to work for a different division within the company.

Even though there are other companies that would love to have you work for them, your current employer was your only option to get paid for your skills (and ultimately out of your control). It's not like you had an interview that allowed you to meet your future boss and decide if you wanted to work for him.

Kind of sucks not having any control.

Don't get me wrong, I don't sympathize with professional athletes or anyone else in the entertainment industry. They are massively overpaid for their contribution to society. But face it, they aren't given any control from any of the parties involved.
- magmoo

Pretty sure no one held a gun to his head when he signed his entry level contract. Being a high pick probably got him some nice incentives...

Pretty sure no one held a gun to his head when he signed his entry level contract. Being a high pick probably got him some nice incentives...
- murTor

Did he have an alternative if he wanted to make a living playing hockey in North America?

I wouldn't be surprised if some kids/parents/agents watching this unfold start steering their careers through the US College system vs the CHL for the purpose of controlling where they sign. Maybe we just hear about it more often now than in the past, but kids that decide not to sign that ELC before graduating are the only ones with control.

Yzerman mishandled Drouin from day 1.

Shouldn't have been sent down in 13-14.
Should have been a top 6 forward in 14-15, instead played fourth line minutes and was benched in the playoff.
Still being bench this year and even sent down.

Cooper doesn't want him on his squad, Yzerman thinks he's not a top 6 player, then why the (frank) don't you trade him if he isn't that good? You think he's gonna go burn the AHL at a 2-3 pts/game to help Stevie Y get the biggest return for his services? No (frank)in way...

Ask Blake Wheeler if he owes anything to Phoenix. Guy hadn't prove himself either.
- AwaKe

He was too young for AHL

He was benched this year and sent down b/c other players are playing better (Namestnikov) and/or weren't waiver exempt (Marchessault)

Welcome to the Millennials Generation. This attitude of entitlement and self-absorption is their motto!
- maaddmike

Congrats. You have said the statement every ignorant and afraid of change old person says right before they become to old to understand how the world is. You can now count on everyone not taking you seriously along with every one checking up on your blood pressure medicine. Try not to get yourself to worked up old timer, you're hearts not up to it anymore.

Congrats. You have said the statement every ignorant and afraid of change old person says right before they become to old to understand how the world is. You can now count on everyone not taking you seriously along with every one checking up on your blood pressure medicine. Try not to get yourself to worked up old timer, you're hearts not up to it anymore.
- Zac_O