I thought it’s about time to comment on the week’s Jesse Puljujarvi drama as yesterday it finally made its way to the radio and I hadn’t posted anything in a week or so. This one has me fired up though.
The erroneous Jesse Puljujarvi quote that is driving the Edmonton media mad and making its way around the hockey world is this one,
“I want a team where I get a place in one of the first two lines and where I get to play for 15 minutes per game,” Puljujärvi said, via Google Translate, in an interview with Finnish publication Sporten. “Then I could show what I’m going for. That is my main goal.” (source)
And the following replies from some of the more “respected” members of the Edmonton media replied thusly,
If only there was a team out there somewhere with a new head coach, new GM, lots of openings on the wing and an urgent need for Puljujarvi to succeed. https://t.co/AsxaMAKZJC
— Rob Tychkowski (@Rob_Tychkowski) August 20, 2019
Maybe I'm old school but Jesse sounds awfully entitled. What happened to being glad you're playing in the best league in the world, and starting on the 3rd line vs 3rd pairing D and proving you're better than that? https://t.co/fWSSuQ2j45
— Jim Matheson (@NHLbyMatty) August 20, 2019
Have you ever seen a quote from Puljujarvi that either Matheson or Tychkowski has obtained personally?
Here’s the problem, they don’t know the language and even the journalists who do know the language are translating it in a manner to benefit their headline instead of reporting what’s actually being said.
I’m very lucky in that I’ve got some wonderful Finns and others who are fluent in Finnish who follow me that can help me to translate things in their proper context and this is what I was told with regards to that quote,
Jesse actually said this, ”I think if i get the chance, I can show what I have and can do.”
That’s very different from the quote at the top of this post, right? See, I’ve been told that Finnish can be very literal and using Google translate is a dodgy proposition.
From @TimoKurki on Twitter,
The article on TSN (Bardown) was done using Google Translate. Kinda lazy and unprofessional in my opinion. The only thing JP actually said was that his goal was to become a top-six forward. That’s it.
That’s another thing. We have professional journalists who know better than to run with a quote translated by a machine but THEY DON’T CARE. They just want to run this kid out of town. Every week there’s a new shot at Jesse.
Last week it was that he skipped his English lessons, right? Well did he skip all of them, a few of them, or just one of them? Is it possible he forgot about a class or two? Was the absence OK’d by the team, was he under the weather, or maybe did he just need some time off and couldn’t contact the necessary person responsible for the class? When were the classes organized, before or after the family liaison was let go due to budget cutbacks? Were the Oilers using an actual tutor or just a relative/friend of someone on staff?
You can’t say that shit and not offer more concrete details without looking like you’ve got it out for the player. The other thing is, nobody is willing to ask those questions. But shouldn’t there be at least one person in the media that would be willing to report the other side of the story?
I’ll say this, keeping the focus on Jesse sure has taken it off of Connor and his rehab on that buggered up knee…
What happened to all the stories about Jesse being the first on/last off and working with Mikko Koskinen after practice? Or Jesse being a good chap by playing some outdoor puck with the local kids?
That’s all been forgotten because he’s the devil now, right?…
I know yesterday Bob Stauffer compared Pulju’s language conundrum to Andrej Sekera’s wife and how when Sekera signed in Edmonton she enrolled at the University of Alberta to learn English.
Is that an apples to apples comparison though? It’s not really, is it? A grown woman who’s married isn’t a comparable for an 18-year-old male. I mean I don’t know Rej’s wife, is she a teenager too? I’m surprised someone in the Edmonton media didn’t get a hold of that information and wonder why someone who’s lived in North America for as long as she assumably has, is unable to speak the language and needs courses.
It’s not right and anybody that knows anything about learning a second language knows that it takes YEARS to get moderately proficient. If you’re doing it part-time only a few times a week, it takes even longer. So how about once a week or less, how long do you think it would take then? In Jesse’s case, his advantage would be that he’s in an English environment almost all of the time and is forced to apply what he’s learned, but maybe the tutor that was helping him wasn’t effective. We don’t know if the team was working with the tutor with regards to the lesson plans either. The reason I say that is that it’d be incredibly helpful if what he was being taught dovetailed with the daily language that was being spoken to him at “work”.
But I wouldn’t expect a born and bred Albertan who’s never lived aboard to really understand that.
Anyways, Jesse’s camp addressed those allegations about his English and admitted that language was a problem in the first year but in years two and three, it wasn’t. Even players like Drake Caggiula and Matt Benning spoke to Jesse’s English ability.
“His first year, he barely spoke any English. It makes it really hard to understand what kind of person he is,” Caggiula said. “Last year his English was night-and-day different, but he was still coming out of his shell. He was comfortable with English, but didn’t know when or how to say things.”
“Now? He’ll chirp guys back, and fire back at guys. It’s starting to get pretty funny. His true colours are coming out nicely.”
I know what you’re thinking, “If language wasn’t a problem, then what was his deal? Did he simply stop listening?”
Well, that’s a possibility, but I’d like to point out that Jesse had a pretty decent season in his second year and he was hurt or being ignored in his third. Not to mention his time spent in the AHL. A place where the language problem didn’t seem to be an issue. It’s as if the Oilers might have had a couple of coaches who were under a lot of pressure to get the team into the playoffs and simply didn’t have time to set aside for Jesse.
With all of that being said, the trade demand still remains. But what’s funny here is that guys like Tychkowski and Matheson, they don’t get it. They think this is all about a different coaching staff, a new GM, and that possible open spot on the Oilers roster.
“Although the Oilers have a new well-respected GM and a new coach, the team is still pretty much the same,” Lehto shared in July, as translated by the Edmonton Journal. “Sometimes a player and a team are not a fit. This seems to be the case here. Nothing radical about it.”
Those pratts haven’t yet put together that the request out has nothing to do with Tippett and Holland, it has to do with the players Jesse would be playing with in the top-6 in Edmonton… “Sometimes a player and a team are not a fit”… Jesus Christ, you’d think these guys that have been following the game for as long as they have would deduce that the problem is McDavid and Draisaitl. Maybe they have and they just refuse to say it or maybe just don’t believe it, but you’d have to be pretty thick to go with the latter.
My guess is that he’s been hurt by those guys. He looked up to them and really wanted to play with them but they went behind is back (allegedly, if you believe the Edmonton media) and told the coach they didn’t want to play with him and he found out. Ouch! That’s tough.
And so, if Jesse feels he can’t play with two of the best players in the game, then that’s on him. He’s tired of how he’s been treated by the organization and now the city’s media and he’d like to be moved on. Can you blame him?
The Lowetide Theory
Blue sky thinking about the latest Jesse Puljujarvi verbal. It makes the news once a week, same side each time, no new material. The player side has little to no power, contract writes itself, all these updates do is poison the water hole for JP. Agent is a veteran at negotiation, and is doing things he sees as being beneficial to his client. That’s his job.
Now, with that as the backdrop, why would the agent/player have weekly drops of the same news story? Making Oilers fans angry can’t be the goal and calling out Ken Holland makes zero sense because he just arrived. Why then the weekly news drops?
The ONLY thing I can think of is that the player and agent are aware of an offer, and this pressure is designed to pressure Edmonton by poisoning JP’s situation in the city. Otherwise you’re just wasting time, and agents like this one don’t do anything for no reason. So, is there a deal, to say Carolina, Holland doesn’t like but everyone else does like? It would make all of the elements of the JP side make sense. Thoughts?
I think that’s a believable pontification. As for the weekly drops, isn’t that what’s happening at the Cult of Hockey? Why would they be publishing those “takes” on a weekly basis? There’s always something about Jesse not being well-liked or the above about the English lessons. Is it possible that Pulju’s camp is tired of the misinformation being put out there? His comments about his play have been self-critical (if you get the correct translation).
But if, as LT says, Jesse’s camp is aware of a deal sitting on the table and they want to pressure Holland to do something, this could be one way of getting a trade done so Jesse can get to a training camp on time.
You know what’s going to happen if he gets traded right? He’s a year older, he’s healthy, and he’s motivated… He’s going to make the Oilers and everyone who’s taking shots at him look awfully foolish. In the event he isn’t traded and does play in Europe, that might be the best thing for everyone. From fan to journalist to agent to player to GM, a cooling-off period might just benefit all parties involved.
I just hope Oilers fans treat Derick Brassard similarily knowing he’s done the same thing in the past… But they won’t because he’s not criticizing the Oilers.
An interesting find from Copper and Blue contributor, Jeff Chapman here,
i assume everyone giving shit to JP for saying through an interpreter how it's not working in edmonton will be just as critical about derrick brassard saying the same thing about his time pittsburgh. (source: https://t.co/lj2FpJVCmX) pic.twitter.com/EtzvXMIXPH
— Jeff Chapman (@NewWaveOil) August 21, 2019
I wonder how he’s going to do with 12 minutes a night?
If you haven’t heard, Cooper Marody was on Jason Gregor’s show yesterday and I found his interview interesting,
These quotes aren't that different than what Puljujarvi is getting raked over the coals for… Both believe they can be top-6 players and just want an opportunity. Where's the outrage when the NA kid says it?
Cooper doesn't sound like he wants to work on that speed issue. https://t.co/NBZ0pSyLLe
— 𝑩𝑳𝑯⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (@BeerLeagueHeroe) August 21, 2019
Most folks who replied to me used the Google Translate quote as their basis for argument. That’s too bad.
So what you’re telling me is that even though the team asked Marody to work on his quickness and his foot speed over the off-season, he thought, “Nah. That’s not my game. I think I’ll keep doing what’s been working for me so far.”? So Cooper knows better than the NHL staff that are trying to develop him? To me, THAT seems kind of entitled. Doesn’t it? But he’s a cerebral player and obviously that trumps being able to skate at an NHL level…
Marody says he’s been working on his skating every year, he’s been studying Zetterberg and Datsyuk for his entire life, but his skating is still not where it’s supposed to be… He says that the people who criticize his skating haven’t watched him play… But the people that I talk to ARE the ones who are watching him and very closely I might add.
Look, there’s a reason Marody didn’t stick in Edmonton when he was up. He’s not fast enough. He’s sure got the hands but at the NHL level his boots are too slow, he’s a perimeter player, and he gets taken out of games by sheer force. He’s not in that great of shape I’ve heard as well. That could very well change come next month when the rookie camp gets going and let’s be honest, he’s going to look outstanding there, so we shouldn’t be using that to make any judgments; but all I’m saying is that he’s got a ways to go before he should be sluffing off mandates from his bosses.
Now, if you listen to the kid, you’d swear he was speaking at a network marketing event selling ketchup popsicles to the white glove gang. He’s VERY sure of himself and I think that might bite him in the ass down the road. Josh Ho-Sang comes to mind in that regard and notice how quiet he’s become lately.
Look at the mountains that Marody is going to have to climb to get onto the Oilers roster.
- Connor McDavid
- Leon Draisaitl
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
- Derick Brassard*
- Jujhar Khaira
- Kyle Brodziak
- Cooper Marody
*Not yet confirmed officially
With Edmonton reportedly signing Derick Brassard, that puts Marody well down the depth chart. At what point does his frustration boil over? A guy that confident in his abilities surely wouldn’t sit quietly as he dominates the AHL, right? Maybe he’d feel that he deserves a bit more than he’s being offered? Maybe he’d just say screw it and go country singer full-time?
I dunno folks. I don’t think it’s fair that Marody can say he doesn’t need to focus on a glaring deficiency in his game while Puljujarvi is getting shat on daily. I’m not sure I’m even hoping for Puljujarvi to change his mind at this point because I’m afraid of how he’s going to get treated if he returns.
