Kevin Fiala scratched for missing team meeting

[Colorado Avalanche]

Kinda getting these vibes from this.

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He looks annoyed. No wonder, he skipped breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

 

[MK9]

He looks annoyed. No wonder, he skipped breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

I'm sure Kellogg's is thrilled their marketing campaign from over 100 years ago is still going strong. I'm sure it's fairly important, but it's a load of crap marketing slogan is all it is.

 

[57special]

Again would take him back in a second in MN. Unfortunately, my name is not Bill Guerin.
LAK have a lot bigger problems than Kevin Fiala. He might be a bit of a diva, but he is very talented. A good manager of people realizes that you make the most of your talent, not go out of your way to point out their flaws. Some players are higher maintenance - that's where management earns their $$, not dealing with the perfect aw shucks players that any idiot who can open the door to the ice can manage.

I wonder if the Avs will be able to scoop him for under market value. I could see him being a fit.

 

[AvatarAang]

Kinda getting these vibes from this.

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To be fair, Fiala missed a team meeting.

Seguin missed a team breakfast. I don’t trust anyone that skips free breakfast.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

I'm sure Kellogg's is thrilled their marketing campaign from over 100 years ago is still going strong. I'm sure it's fairly important, but it's a load of crap marketing slogan is all it is.

Jokes were invented before Kelloggs marketing campaign.

 

[Marlowe Syn]

So it was a good thing to sign and buyout Suter and Parise for creating these cap issues and not being able to keep Fiala?

Based on the end results in this case, yeah absolutely a good thing. The trade might be one of the best this franchise has ever made. Honestly the trade to get Fiala was a winner too. Kevin Fiala has been very good for us.

I think we are also now seeing some reasons why Guerin was never onboard with extending Fiala long term. I will never understand why some of these players that have all the tool for greatness. don't push themselves to that level.

 

[Hinterland]

Again would take him back in a second in MN. Unfortunately, my name is not Bill Guerin.
LAK have a lot bigger problems than Kevin Fiala. He might be a bit of a diva, but he is very talented. A good manager of people realizes that you make the most of your talent, not go out of your way to point out their flaws. Some players are higher maintenance - that's where management earns their $$, not dealing with the perfect aw shucks players that any idiot who can open the door to the ice can manage.

I wonder if the Avs will be able to scoop him for under market value. I could see him being a fit.

100%.

It's obviously immature behaviour by Fiala. We don't need to talk about that.

BUT

The Kings knew all about this when they traded for Fiala. And they not only traded for him but also committed to handing him almost 8 mio per year until 2029 including a full NMC.

If you sign a kid with a difficult character to such a deal then you have to live with the consequences. Now that Fiala is holding all the cards the Kings have to treat him accordingly.

We don't know about everything that went on between Hiller and Fiala but judging by Fiala's reaction, Hiller probably should have chosen a more subtle way to get his message across.

I think it's time for Blake to step in and make sure those two are on the same page going forward. Otherwise, at least one of them has to go. With his full NMC and a rich contract until 2029 Fiala might be difficult to get rid of for as long as he doesn't want to leave LA.

 

[McHelpus]

Terminate his contract, he has crossed the line with this one!

 

[bland]

Based on the end results in this case, yeah absolutely a good thing. The trade might be one of the best this franchise has ever made. Honestly the trade to get Fiala was a winner too. Kevin Fiala has been very good for us.

I think we are also now seeing some reasons why Guerin was never onboard with extending Fiala long term. I will never understand why some of these players that have all the tool for greatness. don't push themselves to that level.

Thing is that Fiala DOES work very hard on his game. The problem is that he cannot play off of the puck, he works hard on his skills but is a poor fit for anyone that wants the puck on his stick.

He takes selfish risks, selfish penalties, has a well-earned reputation for diving, and simply cannot read the time and situation of a game.

 

[Lt Dan]

The Kings knew all about this when they traded for Fiala. .

This is an obvious problem with Kings management. They did the same thing with PLD.

Blake is the opposite of Lombardi, he bought the sizzle instead of looking at what makes the player tick

 

[LTIR]

Missing a practice or being late for one shouldn't be criticized too much. Players should be given personal days as "get out of practice or even game" cards.

I use them at my work all the time. You can be all business everyday

 

[Hierso]

Kevin Fiala, ladies and gentlemen.

Such a punchable face.

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Why does he look like budget Freddie Mercury?

 

[RickyLafleur]

Another genius move by LA management, and their prize is to lose to san jose lmao.

 

[Hinterland]

Missing a practice or being late for one shouldn't be criticized too much. Players should be given personal days as "get out of practice or even game" cards.

I use them at my work all the time. You can be all business everyday

The problem is that Fiala missed a meeting directly after getting benched. Since it's Kevin Fiala you know that 99% he did it on purpose because he didn't like getting benched. Pretty safe to assume that there's a lot of bad blood between Hiller and Fiala now.

Even if you don't think that Fiala missed the meeting on purpose clearly the message Hiller tried to get across wasn't well received.

 

[Marlowe Syn]

Thing is that Fiala DOES work very hard on his game. The problem is that he cannot play off of the puck, he works hard on his skills but is a poor fit for anyone that wants the puck on his stick.

He takes selfish risks, selfish penalties, has a well-earned reputation for diving, and simply cannot read the time and situation of a game.

That what I was getting at with him not pushing to be better. He's making the same on-ice mistakes he was making throughout his career. He works hard on his scoring, but not necessarily working on being a better hockey player.
He's an NHL veteran now and he still can't find the defensive zone with GPS, and looks very useless without the puck. The stupid penalties are another very coachable habit to get out of, yet here is another fan base complaining about his lack of discipline.

He just seems content being a one-dimensional scorer. I'm not expecting Selke level defense from him, but put the effort in at least.

 

[Fripp]

Another genius move by LA management, and their prize is to lose to san jose lmao.

Management is a train wreck, and the team is becoming increasingly difficult to root for. We're going on like 6 games straight of the top two lines being invisible, completely unwilling to be physically and mentally engaged. They might be the softest team in the league. Last night looked like they were all playing like Fiala in solidarity - lazy on the puck, easily pushed off the play, zero effort.

 

[MMC]

Missing a practice or being late for one shouldn't be criticized too much. Players should be given personal days as "get out of practice or even game" cards.

I use them at my work all the time. You can be all business everyday

Seems pretty clear this was not an excused absence

 

[Prior]

Again would take him back in a second in MN. Unfortunately, my name is not Bill Guerin.
LAK have a lot bigger problems than Kevin Fiala. He might be a bit of a diva, but he is very talented. A good manager of people realizes that you make the most of your talent, not go out of your way to point out their flaws. Some players are higher maintenance - that's where management earns their $$, not dealing with the perfect aw shucks players that any idiot who can open the door to the ice can manage.

I wonder if the Avs will be able to scoop him for under market value. I could see him being a fit.

Great (not just good) managers of people realize the power of accountability, commitment, selflessness, teamwork, and yes talent will far outweigh a team that they have assembled of high level performers who are sub-standard in the former. That’s coming not just from someone who’s managed people for a living but some of the most successful leaders in business and military.

Now, that’s not exactly one for one when talking about athletes. But if Fiala has proven anything in his career it is that he does nothing on the ice or off it to make a team more successful. At this point he is what he is and he’s proven Guerin and other leaders correct and the sect of Wild fans who continue to know best on the Fiala subject on a near daily basis just need to take their medicine.

This is one of the best moves Guerin has made in a sea of questionable ones. But this move did net them what will likely be the second best player to ever put on a Wild sweater outside of 97. That should be enough to move on but what do I know.

 

[BuiumSaveUs]

He’s very talented but his play style and additude I believe make him a player with an expiration date with an org. Said this when he signed his 7 year deal: no way he plays it out there. He’s got 3-4 years before the org is ready to move on.

 

[Fantomas]

This sounds like a Fiala v. Hiller feud. People like to pile on the player in such situations, but we don't really know the whole story.

The coach's job includes the responsibility of managing big egos. Maybe he's bad at it?

 

[Hinterland]

Great (not just good) managers of people realize the power of accountability, commitment, selflessness, teamwork, and yes talent will far outweigh a team that they have assembled of high level performers who are sub-standard in the former. That’s coming not just from someone who’s managed people for a living but some of the most successful leaders in business and military.

Now, that’s not exactly one for one when talking about athletes. But if Fiala has proven anything in his career it is that he does nothing on the ice or off it to make a team more successful. At this point he is what he is and he’s proven Guerin and other leaders correct and the sect of Wild fans who continue to know best on the Fiala subject on a near daily basis just need to take their medicine.

This is one of the best moves Guerin has made in a sea of questionable ones. But this move did net them what will likely be the second best player to ever put on a Wild sweater outside of 97. That should be enough to move on but what do I know.

Him scoring a point per game doesn't help his team become more successful?
Again, we all agree that Fiala is difficult to coach but he can definitely help a team if handled the right way. He proved that already.

 

[Hinterland]

This sounds like a Fiala v. Hiller feud. People like to pile on the player in such situations, but we don't really know the whole story.

The coach's job includes the responsibility of managing big egos. Maybe he's bad at it?

That would be my guess as well. Fiala wasn't really a problem in LA until Hiller took over as head coach. McLellan has way more experience as head coach than Hiller.