Pierre Luc Dubois explains for his poor performance in L.A.

[EpochLink]

He maybe worse than Dan Snyder, the former owner of the commanders

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

He struggled with the system the Kings employ, which is forgivable in the sense that it is a terrible way to play hockey. I get that, nobody wants to nullify instead of attack. But he just refused to try and everybody on-ice AND off-ice struggled.

He is also rumored to be a huge part of the reason why he relationship between the Kings and Kaliyev broke down last year. Kaliyev would be benched for entire periods for missing spots that Dubois missed every shift, and Dubois received one on one training and support while the kids would just be shut down. That makes sense given the magnitude of the investment they made, but it just killed the kids confidence.

Kaliyev got shafted big time last year for the PLD treatment. With Dubois and Arvidsson now gone, I think Kaliyev will get a shot to play in the Kings top 6 right at the start of the season.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Quit on Torts/Jackets after the season had barely started

Sucked in the bubble for the Jets because "he couldn't train properly during Covid"

Stunk his first year of a monster contract with LA because he didn't get proper direction and ended up second-guessing himself

In Washington [fill the blank]

 

[Coaches Coroner]

His only sin was that he is too relateable.

 

[PeE eL DuBoiS]

Makes sense. He didn't know they wanted him to put good effort into playing proper hockey. Grey areas are tough for everyone.

 

[Statto]

Rumour is that Dubois wasn't very well liked in the dressing room either. Doughty and Dubious didn't see eye to eye and Doughty was calling him out when he said last season that there were players on the team who only cared about their own stats......as JR calls it, "cookies"

They’ve been clear that he wasn’t a problem off ice.

I get what he was saying about needing clear instructions, although that certainly draws into question his hockey IQ. That said even with the detailed gold star system it was still only a very inconsistent and patchy performance even if it was slightly ‘less bad’.

However it doesn’t remotely cover him not skating hard every shift, finishing hits etc. if he couldn’t get the details 100% correct, he could certainly have carried out the basics.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Thinking he will be bought out, long before the end of that contract.....the guy never fits anywhere.

His agent must be one smart cookie though, to get him some serious money each contract even though he has never seemed to earn it....he will go down, as one of those, what could have been.
Lacks the drive to be a good player.

You’re probably right, but I hope you aren’t.
The dude was blessed with everything a hockey player needs. Size, strength, good skating ability and great hands.

He can dominate when he feels like it and puts his head down.

Washington has experience with players like him. Semin succeeded and became a 40 goal scorer and PPG+ player despite his issues.

 

[kevsh]

I expect next summer an HFBoards thread entitled:

"Pierre Luc Dubois explains for his poor performance in Washington"

 

[GeeoffBrown]

he is evidently a very self-centered guy, so it makes sense he would require a lot of 1-on-1 attention.

He's also 6'4" and has shown he can put up 60ish points, so he will get a lot of chances I think

 

[Statto]

"It's clearly my fault it didn't work out" -- Dubois

It's right there in the OP.

Then it became a passive/aggressive list of reasons it wasn’t his fault. He blames Todd, gently but still blames him (to be clear I wanted McLennan fired). He avoid mentioning the detailed instructions Hiller gave him with the gold star system they had him working to. Why? Because when he had detailed instructions very little changed after the first couple of games under Hiller.

His biggest failing was lack of effort, which he completely side stepped.

 

[Statto]

He struggled with the system the Kings employ, which is forgivable in the sense that it is a terrible way to play hockey. I get that, nobody wants to nullify instead of attack. But he just refused to try and everybody on-ice AND off-ice struggled.

He is also rumored to be a huge part of the reason why he relationship between the Kings and Kaliyev broke down last year. Kaliyev would be benched for entire periods for missing spots that Dubois missed every shift, and Dubois received one on one training and support while the kids would just be shut down. That makes sense given the magnitude of the investment they made, but it just killed the kids confidence.

That on TMac if true.

 

[shakes the clown]

TLDR: It's because he sucks and is lazy.

Nope. you forgot the part where it's the Kings fault because no one sat him down and told him to stop being lazy and stop sucking.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

My dude, your optimal style of hockey is literally just skate hard, hit people, and drive the net. It's not that complicated. You aren't that skilled. Just play hard-nosed hockey.

Yeah, I think this is where his excuse falls short. It would be one thing if he was hard working every night, but just didn't seem to be meshing with the team's style of play. But it's another when you're lazy and just don't do the basics. You don't need to be told by the coach to do the basics.

 

[Kocur Dill]

I have a hard time believing Tortarella isn't crystal clear with his expectations.

 

[x Tame Impala]

He’s the definition of having enough skill to get by, but doesn’t have the worth ethic. He never had to work for it, it came easy to him and he expected to always be easy. Now that he needs to put the work, he doesn’t have it.

Hey man that's a rough lesson to learn. I've had to learn it myself. The fall from grace is pretty hard for normal people whereas this guy gets an 8 year contract so I'm not sure if he'll ever learn it.

He does say “it’s clearly MY fault it didn’t work out” in one of those quotes

Please lol. That read as throwaway statement to cover his ass.

Then it became a passive/aggressive list of reasons it wasn’t his fault. He blames Todd, gently but still blames him (to be clear I wanted McLennan fired). He avoid mentioning the detailed instructions Hiller gave him with the gold star system they had him working to. Why? Because when he had detailed instructions very little changed after the first couple of games under Hiller.

His biggest failing was lack of effort, which he completely side stepped.

Exactly. The whole tone of the article and the explanations themselves are just weak excuses. "I've got to work harder than I've ever worked to make sure I'm a great fit on whatever team i'm on" basically should've been the thesis of this interview. You can't change if you don't see your faults.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

I actually hate Rob Blake more for giving that contract than I do PLD.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Really hard to buy his whining when we all remember his idea of wanting "to please the people on your team and around you" was to literally quit on the ice and promptly force a trade out Columbus. Then do the exact same thing in Winnipeg.

Guess now it's LA's fault too. God damn Kings being such jerks giving him 8.5M but not patting him on the head and telling him to give 100% every night!

What's hilarious is him genuinely wanting to play the Habs. That fanbase would have eaten him alive.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

I cannot believe this guy is an $8.5mil cap hit until 2031 and hasn't been a point per game player since...ever.

Intangibles?

 

[tantalum]

I find it weird that a guy calls his coach a tactician but that tactician isn't giving direction? Isn't that what a tactician does? Give direction of a very specific way to play the game and meet the goals.

Or was it like in other places where he wasn't being given the directions he wanted to be given? Hmmm

 

[SettlementRichie10]

In 30+ years of following the Kings, I’ve never witnessed a player be so INSTANTANEOUSLY despised by the fanbase.

 

[wetcoast]

Blaming everyone besides himself

Good luck Washington

The problem at this isn't really PLD though as everyone seems to know what he is at this point of his career except the teams trading for him that still live in the really Big skilled center could, might and hopefully will be that guy who turns out it only the exception that proves the rule and PLD isn't the exception.

 

[brentashton]

Makes sense , NHL players have been coached and mentored 1v1 their whole life

And yet so many others don’t require this level of handholding and take personal responsibility for their career and productivity (or lack thereof). Let’s call PLD what he really is. Self centred, weak willed human.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

Work any kind of job from programming to accounting and you'll find most of your coworkers can't do anything without clear directions.

That’s ridiculous. People get hired to do a job because they already know how to do the job.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

"Take it as you like, but I've always needed clear instructions to do my job 100%"
he said this..... he actually said this......

like what? How about work hard EVERYTIME your on the ice. even when your tired, give it your all.

people can respect you if you give it your all but still fail but when you HAVE TO BE TOLD to do 100% day in day out then gtfo.

all those trade requests when it turns out it's just always you. there are no grey area's get out there and work your f***ing ass off

 

[brentashton]

Work any kind of job from programming to accounting and you'll find most of your coworkers can't do anything without clear directions.

Even the most average employee does after a few years of experience though.