Acknowledging the cause of his decline, Poirier made a call to Treliving this past January, asking for help. The courage it took to come to that realization and make the decision to find support cannot be understated.
"It's a great show of strength," Treliving told CalgaryFlames.com. "Whatever walk of life someone comes from … to say 'Hey I'm having an issue here and I need help,' … to me, that's a great show of strength and a great show of character.
"It's not a weakness. This goes far beyond hockey. Hockey is irrelevant when it comes to doing the right thing with the people we have and I'm really proud of him.
"He's starting a journey now and it's a daily grind but we're there to support him and we're very proud of him."
Fresh Start: Poirier Focused on Future After Overcoming Two-Year Battle with the Bottle
Quote:
For two years Emile Poirier lived in denial. But it reached a point last February where he couldn't do it any more.
"Seeing my life where it was going, I needed a change," said Poirier on Wednesday at WinSport, talking publicly for the first time about his battle with alcoholism. "I've seen signs for the last two years and finally I admitted it to myself."
..
"Pretty emotional," admits Treliving, recalling that moment. "He said, 'Listen, I've got to make some changes.' For us, it feels like a dark day but in a lot of ways, it's a great day because you recognize it.
"To go through that, it takes great strength to ask for help."
Isn't it awesome when you think of the way current and former players can help our prospects ? I mean this kid reached out and immediately got help. Can't say enough about big Ern.....his time here was fantastic.
Ferland is also another great story. There have been many other flames that needed help but it just wasn't as public and most went on to achieve greatness in hockey and in life .
Proud flames fan right here as a result .
Good job Emile
The Following User Says Thank You to EVERLAST For This Useful Post:
Really pulling for this kid! Had high hopes when we drafted him, but as others have already said - it's fantastic that there are others in the organization like Big Ern helping him through this.
So as much as I want the hockey player to come out for the better, having the player as a person do so is much more important.
Here's wishing him the best!
The Following User Says Thank You to SilverKast For This Useful Post:
Dont know if tkachuk woul be able to keep up to those boys unforunatly
Huh?
Dude put up over 100 points as a rookie in the OHL playing with Marner and Dvorak. Backlund/Frolik aren't slowpokes either and I think he could easily keep up with a duo like that. Tkachuk has a good way of finding the seems once he digs in behind the net and has no problem making plays on the fly either.
Personally I think Tkachuk - Bennett - Ferland could be lethal.
Poirier would probably have played at least 40 NHL games by now if it wasn't for his drinking problem. Hopefully he surprises and makes the team out of camp.
Poirier is exactly the type of prospect that the Flames covet. Fast, skilled, gritty.
Now that he reached out and asked for help, add 'character' to that list.
I loved the Poirier pick, and thought after his first pro season that he was going to be an NHL'er sooner rather than later, and be a top 6 player at that. Hopefully he goes back to that trajectory.
Flames have a lot of pretty fast, semi-skilled to skilled gritty forwards now. Ferland, Lazar, Bennett and Poirier. These are all types that opposing teams find difficult to play against and can create havoc when they are skating. Really nice compliment for Gaudreau, Monahan and Jankowski. They also have the huge pain the butt Tkachuk. Makes the team more dynamic in my opinion, and definitely very difficult to play against and match up against.
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Calgary4LIfe For This Useful Post:
Looking back to his junior days, Poirier had speed to burn but had some finish as well. Between him and Foo, we have two really interesting prospects on the right side that we seemingly did not have a month ago.
The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to tvp2003 For This Useful Post:
I was very excited about Poirier when he was drafted. He showed a lot of promise early on before completely dropping off the radar these last couple of years. I always wondered why he appeared to lose all his drive and enthusiasm for the game. It's almost comforting to hear that his on-ice troubles were due to something off-ice.
Perhaps he's a dark-horse candidate for a spot on the roster. Being around Ferland, who has successfully battled similar demons, could be a good inspiration for him.
RW depth is our weakest area, but if one or two of Poirier/Foo/Lazar/Shinkaruk pans out we'll be better off than I thought we would be.
Poirer's attitude seems pretty upbeat in that Flames TV segment. I noticed his English has improved quite a bit compared to three years ago. I'm sure there was more culture shock than many appreciated moving from Quebec to Stockton. Now that he seems to be through this adjustment period, is getting the help he needs for the off-ice stuff, and he is back focussing primarily on hockey and fitness - this really could be the year of some breakthroughs for him. I'm pulling for you Emile!
In an interview he mentioned this has been going on for about 2 years? Did I hear that correctly? Insofar as his hockey goes, would make sense in explaining his lackluster 24 months after a strong rookie AHL season.
Looking back to his junior days, Poirier had speed to burn but had some finish as well. Between him and Foo, we have two really interesting prospects on the right side that we seemingly did not have a month ago.
Not to mention Daniel Pribyl, who is very well-regarded by the coaching staff.
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Reggie Dunlop For This Useful Post:
