[News] Flames place DeSimone and Ruzicka on waivers; Both claimed

[blankall]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

I haven't seen the picture or video because it was removed. It strikes me like a cry for help, and I hope he gets it.

I don't think it's fair to attribute his lack of success in the NHL to substance abuse. We simply don't know if it was the cause or the result of his career stagnating. Obviously the pressure and expectations from the NHL were too much.

I also have a difficult time with regular people calling NHLers lazy. The amount of work, pain, and commitment involved to simply get to the NHL is staggering.

His agent will have to do a lot of work in the upcoming days. Hopefully it includes finding help for his client.

PS: Ruzicka played 3 games for the Coyotes averaging a little over 8mins, 0 points, -1.

DeSimone still didn't play a game.

It's either a cry for help or a sign of mental illness. Cocaine possession/use is still a felony in Arizona. I don't know why anyone would post themselves doing drugs, especially an athlete who's multi-million dollar career depends on their image and health.

Maybe things are going horribly for him already in his new spot, and this is his way of giving up?

Cocaine can definitely affect on ice performance. Drugs like that have a horrible rebound affect. They make you feel good by flushing a bunch of feel good chemicals into your brain and affecting the way those chemicals work with receptors. The problem is afterwards those chemicals are depleted and the receptors build tolerances.

You get an awful "hangover" from them that affects your motivation and causes a down mood. This hangover can last days or even a week plus (depending on the individual and how much you use). As you state, playing in the NHL is not easy. Handicapping your performance with a cocaine hangover isn't going to help.

[PepsiFree]

Cry for help… mental illness… or… you know… he was on drugs and meant to send the video to someone specific on Instagram but accidentally shared it to his feed.

We don’t need to over-dramatize it.

[EN FUEGO]

I would imagine that cocaine use is pretty common in the NHL, but it's sad to see this on multiple levels. It's a drug that leaves your system pretty quickly and is a status symbol for many folks... Most users just don't talk about it and especially don't make public posts about it, this was definitely a mistake I would think.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Cry for help… mental illness… or… you know… he was on drugs and meant to send the video to someone specific on Instagram but accidentally shared it to his feed.

We don’t need to over-dramatize it.

Yeah, I don't really use Instagram but can you post private stories that only a few people can see?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by blankall

It's either a cry for help or a sign of mental illness. Cocaine possession/use is still a felony in Arizona. I don't know why anyone would post themselves doing drugs, especially an athlete who's multi-million dollar career depends on their image and health.

With the Galchenyuk incident still probably fresh in people's minds, I don't think something like this will be great for community relations either. You probably couldn't pick a worse market in the NHL to have this kind of story come out considering positive public relations are needed to get support for a new arena.

I hope Ruzicka can get his life and priorities in order. I have no moral judgement on recreational drug use, but it is easy to fall into a spiral of self destruction if people can't moderate themselves, and that video is worrisome.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Yeah, I don't really use Instagram but can you post private stories that only a few people can see?

Yeah, you can.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

You probably couldn't pick a worse market in the NHL to have this kind of story come out considering positive public relations are needed to get support for a new arena.

It's the perfect market. No one cares

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Using the word lazy itself is recursively lazy.

As someone who does struggle with consistency in just about everything I do, I've certainly heard it said about me by neurotypical people who've never had to overthink their actuals due to crippling perfectionism, who've never experienced the absolutely miserable feeling that mundane tasks can trigger, especially when not medicated, who don't know just how genuine my (very late in life) diagnosis is.

Ruzicka is an idiot for not only doing hard drugs but posting them online. No doubt.

But no one knows exactly what is going on in his head or body when he's on the ice. I am just disappointed because the guy in early 2022-23 who was playing on a line with Lindholm and Toffoli didn't just look like he belonged in the NHL, but was actually the straw that was stirring the drink with those two.

I can relate. Continuing this slightly off-topic conversation, this podcast discussing crippling perfectionism is excellent. I recommend starting at about 13:30.

https://www.aubreymarcus.com/blogs/a...vylana-amp-412

[cannon7]

Hope Adam gets the help he needs and figures his #### out.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Bonded

It's the perfect market. No one cares

I wouldn't say no one cares. The Galchenyuk story was big news there. There has been just barely enough support to keep giving them a life line. A story like this in hockey hot bed like say Montreal or Toronto, probably doesn't move the needle much in terms of public image or support. In market like Arizona, it just adds fuel to the negativity.

[metroneck]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

I also have a difficult time with regular people calling NHLers lazy. The amount of work, pain, and commitment involved to simply get to the NHL is staggering.

.

THIS…

I know quite a few successful professional athletes, but many more who would be considered ‘lazy, wasted talent’ or ‘never was’ by many posters.

Regardless if of how they appear on the ice, field or court, what they had to do to get to their ceiling is quite incredible. Their ‘lack of effort to succeed, or being lazy’ doesn’t even register in comparison to an average person.

Those who actually ‘stick’ in pro sports are so off the charts driven, it’s almost incomprehensible.

[Knut]

Narc's

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Using the word lazy itself is recursively lazy.

As someone who does struggle with consistency in just about everything I do, I've certainly heard it said about me by neurotypical people who've never had to overthink their actuals due to crippling perfectionism, who've never experienced the absolutely miserable feeling that mundane tasks can trigger, especially when not medicated, who don't know just how genuine my (very late in life) diagnosis is.

Ruzicka is an idiot for not only doing hard drugs but posting them online. No doubt.

But no one knows exactly what is going on in his head or body when he's on the ice. I am just disappointed because the guy in early 2022-23 who was playing on a line with Lindholm and Toffoli didn't just look like he belonged in the NHL, but was actually the straw that was stirring the drink with those two.

Can't speak to Ruzickas situation but I empathize with this. Thanks for sharing.

The "playing field" is not the same for every one.

[AustinL_NHL]

This is a league-wide problem that affects every/most NHL dressing rooms.

Ruzicka most definitely isn't on his own little island and was likely intending to send the video to someone private.

However, hopefully this massive mistake was exactly what he needed to force him to get help. Big yikes.

[AustinL_NHL]

Jk Arizona saying "peace ✌️"

https://twitter.com/user/status/1761090493272727955

[RedHot25]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1761090493272727955

[Toonage]

Not a surprise

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

I also have a difficult time with regular people calling NHLers lazy. The amount of work, pain, and commitment involved to simply get to the NHL is staggering.

Clearly the context is ‘compared to other pro hockey players.’ Just like when Rasmus Andersson was described as out of shape, it was in the context of the physical condition of pro hockey players. And when people complained that Lucic was slow and couldn’t skate anymore, it was in the context of… pro hockey players.

[Flamesfan05]

So he will be in Edmonton for tomorrow’s game?

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Clearly the context is ‘compared to other pro hockey players.’ Just like when Rasmus Andersson was described as out of shape, it was in the context of the physical condition of pro hockey players. And when people complained that Lucic was slow and couldn’t skate anymore, it was in the context of… pro hockey players.

Exactly.

I am trying to remember who a particular story was about - Pete Sampras maybe? - but the person was talking about how they worked out for 2 hours a day, 52 weeks a year. Then when they got to the pinnacle of the sport and got to know the guys at the top, they realized that everyone did at least that, and if they wanted to get any better, they had to do more. So he went full bore, doing 3-4 hours a day, became the most fit player on tour, and made it to #1.

You don't get to professional sports by being lazy. But once you get there, you enter a milieu of highly-motivated, highly-trained, highly-talented athletes who all want the same thing. And if you aren't prepared to raise your game to another level, you're left behind.

i.e.: lazy