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Originally Posted by Flash Walken
Could be interpreted multiple ways.
Some guys are hard on themselves and have crazy high standards. They use a pessimistic attitude about their own skills to push themselves to be better and to improve their weaknesses.
Some guys are hard on themselves in a 'poor me' way, finding external justifications for poor performance (New stick, new systems etc), focusing on trying to improve their strengths because focusing on their weaknesses is incompatible with external justifications for poor performance.
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"Impressions" from bystanders are of no actual value in this discussion. Your false dichotomy of interpretations for "being hard on oneself" is a hilarious straw man.
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IMO Neal was in the second category last year. His "Give a ####" 'o Meter barely seemed to blink during the course of the season, and his lack of engagement against Colorado was a supreme factor in the Flames losing in the way that they did.
I'm sure he's a nice guy and i'm sure he cares, but obviously last season he didn't care enough to change his game to improve the team.
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"Obviously"? You either have no idea what the word means, or you are being deliberately dishonest about the fact that you don't know James Neal, and you don't know about how he feels regarding his own performance last season.
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Textcritic suggested that Neal's contract isn't insurmountable because St.Louis and Boston have under performing older players on big tickets as well. I'll leave it to individual posters to determine whether guys like Steen and Backes have their give a #### o meter burning a fiery red glow or not.
Alex Steen is still a capable forward willing to play 13 minutes a night without complaint. James Neal is a significantly worse 3 zone player last seen arguing with the coaching staff for an increase on his 14 minutes per night.
One's a buyout candidate, the other an integral component of a Finals team.
Neal could be a part of a winning group in Calgary, but I just don't think he wants it bad enough to do it.
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Yes. That is your opinion and you are welcome to it. James Neal has been a high impact contributing member of his last two teams's Stanley Cup runs, so I am not about to pass final judgment on his career and declare it is over.
I will stand by the point of my simple argument above that an underperforming player on a high-cost contract is not ON HIS OWN enough to impede a team from winning the Stanley Cup. I don't know why Neal seemed too struggle as much as he did last year, and I am not about to make up reasons for his poor performance cobbled together from bits and soundbites reified in my own imagination. I continue to hope that he will be better next year, but am not expecting much. The situation is what it is, and there is not much to be done to fix it but to stay positive.