[News] UPD: Berglund on waivers to terminate contract. Gives up ~$12.5 million.

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

So reading in between the lines, Berglund is suffering from depression or another mental illness. Just out of curiosity, why wasn't Buffalo forced to place him on LTIR? Just another example of how mental illness isn't taking seriously.

If the illness was serious enough that Berglund was willing to give up $12.5m to deal with it, it was serious enough that he should be getting LTIR or disability pay.

I recently saw an interview with the Leaf's coach, Babcock, who indicated that the league takes mental health issues very seriously these days.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

I recently saw an interview with the Leaf's coach, Babcock, who indicated that the league takes mental health issues very seriously these days.

Oh well shut the debate down, I guess they do.

[foshizzle11]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

So reading in between the lines, Berglund is suffering from depression or another mental illness. Just out of curiosity, why wasn't Buffalo forced to place him on LTIR? Just another example of how mental illness isn't taking seriously.

If the illness was serious enough that Berglund was willing to give up $12.5m to deal with it, it was serious enough that he should be getting LTIR or disability pay.

This is bang on and if he did communicate this to the Sabres organization then shame on them. The NHL has to start caring about these guys and doing something about this.

I hope he finds his happiness and returns to the game in some capacity, possibly staying in Sweden closer to home May help that.

Good luck to him.

[Mr.Coffee]

Well I said he would regret this, thinking about the money.

But it appears I was wrong, and he may just not regret this one bit. Depending on how severe the condition, if he was depressed, this may have been one of the best decisions of his life if if directed him to getting healthy again.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

I recently saw an interview with the Leaf's coach, Babcock, who indicated that the league takes mental health issues very seriously these days.

If they actually took this seriously, then Berglund would be on LTIR while he gets help, and would still be getting paid.

[DoubleK]

After reading this, I can't help but feel the Sabres turned their back on Berglund.

Couple that with Robin Lehner's well documented struggles, maybe this franchise has lost the plot and needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are serious about supporting their players.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Sooo, maybe next time wait until all the facts are out before declaring a player as an embarrassment and scummy?

The eye-test seemed fairly straightforward at the time. Just after a trade, neglected to submit a team list in time, not producing, cut, then never returns.

That it's not sour grapes or wanting to re-sign with his team of choice is one of those rare moments that proves there's a gap between the eye-test and facts. That a player lost the will to play the game isn't the motive too often I'd think.

But I think he addressed the issue directly for a reason.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Split98

The eye-test seemed fairly straightforward at the time. Just after a trade, neglected to submit a team list in time, not producing, cut, then never returns.

That it's not sour grapes or wanting to re-sign with his team of choice is one of those rare moments that proves there's a gap between the eye-test and facts. That a player lost the will to play the game isn't the motive too often I'd think.

But I think he addressed the issue directly for a reason.

Dude. You went on about it for paaaagggggeessss. Even after I mentioned Paul Ranger. Just, think about how little this affects you and pump the brakes next time.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

This is bang on and if he did communicate this to the Sabres organization then shame on them. The NHL has to start caring about these guys and doing something about this.

I hope he finds his happiness and returns to the game in some capacity, possibly staying in Sweden closer to home May help that.

Good luck to him.

Corporations don't give a #### about anyone but the bottom dollar line.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

Corporations don't give a #### about anyone but the bottom dollar line.

All of them? That’s just not factual.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

All of them? That’s just not factual.

Do you have any Examples?

[Flamenspiel]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

Corporations don't give a #### about anyone but the bottom dollar line.

Well, you could turn that around and say giving a #### about people helps the corporation’s bottom line. So you are not quite right, usually it’s good for business to care.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Flamenspiel

Well, you could turn that around and say giving a #### about people helps the corporation’s bottom line. So you are not quite right, usually it’s good for business to care.

That means they are doing it because it helps their botton line doesn't it? They don't actually have to care about the staff .

[gamesaver]

Everything points out to depression or some sort of mental illness, but a psychologist would never give you a diagnose based on some newspaper interview, without a chance to sit and talk with the person, listen to his answers and observing his behavior during that. He can be just burnt out, not every player is like Howe or Jagr. Pavelec ended his career this summer at age 31. He could have played in Russia or back home in Czech rep., but decided to hang them and the reason was he wanted to play in the NHL only, but at the same time realized he lost the will to work out to keep up with the rest of the league. So he walked away from a potential big contract in Russia, but his decision had nothing to do with mental illness, it was a simple acceptance of a fact his love for being a hockey player diminished.

[gamesaver]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

After reading this, I can't help but feel the Sabres turned their back on Berglund.

Couple that with Robin Lehner's well documented struggles, maybe this franchise has lost the plot and needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are serious about supporting their players.

I disagree, I have read a lot about Robin Lehner, Sabres has treated him exceptionally well and without that I doubt he would have a season he is having now. Berglund has not been with them for very long so it's not a surprise they could not tell there is something wrong and he is acting differently than usual, they may have thought he was struggling with the change of enviroment after the trade.

[DoubleK]

Go re-read his Player's Tribune article.

There is a big difference between the GM checking in on a former player and the organization taking the issue seriously.

The situation with Berglund happened shortly after.

[Itse]

I have no idea how the Sabres treated Berglund in general, but I will say that I don't really blame a GM or an organization for not responding properly to possible mental health problems. As long as they've tried that is.

Mental heath problems are really hard to get a grasp of, and our culture is really only starting to develop an understanding of how an employer can best respond to them.

I do hope the Sabres take this as a learning experience and make a serious effort to get better at it.

[bluejays]

Money certainly dictates a lot to an organization, but someone there's something not fully adding up in this situation. If Berglund has a mental illness, wouldn't his agent and the PA be clamoring for him to go on disability and seek help (not at the expense of his contract)? I find that part puzzling that the other parties who had that duty to do that, haven't. And certainly me may have just walked away as I'm sure there would still be pressure to come back within a reasonable time frame if he did go on a disability so that's maybe why he walked away. Could it also be this combined with a dwindling love of the game has pushed him to walk? Something is just a little off.