[The Athletic] « La première partie de la saison a été terrible. Je ne pouvais penser à rien d’autre qu’à la Caroline. » Rasmus Dahlin a mené les Sabres aux séries éliminatoires au cours de l’année la plus difficile de sa vie. Et comment Terry Pegula a aidé quand Dahlin en avait le plus besoin :
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seeldoger47
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When the season started, Dahlin had trouble focusing. He’s the Sabres’ most intense competitor and hardest worker. He’s invested so much of himself into the franchise, signing a long-term deal to stay in Buffalo and wanting to bring playoff hockey back to the city. But he’s also human, and the person he loves most was thousands of miles away, going through the ups and downs of an unpredictable recovery from a life-threatening situation. The idea of the hockey rink being an escape doesn’t work when you don’t want to escape. Dahlin wanted to be there for Carolina.
So in November, he decided he needed to step away from the team to be with her.
The night before, the Sabres had hit a low point in their season with an ugly loss at home to the St. Louis Blues. Dahlin spoke after the game. He had gone three straight games without a point, and the weight of everything he was dealing with was evident in his voice.
“I’ve got more to give,” Dahlin said. “I’m not satisfied. I want to create more. I want to do more out there. I’m not satisfied, but I’m on the way.”
Dahlin knows how important he is to the Sabres as their most valuable player and captain. He also knew he wasn’t going to be able to be himself unless he got that time with Carolina.
The Sabres organization didn’t hesitate. Owner Terry Pegula immediately offered up his private jet. Coach Lindy Ruff and then-general manager Kevyn Adams told Dahlin to take all the time he needed. They didn’t put any timetable on his return and made it clear hockey would always come second to family.
“It’s been such an important year for us, and there was no question asked when I wanted to go home,” Dahlin told The Athletic this week.
“The first part of the season was terrible. I could not think about anything else other than Carolina. Then Terry Pegula flew me home to Sweden to be able to see Carolina for a week, and it just gave me an unbelievable boost. Then I was able to go home during Christmas, and I’ve just been lucky to have the organization let me go home and do stuff I needed to do throughout this process. And things got better every day.”
It seems like in past seasons, switching lines was more about trying to fit square pegs in round holes. This season it seems like Lindy has bunch of options to produce truly effective lines that makes it tough for teams to defend. Sure, maybe a team shuts down Tage’s line. But then the Norris line pops up to bite the other team in the ass. It’s like a game of Whack-A-Mole for the other team.
Hurricanes fans thinking this is about them…..